Homeschooling

Hi there.

I totally hear you regarding the fees being so damn expensive!

Have you thought of getting your kids into a homeschool institute? My nephew goes to one in Mont Kiara. Their based on the IGCSE syllabus. Maybe you should speak to them. PM me. I can give you the contact number for the concerned person to talk to. Maybe it will be of help.

Cheers.

Hi, Choosing homeschool for your kids is a good option. It is affordable and legal in Malaysia. So you don't have to worry about any approval from government. You can directly enroll in an online school program and your kids can start learning right after that. You don't have to worry about the course material as well, online schools provide the whole course material and they will suggest you if any of it is required to buy (for example: any novel or reference book). While choosing for a good homeschool always look if it is accredited or not. Like ' International Schooling' is accredited by Cognia which is US top accreditation organization. And at last you don't have to worry about promoting your kids to the next standard, the online schools are self paced and there are teachers available to help with any problem. Also, your kids can continue to study in an online school as they also provide high school diploma.

You may or may not be in the position to home school your kids yourself, but if you do then you will save even more money. Educating your children up until they are about 11 years old is easy and basically there are only three subjects: English, mathematics and Science. It is all basic stuff that you can easily teach yourself if you have the books.

The books your require will probably be the text book and work book for each of those subjects. And, at grade 1 to grade 5 or 6 you won't even need the teacher's book which is the most expensive books. Above grade 5 or 6 you may or may not prefer to teach them yourself but if you don't then of course follow some of the suggestions made above by the other posters like IGCSE syllabus. However, shop around a little as the prices offered for e-schooling vary considerably.

For ages 5 - 11, the Cambridge syllabus is an option. That is the one that our kids currently use. We've found that there are lots of different publishers selling books for Cambridge including Oxford, Collins, Hodders, Excel, Cambridge University Press etc. Some are better than others.

Just out of interest, in the UK there are between 50,000 and 100,000 people who home school their own children and it is rising by 80% each year, and, the majority of these children are taught by their own parents. Globally there are almost 5 million children educated at home.

Shill88 wrote:

For ages 5 - 11, the Cambridge syllabus is an option. That is the one that our kids currently use. We've found that there are lots of different publishers selling books for Cambridge including Oxford, Collins, Hodders, Excel, Cambridge University Press etc. Some are better than others.

Only Cambridge university press create and sell books for Cambridge, but other UK based publishers have books that cover roughly the same material.

safiyayeien wrote:

. While choosing for a good homeschool always look if it is accredited or not. Like ' International Schooling' is accredited by Cognia which is US top accreditation organization. .

I would recommend avoiding the US curriculum, even for US schools, as it's far to insular when you compare to the world view offered by the Singapore and UK versions.

The other publishers are are not simply publishing copies of the Cambridge University Press books under a different name. In fact, some of them are actually improving upon the Cambridge books. We've been using Cambridge books for the past few years and have not been very happy with them, so I contacted a friend of mine who was senior in Cambridge Assessment International and he has provided me with a lot of information such as the advantages and disadvantages of each of the other publishers and has actually recommended one of the other publishers. Which means that just because a publisher is the Cambridge University Press absolutely does not mean it has the best books for the Cambridge syllabus.

As for the US curriculum, I have no idea as I am not a US citizen. But I would guess that if you have an idea of which country your children will probably attend university then you should take that into account when making your decision.

Simply correcting your mistake.
You said they sell books for Cambridge, an error but, as I stated, other sell books that cover the same material.
Oxford have a rather nice primary maths set (Inspire) based on the My pals series, these considered by many to be the best in the world.

Shill88 wrote:

Just out of interest, in the UK there are between 50,000 and 100,000 people who home school their own children and it is rising by 80% each year, and, the majority of these children are taught by their own parents. Globally there are almost 5 million children educated at home.

Yes, but a large number of these are parents that are allowing their kids to skip school but avoid the normal fines, and kids that were close to being excluded so chose home schooling as a way to avoid that issue. It's also worth noting a large percentage return to mainstream schools when parents realise they can't cope.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/home-educatio … -it-fails/

safiyayeien wrote:

Hi, Choosing homeschool for your kids is a good option. It is affordable and legal in Malaysia.....

...International Schooling' is accredited by Cognia which is US top accreditation organization. .

There are many companies that deal with home schooling, but remember to factor in examination costs as well as the obvious tuition payments these places ask for.

I have yet to find a US English textbook I like. The things, unlike other countries' books, are far too US centred. I've just taken a good look at the grade 6 Journeys book, a publication I would find it very difficult to recommend to anyone, that including Americans. Education, in my humble opinion, has to fully rounded, so sticking to a view focused on one country is a very bad idea.

Safiyayeien, if you go for home learning, I recommend looking at the Singaporean and British systems.

Parents choose home schooling for a variety of reasons. These can include learning difficulties, lack of interest, bad teachers, bullying, cost of schooling, they can travel and teach, their children might be gifted or quick learners and find the pace of learning at school too slow, or they might not agree with the school or national curriculum. A parent has the right to teach basically what they want in home schooling. In the UK, the LEA has no right to interfere or even ask for assessments. However, in the USA regular assessments are required.

Home schooling is becoming more and more popular. People are getting fed up with paying ridiculously high school fees for international schools. I am not talking about those semi private ones that call themselves international schools but use local teachers, I am talking about the ones like the British International School, Garden international School, Mont Kiara International School and Alice Smith that employ native English speaking teachers or French teachers or whatever.

The percentage of home schooled children that attend university is higher than those who attend a traditional school.

And I disagree that home schooled kids are those who are close to being excluded. That's a ridiculous statement. You see, parents who want the best for their children often choose home schooling. This way, they can teach at the speed the feel keeps their children interested and can determine themselves what is best for their child.

The other thing is that for parents who teach their own children, should they be unable to cope, then they can easily switch to e-classes. The cost of having for example British teachers teaching your child online on a one to one basis is far less expensive than having to pay fees at an international school in Malaysia.

However, obviously everyone has their own opinion on home schooling. Certainly Expat.com consider the matter as important since they have introduced topics about it.

Shill88 wrote:

And I disagree that home schooled kids are those who are close to being excluded. That's a ridiculous statement. .

I suggest you pen a stiff letter to the educational publication that didn't say what you just claimed.

For elementary level children I would consider it quite important that the parents or parent are reasonably well educated and not working away from home so that they can really spend more time with their children and offer them the best education possible. For older children, many of them are mature enough to be able to work alone, but it's certainly good if one or both parents are around to help them when needed.

Naturally there are some negatives about home schooling. If your child is naughty and on the point of being expelled from school, in other words a naughty child, if you are working and don't have the time to monitor them, the cost of taking GCSE and A level exams and so on.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. But I believe the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. With the rising cost of international schools it is definitely worth exploring, particularly if your child's education is not covered by an expat package.

Does anyone have experience of online schools working towards IGCSEs?

I am considering it for my daughter in year 9 and would love some recommendations.

thank You