daniela_r Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Our kids are age 2 (boy), age 4 (girl) and almost 6 (girl). This is mostly about the oldest. We are from the United States, but we have lived overseas for several years in a certain 3rd-world country. Although my husband and I are both proficient in the local language, our kids have not picked up much. We have tried multiple things to get our kids more consistent exposure to the local language and to local kids, and we really have not had much success, especially with the latter. It would be hard to explain what we've tried and why this and that didn't work, but let me just assure you that some of the pat answers (like play dates, or just hanging out with neighborhood kids, or going to local parks) are just not practical for our particular situation in this very underdeveloped country with a lot of restrictions for me as a woman and for local girls. However, this past month we enrolled our daughters in the "best" private school in town; they are both in the same sort-of kindergarten class. School is held 6 days a week, from 8 am to noon. The children have one recess outside, but the rest of the time they are sitting and learning by rote. There is a lot of focus on handwriting (different alphabet) and learning to recite poems. They also get daily homework (more handwriting). Their teacher speaks some English, but none of the other children do. Our children were intimidated at first, but now seem to be enjoying the interaction they are able to get with other kids. And I do think they are understanding more and more local language. So, while this school is far from ideal, it's meeting the need we had, and it's our best option at this point for local language learning. However, our kids come home tired and needing down time to just play without so much structure. Our oldest has just finished kindergarten (mostly MFW K) and I was hoping to start 1st grade (mostly MFW 1st and Horizons 1). This dd is reading fine for her age; she can read books like "Little Bear" easily. I think she is bright and I do feel a little guilty that we are not doing as much homeschool as we would if that was our only focus. I was originally planning to send our daughters to the local school 3 or 4 days a week and thought we could get some homeschool done in the afternoon and on their day or 2 off a week, but it's been hard to balance local school/homeschool/daily life/free playtime. If you were in a similar situation, with a young child, how would you balance going to a local school and keeping up with homeschool? Oh yeah, and the school year just started here, so I'm thinking about the rest of the calendar year, minus about 3 months off for the summer. Sorry this is so long!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 For the next few months, I would give my children time to become accustomed to the school and its routines. They are working hard at learning a foreign language and culture. I would have an afternoon and/or bedtime read aloud time. During this time, I would read English language children’s literature and non-fiction titles covering topics of interest/importance to my family. I would also have them read to me on a regular basis (in English or the local language). Once the children were settled in the routine and less tired at the end of the day, I would add the subjects I felt were most important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 If I stayed with the school, I would just do math at home. Also, free reading in English. It sounds like they are getting plenty at school and do not need a full home school day at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 We did the same thing -- enrolled my son in an immersion program in a developing country and afterschooled. Mid-year, I took him out and homeschooled FT. I didn't like the rote memorization, the homework, the behavior of the kids on the playground (bbecause they got so little unstructured time, they went crazy when they did), etc. Although socialization dropped off, and he is just coasting on his language skills, we are all much happier to be homeschooling. The language and socialization are important to me, but they didn't trump the other problems. Ultimately, we're moving back to the States because my son needs more organized social and recreational activities than are available here. Not sure if that's helpful, but I've been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniela_r Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Thanks for the feedback. Dialectica, I agree that the school is not ideal at all. I wish there were a more play-based option where I thought our children would be safe, but we haven't found one :sad: The are some advantages to going with the school in town where the kids are coming from the "richest" and most-academic focused families... I think it would be different for us to figure out a good balance between homeschool and local school IF the local school were providing any academics our kids actually need, other than local language. But there isn't any math happening (other than rote counting to ten) or content work (other than religious instruction, which is a different religion from ours), etc. But, I am delighted that they are finally picking up some more local language - hooray!! So, we'll keep this plan until the summer at least. Again, thanks for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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