Homeschooling your child?

[2ppaamm]

mycrysania:

Hi 2ppaamm,


You mentioned that you are working full time. Just want to check that when you made the application to MOE for the exemption, were you already working full time then? I run my own business, and I do have flexible working hours. Hence, would like to access if MOE has a problem if I am not a SAHM if I would like to apply to home-school my children.

Thanks for your clarification, would be also appreciate any feedback/input from others who know of MOE's stance on this. Thanks!

Hi,

Yes, I was already working full-time at that time. I had no problem getting an approval for her to homeschool, during the primary and secondary phases.

[beanbear]

2ppaamm:

beanbear:

Can anyone advise if a parent needs to seek exemption if a child is homeschooled from secondary level onwards? If a child attends primary school regularly then at secondary school, opts for homeschool, must we tell MOE?


What options are available in terms of syllabus for Secondary level? If I want my child to still have option to attend Singapore polytechnics or university, must we still work towards sitting for the \"O\" Levels & \"A\" Levels exams here?

Beanbear,
I homeschooled my daughter when she was in secondary school. She was already in a sec school. When we decided to homeschool, we just informed the school and took her out. Quite unlike Primary school when you have to fill out quite a few form and inform the school of the syllabus.

To get into Poly, you must finish GCE O levels, iGCSE or GCSE, or use IB. To get into Singapore university, you can choose from 'A' levels, IB, US Diploma. For universities, different faculties will have different criteria. And yes, you can homeschool your child and get him/her prepared for any university course, including medicine, law and engineering, the more 'heavy' courses. You just need to provide the right facilities at home.

Hope this helps.

Thanks 2ppaamm. What curriculum resources did you use for your Secondary school child? What do you consider to be adequate \"facilities\"? If I decide to get my daughter to do SAT instead, what online resources would you recommend?

DH & I were exploring this question about our DD. Her ADD and dyspraxia makes her seem so inadequate in the Singapore's harsh system. Yet, there are many moments, we both could see how smart, creative & entrepreneurial she is. I can't help but feel that if I don't explore a different path for her, I as her parent am creating a path of slow & sure death for her in this current system; one that diminishes her natural gifts. Yet, we both feel she needs some basic qualifications, but is \"O\" levels basic enough? Are there alternative \"basic\" educational qualifications?

I've been on this traditional pathway that I'm quite blur about the different educational pathways. I'm hoping someone could shed some light especially parents who are familiar with education systems elsewhere.

[metz]

Hi beanbear,


If you are looking for info on homeschooling at secondary school level, you may want to try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teenhomeschoolsg/. This is a Sg homeschooling group for parents with teens. Perhaps they can share more with you on the alternative schooling possibilities.

[wittlewabbit]

Dear all,


I am seriously considering to homeschool my son for his K2… I have been always avidly teaching him at home and he seems to learn more from me than the school. The sole purpose to send him to school is just to socialize with the children but the cost is so high. … and it’s only 3 hours. They really don’t do much except to do a lot of singing-- the academic part, is not enough…

I am considering taking this bold step, but am worried about his emotional well being. What do i tell him if i were to stop school half way? But do take note that even up to k1, he still cries at times when i send him to school because he wants to be with me. I am in quite a struggle now, my heart says to homeschool, but i am afraid that i may not have considered any disadvantages in doing that.

Can anyone advise? ps- I am only considering homeschooling till primary 1.

I have been an ex MOE teacher and thus teaching is my cup of tea.

[SAHM Chew]

Hi,


My Ds3 is GDD and is 6 years old this year, currently attending k2 mainstream.

I am thinking of homeschooling him in p1 as he is delayed in speech, language and even motor skills. The delay for all is estimated to be around a year.

The PD, speech therapist and occupational therapist recommend that he repeat his k2 to catch up with the demands in p1.

I would like to know how to we submit to moe for homeschooling?

Thanks

[beanbear]

SAHM Chew,


There is a Compulsory Education Branch in MOE. Look up the contact in Singapore Government Directory and and you can contact any of the officers there.

I didn’t put my kids for homeschooling in primary school but I’ve friends who have applied and they tell me that the MOE inspectors will come to your home to inspect and interview you on how you will be homeschooling your child before they approve.

[sembgal]

wittlewabbit:

Dear all,


I am seriously considering to homeschool my son for his K2.. I have been always avidly teaching him at home and he seems to learn more from me than the school. The sole purpose to send him to school is just to socialize with the children but the cost is so high. .. and it's only 3 hours. They really don't do much except to do a lot of singing-- the academic part, is not enough...

I am considering taking this bold step, but am worried about his emotional well being. What do i tell him if i were to stop school half way? But do take note that even up to k1, he still cries at times when i send him to school because he wants to be with me. I am in quite a struggle now, my heart says to homeschool, but i am afraid that i may not have considered any disadvantages in doing that.

Can anyone advise? ps- I am only considering homeschooling till primary 1.

I have been an ex MOE teacher and thus teaching is my cup of tea.

Hi, hope this post doesn't come too late for you. Your child will miss out developing on his Social & Emotional aspects with his peers in a school environment. At P1 level, the children have to learn to make new friends, stand up against bullies, follow verbal instructions etc.

You can consider After-School Home Schooling. That means you still send your child to a regular classroom setting to learn together with peers. At the same time, engage with mind-stimulating activities with your child after school. You are an ex-teacher so you should be good with coming up designing learning plans for your child. Just my two cents worth.

[RobertJordan]

Middle school sucks everywhere – Marshfield, Wellesley, Paris, London, etc. It’s the age.


Do not take your child out of school because you want them to avoid it (are you trying to avoid what you may have gone through?). I don’t know ANYBODY that enjoyed middle school (junior high in my time – and the exception was Paul Reale, my English teacher and my forever hero).

As far as thinking your child is special, we all have special children. Don’t kid yourself. A smart kid is a smart kid, and will do just as well in school – better – than home looking at a computer screen. Socialization is so much more important than getting three grade levels beyond.

[debra123]

I would like to say people don’t choose homeschool always to protect their child or because they are Helicopter parents. Some choose to do so because they can’t afford to send the kids to private school. They may want their children to have God in the middle of their lives. Some people don’t want their boys forced into the female model designed for public schools which they teach to. Sit down, be still, don’t move, stop squirming and listen to me. Public schools teach to only one style. So those that don’t learn well will staring at the teacher ramble on get in trouble for looking around or moving even their fingers. There arer students that are way ahead of the class and over repeating the same information for days on end when they got the concept on day 1. Homeschooling allows you to teach to that specific child, if they rock in math you can move them up, if they need more help in reading they can work their way though it.


I have a friend that has a brilliant daughter, she speaks, reads and writes 3 different languages (English, Finish & Spanish) She is in 2nd grade and because 3 of her classmates have learning disabilities she doesn’t get to move forward with her education. She has to sit there and wait. She is in 2nd grade and reading at a 5th grade level. They gave her a reading assignment to a 7 year old on the political issues with communism in China…REALLY? The mother said no and researched books that would be more age appropriate with the same vocabulary level and the school said no if she is not reading what the 10 year olds (who might not need this info either) in the school are forced to read then she wont get credit for any of her reading.

So don’t please don’t stereo type, homeschoolers to be weird. BTW Socialization in is school is not allowed. They have a whole whopping 30 min recess which includes standing in line waiting for everybody to act like drones and walk outside, play, but only play what the district has deemed okay and politically correct, to then line up stand still march back in the building, stand in line more no talking or socializing go wash your hands 1 or 2 at a time, then march in get your lunch, find a seat, eat in 16 mins, clean up, line back up, don’t talk, don’t look around, just march. So add all that time up they might get to play for 22 mins in a 7 hour and 15 min day. THEY AREN’T ALLOWED TO BE KIDS!!

With homeschooling you meet up with other kids and parents their age, go to the park, zoo, museum, each others homes the world is your playground and you let the kids be kids.

[CongYouBing]

Just thought people might find this interesting... Possibly the most common reason people feel homeschooling is not ideal is because they think the homeschooled child will not have a chance to develop social skills. Just reading through this thread shows this.


This page here (http://www.nheri.org/research/research- ... oling.html) summarises a lot of data, citing lots of studies, but I'll do an overview. A caveat, though, is that this is for studies on Americans, not Singaporeans, but the results should still be comparable to the local situation, or at least relevant.

Homeschooled students, when put through psychological tests, actually show themselves to have better social skills than their traditionally-schooled peers. One theory as to why this is so is that at school, children learn social skills from children (i.e. they learn from people who don't have well-developed social skills). Homeschooled children learn more of their social skills from adults (i.e. people with better social skills, who are preferrable to learn from). The papers cited ta the bottom of the linked site include a study that shows that homeschooled children were also found to have a similar number of friends in their own age group as traditionally-schooled children, but a higher number of *close* friends.

As a group, they also tend to do significantly better academically than others, are more active in the community as adults, and so on. This is all mentioned on the page and backed up by studies and data.

Obviously, this is only on average. There will be some above and some below average, naturally, but in general, they are quite well-off, socially speaking.

Perhaps I've opened a can of worms here, but I'd like to hear someone who says that homeschooling prevents/hinders children having friends and/or social skills actually back it up with a study or some statistically significant data for once...