[HOMESCHOOLING]

My daughter is 14 and in grade 9 and we’re about to finish Y1 of homeschool.

I’m going to share what I’ve learned so far as well as how our journey began and I hope that it helps you get started with your own research for the best options for your kid/s.

My daughter has always gone to private schools because like most parents, I wanted the best education for her. Also, I was always conscious of how snobbish universities are about feeder schools, so I did what I thought was best.

I pulled her out of a prestigious private school because she was so unhappy, her confidence was killed and she actually thought she wasn’t clever because of how the teachers treated her. Every child must be a high performing academic because it serves the school, not the child.

Enrolled her into a boarding school in PTA that had no uniform, no cookie cutter standards and kids were encouraged to be themselves and explore their creativity. My child cane alive.

The school is Max Stibbe.

After two years, she said she wanted to go to a school close to home, so we changed schools again and she went to a different private school in Bryanston.

She was there for two years and the quality of the education kept dropping while fees increased. I was frustrated.

I was fighting with the school and some teachers who were verbally abuse to the kids and became knows as the mom that is not to be fucked with.

Started looking for new schools, but public schools had no spaces & I couldn’t afford other private schools.

The last year, my daughter said she’d like to try homeschooling. I did some research online and found one that I enrolled her in for this year.

She’s been doing the Cambridge syllabus and this is how they work:

1. Had to pay +/- R25k upfront to cover fees for the whole year. This is inclusive of study material/textbooks.

2. Exam applications have an additional cost.

3. You are given a syllabus for the whole year at the beginning of the year with a weekly guide on what to cover when.

4. Assignments are also included in these packs and must be submitted every 4 weeks (some subjects are not as regular).

5. They write exams once a year (May or Oct/Nov)

6. Maths, English & Science exams are written at the school campus and other subjects are written at home

At the start of the year, I sat down with my daughter and we planned her “school schedule”.

Her school days were Monday - Thursday; 9am - 3pm. She had two breaks: 1hr lunch and 30min comfort break.

Friday’s were her off day and she was consistently ahead of the syllabus.

The pros of this particular school:
1. Convenience
2. Flexibility
3. Affordability

Cons:
1. Their academic support is weak
2. Queries submitted to their tutors took forever to be responded to.
3. You’re likely to end up relying on private tutors (more money).

I started looking around for another homeschool and found the one she will be attending from next year.

There are similarities with the schools, I.e. convenience, affordability, etc.

But there are major differences:
1. This school is paid monthly (R1,725 early bird)

Even without th early bird special, you’d still pay less than R2k per month.

And it works out to +/- R5k cheaper than current school.

What I like about the new school:
1. They have daily online classes w/ teaschers bia virtual classrooms, so they can engage, ask questions, seek assistance etc.

2. The lessons are recorded, so the kids can always go back and rewatch lessons to refresh their minds/study

They have exams, assignments and more structure than the current school, which makes monitoring progress a lot easier.

What you need to know:

1. Each school is different, so do your research to find the best fit for your child’s needs.

2. The ages of the kids that they take in varies, some don’t take kids younger than grade 4, so be sure to research this & the developmental requirements.

3. Be sure to check that the school is SACAI-accredited and that the teachers are SACE-accredited.

Be wary of fraudsters.

4. Yes, you’ll save money on fees, petrol, time etc, but you need to have a mechanism in place to gauge how your child is coping & if you need help.

5. I contacted Tutoroo to get my daughter a French tutor since it was the first time she was doing French. Tutor comes to our home once a week. It’s R263/week. Price varies based on frequency of lessons and it’s a solid system.

Now, how do I keep my child’s social life alive?

I knew I needed to keep her physically active, so I signed her up for dance classes, which she loves. She also meets new people this way.

She still maintains friendships with friends from previous school & they visit regularly

Her confidence has grown because our approach to education has evolved. I’m not a stressing, panicking parent anymore, so she relaxes.

Our convos about school are calm & honest. I reiterate that all I need to know is that she did her best. Whether that’s 90 or 60 doesn’t matter

And I’ve learned that because I pay attention to who she is and what interests her, and my daughter is smart as hell, she just expresses it differently. And she’s artistic, a creative. So I give her space to explore solutions that serve her best & then we discuss.

If you want to homeschool your child, you must have a laptop and internet/WiFi because they do research and must log onto online portals.

With her new school, they need webcams because of the virtual classes.

The schools

Her current school is British International Distance College.

Her new one is Teneo School.

I hope this thread has helped demystify homeschooling a little and think more carefully about whether this solution would be suitable for your family.