New Home Schoolers in Doha
Some families come to Doha unprepared for the schooling situation or thought they had placement. If you are in Doha and find yourself faced with home schooling the content below should give you a place to start. If you are coming to Doha and will continue to homeschool your child, “What is it like to Home school in Doha?” is a great place to start.
It is helpful if you decide what your goals are before you start to look as that will narrow your search. I found this article very helpful and it will help to avoid costly mistakes.
http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/welcome.htm
You may find this site helpful for working through a Step by step guide to designing a program that fits your family. http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/Homeschooling-Guide.html
Starting with a list of goals in mind. Here is a list that I made.
- 1. Hands on learning projects
- 2. Multiple age levels
- 3. Living Books
- 4. Coordinated literature and selections for reading aloud.
- 5. Includes language arts, writing by level, history, vocabulary, geography etc.
- 6. Includes lesson plans
A new homeschooler list might be like this:
- 1. Limited books (shipping costs)
- 2. Online
- 3. Limited parent participation
- 4. For one year or until seat is available.
- 5. One package
- 6. Inexpensive
Once you have goals it becomes easier to pick what fits your family’s needs. This list below is a good place to start.
On Line: These programs are particularly easy to use if you are schooling short term but it can work for long term as well. To learn more about the pros and cons of this type of program go to
http://ezinearticles.com/?Pros-and-Cons-of-Online-Schooling&id=201685
Primary (Elementary)
This is an inexpensive option that becomes less expensive if you purchase one year at a time. There is a demo period for new users but you must give them credit card information to access this service. Presently they are K-8 with the hopes of adding on the secondary at some point.
Secondary (High School)
www.k12.com or a similar all online program. Many countries have similar style programs to this one so if you are from the UK look for UK k12 online and see what comes up.
These choices should make the transition back into the system pretty smooth.
Here are some other online schools that members of our group have used:
www.jubileeacademy.com (abeka online program)
Switched on Schoolhouse is their online program. You can
request a demo disk.
http://www.homeschool.com/Keystone/default.asp
We used this program through a charter school for 2 years and
really thought they were very professional people to work with.
High quality courses.
http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/
http://www.calvertschool.org/engine/content.do
http://www.oakmeadow.com/ (hands on with lots of projects)
http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/home/hmain.asp
More parental involvement:
Distance learning courses and prepackaged curriculums that come
with lesson plans….
www.abeka.com – Jubilee Academy is their online counterpart.
Alpha Omega Publications (life pacs version).
The following are suggested lesson plans and schedules. They include
plans for k-12. This is a great alternative if you are working under a
tight budget. You schedule how fast you work through the materials.
Books can be purchased through your favorite bookseller.
Parent planned study
This would be where the parent assesses the needs of the student
and develops a curriculum around those needs. There are many places
you can go to obtain curriculum or materials. Here are some of my
favorites. There are many more in the links section on the group.
www.thebaldwinproject.com (public domain books)
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page (public domain books)
www.handsofachild.com (lapbooks)
www.currclick.com (Ebooks)
www.audible.com (Audio books)
Child Directed Learning
The child chooses what areas they wish to study. Parents act as
facilitators and inspiration. To learn more you can google for the
following subject lines. This is particularly good for a motivated child
or one a child that needs to detox and obtain a love of learning.
Thomas Jefferson Education – This will work with almost every other
program and compliments them nicely
Unschooling
Child led learning
Moore Foundation (Raymond and Dorothy Moore)
Comments on: "New Home Educators" (14)
Hi Bethany
Sorry to not have answered to your query before now. I am new to administrating this website so am finding my way around slowly, and as you may know Summer break is just over and most families leave Doha for a few months.
Did you end up moving to Doha or are you still thinking of coming here?
To try and answer a few of your questions just in case we have a great homeschool support group here. There are a lot of families who homeschool in Doha and some get involved in everything we do and organise and others just participate in a few things from time to time.
Regular activities and support events are our monthly get togethers for things like tenpin bowling, ice skating, zoo trips, museum trips, park days etc. These are arranged as a regular ‘once a month’ event. There is also support for us homeschool Mom’s with a monthly ‘Mom’s night out’ which proves to be a lot of fun. Sometimes this is a dinner hosted in someone’s home or otherwise we go out to a restaurant for dinnner. It is always a lot of laughs, there are a great bunch of women here.
Curriculum can be done online, bought with you or ordered online and shipped in. Most people set up an ‘Aramex’ shipping account when they arrive here, which proves to be the easiest and quickest way to get items. We also swap and sell curriculum amongst ourselves.
There are a few bookshops that carry limited items but I have found some good thing amongst their books but you can’t rely on them for full curriculum.
Art and craft supplies are quite easy to buy here. Things like paint, canvas, sketch pads, glitter, stickers, cardboard, plaster, clay etc.
If you were wanting scrapbooking supplies or knitting that is few and far between. There are also stores that will photocopy, bind etc for a very reasonable cost. Office supplies are in abundance.
Hopefully this is not too late and you will find some of it helpful.
Regards
Cheryl
Sorry to not have replied earlier.
Our families at DHE all educate their children differently. For example I do an eclectic arrangement of subjects and resources which required a lot of lesson planning and researching. Others choose from online curriculum or they order online and have it shipped in to Qatar.
If you look down the left-hand side of the DHE website you should see links to some online curriculum and also other resource websites organized by country. There are a few South African ones there too. These are added by members of DHE that have tried them and are only a guide to use when selecting the curriculum that suits you and your family best.
I hope that you can find something among the links to help you out.
Hello,
I am a father of three children (ages 6, 8 and 11). Would very much like to meet some of the home schooling coordinators during my trip to Doha this coming Sunday and Monday. It would be ideal to witness a home schooling program in action if possible.
I am only there for a total of 3 days (Jan 8-10). Is it possible for a coordinator (or two) to give me about 30-45 minutes out of their busy schedule?
Please contact me at sendmail0 – at – gmail dot com and we can discuss logistics in more detail.
Thanks very much !
Faisal Ansari
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Hi Faisal,
Sorry that this reply is too late to meet with you during your trip to Doha.
The Doha Home Educators does not run a program to educate your child. We are made up of a number of families who are all schooling their children in their own homes and with their own chosen curriculum. Some use an online curriculum and others bring textbooks with them when they move to Doha as there is not very much available here.
Take a look down the left hand side of the webpage for links to some curriculum websites that have been recommended by others in the group. We get together from time to time for special events like swimming, art classes, tennis lessons or at present we are running a Spring Coop (more can be seen on the website in the coming weeks as it unfolds).
Hi, I am a filipina here in Doha . My son who has ADHD is really having a hard time coping up in a regular school setting. It’s a great relief to find your site. I’ve been in doubt of homeschooling my son. As a former teacher before I know my son will be in a better learning state if I home schooled him. The only thing I’m worried of is socialization and what if i got burnt out. Hope you can help me here. I’d like to know more about your group as well. Are there other filipinos there? Thanks and God bless.
Hi Arrelle
Welcome to DHE. We are a mixed nationality group of home school families from South Africa, Australia, America, New Zealand and various Arabic nations. At this stage there are no other filipino families with us but we would love to have you come along and join in. The age group of children range from between toddler to about 15 years old. As homeschool mums we do get burnt out from time to time but with support from others we get through it. We have monthly Mom’s night’s out which is great for socialization and support but most people in the group are available for a chat and advice if you need it.
We also have regular get togethers for the children. Regular park days, other social activities approximately monthly, like ice-skating, ten pin bowling, swimming etc. Sometimes a family will offer lessons in an area they have a specific interest in like the weekly art classes we did last year (you can see this in older posts via the photos) and at present we are doing our first Co-op learning which is an 8 week co-op running each Monday. This is a series of small classes on things such as Astronomy, Cooking, Yoga, Thinking Games, Food Inc, Cup Cakery. Again photos can be seen here on the blog.
We are intending on running more Co-ops in the future as this one has been so successful. The children are given opportunities between lessons on this day to play outside in the playground and socialize. I think one of the most positive things about homeschooling is that your child will learn to socialize with people of all different backgrounds, nationalities and age groups rather than just with their peer group.
There are online curriculums where you register with a school or company and they provide all you need, others homeschool their children by selecting curriculum from a variety of places to better suit their childs needs. Links to some curriculum ideas can be found down the left hand side of this blog.
Please feel free to contact us with any further questions.
Help needed!
My family is moving to Doha this March and my son is seven years old in second grade at in IB school here in Abu Dhabi. We have applied for ASD, however as the norm, we have not been able to find space for this academic year but are hopeful to have him enrolled by next year. I have contacted the school to find out their thoughs/advice and expectations of a home schooling program and queried which would be the most acceptable accredited program. Unfortunately they were not able to assist at all, so I am hoping that you may be able to. I sincerely appreciate any advice you may have to offer.
Many thanks in advance.
HI, Gabrielle! If you’re looking at an American curriculum, probably your best bet is either K12 or Time 4 Learning, both of whch are online program and give clear records of acheivement for the school to examine. K12 is often used as a distance learning program in many of the Departments of Education in the States. Hope this helps!
Cheers!
Margaret Douglass
Forum Administrator
DHE
Thankyou so much. I have begun researching and the k12 program seems most appropriate for our needs.
One more question , when homeschooling are there any particular requirements from the Qatar Ministry of Education , do you need to register your child, or complete any bureaucratic procedures?
Thanks again for all your help, and will definitely be in touch when we arrive, beginning another new adventure!
There is no registration here. Home schooling is not legal for Qatari nationals, so we ex-pats are on our own. Do make sure that if your home country/state/province requires some kind of registration that you let them know, but otherwise, simply keep good records of all your work. A couple of us are certified for some of the national acheivement tests in the U.S., so if you’d like testing done at the end of the year, let us know, and do join the Big Tent group as soon as you’re over here to get involved in activities.
Cheers!
Hello, We are relocating to Doha by March-April. My children are currently in schools and of course they won’t be accepted in schools right away. Does anyone have the experience of homeschooling for a short while till kids get accepting in schools ? thanks
Ghada
Hello, I am new to homeschooling. My daughter will be 5 years old in October and I also have a 2 year old daughter. We are from the States. My husband’s company doesn’t provide money for school so we have decided to home school my daughter. What events can I attend this month to join your bigtent group? Is anyone here from the States using K12 online or Connections Academy for free? Thank in advice for all the information. Sharon
Hi, Sharon! If you’re already beginning Pre-K instruction with your daughter, you can join the group now – just post the application through Big Tent. If you have any trouble, let me know.
Regards,
Margaret
Right now I am trying to figure out what lesson plan or material I am going to use. I am a bit overwhelmed at the choices. I haven’t began instructions yet.