Does anyone teach their own children at home as an alternative to state schools?

[iancnx]

Formal schooling I acknowledge is essential for the social development of the child. Here in Thai, a Thai (half Brit) child needs to learn to read, write and speak Thai. This I understand totally.

Has anyone tried anything different outside of the box? Say 50% attendance at primary school, and 50% travel exposing the child to a different global experience in education and all done in English, and properly structured in the core subjects. Does the law permit you to teach at home or allow for extensive travel?

My son is 4 months .... Plenty of time yet, but I am already focussing on the total inadequacies of what the state offers. I live way out in the sticks so an International school is not an option.

[joeaverage]

homeschooling, god forbid, I can barely get any work done at home with her in school all day. but then i have options living in Bangkok, though i would much rather prefer to live on koh phangan.

Op you have 3 years to find a better location re schools, why not get on it?

you have to make compromises (sacrifices) where schooling is concerned, move or accept your fate

Edited June 28, 2013 by joeaverage

[MrRealDeal]

The 'Law" seems to allow 10 year old kids from Myanmar to work on construction sites I don't think it will mind homeschooling

[iancnx]

homeschooling, god forbid, I can barely get any work done at home with her in school all day. but then i have options living in Bangkok, though i would much rather prefer to live on koh phangan.

Op you have 3 years to find a better location re schools, why not get on it?

you have to make compromises (sacrifices) where schooling is concerned, move or accept your fate

Just built a house in the country. I believe for his first 10 years a rural setting will allow for a much richer childhood outdoors, learning about the countryside, growing fruits and veg, learning to fish, map reading, camping. Learning to take care of the dog, fitness, eating properly, mostly fresh air, and experience the incredibly hard life grandpa has growing rice and rearing pigs. 11 yrs and up we might seriously have to think about UK or elsewhere. I am really concentrating on Primary education in this post. Edited June 28, 2013 by iancnx

[iancnx]

The 'Law" seems to allow 10 year old kids from Myanmar to work on construction sites I don't think it will mind homeschooling

I get your point totally. But I need to be sure of what the law will tolerate. My wife tells me many Thai's adopt the homeschool system, but our worry is the lack of social development this might bring? Will a 50/50 solution be workable I wonder?

Edited June 28, 2013 by iancnx

[Scott]

I believe we have had other threads and homeschooling is permitted under the law. I am not 100% sure but someone should be along who knows. You might want to check Family and Children forum ( http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/96-family-and-children/ ) which may have more on this.

Best of luck.

Not sure about homeschooling, but we have some Urchins near where I live that getting the Noschooling option.

[zeichen]

Yes, homeschooling is a viable option if it is a registered curriculum. There are many that are religious but not all. You cannot just say that you are teaching at home, you need to demonstrate what you are teaching. If you are a good teacher and think that you have more to offer than schools in your area do it, but it is a commitment that you must take seriously. It is not as easy as go read your book and do your homework.

Yes, the most important part of student's education is the social development. The right community and circles are important. Personally, I would question a rural environment as the ideal place for a younger person. If you can also expose your children to culture, arts, science, and technology then ok, but if not more urban areas might be better. Also think about socialization, do you really want your kid to talk like a redneck? Where a kid goes to school and who his/her peers all will affect them forever.

My daughter studies in a Thai school and at home we take care of educational things that she is lacking in. Overall she is happy, has good friends, pleasant attitude and talks very proper and polite. She doesn't use any slang or improper words. Whereas our neighbor boy who is 1 year older and goes to a different school runs around being quite abrupt and rude. His mother is very polite and I know that he doesn't get any bad influences in our community so it is primarily from his school friends.

As being able to do 50/50 NO CHANCE. No school here is going to accommodate that.

Also as a side note, having a young child in daycare also exposes him/her to many different viruses, bacterias and germs in general. Which is actually good for them. If you isolate your child, and don't let them get exposed to germs it decreases their immune system later in life. I am not saying cough in your kids face, but that is one theory why kids put everything in their mouths.

[MrRealDeal]

The social part is only a problem with people who do it to isolate their kids from the evil world and the bad people and also teach their kids all that in the process in my opinion and the problem comes from the fact they are being taught at home because the rest of the world is not good enough to associate with ...... what else would happen to them if that's what they are taught ?

If you homeschool and also send them to things like dance class or music lessons perhaps a martial arts class or a few of the numerous kinds of classes for kids that are not related to an actual school so much, but are classes with other kids none the less and education it will fit your 50\50 idea and also keep their education at a higher level.

I think your overly concerned about the social part because the fact you are concerned at all is pretty much the opposite of what causes that problem,

Your solution is stuff like swimming lessons , youth group activities , simply sending him to the park to play with other kids , going to the mall where they have kids doing kid activities and letting him join in .... the people who have problems are the ones who don't any of that kind of stuff at all because they are teaching the kids that the world is so sub standard to them they should not be involved with them. It really has more to do with what they teach them about the word they don't see, than not seeing the world anyhow. Even kids in the countryside who don't see much of the world do not have the problem as long as they are not taught they are being homeschooled because the world is a bad place.

The answer to the question when asked should be something like ..... Well the regular school is just fine and I'm sure the people are nice and all, but I just think I can teach you better , not because they are bad or inferior just because we have a smaller class ..... or something that explains all that...... kids with problems are told .....Well kids today are all on drugs and misbehave and have no respect for others and hate God bla bla bla

I understand your concerns but keep them to yourself rather than make them known to your kids and it will help , a few white lies I know, but "he who tells all is a fool" is a good expression to remember in this situation.

Edited June 28, 2013 by MrRealDeal

[Suradit69]

"Does anyone teach their own children ..."

Hopefully those home schooling lessons in English will be taught by someone familiar with the language.

Students have subject/pronoun agreement errors for two main reasons. First, they fail to understand which indefinite pronouns are singular and which are plural. Or second, in an attempt to use inclusive language, students construct sentences where pronouns don't agree with their subjects. Unfortunately, many people believe "they" and "their" can be used as gender neutral singular pronouns. They can't, and people who do this are using incorrect grammar.

[MrRealDeal]

the concerns I was referring to were the poor schools

[MeMock]

As a few people have thank fully already mentioned "Formal schooling I acknowledge is essential for the social development of the child" is not true at all as there are so many things you can do to overcome that problem.

I swap between lives in Australia and rural Thailand and homeschool my three kids and it has been a real blessing. They learn so much and i get to spend so much time with them that we all end up winners. I follow no set curriculum but swap between many and am not registered to any particular county.

Homeschooling was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

[Angeledge777]

We all agree that the school system here is not appropriate for the childs. It is still all about money not not learning focused. Still, I would never doubt home schooling my kids for the reason that you mentionned, he is going to lose all the social development that he needs for his future.

The best thing for your child would be to put him in a school where they have the best teachers and where you can go anytime to check the quality of the class he receives without any warning. Most of the schools that are locked, where you can't be alone to check the classes and where they have huge bay windows to show their meat are like manufacture. Often, they beat the kids and do that unregistered because they know when a parent is there or not. They do not care about the quality of the education, they only care about their wallet.

Of course, the fact that you place them in a good school with good teachers doesn't guarantee the quality of the education. If you want so, you can take your child to an international school. Somebody I know send his kids to this school knowing they only delivers about 60% of the education and he takes care of the 40% at home. This said, his kids are the best students and they are a way before the rest of the students.

The problem is simple, no school wants to fail somebody who really fails not to lose this student and the money that comes with him. Also, the school plays a way too much with the kids instead of doing their primary target, which is to educate them. Of course, the parents are happy when they know that their child had fun at school.

Well, i don't know in which province you live, but I can suggest you this: send your son at school, but don't expect them to do the entire job. Be a good father and care about the education of your son. When he arrives home, teach him for an hour or 2 so. Like this, you are sure that he get his social development that he needs for the future and also, that he receive the best education he can get

[qdinthailand]

The wife and I are homeschooling her 12 y.o. She was concerned about his education (or lack thereof) in the 'affordable' private schools - here in Chiang Mai, Dara Academy and last year, The Vachiralai School.

I was also concerned, since his best grades the past 2 years were in English (B+), yet he could neither speak, read, talk, write or spell in English. Which made us question his other subjects.

There's an office of homeschooling (4th floor) in the government complex at Hwy 107 (why to Mae Rim) and Hwy 3029 - C.M. City Hall is located nearby. Bldg is same one where Thais go for passports (ground floor). We had to submit a proposal to this office, it got reviewed, we had to update, reviewed again, and we got 'accepted'. We had another proposal to use as a model to create our own. (It was in Thai, so I can't tell you what all it said).

My wife has a b.a. degree from Payap U., I have a B.S. degree from a 'Big Ten Conference' University in the U.S. Some sort of credentials in this regard is required. (They requested wife's diploma/transcripts as proof of degree).

Currently there are about 40 families in C.M. area doing the homeschool under this office (the C.M. area). There's other homeschool admin areas in the north, and they are trying to work out methodologies for screening and monitoring and appraising the kids learning.

As to his schooling; we just started back in March, at the end of his 6th grade at Vichiralai. We are learning and adjust a lot from when we first started. Everything is English. He reads and listens to stories or movies or even cartoons in English. He watches U-tube grammar lessons, reads stories online. We study math in English - which was very confusing for him, since he had no idea what " 6 times 7 equals?" when spoken. He did understand the formula "6 X 7 = ", but this is the trivial case. Explaining fractions - numerators, denominators, etc. - all new terminology to him. He's enrolled in an online math ed. site where he does problems - they score, keep track of his lessons, provides reports on how he did, how much time he spent on each thing. (good for when the officials come around at eval. time).

Some days I think I was crazy for consenting to doing this. I look on the calendar, and we are officially about 5 weeks into the school year. To me, I'm looking ahead with eager anticipation to summer vacation - only 8 more months!

[ppmacready]

My daughter is 50/50.

She was going to a private Thai school.

She was falling behind at school and put back a year.

She was becoming too Thai!

She could barely read or write English.

We follow the IXL course for maths.

For discipline and social skills she joined a martial arts class.

She has just spent 3 months surfing in Fillys.

She has caught up in all subjects and is now years ahead in English.

You will never regret home schooling when you see the results.

She socially ''fits in'' anywhere we go.

Now she will start to learn Yoga and meditation.

I hope she will get far better tools to deal with what life throws at her from these subjects for example, than Thai history.

She starts to learn wind surfing next week.

I do feel it is important to join in a group activity like a martial art or say dancing.

[Baerboxer]

As a few people have thank fully already mentioned "Formal schooling I acknowledge is essential for the social development of the child" is not true at all as there are so many things you can do to overcome that problem.

I swap between lives in Australia and rural Thailand and homeschool my three kids and it has been a real blessing. They learn so much and i get to spend so much time with them that we all end up winners. I follow no set curriculum but swap between many and am not registered to any particular county.

Homeschooling was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

There is a requirement in Thailand that people who homeschool their children are registered and have an approved curriculum and an appropriate qualification - see subsequent posts. You must have approval to do this, its the law.

What you are doing may seem fine, until your kids want to enter into higher education. Formal, accepted qulifications will be required. You could be creating issues for the future which will impede the educational options and choices of your children. I would check the legal and educational system requirements in Australia too.

You may be a great teacher and your kids may be really bright - but that's not the point. It's very difficult to buck the system these days and be accepted.

[asupeartea]

Lots of options for homeschooling. First YOU need a real commitment on your part to do it right, otherwise your cheating your kid of both an education and a social life/childhood. There are many places that sell whole or partial curriculums for all ages. In most countries there are also homeschooling networks so homeschoolers can get their kids together for socializing, sports, PE, joint field trips, just plain play, etc.

I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[asupeartea]

As a few people have thank fully already mentioned "Formal schooling I acknowledge is essential for the social development of the child" is not true at all as there are so many things you can do to overcome that problem.

 

I swap between lives in Australia and rural Thailand and homeschool my three kids and it has been a real blessing. They learn so much and i get to spend so much time with them that we all end up winners. I follow no set curriculum but swap between many and am not registered to any particular county.

 

Homeschooling was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

 

There is a requirement in Thailand that people who homeschool their children are registered and have an approved curriculum and an appropriate qualification - see subsequent posts. You must have approval to do this, its the law.

 

What you are doing may seem fine, until your kids want to enter into higher education. Formal, accepted qulifications will be required. You could be creating issues for the future which will impede the educational options and choices of your children. I would check the legal and educational system requirements in Australia too.

 

You may be a great teacher and your kids may be really bright - but that's not the point. It's very difficult to buck the system these days and be accepted.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

NOT TRUE! If you choose an excellent program, especially one with excellent curriculum, accreditation, support, networks, etc, your kids can get a better education as long as you've made the commitment. Research shows that homeschoolers often achieve at much higher levels. In fact, universities that are up on that research, the good ones, will look closely at the program you've done with your kids and if it's a good one might actually place your kid highly. Again, the biggest factor is your commitment.

[asupeartea]

I read about people who've done all kinds of things to get A great education for their kids. Some involve travel, others farms or explorations of cities or whole societies. Best explorations had parents developing all kinds of learning to pre-learning for the events and more tying it together afterwards, naturally in all subjects possibl . When tied into networks/groups of other dedicated homeschoolers, its a whole lot of learning and fun for everyone. I knew homeschoolers when I was in grad school and they told me that homeschooling was the greatest second childhood immersed in learning they, the parents, had ever had.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited June 28, 2013 by asupeartea

[rotary]

The wife and I are homeschooling her 12 y.o. She was concerned about his education (or lack thereof) in the 'affordable' private schools - here in Chiang Mai, Dara Academy and last year, The Vachiralai School.

I was also concerned, since his best grades the past 2 years were in English (B+), yet he could neither speak, read, talk, write or spell in English. Which made us question his other subjects.

There's an office of homeschooling (4th floor) in the government complex at Hwy 107 (why to Mae Rim) and Hwy 3029 - C.M. City Hall is located nearby. Bldg is same one where Thais go for passports (ground floor). We had to submit a proposal to this office, it got reviewed, we had to update, reviewed again, and we got 'accepted'. We had another proposal to use as a model to create our own. (It was in Thai, so I can't tell you what all it said).

My wife has a b.a. degree from Payap U., I have a B.S. degree from a 'Big Ten Conference' University in the U.S. Some sort of credentials in this regard is required. (They requested wife's diploma/transcripts as proof of degree).

Currently there are about 40 families in C.M. area doing the homeschool under this office (the C.M. area). There's other homeschool admin areas in the north, and they are trying to work out methodologies for screening and monitoring and appraising the kids learning.

As to his schooling; we just started back in March, at the end of his 6th grade at Vichiralai. We are learning and adjust a lot from when we first started. Everything is English. He reads and listens to stories or movies or even cartoons in English. He watches U-tube grammar lessons, reads stories online. We study math in English - which was very confusing for him, since he had no idea what " 6 times 7 equals?" when spoken. He did understand the formula "6 X 7 = ", but this is the trivial case. Explaining fractions - numerators, denominators, etc. - all new terminology to him. He's enrolled in an online math ed. site where he does problems - they score, keep track of his lessons, provides reports on how he did, how much time he spent on each thing. (good for when the officials come around at eval. time).

Some days I think I was crazy for consenting to doing this. I look on the calendar, and we are officially about 5 weeks into the school year. To me, I'm looking ahead with eager anticipation to summer vacation - only 8 more months!

Have a look at a web site called BRAINPOP. They have free online stuff but also I see have a paid Home School program all in English. My child goes to school in the middle east, English is the 1st language, Thai is a strong second, and Arabic is a weak third language. BRAINPOP is all English and the kid loves it.

[SNGLIFE]

The Homeschooling law has been on the books since 2004. BUT, you may find - as did I - that the local MoE staff have absolutely NO clue about it and even (alleged) calls by them to Bangkok to get information about it result in the same "No have. Thank you for coming." response. Very, very frustrating as I brought over all my degrees and such specifically for that purpose.

As for curriculum, the absolute best is

http://homeschool.calvertschool.org/

You get everything in a box each year. I mean EVERYTHING. Check them out. They are USA and internationally accredited which are BIG pluses for when your child goes off to University abroad. I will be using it exclusively for my son (now aged 3 - half Thai) next year.

I homeschooled my daughter (now aged 11 - full Thai) and she ranked bronze in the national english language competition and is the top student overall in her grade in our province, BUT I recently discovered although she can read anything at all, her comprehension is very low. Sort of like I can read Italian, but I have almost no idea what I am reading about. I am resolving that problem with english language comic books downloaded to her iPad. Although we put her into the public school system as required by law at age 7, we don't expect her to learn a dam_n thing there. In our mind, public school is just for social interaction. She still learns at home using www.time4learning.com (mostly just math modules now) 6-8 pm M-F and for as long as it takes on the weekends. Weekends could be a couple of hours or all day - depending on if she slacked M-F. When she is done her assigned learning, she does whatever she wants and gets whatever she wants.

This year, we are prepping my son for learning with things like lego building (imagination play), coloring books (pre-writing coordination), educational games galore on his iPad (great for puzzle, identification, and "destruction/reconstruction" play), Interactive and regular Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse on XBOX, Teletubbies on video, and other games he simply just likes for entertainment (Sonic, for example). We lack playmates for him in our village, which is a concern, but our daughter managed just fine. So, he'll have to make do with interaction at the playgrounds at the parks and places like Lotus, Central Plaza, or Big C. There is absolutely NO WAY I am going to leave my child with any daycare or pre-school center here in Thailand. The horror stories I have heard about put me off that notion long ago. If I cannot see him the whole time, fahgetaboutit.

I hope this info helps. Good luck!

Oh! Be sure to check out https://www.khanacademy.org

Edited June 28, 2013 by SNGLIFE

[MeMock]

As a few people have thank fully already mentioned "Formal schooling I acknowledge is essential for the social development of the child" is not true at all as there are so many things you can do to overcome that problem.

I swap between lives in Australia and rural Thailand and homeschool my three kids and it has been a real blessing. They learn so much and i get to spend so much time with them that we all end up winners. I follow no set curriculum but swap between many and am not registered to any particular county.

Homeschooling was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

There is a requirement in Thailand that people who homeschool their children are registered and have an approved curriculum and an appropriate qualification - see subsequent posts. You must have approval to do this, its the law.

What you are doing may seem fine, until your kids want to enter into higher education. Formal, accepted qulifications will be required. You could be creating issues for the future which will impede the educational options and choices of your children. I would check the legal and educational system requirements in Australia too.

You may be a great teacher and your kids may be really bright - but that's not the point. It's very difficult to buck the system these days and be accepted.

Thanks for your concern. As I only holiday in Thailand for 2 - 3 months at a time I do not need to register.

Here in Australia my kids are just now coming up to the age where they need to be registered but they aren't very strict about it. I will do it of course but no rush at this stage. Homeschooling is recognised throughout most western countries and I personally know homeschool kids who have been accepted into University and graduated no problems with that precious piece of paper. Anyway - besides that fact I do not actually intend to homeschool them all the time and in a few years when we move from the isolated part of Australia where we currently live, finding a small independent private school will be the number 1 thing on our list. They will simply slot into that school at the appropriate age level and continue on as 'normal'.

Edited June 28, 2013 by MeMock

[MeMock]

Lots of options for homeschooling. First YOU need a real commitment on your part to do it right, otherwise your cheating your kid of both an education and a social life/childhood. There are many places that sell whole or partial curriculums for all ages. In most countries there are also homeschooling networks so homeschoolers can get their kids together for socializing, sports, PE, joint field trips, just plain play, etc.

I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Why do so many people feel that homeschooling their kids means cheating them out of a social life/childhood? I know dozens of families who homeschool and without a doubt those kids are the most well adjusted, socially apt and wonderful kids that I know!

You wrote "I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts." He is on a forum and is asking real people who are doing just what he is thinking about which could perhaps make those of us experts.

Edited June 29, 2013 by MeMock

[asupeartea]

Lots of options for homeschooling. First YOU need a real commitment on your part to do it right, otherwise your cheating your kid of both an education and a social life/childhood. There are many places that sell whole or partial curriculums for all ages. In most countries there are also homeschooling networks so homeschoolers can get their kids together for socializing, sports, PE, joint field trips, just plain play, etc.

I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Why do so many people feel that homeschooling their kids means cheating them out of a social life/childhood? I know dozens of families who homeschool and without a doubt those kids are the most well adjusted, socially apt and wonderful kids that I know!

You wrote "I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts." He is on a forum and is asking real people who are doing just what he is thinking about which could perhaps make those of us experts.

I think homeschooling is SUPERIOR to bad public schooling, but NOT WITHOUT a parental COMMITMENT. It is not better if done poorly by uncommitted/unqualified parents. It's an 6+ hour a day job for either mom or dad.

Please READ CAREFULLY before you blast someone. The underlined bold sentence is the main idea. Perhaps you are suffering from a public school education. <just joking>

Comprehension (understanding) question:

What does the underlined bold statement mean?

A- What you said. Hint:

B- What I said. Hint:

Edited June 29, 2013 by asupeartea

[MeMock]

Blast someone? I am not the one shouting with the caps lock key!

You said "I'd suggest you get on some blogs and forums about it and find real experts" and I suggested that, that is exactly what he is doing here on Thai Visa. Pretty simple and non blasting like really.

As for you 'hint' this and 'hint' that I am sorry but I really have no idea what you are on about. It could well be my public schooling coming out in me though.

[timber]

Canada and Australia have a lot of parents doing home schooling, and there are a lot of websites.

The teaching if done properly at home is more efficient and the kids learn more. The only concern

is social, and the kids social learning and interaction with others may or may not suffer depending on

the parents.

[Scott]

Let's stay on the topic of the thread. You can agree or disagree but let's keep the remarks about other posters to a minimum.

I am a teacher and I would not home-school my kid. As someone said, it takes a real commitment and unless someone has the time and energy to do it, it's probably best to send your kids to the best school available and help/supplement them as needed.

One of the reasons that home-schooling gets such positive results is probably because of the high level of commitment among parents.

It is nice to have both options.

[iancnx]

Thank you to all contributors here, other than the pedantic and altogether unhelpful post 9. I have taken a long time looking at the links kindly provided and even longer considering the various arguments given. Much food for thought. Certainly the starting point is nursery and kindergarten home school, and very junior primary. Plenty of time to prepare for all of that. Our thoughts at the moment is to put him in to state primary school and get a full understanding of what the curriculum is, and then undertake frequent 'travel' throughout the year. My wife can cover the Thai learning based on the curriculum and I will do the rest home study. I suggest this is possible purely for the primary education until 10 yrs of age, then new decisions to be made, but he will have achieved the exam/diploma/attendance needed for the next step in the Thai system at age 11 yrs.

What none of us know is what will be the status of universities globally in 15 years time? Will they still exist in their current guise? 10 years ago the techies were bleating about full colour video on line to your mobile..... I thought they were barking mad! Given the rate of advancement in technology, goodness know where we will be in 15 years. If I can determine his first 10 years content at home (together with the Thai needed) then he has a chance of being ahead of the game certainly in Thailand.

Once again thanks to all.

[iancnx]

Just to reiterate my situation in relation to my above post. We live in a very very rural area. Nearest city with a central Mall or a primary school of any quality is 4 hrs drive away. My wife knows all the local headmasters of the few schools around and believes at the primary level they can be encouraged to be happy with our need for frequent 'travel'.

[MeMock]

Sounds like you have your head screwed on iancnx and your son I am sure will thank you for the excellent start he is about to get in life.