How to start homeschooling in midterm?

[Monomial 682]

So I have looked through every thread I can find on this forum, and still have not found any English language information which explains specifically how a parent interested in moving their children into homeschool can go about registering.

 

Here is the status: I am paying a lot of money to send my children to a private school in northern Bangkok, mostly because I thought the brand would indicate some level of commitment by the school to make sure the students learned. My twins are now in 4th grade, and I am quite simply appalled at how little they are learning and the lack of response by the school. They recently scored (both of them) 1 out of 10 on their midterm exams in Math. They are currently on mid term break, due to go back next week, and I no longer feel it is cost effective to send them. I checked out a few other schools in the area, but was told it was too late to move them this year and I should come back in January.

 

I can understand this, but I also do not want to pay the existing school any longer. For the amount of money I am paying, and the 2 hours a day I spend driving them to and from school, I feel I can do much better by homeschooling them.  The question is, how do I actually register for this?  My wife is Thai, doesn't like conflict, feels like she is losing face with the school by pulling them out, and instead wanted me to go beg and plead with another school to take them so she could tell the existing school that they were "transferring". This is something that from experience I know she will get over in a few weeks, but I also know that when she gets in these moods she is going to be of no help whatsoever. I am completely on my own to resolve this.

 

So can anyone advise me on how a farang, who speaks marketplace Thai but certainly can't have a meaningful conversation with a government official, find out how to get a child registered for homeschooling for a term that begins next week? I am located in the Rangsit area of Bangkok.

 

And if anyone knows a Thai who could explain to my wife the advantages of homeschooling and help to persuade her this isn't something she should be ashamed of, I would appreciate that as well.

 

Recommendations and advice are appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

[Monomial 682]

OK. So through research I understand I need to visit the Primary Education Service Office, and they will require several documents, the only one of which seems to be unclear is a curriculum. Does anyone have an example of an approved curriculum for a 4th grader?

 

Thanks again for any help.

 

[otherstuff1957 2,706]

This is a link to an English version of the Thai MOE curriculum.  Beginning on page 48 you will see the knowledge and skills (Strands, Standards and Indicators) that a student should have learned for each grade and each subject.

 

To make a curriculum you need to list the Strands, Standards and Indicators for the 4th grade and then make a detailed plan showing how you will teach your kids these.  You should include the materials you will use and a plan of lessons for each subject, along with your planned assessment.

 

http://act.ac.th/document/1741.pdf

 

Good luck!

[Monomial 682]

So this has been an incredibly frustrating experience so far.  There are 2 primary educational service offices in my province. I went to the closer one this morning to try and get information. Everything started very well, they were trying to tell me all the information I needed to have and they recommended I get everything done by Friday because the term was about to start. I thought things were going OK until we got to my address. Turns out that I am 2km outside their boundary. I needed to apply at the other office. So I started on the trek across the province to the far office, thinking that at least now I would make some progress.

 

Unfortunately, the people at the other khet were rude, arrogant, and totally unhelpful. They basically told me it was impossible as it was "too late" and it was my fault for not knowing their rules about when I should have submitted the paperwork. I tried being polite and asking if there was anything they could do, but the obnoxious attitude was just overwhelming and eventually I had to leave or I was not going to be able to maintain my composure and calm demeanor. So I left with nothing, and no plan on how to move forward.

 

Isn't education in Thailand a fundamental right? Can the educational service office really tell me that I am not allowed to educate my children this term because I didn't submit their forms a month in advance? Shouldn't I be allowed to change schools anytime I want? What if I had to move mid term? Are they really saying that everytime a child moves midterm that they are denied education?

 

This is incredibly frustrating. I kept hearing about how easy and accomodating Thailand was for homeschooling. I can tell everyone that so far, my experience has been that it is next to impossible to homeschool your kids in this country.

 

Can anyone suggest a next step for me?  I am certainly not paying to send my children back to the private school. And I am not going to allow them to sit out a term simply because the Thai government is refusing to allow them to register. I am going to teach them anyway. Does anyone know what will happen next term when I try to enroll them for homeschooling for 5th grade, and they were never allowed to sit the exams for the final term of 4th grade? 

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there any higher authority I can appeal to?

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo 23,951]

Why not just send them to the local Amphur school closest to your house.

The education won't be any worse, and you'll save a packet of money as well as 2 hours travelling time.

 

Can't help thinking most of your problems are self created by you being too 'wordy'.

Edited October 28 by BritManToo

[Monomial 682]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why not just send them to the local Amphur school closest to your house.

The education won't be any worse, and you'll save a packet of money as well as 2 hours travelling time.

 

Can't help thinking most of your problems are self created by you being too 'wordy'.

 

Because I need to teach them.  They won't learn at a temple school.  They aren't learning at an expensive private school.

 

[BritManToo 23,951]

2 hours ago, Monomial said:

Because I need to teach them.  They won't learn at a temple school.  They aren't learning at an expensive private school.

My daughter went to a village primary school until 11 (no electricity), then a temple primary school (Doi Saket), then a government high-school (Mae Rim), she's top of her class in everything at University. Our kids speaking two languages is all the advantage they need.

Edited October 28 by BritManToo

[Monomial 682]

My children got 1 out of 10 on their math midterm. They obviously need more advatages. They are at the bottom of their class in everything except for English. Every child is different. I need to take action now. I know they aren't stupid because they learn it when I explain it to them. But they can't seem to learn from anyone else.

 

Hence, my desire to homeschool them. I was not expecting it to be so difficult to register them, given that the government is supposed to support this option.

 

 

[jany123 1,011]

It appears that with ten hours a week locked in a car with the kids traveling to and from school, plus daddy directed home work standards when at home, and your still unable to assist your own beyond a 1 out of 10 in math.... what on earth makes you think your qualified to do home schooling, or that it would be better?

[jastheace 547]

1 hour ago, Monomial said:

My children got 1 out of 10 on their math midterm. They obviously need more advatages. They are at the bottom of their class in everything except for English. Every child is different. I need to take action now. I know they aren't stupid because they learn it when I explain it to them. But they can't seem to learn from anyone else.

 

Hence, my desire to homeschool them. I was not expecting it to be so difficult to register them, given that the government is supposed to support this option.

 

 

book them in a local school as soon as you can (there are good / bad amphur schools also, do some research) they won't do worse (? 1 out of 10 ?) use an hour a day to go through work with them, esp math. u save an hour on the commute each day. plenty of free online tools, eg BBC Bitesize (math is same in any language on paper), and maybe pay for some private tuition a couple hours a week for the thai side of things.

I think with this in place, you will notice an improvement within a few months. talk over with the wife. I hope she will agree.

you mention they learn when you explain it to them, that's the key IMO. 

PS. home schooling is not for the feint hearted.

there is verbal reasoning in math, that's where the private tuition comes in btw

Edited October 28 by jastheace
post script added

[BritManToo 23,951]

14 hours ago, jastheace said:

plenty of free online tools, eg BBC Bitesize (math is same in any language on paper), and maybe pay for some private tuition a couple hours a week for the thai side of things.

You did note these are primary school children.

Apart from counting to 100, I didn't even start math until high school (and still managed a degree).

Too many pushy parents, IMHO primary school is mainly for fun and learning the basics of reading and writing.

Edited October 29 by BritManToo

[BobbyL 3,087]

In my opinion (being a qualified teacher from the UK), home schooling has very little benefit. If you don't know what you're meant to be teaching them then it is a worry. You can't just blag your way through something like that. 

 

By not going to school they also miss out on some very important social skills that you do not learn at home, as well as any extra curricular stuff that is offered. 

 

[DavisH 3,073]

Why are the children only doing well in English. Is this a regular Thai private school? Do they learn all their other subjects in Thai? Thai schools and their teachers often teach well beyond the basic curriculum (Thai teacher syndrome, I call it). Many of the kids struggle, even those of average ability. They end up taking extra classes to keep up. If I was the OP, I would be looking closer are why the kids are not performing well - Talk to their teachers, for a start. After that, it may be that they need some extra tuition after school. 

The Thai curriculum is vague at best; there is no detailed curriculum as one would find in A-level documents. 

I would avoid homeschooling unless the OP is a qualified teacher and can teach multiple subjects. The kids also need to learn Thai language/buddhism/social (in Thai). I think that is a non-starter. 

 

[BJTM 4]

I started my half Thai son in the Thai Catholic system, moved to a private EP school and then finally to an international school. We were very dissatisfied with all of them and eventually out of desperation I decided to homeschool. Didn't register him with the Thai authorities and am following the same curriculum as the international schools with a view to putting him back into international school for IGSCE after he's done KS3. 

 

To my surprise homeschooling has been easier than I thought. It's been a year already and he is making much better progress than he was at school (which wouldn't be hard as he wasn't learning anything there). I respectfully disagree with other posters who advise against it. There are loads of resources online and you can't beat one on one instruction. You've just got to do better than what he can get at the schools and to me that's not difficult as the bar has been set so low.

 

 

 

 

[justin case 1,328]

best investment = go back to your home country = FREE EDUCATION, HEALTCARE, SOCIAL SECURITY, CHILD ALLOWANCE