Homeschooling a Child from China Overseas
If you are a parent planning a move to China, you may have already discovered the lack of education options for American children in China. Unless your child is fluent in Mandarin, you will likely not be able to enroll them in a Chinese public school. There are several options for international schools but they tend to be very expensive. You can expect to spend between $15,000 and $25,000 to enroll an American child in school in China.
Because of this many parents decide to homeschool their children while living overseas. At first, homeschooling a child may seem a bit scary. You may feel that your child will be missing out on something by not attending a regular school. While homeschooling a child definitely requires some huge adjustments, it actually has many benefits. A homeschooled child does not have to worry about a lot of things other children in school do. You don’t have to worry about them be bullied or having the everyday distractions, such as whether or not they are wearing the latest fashion trends.
One of the biggest questions when it comes to homeschooling a child overseas is where to find a good curriculum. There are many paid curriculum and homeschooling options available online and there are also many free options. One option is to use an accredited curriculum. With an accredited curriculum, the provider will keep track of the child’s progress for you. They will offer the full curriculum and progress reports for a fee. With an accredited curriculum, the transition back into public schools is seamless. Your child can re-enter American schools without any kind of placement testing. Be on the lookout when looking to purchase curriculum, however, that the curriculum is accredited and not just some of the courses. Some sites will advertise that their courses are accredited, but in fact the curriculum as a whole is not.
The other option for homeschooling a child overseas is to build your own curriculum. This method can be done absolutely free of charge. The only difference is that your child will be required to take placement tests when they re-enter the school system to make sure that they are where they need to be with their learning. To create your own curriculum, the first step is to find out the core knowledge standards for your child’s grade. Check with your child’s current school or search online to find out what your child should have learned by the end of 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and so on. Then build curriculum based around those standards.
There are several different ways of obtaining learning materials for homeschooling. Textbooks can be found online using sites like EBAY and Amazon. You can also search at your local used book store for old textbooks. Even if the book is several years outdated, the concepts will still be the same, especially for math subjects. The internet is also a great tool for learning from home. For example, if your child is learning about clouds in science, you can easily find tons of information online about clouds for them read. For worksheets and homework, there are lots of great materials at Education.com that can be printed out for free.
The most important tip for success in homeschooling overseas is just to give it plenty of time and effort. There is no reason your child cannot get the same education from home that they can get in the public school system.
