Schooling options research: International vs "interntional" vs local plus homebased

We are continuing to think about schooling for our kids. There are lots of schools in the town we live in, although at a first glance none seem like a perfect fit the research continues.

Our research and thoughts so far:

(this is ongoing- this is all new to me, sharing some links so I can read up later, feel free to give input esp if you are an educator or a parent)

Mostly the private schools fall into two categories. Some generalisations (according to what I know at this point in time):  

Some private International schools are specifically to set up  to cater to foreign children who want to have an education that allows them to switch between Cambodia and their passport country and makes it easy for them to apply to universities outside Cambodia. These are mostly all taught in English (or French), and Khmer might be taught as a second language. (that 's my current understanding anyway). These ones are usually quite expensive but as far as I understand the teachers are qualified and have had criminal background checks. 

Other private schools might also be called 'international' but seem to be aimed at  local Khmer students so there are classes in Khmer but English is so important these days they also have English but usually ESL style.  Some of these schools have foreigners working at them who may or may not be properly qualified, but bring their expertise of being native English speakers. They may or may not have had criminal background checks. This could be a big issue as Cambodia seems to be a place where men from Western countries hide from their pedophile charges back in their passport country. Cheaper than the International schools. 

The price difference might be something like around 100USD per month verses 500USD per month for primary school. Not taking into account enrollment fees and other one-off or annual fees, and various other things.

For the early years the big difference we noticed between institutions for Khmer and expats is that the expats ones are much more play based, and there are more options.  I guess day care/preschool is a new concept here, and school usually means sitting at a desk. I guess traditionally households have lots of adults so the kids can stay home with Grandma until they are desk-ready. We had been hoping to find our kids a play based safe Khmer language place for pre-school years but one we thought might work turned out the carers seemed to all speak English to the kids, and we were sure of safety , and while he was there he seemed to need to move around more at home. We guess he didn't get as much fun and movement there. They didn't have any outdoor space to play in. 

Not all school fit into these boxes, there are a few we are looking into at the moment. At the same time we are also considering a combination of local school and home based. 

Going to a local government school feels like it would be the natural and cheap way to be part of the community and learn to read and write in Khmer. In all my years associated  with Cambodia I think I have only heard of one family doing this. I'm currently trying to learn more about this:

 Is it because of safety issues, 

or teaching methodology? 
Or because having an international education takes priority? Or...?

I'm trying to learn more about homeschooling, there are a few websites that explain different approaches such as this one and this one.  (the eclectic/ hodge podge approach would be where I would start I think- need to read and research, unschooling sounds crazy!) Sometimes online and distance ed seems to be included in homeschooling, others seem to put that in a different box as parents are more facilitators than teachers (I think, I could be making this up).

And I've joined a few facebook groups so I can listen in on conversations between homeschooling families and the day to day issues and questions they have.  I'm also trying to get to know other homeschoolers in town as well as learning more from another facebook group that has many Aussie (and other nationalities) Christian missionary mums in it, many topics discussed, homeschooling often comes up.

Homeschool curriculum seem to be a big industry in America, they seem to be mostly Christian based. For example Sonlight, My Father's World, Timberdoodle , Bob Jones  , A Beka etc etc

And there seems to be lots of free stuff online, people often mention Easy Peasy.  and an Aussie educator I met with awhile back mention I should look up Singapore maths.

Most ppl I know who homeschool are American, and most resources are from the States but I've got some Aussie home based education sites I want to link here so I can find them later. Distance ed from the gov seems like its only meant to be for 2 years, so not sure if we can do that but we could look into riverside. Aussie sites to read:

An aussie homeschooler writing for new homeschoolers:
 https://littlemeninmylibrary.wordpress.com/new-homeschoolers/

An Aussie Christian school that has a distant ed program (recommended by an aussie mum overseas, they use it and like it)
http://www.distanceeducation.school/

Some also mentioned:
http://www.homeschooling.com.au/ 

  

KNY/Easter season

Jacaranda is in bloom, weather is warmer, town is decorated in festive lights, shops and schools closed, people travelling to their hometown to see family- feels like Christmas!

I've seen every sort of transport carrying stars around town over the last few weeks.

The biggest holiday of the year and Easter always happen close to each other but this year Khmer New Year is actually on the same weekend as Easter.

KNY celebrations are huge in Siem Reap so the the last few weeks we have watched decorations going up, including stars by the river, and archways of lights over the main road. They also finished building a new bridge and fixed up a few other things around town. Lots of shops and hotels also have festive lights as well as tables set out to welcome the new year angel.

Every time we over the bridge the toddler starts singing Twinkle twinkle little star.

Also the last few weeks we have been reading some Bible story books about Jesus' death and resurrection. In the lead up to Christmas we read a Bible society book about Jesus birth and that worked well, so we did the same for Easter.  

No chocolate eggs, but we did have some hot cross buns we brought from Australia. And possibly bagels as an empty tomb treat tomorrow (Sunday). Many people travel to see their family at this time of year, so church is usually pretty empty.

New Year decorations on the new bridge

Mangos everywhere!

Jacaranda from Australia growing in Cambodia- finally has flowers! 

This hot season has been strangely cold for a lot of the time. I got all organised with hot season food but it wasn't hot! But then of course when the hot weather struck I was caught out and we had mangos for dinner.

Hot season: time to go to the mall where there is air con!

Stars waiting by the river 

Sunday mornings at this stage

Leang Sam Ath (Wash It) Full MV By WaterAid Cambodia and Epic Art

Kids books about Jesus

Here are some of the book we are reading at the moment.

Bottom left are some bilingual books from the Cambodian Bible Society. We have a few in this series "Words of Wisdom". In the lead up to Christmas we read the one about Jesus birth almost every night for a few weeks, so here we are in the lead up to Khmer New Year....err umm I mean Easter and we are reading the ones about Jesus' death and resurrection.

On the right are two books from Growing Faith we were given about half a year ago. As well as teaching about the Bible the kids learn a bit about Aussie animals which is great too. We recently visited Australia and actually saw some flying foxes and some bilbys.

The one up the top is from The Good Book . Its the true story of why Jesus died and rose again. It made an excursion to a Cambodian Bible study group one evening recently!