Homeschooling expats

[Landlocked]

Hi. We are relocating from the states this summer and are looking into school options. We have 3 kids ages 10, 8, and 6 and have a list of International Schools that we will look into during our visit next month. Having said that, the package we were offered is good, but three kids in International School may be more than we can swing financially. I was wondering if there are any homeschooling expats out there. I have also posted on the yahoo boards for Singapore homeschoolers, but would love any advice or information on groups, co-ops that you may know of in Singapore. We have also considered local schools but I worry about getting all three of them into the same school.

Many thanks for a reply.

[hongkongphoeys]

Hi Landlocked,

We relocated to Singapore in 2010 from Hong Kong and prior to that Chicago. My 2 sons (ages 5 and 8 but will be 6 and 9 at the start of the school year) went to an International School (not going to mention which one). I was quite unhappy with the education they received compared to the fees we incurred. I have been homeschooling since last year. I have been quite happy with their progress and I do not blame you for wanting to homeschool. Feel free to send me an PM if you have any questions. Best of luck on the move!

[HappyMom!]

Hi Hongkongphoeys!

I also have 2 kids studying in an International School. They are both in Elementary grades. I wouldn't say the education is not good, it is in some aspects, but with the fees we 're paying, I want to explore our options. Getting them in a local school is quite difficult, so I'm considering homeschooling them. I just don't know how to start and if it will work for them but I want to give it a try. Any tips on getting started?

[Chantikki]

I home school and find books from all over the place.

For maths I have used the Australia RIC blackline masters books.
Also the American teaching textbooks. My kids complained they were too easy so this year we started Singapore maths.
Study ladder.com.au has mental maths problems spelling tests and lots of online lessons. There's also khan academy with great interactive maths lessons online.

Although we are not Christian Sonlight has great resources. Look at their website, you can even just order the books. I bought several cores from them and threw away only 2 or 3 books that didn't fit with our science thought (new earth creation) the rest are secular normal books.

For grammar/literacy. We use study ladder. I also have some RIC Australia books on society and environment and literacy. This year I will try nitty gritty grammar.

For History I found a great book called the human odyssey by K-12 academy. I supplemented with sonlight books from their world history core.

The a online schools like K-12 academy that will do online classes with teacher, online courses where you are the teacher, and I just bought their book off amazon.

It's not hard to home school. Hopefully you can google some of those books and start getting some ideas. Usbourne books are also great for science.

You can buy a lot of books and subscribe to a few websites for the price of an International School! Even the local schools now cost a few $$

[HappyMom!]

Thanks for the great tips Chantikki! I browsed some sites on Homeschooling curiculum package and I'm amazed at how broad the choices are. Thought I'm just limited to K-12. I've been introducing the idea of homeschooling to my kids and they're open to it. Being the case, I should plan everything now so we'll be ready for it by next school year.

[Chantikki]

Hi HappyMom

Another great series for upper primary ages is The Story of Science by Joy Hakim. Good luck with your research. If you find any interesting books, let us know!