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International Homeschooling  

post #1 of 14
9/27/07 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 
I have some questions. If a family from the US moves to another country for the father to work there for several years how would one go about continuing to homeschool?

Would you be bound by the homeschooling laws of that country?
post #2 of 14
9/27/07 at 10:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7kiddosmom View Post
Would you be bound by the homeschooling laws of that country?
Yes, unless he is military. If he works for a regular business then you must comply with the laws. Homeschooling is legal in some countries and illegal in others. Where are you considering moving?

We've homeschooled in the US and Canada, and looked into some countries in Europe.
post #3 of 14
9/28/07 at 12:13am
I have homeschooled in singapore and now in Bahrain. I never looked into the laws...I just looked for other homeschoolers and did it. In my experience, for the most part, in Asia atleast, the expats arent really messed with as far as "compulsory" education. You can expect most 2nd and 3rd world countries to have no clue what you are talking about. In India, for ex. , they so value when kids get to go to school that they cant understand why ours arent in school. Theres a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/expat-homeschool/ where you can find country specific info. I have heard some of the European countries are tough, Id just fly under the radar. Its Germany where there have been problems I think....
post #4 of 14
9/28/07 at 12:41am
I live in Singapore, and expatriates are not included as far as their education laws are concerned. So I personally have no laws to deal with as far as homeschooling: Singapore is unconcerned, and in the U.S., it's a state matter, dependent on where you are physically living.

One would have to check the laws of the particular country.
post #5 of 14
9/28/07 at 1:39am
If you are a military family then you fall under the Status of Forces Agreement and the country in question doesn't have any authority over you in that sense. Otherwise, yes, you usually must comply with the laws of that country. When we lived in Germany we knew some private contract employees who had hsed in the US and were required to put their children in American or British private schools while living overseas.
post #6 of 14
9/28/07 at 2:48am
Homeschooling in all forms is illegal in Germany. It's a felony with possible jailtime or extradition, so they don't play.
post #7 of 14
9/28/07 at 4:04am
I'm in Russia and no one seems to care what we do. It depends on the country. Where are you thinking of moving?
post #8 of 14
9/28/07 at 5:32am
In my experience, the majority of countries don't care what non-nationals due wrt school. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of a particular country, you don't fall under the same laws as people who are there making their home. Most expats working in foreign countries don't pay taxes to the foreign countries either as far as I know and so wouldn't be contributing to the social infrastructure and wouldn't be eligible for benefits such as national healthcare, free education, etc, so how would they be held to compulsory laws for schooling?


But I could be wrong.
post #9 of 14
9/28/07 at 5:45am
Germany is very STRICT. Germans who live outside of the country aren't allowed to homeschool, either. On their return they get fined and stuff. It's RIDICULOUS. We're moving next May, Thank G-d!
post #10 of 14
9/28/07 at 6:26am
From what I understand, some countries in Europe have compulsory school attendance (like Germany) while other countries have compulsory education (not necessarily at a school) such as Belgium.

The best thing to do if you want to homeschool abroad is to google around until you find a local homeschool yahoo (or similar) list. Then talk to the people who are actually homeschooling there and they can provide you with the way it can be done legally.

Here's one place to start:
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Europe.htm
post #11 of 14
9/28/07 at 11:16am
We will be hs in Mexico starting in Dec....really we will be unschooling....i'm excited we will not have to test like we do here in NC.
post #12 of 14
9/28/07 at 11:51am
We are have been in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Holland and now Switzerland. In the Philippines, anything goes, the same applies for those in Hong Kong, in Holland it is completely illegal and in Switzerland it seems to matter which canton you are in. We just happened to move into the one with the least resistance (totally not planned, just happened, thankfully). Where are you thinking of moving?
post #13 of 14
9/28/07 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louise View Post
in Holland it is completely illegal
http://www.nvvto.nl/english/index.html
post #14 of 14
9/28/07 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 
It is a VERY VERY VERY EXTREMELY remote possiblity of us moving to Australia. If dh wanted he could have a job there.

Since I posted my OP things have changed and we more than likely won't even be moving out of state now.
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