tuckabella Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Hello. I am not sure if anyone will know ths, but I hope someone does! We are looking at moving to Africa as missionaries in three years. I know, three years seems like so far away. I am curious though, what guidelines would we have to follow? The state that we lived in before we left the US? The state the organization that we will be working with? Is there a general guideline for US homeschoolers outside the US? I hope this makes sense. I just want to know in case I should REALLY start planning if it will be lots of hoops to jump through. Thanks t anyone who read this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 As far as I'm aware, you should follow the laws/regulations of the country you will be in. If you will be coming back to the US at some point, and the state you will be living in has regulations, you might want to keep those in mind. Yes. You need to check whether the country you are going to stay in has compulsory school attendance laws for all residents or whether you can fulfill any education requirements through home education. Beyond that, as the PP said, just think about re-entry into the US system after you return. Laura (lived overseas for many years) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 yes. Make sure home schooling is actually legal where you are going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Agreeing with the other posters. We are Americans living in the UK. I don't worry about the laws of our previous state but just follow the laws here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Yes. You need to check whether the country you are going to stay in has compulsory school attendance laws for all residents or whether you can fulfill any education requirements through home education. Beyond that, as the PP said, just think about re-entry into the US system after you return. Laura (lived overseas for many years) But my brother and sil lived in Germany when he was stationed there, and they homeschooled; it is illegal for German citizens to homeschool. Seems to me this is a legal question best answered by HSLDA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMDRAD Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 But my brother and sil lived in Germany when he was stationed there, and they homeschooled; it is illegal for German citizens to homeschool. Seems to me this is a legal question best answered by HSLDA. From what I understand, military personnel stationed overseas are not required to follow that country's schooling laws. It's very vague as to what guidelines they are required to follow. But missionaries do fall under the schooling laws of the country they are living in. Definitely check out HSLDA for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 From what I understand, military personnel stationed overseas are not required to follow that country's schooling laws. It's very vague as to what guidelines they are required to follow. But missionaries do fall under the schooling laws of the country they are living in. Yes - this is the case. The US forces have an agreement that allows for different educational rules. This exemption does not apply to non-military personnel. In general, you need to follow local home education laws, just as you have to follow driving laws or property laws in the country of residence. Some countries turn a blind eye to foreigners, however. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I think you will want to do a two fold approach: first, you will need to comply with the laws of the country you are in. Next, you will want your children to be prepared to re-enter whatever school system you think you will return to upon finishing up in Africa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 You might want to be more specific. What country will you be going to? I have friends who are missionaries in a couple of different countries in Africa. They all homeschool or have homeschooled. At least one is using an international school for high school. The group that is sending you out should be able to help with this information and there may be some here that have homeschooled in the specific country where you will be if you are comfortable sharing that information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 We will be living in Uganda. It is a very small organization that is sending us and we are the first to be concerned about homeschooling. We would be the first live in country missionaries instead of short term missionaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I visited my cousin who is a missionary in Tanzania for three weeks and although her kids are in ps I can say that it will be very hard to home school while living in that environment. EVERYTHING takes longer there. It just does. It would be very hard to be a pastor's wife and do the things pastor's wives do, run a house and home school. I am not saying it cannot be done, although the missionaries I knew in Nepal home schooled before the went to Nepal and they quickly saw that the mom would melt down if they did not send the kids to international school. The reason is that when you cannot be sure you will have water or power on any given day, and just getting everything you need at the store can take hours, it is hard to supervise school work. Not to mention the safety issues that your kids will face. Their skin says they are rich and just sending them out to play unsupervised will not be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I visited my cousin who is a missionary in Tanzania for three weeks and although her kids are in ps I can say that it will be very hard to home school while living in that environment. EVERYTHING takes longer there. It just does. It would be very hard to be a pastor's wife and do the things pastor's wives do, run a house and home school. On the other hand, as Heather has found in Malaysia, and as I found in China, the option of affordable household help can compensate for the difficulties. It may initially seem strange to employ someone on a low local wage, but you are supporting a local family and giving yourself the space to function. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Here's a link to a homeschooling family that started homeschooling in America, then moved to Kenya and is continuing to homeschool there: http://valuesdrivenfamily.com/blog/ They have been there a year and talk about the challenges of living there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juliegmom Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 We are currently in Albania where it is not legal to homeschool, but it is not monitored and is an acceptable choice for foreigners. Nationals would have a much harder time, but I hear that some things are in the works. The public schools here are not even an option although there is a great private Christian school, but we can't afford it. We are from California and still have a home there. I filed a private school affidavit (for our youngest) so we are covered by California requirements which is what I'm mostly concerned about. So I think that it varies depending on the country. One of the best things you could do is to begin corresponding with other missionsries from Africa to see what they've done. I have two high schoolers and I do keep in mind the graduation requirements for California when planning our curriculum. Before we left for the mission field we were cautioned by our local high school counselors that the public high school would probably not accept homeschool credits or even those from the private Chritian school here in Albania. It would be difficult to get them to accept courses unless they closely align to what the school is teaching. They also want to see it coming from something that is WASC accredited. This is why we initially enrolled our high schoolers in a California online charter school. This has worked well for one daughter and not so much for the other. We will be making some changes to homeschool one of our high schoolers independently next year. I understand that this decision will more than likely close doors for her to return to our former public high school and I'm ok with that. I don't imagine that will be an issue since we plan to remain in the mission field long term. The point is that you never know what the future holds and it's important to make well informed decisions. The Lord has given me a joy for homeschooling my children which is something I never thought I'd do. Much prayer goes into our planning each year. The plans may turn out differently than we sometimes expect, but we continue to see the Lord's guidance and blessing. Best wishes to you! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest carrierfamily Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 As one PP said, as missionaries you are subject to the local laws where you reside. Also as another PP poster said, local governments often look the other way when it comes to missionaries who are homeschooling where homeschooling is not legal or common. As far as legality is concerned, you should have no problems in Tanzania. As for practicality, it will probably take some adjustment but it is certainly possible. It is true that most things will take a lot more time and effort on the mission field, but you will likely just need to find a "new normal" with your homeschooling routine when you transition Blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 In NZ, students can enter on a 'student visa' and then they are subject to the educational laws of their home country, rather than the education laws of NZ. If your student enters on a 'visitor's visa' or as a 'permanent resident' then you must follow the educational laws of NZ. Point is: you need to check the visa requirements of Uganda. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 FWIW, when I was growing up, I had the impression that homeschooling was something that you ONLY did when you were a missionary in Africa, because I grew up in an area with a Mennonite high school, college,and seminary, and many of the kids I knew had been in Africa with their missionary parents until the oldest child was ready for high school, at which point, the parents brought the family back to our area and taught at the college or seminary. Since we lived in a neighborhood that was about half Seminary families with kids and the other half secular university families with kids, I knew a lot of kids who had been homeschooled in Africa (or, in some cases, taught by their mothers in little village schools along with the local children), only to be dumped in our neighborhood elementary school in about 4th-5th grade. I would have given anything if I could have convinced my parents to go to Africa for a few years-the mission kids had such neat stories to tell, and it sounded so exotic and fun. The life experiences gained are something beyond price. Many of those kids went on to do mission work overseas and homeschool THEIR kids in various countries. If your denomination doesn't normally support homeschooling, you might want to contact the Mennonite General Conference board of missions-they definitely do, and likely there's someone there with experience homeschooling in Uganda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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