Haunted Nadia: ‘My biggest mistake’
Loose Woman Nadia Sawalha has revealed the one choice she still bitterly regrets…
Nadia Sawalha, 55, and husband Mark Adderley opened up about their biggest regret – and it’s a surprising one. Discussing their new book, Honey,I Home schooled the Kids (£11.99, out now), on Loose Women, the pair – who tied the knot in 2002 – admitted that they were still haunted by a decision they made about their girls’ education.
‘The biggest mistake we made was sending them to private school…’, confessed Nadia. ‘I regret one huge parenting decision above everything else – and it’s the belief that if you pay for your child’s education, it’s the right thing,’ she admitted, ruefully.
Mark went on to say, ‘I feel so stupid that we were so conventional in that thinking. What I found so disheartening about the whole thing is that it works if your child is highly academic in the first place.’
Asked what prompted them to opt for homeschooling, the couple revealed that their daughters Maddie, now 17, and Kiki-Bee, now 13, just weren’t happy – particularly Kiki, who struggled to cope with the academic pressure.
‘She was a Summer baby, one of the youngest in the class and… I just don’t think she was ready for school,’ Nadia mused.
‘She looked adorable in these little pigtails and shiny shoes and beautiful private school uniform – like a little dolly,’ she recalls. ‘But I had such a strong feeling on that first day I took her in… that she would turn around and walk out…’
And her mothering instincts were not wrong. Things didn’t work out as hoped and the couple decided to homeschool.
Nadia previously revealed, ‘They struggled in class and really thought they wouldn’t excel in any-thing. But ever since I took them out of school, they’ve become more confident and passionate and are brimming with enthusiasm to learn.’
Now, however, after several years foregoing traditional timetables and striving to make learning ‘fun and enjoyable’, Kiki has decided herself that she’s ready to return to a different school next September – something Nadia and Mark say they’d always given both daughters the option of doing, every year.
All any parent wants is for their child to be happy. And it sounds like, despite a few bumps in the road, Nadia has two girls who are just that.
‘Ever since I took them out of school they’ve become more confident’