How to start homeschooling in midterm?

[Vacuum]

3 minutes ago, Monomial said:

 

Yes. I also blame the teachers. Homeschooling is a much better option, as if I am expected to teach the children myself anyway, then there is no point in paying a lot of money for a "teacher" who is basically nothing more than an expensive baby sitter.

 

Yes I agree. Just wondering if you checked the other students exam results.

[KhaoYai]

33 minutes ago, Monomial said:

If you want to educate under the Thai system and get approval from the government, your curriculum must include Thai language, Thai culture, and Thai history.

Do they stipulate how much time must be spent on this?

[KhaoYai]

Is there a legal requirement for children to go to school in Thailand?

[Monomial]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

Do they stipulate how much time must be spent on this?

 

Yes. The minimum number of hours are all specified in the OBEC documents. But you can find ways to combine those hours with other topics that are perhaps more relevant to your circumstances. While my wife does teach them some Buddhist doctrine, this is usually informal, and I often use the spirituality hours to teach science related memes. Example, the study of biomes and life cycles is an important part of Druid spirituality.  Thai culture can be conveyed as a contrast between Thai norms and other cultures, and we have already had several discussions during Thai culture class on the importance of critical thinking even while respecting Thai cultural practices. It is more of a practical philosophy course than strict indoctrination.

 

Pretty much only the Thai language requirement is rigorously enforced. If you don't have a Thai native speaker to teach this to the children, you will need to outsource.  There is no way around at least an hour per day of Thai language, but you can combine this with reading comprehension or Thai culture or history. All students will need to study Thai however. Full stop. Even the most expensive international schools are subjected to this requirement.

[KhaoYai]

8 hours ago, Monomial said:

Pretty much only the Thai language requirement is rigorously enforced. If you don't have a Thai native speaker to teach this to the children, you will need to outsource.  There is no way around at least an hour per day of Thai language, but you can combine this with reading comprehension or Thai culture or history. All students will need to study Thai however. Full stop. Even the most expensive international schools are subjected to this requirement.

Seems unecessary in my opinion unless their parents had applied for or gained citizenship. There must be plenty of people with kids who are working in Thailand on fixed term contracts with no intention of making it their permanent home. Whilst Thai language may be useful to them in everyday life, I fail to see how the children of such people would benenfit from knowledge of Thai culture or history - especially when there's the consideration that such children would also need to be taught their own language, history and culture - study time is going to be extended.

[matthew777]

My Thai wife and I also have two children. We fully plan on homeschooling our children much like yourself. I am a teacher here in Thailand and as a teacher I can tell you that you are making the right choice with your children. There are active home school communities in Thailand  that you can join that I hope would have made this process easier. I do know the largest home school communities tend to be in the Chiang Mai, Chaing Rai region. This is I believe is largely due to the large Christian communities there.  Having worked in Chiang Rai I can safely say that if a student came to our school, that was home schooled, they were heads and shoulders above everyone else. Your children wont be just ahead of their peers they will be years ahead of them. As you have discovered Thailand is about style over substance. Asia tends to be a culture of superficiality, where looking like you are learning is far more important than actually learning. You will have zero problems getting your children enrolled into college or other high schools with your choice. The international schools abroad are so poor that it's recommended that all graduating students get their GED in addition to their "international school" diploma. 

[XGM]

On 11/20/2019 at 3:16 AM, matthew777 said:

As you have discovered Thailand is about style over substance. Asia tends to be a culture of superficiality, where looking like you are learning is far more important than actually learning. You will have zero problems getting your children enrolled into college or other high schools with your choice. The international schools abroad are so poor that it's recommended that all graduating students get their GED in addition to their "international school" diploma. 

Couldn't have said it better. Unfortunately I find that the Thai "Style over Substance" approach propagates to international schools too, with large emphasis given to festivals, special days and any excuse for an event - anything that offers photo-ops and can be used for marketing purposes on the school's social media channels. Many promises, buzz, impressive slogans, very little follow up or willingness to tackle issues.

 

I don't however see how anyone with a full time job or anything similar could sustain homeschooling over years. Even if you are using tutors extensively, you still need to recruit, evaluate and monitor them on an ongoing basis. I really salute those who manage to do it over time.

[Anoah Eberhardt LMFT]

Your children can do online schooling. Just google such, many many options. You can purchase homeschooling curriculum as well online that will guide your sufficiently what to teach them. There are many families in the USA who do this and their children earn a U.S. based diploma from the school district the curriculum is associated with. Let me know what you find. 

 

Also, the input received about sending the children to a local school is very valid (though the input may not be being given with the best attitude behind it, don't take that personally). What happens at school matters about 10% compared to what happens at home. As a clinical counseling with a decade and a half of experience working with families and struggling youth, including 2 years as a counselor at an international school in Thailand, I can assure you that the education of your children depends more on what they get at home. Keep at it. 

Aloha,

Anoah

[VherryZevko]

Some teachers shouldn't be teachers at all. You need to have understanding for kids that have missed classes because of personal issues. My daughter had to suffer because her English teacher didn't care she was sick...
It was terrible, and we had to do homeschooling. I used 1st grade reading worksheets to make it easier for her. It was an excellent choice to start from the beginning. She managed to learn all the necessary things, and now her grade is better.
Her school is messed up, they never got adjusted to the COVID-19 system they had, and I am thinking about full-time homeschooling more and more every day.