Hi Phil, it’s nice to be back, thank you. Yes, you are correct, we are about to embark on a new venture at our very successful English tutor school. The school is doing exceptionally well and has around fifty students. The students attend classes throughout the weekend and on two evenings a week.

This means that the school is stood empty from Monday to Friday in the daytime. This has never been an issue for we have always been busy delivering corporate courses or I have been pursuing other initiatives. However, recently we have had an influx of inquiries with regards to teaching Prathom students full-time throughout the week.

The parents have become disillusioned with the Thai education system and are looking for an alternative. After many considerations and in-depth discussions, we have decided to deliver a home school program that will teach the English national curriculum at a very affordable rate.

That’s correct Phil, I have home schooled my 11-year old daughter since we relocated to Thailand two and a half years ago. This has not been easy but without doubt it has been an extremely rewarding experience for both of us.

I have also found it to be a fantastic learning experience not only academically but in regards to exploring alternative teaching methods. I teach her science, English, math and history using resources that are aligned to the English national curriculum.

I have bought the package from a reputable home schooling organisation but believe me they are not cheap. She is currently studying at level key stage three. She is doing exceptionally well for if we were still in the UK she would have been in year seven but is currently studying at year eight level.

'Home schooling' is a very broad term which covers a very wide spectrum. It can include a family undertaking ‘home schooling’ in addition to what a child is learning already in a state school. Whereas some children do not attend a state or private school but are enrolled on distance learning program and are supported by tutors at home and from the host school.

The children follow the curriculum offered by the school. Other families do not follow any recognised curriculum but utilise their own skills supported by resources from the internet. Many home schooling families form or join support groups and some actually bring their children together to be taught and participate in social activities.

I have taken the more ‘conventional route’ - that is where a family purchases a package from a ‘recognised home schooling provider’ that is aligned to a national curriculum. The supporting organisation offer ongoing support and the students submit regular assignments which are marked by qualified teachers who incorporate feedback.

The packages I use are excellent and because we have chosen to follow the English national curriculum, the lessons and resources are all in line with the key stages.

My daughter has a regular timetable like most students her age and has set dates of when she needs to have completed the tutor marked assignments (TMA) for each of her subjects. I have built her a study room and made sure she has all the necessary resources and books.

If you search the internet, you will see many debates with regards to the pros and cons of home schooling - both from parents and academics. However, rather than regurgitate what is on the internet I sat down with my daughter and asked her what she thought were the negatives and positives of home schooling. This is what she told me;

She feels she doesn’t have as much social interaction with age group peers as her friends do who go to school outside of their home. However she does see age group peers at our tutor school at the weekends and two evenings a week but it is just her family here at home during the day.

She is with us all of the time, all day, every day. Sometimes she would like a break from all the family togetherness. She feels she misses out on some of the activities organized by schools and the fun of chatting with her friends at lunchtimes.

With regards to the positives she feels she can work at her own pace and can pursue subjects from different perspectives rather than having to follow what the school says she must do. Although we follow the English national curriculum, she enjoys how we can do different things outside the home that keeps it interesting and fun.

For example she sometimes goes to the park to draw and study. She thinks home schooling is more relaxed than and not as rigid as a state school. She likes it that she does not get lots of homework like her Thai friends for when she has finished schooling for the day, that is it until the next morning.

She also feels more confident now when interacting with adults for she is with them every day. Overall, she feels the positives outweigh the negatives and she appreciates how we always ensure she has time to be with her friends who live on the same soi.

Yes, home schooling is legal in Thailand. Thailand’s constitution and education law explicitly recognise alternative education and considers the family to be an educational institution. In addition, Thai homeschoolers successfully petitioned the government for a home school law, which was passed in 2004. Ministerial Regulation No. 3 on the “right to basic education by the family” governs homeschooling. Families must submit an application to home school and students are assessed annually.

For children who are Thai nationals, they are not required to register as homeschoolers until they are 7 years so children younger than 7 years of age are free to do whatever schooling their parents adhere too.

For children who are not Thai nationals living here, they are not required to do anything here in Thailand. But many do follow the homeschooling regulations of their home country in the event that they will return there.

Children, who are dual Thai and foreign nationals, must follow Thai regulations and are encouraged to also follow the regulations of their other country of citizenship to avoid difficulties in the long-term.

In Thailand today, homeschooling is a viable option for parents who wish to provide their children a quality education or a social environment that the parents believe is not possible to attain in formal schools.

Over the last two years, we have been asked on numerous occasions, by both government officials in Udon Thani and from parents of students who attend our tutor school, why we have not opened an international school.

We have always ‘shrugged’ this off and concentrated on getting our tutor school established. This has also involved us in getting our company establishing in the corporate market.

Recently we have started to reconsider our perspective as regards should we or shouldn’t we deliver an international program at our school? The main factor that has caused us to reconsider is the increase in the number of parents asking us to teach their children throughout the day on a full-time basis.

However, our reconsiderations have not come from the perspective of opening a ‘big all singing and all dancing’ international school. We have enjoyed and seen the benefits of having a relatively small English language tutor school and what we have been able to achieve in partnership with our students in regards to their English language skills ability.

Therefore, the first thing we have done is set ourselves a framework in which we will develop our idea/initiative. The framework has three guiding principles. Firstly, what we develop will be on a ‘small scale’ and secondly we will go for quality rather than quantity and finally we want to keep it affordable for the parents who wish to put their children in the school.

The home school will be open five days a week Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8.30am – 3.30pm. The target age range for the School is 4 to 11 years of age.

The students will attend the school like they would a ‘normal’ every day school. The only difference being is that there will only be 12 students in the class and the home school will follow the English national curriculum.

The resources used in the school have all been specifically designed for a home schooling environment. Therefore, our model will involve using ‘home school resources’ in a ‘study group’ environment rather than a student studying in isolation.

The home school ’study group’ will be structured around a set of lessons which will be facilitated/taught by a teacher team who will use many different methods in order to meet each students individual learning needs/styles.

Two prime reasons. The main reason is that I have a ‘very good’ understanding of how the curricula works and its content from when I was a senior manager in the education system back in the UK.

The second reason is twofold. I have used the English national curriculum on a regular basis to home school my own daughter and feel that the resources currently available are of a very high standard .

Secondly, whether we agree or disagree with the English national curriculum, it is an internationally recognised curriculum and this is what our parents are asking for. I will also supplement the resources I purchase with ideas of my own, for this has held us in good stead in our English language tutor school.

Regarding assessing progress and measuring ‘the distance a child has travelled’ it is important to have an understanding of what outcomes a child will have achieved by a certain age or level.

This is where we feel the English national curriculum will come into its own. Especially in a country like Thailand where we will not be able to initially measure a students’ progress by their ‘age band’ but will have to start them on a level that is in line with their understanding and ability.

Therefore, having a set of key stages will be very beneficial because we can measure what each student is achieving individually against a set of indicators for each subject area.

The resource packages we purchase also have built in assessment tools. The Thai law states that Thai students who are home schooled must be registered and will be assessed annually by the education department. This process will be very interesting to observe.

No, the only two teachers/facilitators in the school will be my wife and I. However, we do envisage bringing in outside speakers to supplement the curriculum.

The students will be aged four to eleven years of age and the core subjects will be English, science and math and I have taught / facilitated these with my daughter for the last two and a half years up to key stage 3 level.

We will also be teaching / facilitating humanities and PE. The reason why I say ‘facilitating’ for this is because how I would like to see my role. The key to successful home schooling is like any form of education - it must be fun, exciting and interesting. It cannot be a one way process.

The students must also be self motivated. I was a youth worker for many years and have worked in both formal and informal education. I have applied the skills I learnt from my years as a youth worker into the methodology I apply when teaching English as a second language to our Thai students.

If you were to ask me what has made our English language tutor school a success and or if you were to ask our students what they like about the school, the analysis always comes down to the teaching/ facilitation approach/methodology.

We want to develop ‘enquiring minds’ through participatory learning. We teach for knowledge not for tests. We try to encourage reflective learning through participation and we put a large emphasis on developing study skills alongside social and academic skills.

The students at our school are encouraged to participate in small group activities as well as acting on their own initiative.

What we are aiming for in our new venture is a small group environment in which students are following a set of structured lessons that have clear learning outcomes. However, we want to go further than just that and we aim to develop our student’s social skills and support them into becoming ‘individual thinkers’.

What we are proposing is a home school program delivered in a group environment utilising an international curriculum.

We think we will be different on ‘two fronts’. The first being we are only a very small school so we can ensure all our students get the necessary support and attention they require. I am not saying this does not happen at the international schools but based on size and numbers this is a lot more manageable in a smaller concern.

Secondly, our fees will be a lot lower because we won't have the same overheads that the big international schools have.

Our market is primarily expats who are working in Thailand and /or have settled down with a Thai partner. They are often disillusioned with the Thai education system and have often previously placed their child in an EP program but were not satisfied with the results.

They have also explored international schools but have found them to be way too expensive. What they seem to be most keen on is an international curriculum.

How do we market our school and our new home school initiative? We have initially advertised on a local expat forum where we have a ‘sponsored thread’. We have also developed a website and have just started a campaign that will see twelve large billboards displayed in and around the city centre of Udon Thani. We are also hoping on ‘word of mouth’ to be a key way of promoting what we are offering.

We have decided to timetable the home school term times the same as the Thai term times. Therefore the school will operate over two semesters each year.

In order to cover the cost of purchasing resources, school running costs and teaching time we have decided on a figure of 35,000 baht for each student for every semester. Therefore, the overall fees for the year for each student will be 60,000 baht.

Our tutor school ‘The English School of Learning’ (ESOL) has a generic website www.esol-th.com

For those who want to specifically find out more about developing a home schooling initiative, we have a web site www.home-school-udon-thani.com

If you want to keep updated and see what questions/issues unfold we have a thread that is managed by ourselves. This is a good source of info and you will be able to comment, and observe how others see our initiative.

http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/home-school-udon-thani-sponsor-t32753.html