Online Learning for Children of Ex-Pats
I am not an expert on the Philippines. Yes, I have done some reading and I visited there a number of times in the early 1980s, but I will leave those articles to others. What I can provide for you, though, is a way to educate your children once they move to the Philippines.
One other option that I would like to suggest is that you go online. This is now available for elementary and secondary schools and there are many, many choices. It has been my experience that, while people were quite satisfied with the local elementary schools, they began to worry (rightly or wrongly) about college admissions with a non-U.S. (or your home country) high school diploma. Also, they worried about the language issue if they moved older children to the Philippines. It is one thing to move a five-year-old to the Philippines and a very different thing to move a fifteen-year-old.
What also made this not a great choice until fairly recently was the lack of high-speed Internet in parts of the Philippines. This is certainly no longer a problem in the larger cities. While there are programs that do not absolutely require high-speed, you will likely find it less enjoyable.
What should you look for in choosing a school? The first and foremost is its accreditation. Any school you choose should be accredited or approved by your home country. It is important to understand, though, that the vast majority of online options for children are in the United States. In that case, the school should have regional accreditation (see CHEA.org) or accreditation by CITA (see CITAschools.org). If you are not an American and you are worried about acceptability in your home country, I would consider one of the university-based programs.
Cost is always a factor. There are programs like Penn Foster High School that are about $1000 for an entire high school education and there are programs like University of Miami Online High School that are much more expensive. Both are good, solid programs, but also attract very different students.
Something else to consider is whether the school offers dual credit for courses. Some of the high schools associated with universities offer both high school and college credit for completing a course. Yes, the course must be college level, but if you have a child who does well in school, this could be a good way to cut down on the cost of university tuition.
My website, BestOnlineHighSchools.com, is one site where you can go to get information on these types of high school programs. My recommendation, though, is to make sure that you do not make the choice based solely on cost. Read the blog and the articles. Check out the forum. Become informed first and then make your choice.
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Thomas Nixon is the author of Complete Guide to Online High Schools: Distance learning options for teens & adults (and four other books on distance learning) and is the manager of BestOnlineHighSchools.com.
This is a great article, Thomas and I’ve made note of your web site … I don’t know how many times I have heard these questions asked in the time I’ve been directly involved with moving to the Philippines and/or helping other people move to the Philippines. Even though not as well known as it might be, accredited home schooling has been widely available in the US … and other countries the parents might chose to live in for many years. Online just makes these programs better … both for the mechanics of working through course materials and as a resource for the parents to use when they feel they aren’t able to help their student with some difficult area.
It’s also very cost-effective compared to some of the common alternatives. Accredited International Schools often cost well into the five-figure range, and these schools vary greatly in their resources … some are very good, some aren’t really all that well staffed or equipped. As another cost comparison, when I worked in Japan for the US government there were Department of Defense primary and seconary schools available to non-military US f0olks on a ‘for pay” basis. The tuition, 10 years ago in Tokyo? $25,000 per year and there was a long waiting list. So a thu/couple thou a year could be very reasonable if the quaility and “fit” of the school to the student is satisfactory.
[...] is involved in online learning, and has been a regular reader here for some time. He even wrote a guest column a while back about online education. Tom informed me about a website where you can download [...]