IGCSE Homeschooling, Are You Sure?

In our country, when we mention homeschooling,  it will usually end up being one of the two scenarios:

1. Going to centres to replace schooling time; this is what the majority does.

2. Students stay at home and are taught by their parents and tutors, which is the minority among the two options.

For this post, when we refer to homeschooling, we will be discussing option one: which are the student who are being taught at centres.

I'm have been a teacher tutor for almost my entire life and I have seen tons of students successfully transition from schooling to building their career, regardless of their education background.  After making some careful observations and research, I have come to realize some things that might be useful to both parents and students alike. 

Many parents like to assume. They usually hear something from someone to make their children take up this and that. This is what I have to say to the parents: please be careful when you make those decisions, because you might affect your child's future course of life. This can cover anything from character building to their network of friends and life skills.

Homeschooling is one of the options for Malaysians students to immerse themselves in a different kind of syllabus: the IGCSE Cambridge international syllabus. However, it might not be the best for your child. Here's why:

#1. IGCSE is good, but is the 'homeschooling' standard good?

IGCSE is definitely better than our local syllabus, but is the homeschooling centre you are enrolling your child into any good? There are some "so-called" homeschooling centres that hire teachers who are inept and are not trained to handle the IGCSE syllabus. This causes a poor teacher retention rate, and you might encounter a number of changing teachers throughout your child's schooling process

#2. They need school activities

A student growing up in a school can have a proper school experience. I'm sure all of us can recall the time of humid afternoons, marching under the sun, or just being part of the audience of thousand during a performance. These are the experiences that will equip your child with lessons of leadership and adaptability that cannot be found in the textbook.

#3. Quitting and lacking continuity.
I find out students that are homeschooled tend to change centers a lot, but why does this happen? Maybe the quality of education at that particular center does not live up to standards. But by constantly changing standards, this gives your child the perception that it is okay to abandon something for greener pastures. As a result, your child will not learn the value of perseverance and overcoming challenges. They will learn to leave and give up easily, in hopes that the environment adjust to them. But in the real world of career building, its you who needs to adapt to the enviroment.

#4. They need friends; both good and bad. 

Homeschooled children tend to have only a small handful of friends. But in a school you get to be directly or indirectly not only by friends, but also people with different kinds of character. In a school you have the opportunity to converse with all kinds of people: the kind, the mean, the dramatic, the funny. Once a again the child will learn social skills and gain adaptability to become stronger and better. Some parents have compensated by sending their child for sports competition and church youth groups, which I think is good option. For 7 Types of High School Students.

#5. Why not just prepare them to face exams?

 Why not just prepare him for IGCSE Exams straight away? Join an IGCSE acceleration programme! All you need is 1 to 2 years of your child's time. It is best to prepare them between the periods of Form 3 to Form 4, so he can just take exams in somewhere in Form 4. If he did very well in IGCSE exams, he can skip SPM and just go straight to college . This way, he can accelerate his studies without compromising his or her formal schooling. The best age to do this is between age 15 to 17. 

#6. No More Local Uni For You
Once your child is no longer enrolled in the local education system and did not receive his SPM qualification, they will not be allowed to apply for local universities. This means that once you pull him out of school, his options will be limited to only local private universities or overseas study. So if you have the means to finance your child all the way till their degree, then this will not be a problem. But please ensure that you have a budget of 200k to 500k on average without adding in inflation. For reference purposes, you could look at University comparisons and fees. 


At the end of the day, this is just my personal opinion. I can only hope that my observations will  help parents to decide which is best for their own child.

Related Post:

• IGCSE Homeschooling, Are You Sure?
• IGCSE Past 10 Years Series 
• Top 9 Things You Must Know About IGCSE
• Top 10 Reasons To Study In An International School

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