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:

Thank you for your reply. We live abroad and expect to move to a new country sometime next year. No idea for how long, maybe for a year or two, or longer. So using that as a reason could work for us as well. I will probably keep it vague with other mums on the playdate circuit since they would probably feel judged for my rejection of their choices. We live in an expat bubble and people tend to share a certain worldview, and schooling is the topic of most conversations right now. I've been quiet lately because I don't want to come across as snobby or weird. But I mostly fear what family members will say.

Dear all, I am new to this forum and new to the homeschooling idea. I have 2 children, ages 4 and almost 3. They currently attend pre-school. My husband and I have been seriously considering homeschooling so the children can get a classical education. For us the emphasis is on classical education, rather than homeschooling. To be very honest, I would happily send the children to a nice classical school, but that is not available. I NEVER in a million years thought I would be educating my children myself, but life is full of surprises. I have never met anyone who has been homeschooled, or who is homeschooling their children. (I'm pretty certain it is forbidden in my country of origin.) My only source of information is the internet. Since the older child is only 4 we still have about a year and a half until he would be ready for 'real' school work, ie something more structured. If we were to do this, I would start homeschooling him then. I am still at the research stage, learning about the classical method, familiarising myself with different publishers and curricula, etc. My husband and I haven't told anyone about this yet. But family and friends will start asking questions about school soon and I'm not sure what to do. Do we tell them we are thinking about our options and keep it vague, or say that we are thinking about homeschooling? Do I explain that my philosophy of education differs from current trends and state the case for the classical way? Frankly, I am afraid of people's reactions. Just before logging in I clicked on the Urban Dictionary website and things they said about this forum were not very nice. I expect that kind of thing in real life, since most people tend to react in a negative way when faced with an unusual life choice. I think that homeschooling is as countercultural as you can get because it challenges a number of socially accepted 'truths' that have to do with the nature and aim of education, the question of who is equipped to do it, the relationship between the government and the individual, the role of family in child's education and socialisation, etc. I'm sure you know well what I'm talking about. I would love to hear your opinion on how to best have this conversation without alienating people and sounding elitist. Thank you!

Thanks for this. People always talk about how change is disruptive for children. We are living abroad and will continue to do so for the next few years, so I am already worried about this being challenging for them. Changing schools every year or so would make things even more difficult I think. As for preschool and kindergarten- what is then 1st grade? I am a bit confused by these terms. I thought that 1st grade is the first year of elementary school when children are about the age of 6. Is kindergarten just another name for that, or is it a pre-1st grade programme that is not a part of elementary school?

Thanks for the encouragement. It is good to hear that the system is flexible and that we can find the way that suits us and the kids best. I'm glad I'm not the only one in this situation and that it's working out for you. Very true. My husband and I know why we want to do this and look at the big picture. What is missing is a plan for our immediate future and a more clear picture how education the children would fit with that. Hopefully we will have a better idea in the next few months. It is good to hear that, I feel more encouraged in keeping this arrangement for the time being.

Thank you all for your replies. They have been very assuring, and it is good to know that it worked for some families to have children in kindergarten and then homeschool. This whole thing started as an idea that I would supplement school work at home with good literature and history lessons. (I see that this is a popular option here as well.) But then a few months ago I started looking into schools and that made me think. We currently live in Asia, and will return to the UK in a few years. That means that the children would go to an international school here. The fancy ones aimed at expats are insanely expensive and that is not an option. Their philosophy of education is everything that makes me want to homeschool and use the classical method. The children are expected to have their own tablet when they start school in order to use it in class - another thing I am opposed to. If we follow the British system they would start school at the age of 5 and would spend on average 6 hours in school, plus between 1 and 2 hours a day would be spent on transport. The whole thing is just not what my husband and I want for the children, plus they would be so tired after school and I doubt they could handle any extra work. We have decided to not send the boy to school next autumn when he turns 5, but to keep him in kindergarten and do a bit of work at home. We might move somewhere else around that time, so homeschooling makes sense from that perspective as well. I am glad that kindergarten before homeschooling doesn't sound weird and contradictory. I'm sure people have all sorts of arrangements that work for them, and I'm keen to learn more about them.

Dear all, I am new to the forum and would like to briefly introduce myself and my family set-up. I have two children, a boy who is 4 and a girl who will turn 3 next month. I work part time (from 9 am to 1 pm) and during that time they are in nursery/kindergarten. After work I pick them up and we spend the afternoon together doing fun stuff or just chilling out together. (The only 'academic' thing I do is read to them and count stuff around the house.) We have all been very happy with this arrangement until I seriously started thinking about home schooling and now have doubts. I started my son at nursery when he was 2 because he was quite active and demanded a lot of my attention, and I also had a baby to look after. I was exhausted and frustrated, we just moved abroad and I had no family around to help me. This decision to put him in nursery was more out of necessity rather than belief that he needed daycare in order to socialise and develop academically. There were no problems: he adapted immediately and enjoyed being with other kids, doing crafts and learning different things. The groups are small and the teachers are lovely. In May this year my daughter started nursery when she was 2 and a half. She was ready to go, seeing her brother leave every morning and come back with stories of what he did that day. Every day I dropped him off she wanted to go in with him. So I figured she was ready. I then started a part time job. There was no guilt, it all seemed to work out wonderfully, my husband was supportive. But in the last couple of months my husband and I have been talking about homeschooling so our children can get a classical education. We feel quite strongly about this and I am doing a lot of research. However, while I would rather educate my children at home, I am happy for them to go to nursery. I feel this is quite a big contradiction and that I should pull them out as a matter of principle. Why have the kids in nursery if I want to educate them myself later on? My part time job is not a problem because I have a project to finish in April and could easily quit then. But the kids seem so happy at nursery. They have their friends and like their activities and routine. I feel guilty about pulling them out. I would like to ask for your opinion on this. I'm sure many parents have gone through similar dilemmas regarding their decision to homeschool, and I'm sure that feeling conflicted is often involved in the process. I am new to all of this and appreciate your collective wisdom and experience. Thank you!