Considering a year in Thailand with homeschooling a 7 year old

[Newgardengreen]

Hi all, looking for some honest advice/experiences as I’m going round in circles! We’re a family of 3 (me, DH and 7yo DD) We have traveled extensively both as a couple and as a family have spent a considerable amount of time in Koh Samui in Thailand. We love it there, everything about it. The last time we went we stayed for three months and we were just so happy. Ever since then we have been considering moving and seeing what it would be like to properly live there.

The plan would be to try it for a year and see how it went. Financially we’re fine, in fact we’ve worked out we could actually save money moving to Thailand, which is madness. We would bring in a good amount of money if we rented out our house and we have savings and investments to live off.

The biggest question is schooling. We currently pay for private school in the UK, but for a year abroad we would homeschool instead of putting her into an international school. I’m really torn on this. Part of me thinks she’d gain so much from the experience - travel, different culture, more time together etc. But I’m also worried about:

• disrupting her education
• whether I’d actually be good at homeschooling.
• social side / making friends
• settling back into school when we return

She’s fun, kind and sociable and can make friends with anyone so she would be fine in that sense!! But she has also required extra support at school with her reading so that worries me. She also has friends and cousins here she has grown up with since birth and with her not having siblings that would also concern me.

Has anyone done anything similar? either long-term travel with a child or homeschooling for a period of time? Especially interested in real experiences, (good and bad and particularly in Thailand) and anything you wish you’d known beforehand.

Would you do it? Or am I mad to even consider it?!

Thanks so much

How are you going to live in Thailand for year? On what visa?

If you can afford it, do it. No experience, but it sounds wonderful. Just put anything personal/special in storage while renting out your house (if you're doing so furnished.)

My husband is on the visas and I’m on the homeschooling! There are a few options for long term stay.

I think it’s fine, at 7 there is a lot of time to catch up on formal schooling.
If you’re worried about the social side of it have a look for some activities or clubs she could join.

I would put her in an international school - I think that experience would be enriching in itself and help her make friends. They will be used to transitory families.

I know you said your husband is 'on' visas, but surely you have some idea. It is after all the main obstacle. If you can't get visas then everything else is moot.

we ‘world schooled’ for 2 years. My DC2 was age about 6-8 at the time - great age for it.

My parents did this in the 80s though it was Nepal. It was fine, we went back to school (I was around 9) and were way ahead of our peers in terms of academics (my dad had us on trigonometry by the end and all sorts of history projects. English was going to the British council library, getting books, writing book reports, daily journal and letters to grandparents). It was fun but I had a younger sister. I'm not sure how fun it will be for a single child.

Definitely do it would be my vote! At 7 she can catch up later if needed. Just prepare before you go with some age-appropriate learning material to take with you. I think it'll really strengthen your bond and if you can afford it then you won't regret it. My kids would have loved it.

Why are you worried about teaching a 7 year old to read?

You will need to read up on phonics and teaching comprehension. You will need to bring books and workbooks for reading and spelling. You can encourage creative writing. This can all be accomished in an hour a day, and not necessarily all at once each day. It's not rocket science. But it does take some time and dedication.

You should also teach her maths. Again, not too difficult but will entail teaching yourself what to cover amd how.

For a year, that's enough 'formal' homeschooling.

If you move to Thailand, your dd may well be in a totally different education system, even at an international school. Naught wrong with that, but it would make it difficult for her transitioning back into the UK system down the line (say in secondary school). Just be aware of that and be ready with a plan.

Being an expat as an adult is a very, very different level of cultural immersion to being a child at school. Most likely, your dd will be far more enmeshed in the place you move than you will.

No experience of doing this but I would absolutely do this if it were not for elderly GPs in bad health in the UK. I love Thailand and I think it will be a great experience for your DC. I’d probably opt for an international school over home schooling though.

So, what are you going to do about friends for your daughter, if no school, she is an only. Is she going to stare at the wall all day, play on her own. Don´t you work? Watch you work? What kind of kid is she? My daughter would hate it. If very gregarious and if you don´t work, hunky doory.

No experience home schooling. Success of it would seem to be hugely dependent on parent and child involved, and their relationship. could be great or terrible accordingly.

i agree with this. I lived in a variety of countries over 15 years (worked for an international organisation and each new posting was about 3 years long). If you can afford it I'd say an International school. Failing that- some of my colleagues did put their young children into local schools- but they had to be pretty young and it was hit or miss and most definitely not once they each higher end of primary or early secondary years (language barriers too great if there only for a year or so).

But 100% go for it. Life is too short to be stuck in the same old same old. We always planned to return to an international life, but a disabled child made it hard and now we are in the critical exam years. If i could make my choices again i would have thrown caution to the wind and just done it anyway.

Friends are doing thus currently, with the support of sn online school. Its working well for their academic, but also compliant children.
I think it really depends on your child!

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Exactly. Visas for Thailand aren't easy to get.

Sorry to take so long to post again! Thank you everyone for your replies.

International school was considered however I think we like the idea of flexibility and being able to travel as often as we can. I’m not completely ruling it out though - I think it would be an amazing experience and my DD would thrive.

@GetOffTheCounter this is exactly where we are at the the moment. We love Thailand, everything about it and the more we have been back (for increasingly extended periods) we think we could have a great life there. I am pretty fed up in/of the UK at the moment also.

@user593 i am worried about ageing parents however at the moment they are only early 60s and in good health so maybe now is the best time!

@Katiesaidthat firstly my child is incredibly gregarious and can make friends with anyone. No we wouldn’t have to work and no I wouldn’t move somewhere for a new cultural and life changing experience for my DD to sit and look at the walls… but thanks for your passive aggressive input!

@KittyStanton do you mind if I DM you? Would love to hear more about your experiences!

@Flintgranet i think that has been our biggest worry, the transition back. However with her being 7 I feel like this will just get more difficult as she ages so again, maybe the best time to do it?

thanks again all!

I have no experience of this but I would say definitely do it if you can, what an amazing experience for you all

Do it!

We get stuck mentally in the country in thinking that we cannot disrupt the child's education at all. We must follow the state mandated progress/pathway, and deviation is 'the end'.

It's really not. She'll have a great time, and can catch up if you've missed anything.

You are so right! This decision should be fairly easy for us - better quality of life, more money, culturally rich experiences but still I’m at struggling with it a little due to societal pressures!

@Newgardengreen yes of course DM.

I’ll just put here for public consumption that my kids were out of school for almost 2 years when they were around 9, 6 and 3, absolutely not impact on them academically.

Please tell us on the thread, I’m very interested in this concept and the idea of “world schooling”! I have a one year old and a four year old and dream of travelling somewhere tropical for for a year but can’t work out what to do about school or when would be the best time.

If we go now it will give the least disruption to the eldest’s schooling, but my youngest would never remember it and I wouldn’t want her to miss out on what could be such amazing memories.

How did you decide when to go? And how did it affect your children?
I’m more worried about social effects than schooling. The eldest in particular is quite shy and take a long time to warm up in groups socially. But maybe he would enjoy the break from having to do it so often.

I have to say it might be a great experience for a child who is shy - yes it would take them
out of their comfort zone but I think it would be great in the long run for their confidence. We took my DD to Thailand for three months when she was 4 and the change in her was unbelievable (in a positive way!)

just an update - we are heading out to Thailand in the summer to look at schools. We have thought long and hard and think we want to do this, but feel it would be best for our DD (socially and academically) to go to an international school. Thank you for all the advice! We are excited!