Thank you all for your replies. They have made me feel much better about our situation. A couple of posters have pointed out that the kids will feel weird if I feel weird about this. Definitely something to think about. Now that I have started with home educating I feel quite confident that this is the right thing for our family and the thought of sending them to school is, well, weird. I can't imagine that at this moment. I have learned a lot over the last year by reading about home ed and the classical curriculum, and already see positive results with what little I have done. I talk about this decision with other moms in a relaxed way, and some people have responded in a very positive way and want to talk about this topic in more detail. So basically, all is well. I think my main concern is that the children have friends. I will have to put a bit more effort into it in terms of organising playdates, but that's ok. It is worth it. I'm going to be away from the internet over the weekend so won't be able to respond in case there are other replies, but I look forward to reading them all once I am back. Thanks again!

Hi everyone! I would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if you have been in the same boat. My husband and I live abroad - we are European expats in Malaysia. We plan to stay in Asia for longer, and will probably move to a different country in a year or so. I started home educating a couple of months ago and so far things are going well. I don't know other homeschoolers, and there is not much info about local homeschooling groups. It is an option here, but not a popular one. All expats send their kids to international schools. Our family is completely alone in this and I only have the internet to get information and to connect with other homeschoolers. My children are still young (5 and 3) and not yet aware that our family does education differently, but I fear that they will soon become aware of this and feel weird about it. They have friends they see once a week or so for playdates at home, they do sports activities once a week, and I send them to a playgroup one afternoon a week. I feel this is enough for them for now in terms of activities outside the home, and they are definitely not isolated. Has anyone here embarked upon this adventure without a community of other home educating families? Do you think that having such a community is crucial? Any thoughts and encouragement are very much appreciated.

I have found colouring pages that follow the Jesse Tree sequence and the children are enjoying them a lot.

Since I'm on a classical forum I wanted something Latin. And "Aurora" is also the name of an Italian song I love, which my husband and I chose for our first dance at our wedding.

I feel the same way, and am glad that many here had the same approach. I think that nursery has been great for my children. I am also much better with them now that they are older (3 and 4), while dealing with very young kids left me constantly stressed and tired. I must admit I am glad that phase is over, and look forward to spending quality time with them as they get older. The thought of teaching them academic subjects is really exciting.

Thanks for the explanation. The whole PreK, K and preschool terminology got me very confused. It helps to know what it all means since I will order some books from the USA, and want to make sure I get the right thing. Is K compulsory now or can parents choose to send children to school starting grade 1 at the age of 6?

Praying for you.

I'm originally from Croatia, but we are not likely to settle down there. Home education is illegal there but a proposal to change the law has been put forward. We are not likely to settle down there so this isn't an issue except that friends and family will probably think I'm nuts and ruining the kids. However, our education system is still based on the classical model in a number of ways, so I would be happy to send the kids to school there if we did decide to move. We currently live in Malaysia where it is legal but not common. Foreigners can get away with a lot more than locals, so I am not concerned. We are probably going to move sometime next year, which is before the kids start school anyway. The question is where we will go next and what the law is there. All big unknowns for the time being. I agree about the Urban Dictionary. A ridiculous, offensive entry that has nothing to do with reality. I only have a few posts but have read through a number of threads and people are really nice and helpful. Sure, there are disagreements - it's only natural - but I haven't yet seen ugly fighting. The Urban Dictionary on the other hand, is overflowing with nasty language and hatred. I guess this unorthodox way must be very threatening to some people.

Thank you for this. I am very familiar with American culture, having spent some time there myself, by having American friends over the years, and by regularly interacting on a few internet forums and blogs. I understand the mentality and 'speak the language'. But yes, my culture is very different. I'm from South East Europe, where people are eager to tell you exactly what they think about your life choices and to argue with you over things that have nothing to do with them :huh: It can be exhausting. I faced an insane amount of criticism when I did a few things that were not the norm by their standards, such as doing a PhD instead of pursuing a career, or for leaving Europe to explore the big wide world for a bit. Home education is just so out there that it will be an official sign that I have finally lost my mind LOL I think that if we do this I will have to play the moving abroad card and not go into details. My husband is Scottish, as I stated earlier, and in that culture people are very polite and much more reserved. Thank God. The family will think we are nuts, will express concern but will be polite about it. If they want to discuss it in more depth, they will talk to him and be super nice to me. A great arrangement as far as I'm concerned because they are the last people I want to get confrontational with. But regardless of all these cultural differences all of the advice so far has been very valuable. Thank you everyone.

Scotland. My husband is Scottish, I lived there for a long time and we will eventually go back. If you don't mind going into a bit more detail, how did people there react? How common is it to homeschool? I have no idea what to expect because this question was not on my radar while we still lived there. (We moved to Asia 2 and a half years ago, and the kids were still very young.)

I kept nodding while reading this. It will be a great temptation for me to not go into the modern philosophies of education, since that is my primary reason for wanting to do this. I must learn to keep my mouth shut about that and talk about the positive reasons for the decision, as you say. I very much doubt there are homeschooling groups where I currently live, but I will try and find some info. I think I will have to rely on forums such as this one and other internet sources for information and support.

Thank you all for replying to my post. It is good to hear about your experiences and what to expect. I am relieved that nobody so far has been shouted at or had the cops knock on the door. I've read a few scary stories, so it is good to hear about real life experience here. I think that keeping it vague for now sounds like the thing to do. And I will use our moving to different countries as the primary reason when explaining. I might have to give a more honest explanation to my mother, but that's ok. She is a recently retired high school teacher of maths and physics and she doesn't idealise the public school setting. On the other hand, homeschooling is illegal in our country (I'm pretty certain) so it is probable that she doesn't even realise this is possible elsewhere in the world.

So true! I have much less fear over the question of educating children since homeschooling is now a very serious option. I feel more free to make the right choice, rather than just go with the least of unsatisfactory options.

Didn't know that :confused1:

Great. Thanks very much for the explanation :thumbup1: