Job Discussion Forums

[Rykey]

My girlfriend and I (both Americans) are looking into the possibility of teaching English in HCMC next year. Our qualifications, and the research we've been doing on going to Vietnam, make us confident we will do OK on the job market.

The big thing that's making us hesitate is that we would be bringing our 14-year-old daughter with us. She likes the idea of going for a year or so, and I'd say she's more culturally curious and tolerant than the average kid her age, but I also know you can't prepare a middle-class American teenager for the huge change of scenery and culture that is Vietnam.

But aside from the issues of culture shock/homesickness, practically speaking, what do expat kids do in HCMC outside of school? Where are we most likely to meet other expat families there? I see a lot of expat websites geared toward single people, but not too much on expat families.

[LettersAthruZ]

[Andy123]

If you send her to a "real" international school she will be okay. That will cost a lot of money. If you are planning to send her to public school or home school her that would be a mistake.

Sadly, school is the main social outlet for my students. I stop asking years ago what my students do in their free time. Their typical responce e.g. sleep, play video games, watch TV and watch traffic.

This is the third world not a TV movie.

[DNK]

[spycatcher reincarnated]

I feel a 14 year old would be fine here, preferable in Districts 7 or 2 where they have a large expat community.

I definitely feel home schooling could be a very viable option if you don't want to send her to an International school, which are all quite expensive. I feel homeschooling if done reasonably well may give a substantially better education that the International schools. I am not saying that all the International schools are of low quality, but am saying that home schooling is becoming increasingly easy to be done well.

[I'm With Stupid]

I've never understood home schooling past primary school. I can't imagine any one person being qualified enough to teach every school subject at that level. Even professional teachers stick to just the one subject.

[generalgiap]

From wiki

Methodology

Homeschools use a wide variety of methods and materials. There are different paradigms, or educational philosophies, that families adopt including unit studies, Classical education (including Trivium, Quadrivium), Charlotte Mason education, Montessori method, Theory of multiple intelligences, Unschooling, Radical Unschooling, Waldorf education, School-at-home, A Thomas Jefferson Education, and many others. Some of these approaches, particularly unit studies, Montessori, and Waldorf, are also available in private or public school settings.
It is not uncommon for the student to experience more than one approach as the family discovers what works best for them. Many families do choose an eclectic (mixed) approach. For sources of curricula and books, "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003"[13] found that 78 percent utilized "a public library"; 77 percent used "a homeschooling catalog, publisher, or individual specialist"; 68 percent used "retail bookstore or other store"; 60 percent used "an education publisher that was not affiliated with homeschooling." "Approximately half" used curriculum or books from "a homeschooling organization", 37 percent from a "church, synagogue or other religious institution" and 23 percent from "their local public school or district." 41 percent in 2003 utilized some sort of distance learning, approximately 20 percent by "television, video or radio"; 19 percent via "Internet, e-mail, or the World Wide Web"; and 15 percent taking a "correspondence course by mail designed specifically for homeschoolers."
Individual governmental units, e. g. states and local districts, vary in official curriculum and attendance requirements.[14]

[spycatcher reincarnated]

There is so much information out there these days that it is easy for children of this age to be self learners.

Think how much studying one actually does during a day at school. Moving from class to class, getting the class to settle down, and competing for time with 30 other students, major distractions everywhere. Home schooling parents usually say that it only takes about 2-3 hours a day of study to equal that of a day�s study at school.

There are numerous home school curriculums and information from providers such as Kaplan and there also a lot of free information. This site is worth looking at for free information:

http://www.khanacademy.org/

One has to note that stats on home schooling/home education are often highly dubious because parents decide to home school for a number of reasons. The very brightest and very worst claim to home school. Some reasons given for home schooling in the US include:

School fees
Religious beliefs
Bullying
Unhappy at school
Kids have special needs
Kids are really playing truant so the parents claim they are being home schooled
Living in remote areas
Expatriate children

Some research shows that home schoolers way out perform normal schoolers, but this information is regarded as highly dubious as one can imagine that it would only be parents who believed that their kids would outperform who would let their kids be involve in the research.

In the west there are more after school clubs and libraries etc. that kids can use. Also because more kids are home schooled, especially in the US (maybe 4% of kids), parents form groups. One parent will teach math and another will teach geography, etc. For this reason some people suggest home schooling is no longer the correct term.

Some sites that I have just found:

http://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/
http://www.home-schooling-uk.com/
http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschooling-curriculum.html

Another option may be an online international school, but in Vietnam time difference would probably cause an issue as these are usually based in the US and the UK.

[bludevil96]

There seems to be some very cynical people here. Moving a 14yr old to ANY WHERE on earth is going to be a challenge, if not a shock to their system. Think about military families who moved around a lot. I vaguely remembered a study done on this with children of military families and how it psychological affect them (keep in mind, these are repeatedly packing up and move, not once or twice). You're telling someone to leave their friends and familiar surroundings to start all over. But she'll be fine once they're past the culture shock. Your daughter will be enrolled in grade 8/9 here. The Vietnamese high school is only 3 years (10,11,12).

There are some Vietnamese schools that are quite reputable. You would need to network to find out which ones. My friend is homeschooling her children with courses sent from Keystones($1800/1900 all subjects books included) and involves internet based classes. Interactions with other students can be achieved through recreational activities like music schools, martial arts, sports, etc. not to mention private tutors for things like math, which is very good here.

Go for it, she'll be fine.

[Andy123]

What most people do not understand and the Viet surely do not is that schools are meant to educate but it is also a practice ground to learn norms and values of society. How to get along with peers, conflict resolution, problem solving, etc, etc.

Granted many will adapt, assimilate and accommodate. The question is what is the best environment to promote successful social learning? Smart people will always learn and due well regardless if they have bad teachers. Smart people have the ability to teach themselves but this is not the norm.

I do not know about anyone else but when I was 14, I daily played sports, hung out with friends, read books, took long walks in the woods with my dogs, went to the movies and many more activities. I was always on the move. That is not what life is here for most. It takes money to do that here.

The general point is what is the norm?

[spycatcher reincarnated]

Andy there are opposing views:

http://www.home-education.org.uk/articles/article-socialisation.pdf

George Bernard Shaw There is nothing on earth intended for innocent people so horrible as a school. To begin with, it is a prison. But it is in some respects more cruel than a prison. In a prison, for instance, you are not forced to read books written by the warders and the governor. In prison they may torture your body but they do not torture your brains .

Jean Piaget The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done -- men who are creative, inventive and discoverers. .

Isaac Asimov Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. .

Mark Twain Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run. .

Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. .

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." .

David P. Gardner We learn simply by the exposure of living. Much that passes for education is not education at all but ritual. The fact is that we are being educated when we know it least. .

Margaret Mead My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she kept me out of school. .