We want to homeschool

I also think, for the kids who are older than 5+ years, it is nice to enhance their creative thinking by providing them Magic Sand and Clays, rather than engaging them with Mobile Phones and Tablets. I've previously tried products like: Link: https://www.amazon.ae/dp/B07S81TKXN?ref=myi_title_dp Hope it helps.

Hi I have heard about this new Ontario curriculum school, International Virtual School opened. They provide Ontario Secondary School Diploma (Grade 9-12) and even provide pre-requisite courses for university / college admissions. Their website for reference. Www.ivsschool.com

Did anyone have experience with the Gateway Virtual Academy, since the above post has been here since long. I am not able to find if they are accredited and do the uae schools take the students comming from Gateway Virtual Academy.

I homeschooled my son for a while using the K12 system and he did really, really well. I enjoyed teaching him, it's a great system. I have the Maths & English packs for Grade 4 (all books and tools), if anybody's interested.

I met someone that homeschool recently and she's a single mum homeschooling and surprisingly it does work, but there is no way on earth she would do it if she could afford a normal school. She said her child is definitely missing the social part of school.

There are affordable schools. These schools cost almost the same as K12 homeschooling program. http://whichschooladvisor.com/guides/seriously-affordable-british-schools-in-dubai/ I have friends who placed their child in Pristine Private School after falling on hard times and their child is doing well. The school is not fancy but they get the job done and that is what we all want at the end of the day.

I am also a full-time worker and both my children homeschool :). There are so many approaches, and the beauty of homeschool is the flexibility to make it work for your family. Someone asked about Facebook groups: there is UAE Homeschoolers which is not overly active but is one place to connect with homeschooling families from the different emirates who employ a variety of approaches.

Hi Gorobattie, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions. I've done K12 in a similar situation as you (coming in mid-year). I've also done it starting from the beginning of the school year. I can give you advice from a couple of different perspectives. You can send me an email at: third culture family [at'> gmail . com (remove the spaces and the brackets)

Hi there, I am considering homeschooling my children too, as I can't find the proper school yet, as now we have confirmation of when we'll be coming back to Dubai- which is January 2016- and been all over the forum for school reviews, where we will be based and that affects which schools we could go to, again availability of places and lastly the hike in school fees. Keeping all in mind, I've got mixed reviews about K12, as the international one have so many parents have complained varied from hedden assignments, website keeps booting you out while doing an assisment results in re doing it all again, over working the parents... etc... Now reading this thread made me feel the Dubai branch is way different than the international one, and I'm awaiting a reply from them via email- fingers crossed!- Now is this the only place offer homeschooling in here? And parents who are with them, how do you feel with workload with homeschooling? Does it take long to enroll the children in? As we will be leaving the school we are in - another ME country- and will be coming over here? I know I said too much, but I'm a first timer and a little bit nervous about the whole thing, appreciate your advices. Thanks in advance.

With the rising school fees, we just cant afford them anymore. So we would like to homeschool our girls aged 12,9 and 7. But have no clue where to start. Can anyone recommend reasonable home schooling schools. I goggled and found K12 here and several sites that offered specific subjects or resources. Is there any one that has a complete package for newbies? Are there any home school teachers out there? Any and all input is highly appreciated. I totally agree with you! Home schooling is the way to go here in Dubai. Prices can be crazy and you never know what you will get! My daughter is home schooled and for any other learning needs we just go to this place called monarch learning center and bless them, they do everything! They've helped my daughter with english, math and arabic and we honestly think they're the most affordable around. This is their website if you want to check them out www.monarchlearning.org

I know of two families who are homeschooling their kids and they work fulltime too. They have plenty time for weekends in the park and they meet up with other homeschoolers too so there are plenty kid interaction. Their kids are all doing well and they get to have vacation when their parents gets their assigned company leave which is very convenient instead of when regular schools have holidays. Just letting you know that the options are endless but you need to find what will work for you so take the suggestion of meeting up with the K12 people and discuss your options and concerns with them. Good luck!! :)

As for options for registering with an accredited program, I personally would register with Clonlara for the flexibility, since they are accredited but don't have a set curriculum -- and I like to pick my own. They basically advise/evaluate your resources and student work to ensure they fulfill the requirements, and the transcript/diploma don't mention "homeschooling." For an online homeschool with online classes taught in real-time, I've heard of Gateway Virtual Academy but have no personal experience with them and would check to see if they're accredited yet. The fees are low and I've known a few women who taught for them. It's geared towards western Muslims so Arabic & Qur'aan are taught. http://gatewayvirtualacademy.com/

Very interesting thread! Are there any FB groups for homeschoolers in Dubai? With 3 kids, putting them in the mid-range school we like will require me to start working when the 3rd is school age (we can only afford 2 on my husband's salary), and I'm not sure I want to do that. I've always used my free mornings to do the shopping, cooking, cleaning etc, so I'm ready to take them to after-school activities and help them study in the evenings -- which has included a lot of additional work in subjects that I felt our previous school was weak in (plus all aspects/subjects of English since they learned in the local language), so I've used a variety of supplementary curricula and am comfortable with teaching them. I can't imagine working full-time and then returning to cook, shuttle kids around, help with homework, etc -- especially since I'm a teacher and would be exhausted by the end of the day! My husband likes to have them in school for the socialization/school culture, but I'm not sure I'm willing to make such a big lifestyle change for that, especially since we enjoy learning together anyway.

Thank you Marroosh. What does the schedule of the children look like. Do they have to start and stop classes at the usual time or can we make our own schedule. I work full time so am concerned . Can or do parents hire teachers to help or would I be able to do it after work in the evenings? I just don't think it's possible to work full time and home school. The ones I met that do it are stay at home mums, that turned full time teachers. It is a lot of planning on top of the tutoring. Saying home school isn't possible while working full time is like saying it is impossible to be a parent if you work. There are just some adjustments that have to be made, that's all. Homeschooling is basically just parenting! It's what people have always done since the beginning of time...you teach your kids, and when they're old enough and gravitate towards a field, you then provide them with help/tutors/out side courses/etc. That's how Einstein figured out e=mc2, his teachers at school didn't teach him that. ;) Smom, please could I ask what hours you work and when do you start school work? I'm genuinely curious because I have a seven year old and she goes to bed at 7.30 pm. So presuming you can be home by, say, 5pm from a full time job and start immediately, how long do you school for? With three children to teach, presumably they are all learning different levels of, for example, maths, so you can't teach them all at the same time. When do you have dinner? Also, what do your three kids do all day at home whilst you are working? Who looks after them? Sorry for so many questions, I am very interested in how it works!

Thank you Marroosh. What does the schedule of the children look like. Do they have to start and stop classes at the usual time or can we make our own schedule. I work full time so am concerned . Can or do parents hire teachers to help or would I be able to do it after work in the evenings? I just don't think it's possible to work full time and home school. The ones I met that do it are stay at home mums, that turned full time teachers. It is a lot of planning on top of the tutoring. Saying home school isn't possible while working full time is like saying it is impossible to be a parent if you work. There are just some adjustments that have to be made, that's all. Homeschooling is basically just parenting! It's what people have always done since the beginning of time...you teach your kids, and when they're old enough and gravitate towards a field, you then provide them with help/tutors/out side courses/etc. That's how Einstein figured out e=mc2, his teachers at school didn't teach him that. ;)

Hi! I hope the moms suggesting homeschooling isn't possible for a full time mom are homeschoolers themselves!! I have been homeschooling my 3 kids (10, 8 and 6y) for years now, and I can tell you, homeschooling your children is the best way to accomadate your full time work! :) Homeschool is tailored to YOUR family. Who says you can't do math at 6pm after dinner?! Or do the bulk of the academics on weekends? Or whatever suits you and your kids! As for the comment about teachers getting training for years before being able to teach.... Most of that training is to handle 20 plus kids bouncing off each other! If a teacher can handle 25 kids at one time, I never get how people can think a mother can't handle her own (3) kids. We do eclectic homeschooling... Meaning we don't follow one style/curriculum. We order books/ curriculum from all over the world, whatever strikes our fancy. The advantage of following a set curriculum is that it takes away (from the mom) having to plan out the academics. But the cost of these set curriculums is always very high, plus it still keeps you boxed in. (Spend that money on activities, instead of worksheets that you can find online for free.;) ) Homeschooling without strict curriculum gives you and your kids the power to chose what and how you will learn. You just need to find out your country's guidelines about homeschooling, ( for once you go back...) all of which are posted online! I'm sure there must be a homeschool group in your area...if not, feel free to ask me any questions! Happy homeschooling...Stop worrying, and enjoy the freedom! :) Ps: don't listen to all the negativity, you won't know till you try it for yourself! What's the worst that can happen... Sorry, I don't understand; I don't think anyone said homeschooling isn't possible for a full time mum. The OP is at work full time and wants to home school. Do you mean it's possible to work full time and home school? I am only curious how it works.

Hi! I hope the moms suggesting homeschooling isn't possible for a full time mom are homeschoolers themselves!! I have been homeschooling my 3 kids (10, 8 and 6y) for years now, and I can tell you, homeschooling your children is the best way to accomadate your full time work! :) Homeschool is tailored to YOUR family. Who says you can't do math at 6pm after dinner?! Or do the bulk of the academics on weekends? Or whatever suits you and your kids! As for the comment about teachers getting training for years before being able to teach.... Most of that training is to handle 20 plus kids bouncing off each other! If a teacher can handle 25 kids at one time, I never get how people can think a mother can't handle her own (3) kids. We do eclectic homeschooling... Meaning we don't follow one style/curriculum. We order books/ curriculum from all over the world, whatever strikes our fancy. The advantage of following a set curriculum is that it takes away (from the mom) having to plan out the academics. But the cost of these set curriculums is always very high, plus it still keeps you boxed in. (Spend that money on activities, instead of worksheets that you can find online for free.;) ) Homeschooling without strict curriculum gives you and your kids the power to chose what and how you will learn. You just need to find out your country's guidelines about homeschooling, ( for once you go back...) all of which are posted online! I'm sure there must be a homeschool group in your area...if not, feel free to ask me any questions! Happy homeschooling...Stop worrying, and enjoy the freedom! :) Ps: don't listen to all the negativity, you won't know till you try it for yourself! What's the worst that can happen...

Have you thought about boarding schools back in your home country? Could this be another alternative.

Sorry, my mistake ThirdCultureFamily, I thought a 12 year old would be in year 7, first year of high school? Is that not the case in Dubai? It's hard to keep track with the different curricula here. My interpretation of 12 years old is: Year 7 (British), Grade 6 (US). Which can be either the last year (or one of the last) of primary school or the first year of middle school. Depends on how the school classifies it. In both schools we've been at in Dubai, it was considered part of the primary. I don't know where you are from...maybe where you are, high school and middle school are combined? All unnecessarily confusing isn't it! :confused:

@ThirdCultureFamily OP concern is financial, I'm all for homeschooling, but with her concern it doesn't seem reasonable given that she's a full time working mum. We do loads of home based programs with my son during the holidays & they are time consuming. home schooling 1 child is not the same as homeschooling 3. I'm considering homeschooling for my 5 yrs old son but maybe later as he doesn't fit in socially at school and he is advanced but we will not look into it until he turns 8 when he can be assessed properly. His school is working on his social issues this is why we are sticking to sending him to school for now. Physical classes outside schools hours are costly, we spend $$$ per month for physical activities during the holidays, at school those are part of the school's fee, there are PE classes and free play ground time at school. We are trying to help OP in making the right decision with her circumstances, my full time working friends are struggling to entertain their children now during the holidays, their working hours are long, I fail to understand how OP can manage to tutor 3 young children, entertain them and work full time at the same time. If she decides to go for private tutoring + K12 fees + external physical activities all this will add up and it would end up similar to paying school fees.

Thank you Marroosh. What does the schedule of the children look like. Do they have to start and stop classes at the usual time or can we make our own schedule. I work full time so am concerned . Can or do parents hire teachers to help or would I be able to do it after work in the evenings? I just don't think it's possible to work full time and home school. The ones I met that do it are stay at home mums, that turned full time teachers. It is a lot of planning on top of the tutoring.

Sorry, my mistake ThirdCultureFamily, I thought a 12 year old would be in year 7, first year of high school? Is that not the case in Dubai?

@ThirdCultureFamily thank you so much for detailed post about homeschooling here, I had always wondered about it and this answers so many of my questions. I agree there are a lot of misconceptions about home schooling - and it seems you made that extra effort to make your kids social too. I can see the pros and cons to both it's just about finding what works for your family and your kids. @Janatks (OP) if you will homeschool you really will need to be a full time stay at home mom. If you plan on teaching them in the evening, it's not the best time for them to learn they will be quite tired and uninterested by then. It seems things are financially tight for you so quitting your job might not be an option, I can't really offer you a solution but hope you find something thats best for your family :)

I have to disagree with a couple of points. [b'>@Cheeky Monkey [/b'> All of OPs children are still in primary school. The complexity of the topics is still at the fundamental stages. The school books provided by K12 are very good (better than the materials provided by the schools my kids went to in Dubai -- both respected, "Good" American and IB schools). K12 provides a textbook, a teacher's guide, and a student's guide for the major subjects. The teacher's guide helps you structure your lesson and literally guides you through what types of questions to ask and the goals you were trying to reach. If you/your child are particularly interested in a topic, it also gives you guidance on taking that lesson a step further with an activity or discussion. Teaching 3 children in this age group is definitely possible, but I agree it is a lot of work (I only homeschool 1 child and it's a lot of work!). I know a woman that homeschools 3 children through K12 (after having left a top school in Dubai due to fees). Their ages are varied like the OPs and they get it done. Time, organization, and patience are the key factor here. [b'>@wickedangel_78[/b'> For 18k a year, it's very difficult to find a good school in Dubai. The few affordable schools (in this price range) are oversubscribed at all age groups. Finding a place for all 3 girls in 1 school is nearly impossible. There is a big misconception about homeschooling, especially online homeschooling like K12. We spend about 1/4 of the time in front of the screen. The rest we are discussing, reading from a text book, working (handwritten work), or doing experiments. That's just as much (or even less) than some schools. Yes, socialization is really important, but that happens in the afternoon (as your friend does). My child is very social, too social. So homeschooling was a way to focus on school work and all the socializing with peers was done after school (sports every day, in our case). Also, my child is the type that uses social skills to mask weaknesses in school work. It wouldn't be until exam time that a teacher (with 60 other kids to worry about) would realize that my child was behind. That doesn't happen at homeschool. We know what's going on and address it immediately. With homeschooling my child was fortunate to be the priority so we didn't have to "teach to the middle" or use other methods of just getting through the curriculum. We labored over topics that were difficult, we blew threw topics that were inconsequential. It is a viable option for many, many children. I suggest to the OP to speak directly to people who have homeschooled in Dubai. Amongst the homeschoolers here, there are many reasons why we choose to do it, opinions about if it's good or not, etc. Some families do it because they have to (ie school fees), not because they want to. However, I think it's somewhat unfair for someone that hasn't homeschooled to give their opinions of why it isn't a good idea.

Something to think about, if you haven't already - If you work full time, when will your children study? They will be too tired in the evenings, even if you are not. What time will they have to stay up until to fit a full school day. I know my 7 year old couldn't manage to study until 10 or 11pm! Or will you all give up your weekends to study, that's not much fun?! What will the children do during the day whilst you are working? I assume they will not be left all day on their own? A private tutor will be very expensive, if you get a legal one and not just somebody working illegally on the side. Edited to add another thought: The range of work of those three ages is immense, are you going to learn all that in order to teach them it and how will you teach them all at the same time? Teachers train for a long time, often to just teach either high school or primary, you are going to attempt both, that's some big ask!!

With that price I wouldn't go for it. Children need socializing and interaction, for 18k per year you can find a good school. Children need to interact with people not screens & get some sort of physical activities. Dubai international school prices are reasonable, the curriculum is American, my friend's daughter graduated high school from there and was granted a scholarship by the American University in Dubai through her school. If your reason for homeschooling is solely the fee, you can find good schools with reasonable prices. My friends abroad who home school are stay at home mums and they spend all morning working with their children, then they enrol them in physical activities in the afternoons to socialize and exercise

Thank you Marroosh. What does the schedule of the children look like. Do they have to start and stop classes at the usual time or can we make our own schedule. I work full time so am concerned . Can or do parents hire teachers to help or would I be able to do it after work in the evenings? I've used K12 in Dubai so I can speak from experience. First off I highly suggest you go in and speak to them directly. There are lots of options, it's not strictly homeschooling in the home. You can choose an option that works for you. We do the option where the child doesn't go to K12 at all, the entire schooling is done at home. That is not the only option, but it's the cheapest. Other options include going to the learning center for some/all of the school day. When you do all the schooling at home, the cost is a fraction of any UK/US/IB curriculum school here. However, you do ALL the work yourself. You cannot work full time and expect to do the homeschooling in the evening. Your children need minimum 3-4 hours of your direct interaction. The exception to this might be your 12 year old (if she is highly motivated and doesn't need any direction). The curriculum is fast-paced and challenging. There is a LOT of work to cover. You have flexibility in the timings...you can literally do it whenever and wherever you choose. If you want to make Tues/Wed your weekend and study through Sat/Sun, no problem. As long as you hit the milestones in terms of the "final exam" and turning in projects/essays on time. There is still some flexibility even with the milestones as long as you discuss them with the teacher and your "homeroom" teacher so everyone is on the same page. The only exception to the flexible schedule is Arabic Language/Social Studies (same class). This is a set day and time every week because it is taught by a teacher through an online interface. The kids use a virtual blackboard and interact with other students from around the world (via audio, typing, etc). There are SO MANY resources that I loved. Kids could pop in for one-on-one help w/ any of the subject teachers based on a schedule. For example, the math teacher has a standing homeroom twice a week at set hours. You pop in whenever you want and ask for help with a topic. Your child does this on her own through their online interface. You can talk to your teachers (any one of them) WHENEVER you want via Skype, email, etc. I chatted by texting through Skype all the time. They are there to provide direction, advice, resources, and general support. That part was really brilliant. There are classes you can attend as well (online). We almost never attended a class because of the time difference. It just didn't fit our schedule with my child's evening sports activities. However, you can get a link to the class recording where you can listen to the thing. Right now, if your child is sick from "regular" school, they just miss those lessons. There really is no making it up. However with the recordings on K12, your child can listen to lectures/lessons as many times as they want, whenever they want. I could go on and on... I'm happy to answer more of your questions if you have any.

I homeschooled my daughter (not here) for over four years.... It is a full time commitment! Especially at those ages, factoring in the big adjustment coming from a traditional school, I would really investigate it further. I'm not trying to discourage you, but it's not like tutoring. I researched the program they have here, and it looked very structured but I believe they also have a high fee... Something to look into.