Home education for expats

Home schooling has become an increasingly popular option

Holland Park’s Tuition Manager and Lead Home Schooling Programmer, Chloe Godsell, writes of the increasing prevalence of flexible home schooling.

Home Schooling is becoming increasingly popular in the UK and around the world. With a number of flexible options, home schooling has come to be viewed as a practical educational solution to a variety of domestic situations. In the UK alone, for example, it is estimated that over 50,000 children enjoy home education to some extent, with that figure rising by 80% each year. However, the form that each programme of home schooling might take has begun to diversify, with short-term as well as long-term solutions becoming ever more popular.

Home Schooling has usually been considered as the major alternative to traditional schooling. A well-crafted programme of home schooling is legal in the UK and in most other countries, often merely requiring approval by the local education authority and, where appropriate, the school. The presence of committed education professionals, such as a private tutor or a team of tutors, will certainly maximise your chances of approval.

However, modern home schooling is not simply a fixed and permanent alternative to more traditional school education. For example, ‘Flexi Schooling’ has become a recent and popular trend in the UK. This involves a day or two of home schooling making up part of a traditional school week, again usually subject to agreement of the school and the local education authority.

Home Schooling can also be highly effective as a tool to aid educational transition – for example, when:

  • Moving between schools
  • Moving between school levels – nursery, pre-prep, prep, junior, senior, secondary or sixth form – or in advance of university
  • Moving between curricula (for example, from International Baccalaureate to English GCSEs or A-Levels)
  • Moving between countries
  • Moving between continents
  • The child is better than an independent learner
  • The child has special education needs (SEN) best catered for outside of the classroom

A flexible and comprehensive programme of home schooling can ensure that your child’s transition from one educational system to another is as smooth as possible, providing minimal educational disruption.

There are clear benefits to home schooling – and, indeed, private tuition – compared to teaching in the classroom environment. For example, the individual focus upon the child ensures that their specific concerns are addressed and targeted immediately with tailored courses of tuition. For certain children, being in an atmosphere that is comfortable, familiar and secure can allow them to forge a bond of trust with the private tutor or tutors, therefore making rapid and uninhibited progress.

Whether a child is moving between schools, moving educational curricula or relocating, a flexible and bespoke programme of home schooling places maximum focus upon the educational needs of the child, encouraging them to develop in a swift, confident and happy manner.

Sponsored article by Holland Park Tuition and Education Consultants

Holland Park Tuition logo

Chloe Godsell is Tuition Manager and Lead Home Schooling Programmer at Holland Park Tuition & Education Consultants. From offices in London and Dubai, Holland Park recommend carefully planned, complete and bespoke programmes of home schooling for a month, two months, six months, year or a number of years, anywhere around the world.

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  1. Thanks for this very interesting article. We are currently in the Philippines, and I feel that the school system is too “slow” for my 4 y.o.: she is a fast learner and very easily bored. The teachers always want her to wait for her schoolmates, while she always finishes her exercises first. So we are going to “Flexi schooling”: one week at school so she can socialize and participate to all the field visits. The other at home where I’ll teach her at her speed and focus on her abilities and wishes.
    Now, my question: where do you find good online methods? I am looking for International schooling for kids of 5 y.o. For now, we are doing the same program as she does at school, but I want to expand her horizons.

    Any tip, advice, comment.. super welcome 🙂

    1. That must be frustrating for you both.
      I’m afraid I don’t personally know much about home schooling but a quick google should find you some resources. I found this Facebook page that may be interesting to you

  2. We homeschool part-time. What does this mean? Well, our soon to be 3rd grader attends the nearby Japanese Public School Monday – Friday. There are nearby international schools but they are VERY expensive and while we could pay the tuition we would have no cash leftover to enjoy our time in Japan and Asia in general. Our daughter began Japanese public school in August and is learning the system and the language via full immersion and some support we are funding: Kumon twice a week and tutor who comes to the house twice a week (as we don’t speak Japanese). The school also requested that she attend a Saturday class for two hours run by volunteer teachers, that class is free. All 3 of us in our family also take a Japanese class at our church also on Saturdays. What is the homeschooling part? Well, our Catholic Church has a religious education program but it is only once a month so we teach her a bit more religious education with books from Loyola Press I got at our parish back in the U.S. We also have our daughter work on English composition and handwriting (journal writing mostly), world history, and geography also in English about 3 times a week. We use the Common Core Alexandria Plan for the world history. She is an advance English reader so in addition to reading Japanese every night we also read in English. Next year we may begin to talk more about English grammar but right now I think all her reading is doing a good job. When we return to America in 2 to 3 years it is our hope she will return to her school and will be right where she is suppose to be or even advance (she was in a gifted math program in Grade 1 in the U.S.). Also, if for some reason we decided Japanese Public school is no longer worker we can easily add more home school elements. I don’t work, rather I just volunteer and will be teaching a summer school class this year so my time is available. I think she has the best of both worlds!

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