Home Schooling in Dubai -- a viable option?

Hello Ziii, K12 is a great curriculum. I have a 10 year old son I will be home schooling from September 6th onwards. I wanted my boy to study at K12 in the morning sessions but they are currently full - hence he will be doing the K12 curriculum but with a private 'learning coach' (the actual teacher is online). He will be studying with 3 other children. I have found one other 10 year old to study with him and we are looking for 2 more. Ideally boys around 10, though the age and gender is not imperative as the children will be learning at their own pace which is great! I know FJCruiser and her son is doing really well with K12.

Thanks a lot, sounds well organized, I like the fact that you get to spend really nice time with them. So what do you do to keep them busy during the day and not to allow much of computer and TV times? How do you manage to introduce them to social skills with other kids? is it enough to meet some kids once every other day or less? Yes, I've noticed that the sceond child is so much copying the elder one and might know more and well just because of what he sees and hears around...

My DS (grade 3) goes to K12 in Knowledge Village.I am very happy with the curriculum which combines online and books studying. We have been lucky this year as for the first time K12 offered tutoring and he was partof the year with 2 other kids and now it is down to two and soon, it will be one to one 9kids start at different times of the year). Next year he will be in a class of max 4. The program is proving very successful. It would have been too difficult for me to homeschool him so tutoring is a great option and affordable too (much cheaper than the average school here).

Got it! Thanks, will email you. Wow, sounds like you've got it together! That's awesome! I cannot foresee that in my future! Lol... I think that is why I am gearing towards a more "open" approach versus paper/book/sit down/be involved/ be still/ get over here/ no you don't eat the crayon approach...oh sorry, I went on a bit of a tangent...jk I am eager to talk to you, I'll contact you via email, shortly! Thanks, SunDevil!

Mom*3 you can reach me at . Let me know when you get the email so I can delete it. And you couldn't pay me double to teach high school. No way, no how!! LOL I plan out lessons with my almost 5 year old and we do them in the mornings, 4 days a week, for 2 hours a day. I do language arts in the first hour and math in the second hour. In the fall, I'll add science to the mix as well. We have a table in our classroom and when I'm working with my 4.5 year old in writing, my soon to be 3 year old is at the table working on "writing" too. I give him chunky crayons and have him practice drawing shapes and practice writing his first letter of his name. If my oldest is using the dry erase board, then the youngest does it too. Most of the time I let him free draw but make sure he's holding the pen the right way so he's learning the feel of writing. When oldest is working in math and using math manipulatives, youngest is using them too but in a way that's appropriate for a 2.5 year old. 4.5 year old can sit at the table longer, while the youngest gets up and down a lot more but he's figured out he has to stay in the classroom and "read" books or play with small toys while the oldest works. The youngest is really motivated by what big brother can do and wants to do everything the same. Two weeks ago oldest was working on "the" sight word and finding it in his reading and on packages around the house, etc. Now 2.5 year old randomly calls out, "I see "the" mama, I see "the"." He doesn't see it really but knows he's looking at words and one of them says "the". LOL So he's really picking up on stuff fast and most of the time it's just b/c he's sitting by big brother during his lesson. Ziii, the great thing about home schooling is you don't ever have to assign homework!! :-) I don't have a maid so I do it all by myself. My house is clean but some things have to slide. Like my upstairs balcony is so dusty there is no way you could walk on it. But my four year old is starting to read and write beyond his years so if the outside balcony gets dusty, so be it. edited by SunDevil on 08/07/2011 <em>edited by SunDevil on 08/07/2011</em>

I heard about K12 as well, yes it is American and guess people were satisfied with it... Dear SunDevil, I liked how u did a classroom for the kids but can you elaborate on how do u control the kids and their timings and how do u manage to control the 3yrs old?? My husband is convienced about it and I am not really sure on how to manage the kids, home work, cooking, paying bills and other things i have to do without a maid (how do u manage)?

Sun devil, will you be homeschooling the soon to be 3 yo? If so, I'd be interested in connecting with you as I have begun my research on homeschooling and would like to start with my 3 who will also be 3 in October. Not so much in a school structured traditional setting, but more of teaching them character traits, motor skills and the like. I taught high school in the states and subbed a bit in elementary schools-you couldn't pay me enough to teach kinder, lol! God bless you elementary teachers, especially those that teach kinder!

We live in AR and I homeschool my two boys. One will turn 5 in Nov and the other 3 in October. I taught Kinder and 1st grade in the states for 10 years before moving here so I just shipped my classroom stuff here and set up a full classroom in our upstairs family room. It has worked out great for us. I plan on joining the HS group once school starts again in the Fall. I use my own curriculum that I brought from the states. In the summers on my time off my district hired me to write curriculum based on the Texas teaching standards so I use the curriculum I designed, no need for me to pay someone else for the job I did.

Great, thanks ladies! Rach, i will email you for sure.

K12 is the only recognized homeschooling program in the UAE - lucky for you it's American curriculum based, so then you would be able to transfer into a school when you got a spot. They are based at knowledge village and I believe the mums that use them are generally happy. I know FJCrruiser used them... Not sure if she still does

Hi kristineindubai, yes it's certainly a viable option. I'm part of the homeschooling group here. My eldest sounds a similar age to your boys. If you have any questions then mail me on rachball2000athotmaildotcom

Yes there is homeschooling in Dubai see the link cheers julieanne http://uaehomeschool.wordpress.com/

Hey ladies.. As a back-up plan if we cant get into American Schools, we're thinking of homeschooling (can't even imagine how thats going to go LOL _- but hey.. gotta keep options open, right?) -- is there a homeschooling community in Dubai? Where home-schooled kids can meet up to enjoy social-time. My boys will be five later this year -- so im curious about this age-group. Cheers! any input most appreciated -- so far, this board has been just a godsend with incredibly kind people. Thanks.