The Big Read: Not for the faint-hearted — inside the world of homeschooling and how to tell if it works for your family - test1

SINGAPORE — For a young Sukesy Mattar, studying at an international school in Kuwait, where she lived with her family till she was 11, provided her with a vibrant, holistic experience.

“We studied lots of different things, like handwriting and poetry. PE (physical education) wasn’t just PE, it was gymnastics. Music and drama were also all part of the curriculum. And I didn't have to take any major exams, so the focus was never exams,” recalled the now 45-year-old mother of five.

Her father had relocated the family to the country for work purposes.

When she returned to Singapore, Ms Mattar’s transition back to the local education system where she was placed in Primary 6, was jarring.

The curriculum, centred on the four academic subjects of English, maths, science and mother tongue and with a relentless focus on examinations, felt suffocating for her. Art and creative subjects were sidelined, and even PE was rigorously tested.

When her oldest son completed his first year of kindergarten in 2007, Ms Mattar, who worked as a private tutor and continues to teach homeschooled children math and science today, began to reflect on her own experience in the mainstream school system.

She found herself unsatisfied with the schooling options for her son, including international schools, which were too costly. Eventually, she took a leap of faith and homeschooled her son until he was 16.

Having enjoyed the lifestyle that homeschooling afforded both her son and herself, Ms Mattar continued to homeschool her second and third children until they were 16.

After completing their O-Level examinations, her first and third children went on to study at mainstream junior colleges, while her second child enrolled in a polytechnic.

Her fourth child is currently homeschooled at the secondary level and her youngest attends a special education school.

Treading a similar path, Ms Anju Tupili took her oldest son out of his mainstream school 14 years ago when he was in Primary 2 due to the “exhaustion” she saw in him.

A particular incident tilted the scales in favour of homeschooling for Ms Tupili, who had left her career as an architect after the birth of her first child.

On her wedding anniversary, she and her husband rushed to pick up the boy from school, and he had to change his clothes in the car on the way to the dinner venue.

After dinner, a juggler was performing a street show, but the need for the boy to get up early for school the next day left the family with no time to stop and watch the act.

“I felt like I had robbed him of the opportunity to just go with the flow in life. It was just too much,” the 50-year-old mother of three said.

“And a few incidents like that happened and I felt that there was no life at such a young age. That was very sad.”

As for Raymond and Diane Lim, they chose to follow a Christian curriculum along with the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) syllabus for their two children's education.

Their son, Timothy, eight, has been homeschooled since he was three, while his younger sister, Mikayla, four, is currently receiving early education at home.

The Lims follow a curriculum called Classical Conversations which emphasises memorisation, critical thinking and articulation skills while incorporating a Christian worldview into its course.

“I prefer for his learning to be more about the wonders of God's creation,” said Mrs Lim, 44.

“Not just for the sake of passing (exams), not so much that it has to be aligned with MOE, (but) we also learn about God’s work, art, science, we learn about Singapore maths as well.” 

Mr Lim, 47, runs an insurance and sales consultancy firm, while Mrs Lim worked as an insurance agent before becoming a full-time homemaker after her son was born.

Ms Mattar, Ms Tupili and the Lims are part of a small group of parents in Singapore who choose to homeschool their children.

MOE has long emphasised that Singaporean children should attend national primary schools so that they can acquire a common set of knowledge and skills, which will provide a strong foundation for further education and training.

“This also gives our children a common educational experience, which builds national identity and social cohesion,” the ministry said in response to TODAY's queries.

Since the Compulsory Education Act came into effect in 2003, the number of homeschooled children has “remained small and generally constant, at an average of about 50 Singaporean children for each primary age cohort every year”, said MOE.

The Act makes it mandatory for all Singaporean children residing in the country, who are above six years old and under 15, to attend a national primary school unless an exemption is granted.

MOE does not track the number of Singaporean children who are homeschooled at the secondary level and higher as they do not come under the Act’s purview.

But the ministry said that this number is likely to be fewer than that for primary school for each cohort, as many homeschooled children do eventually enrol in mainstream primary schools or secondary schools.

Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education (NIE) noted that the homeschool community is "rather scattered” as there is no umbrella body to which all homeschooling families belong that would be able to provide concrete numbers on its size.

“It is pretty much up to each parent to decide to link up with other homeschooling parents to engage in joint learning activities, or if they would prefer to do it alone,” he said.

One common reason why some parents homeschool their children is to better meet their child's learning and developmental needs through one-to-one attention, he said.

Associate Professor of Sociology Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir, from Nanyang Technological University, said that homeschooling parents have chosen to “take ownership” of managing their children's education instead of relying on the mainstream system. 

"These parents’ decisions to homeschool are driven by values they deem important, such as a well-rounded education, which they prioritise over other factors like capital accumulation or other externally imposed objectives and notions of success” he said.

On whether the number of homeschoolers might rise in the future, Dr Ho Boon Tiong, principal consultant educationist at training and consulting firm ClassPoint Consulting, said that he does not foresee a significant increase due to the high level of commitment required of the homeschooling parent and the financial costs involved.

WHEN SCHOOL IS WHERE THE HOME IS

Internationally, homeschooling is thriving in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

In the US, the number of homeschooled students rose from 2.5 million in 2019 to 3.1 million in 2021, corresponding to about 6 per cent of school-age children in the country, according to the National Home Education Research Institute.

In the UK, the Department of Education estimated that 97,600 children, or 1 per cent of school-age children in the country were homeschooled in the summer of 2023, up from 86,000 children at the start of last year, or just within several months.

Australia had 21,437 registered homeschoolers in 2019, or 0.5 per cent of the total school population, according to a 2021 survey by the Home School Legal Defense Association.

In Singapore, each homeschooling application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis by MOE to ensure that the children's educational development is safeguarded. The ministry does not provide a recommended curriculum for parents who wish to homeschool their children.

In Mrs Gwyneth Nyoto’s case, she called the MOE's Compulsory Education Unit to indicate her intention to homeschool her oldest child Lukas, who is now 10.

The 39-year-old previously worked at a non-profit organisation before she took on homeschooling responsibilities.

MOE told her to send an email stating her child’s age, proof of citizenship and indication to homeschool, before having a 45-minute phone interview with a Compulsory Education Unit officer to understand more about her family background.

Parents interviewed by TODAY said that the call is also to verify parents’ educational backgrounds, adding that MOE requires the homeschooling parent to hold a degree.

Subsequently, the officer informed Mrs Nyoto, who has a master’s degree in religious education, that enrolling her son in a primary school was mandatory by law.

Proof of successful placement in a primary school was required before she was given a two-week deadline to submit a six-year curriculum plan as part of the homeschooling application. 

Once a child receives approval for homeschooling, the parent must withdraw their placement from the school. The school will also be formally notified of the student’s withdrawal, Mrs Nyoto explained.

In its response to TODAY, MOE said that parents applying to homeschool their children must submit a detailed academic learning plan for the four main academic subjects at the primary level, as well as for Character and Citizenship Education.

This should include the proposed teaching schedules and details of the children’s learning in the different areas.

“Annually, parents are also required to submit a progress report updating MOE of the progress of their child’s learning in different areas,” the ministry added.

Mrs Nyoto shared: “In total you may need to fill in 60 to 80 pages depending on your family. My curriculum plan alone for four subjects was about 40 pages for a six-year education plan.”

Once her curriculum plan was approved, Mrs Nyoto received a home visit from a Compulsory Education Unit officer to assess the home environment the child would be studying in, during which the entire family had to be present.

“You have to show them the materials you will use to teach your children, and they will check where you homeschool, like if the TV is too near and all that,” she said.

She successfully obtained a homeschooling exemption from the ministry in 2020 for her oldest son. Another son, Elijah, eight, is also being homeschooled while her youngest child Onesimus, four, is also taught by her.

Mrs Nyoto shared that an MOE officer would arrange a house visit when the child reaches Primary Three to review their work from the past two years and ensure they are meeting learning milestones.

MOE said that its inspectors would engage parents during home visits to “ascertain the delivery of the learning outcomes in the different domains”.

It added that the visits allow the officers to understand from parents about their homeschooling progress, strengths, and areas for improvement.

In terms of assessment, homeschooled children are required to undertake a mid-term assessment in Primary 4 to gauge their learning progress. They also need to take a digital game-based National Education quiz before taking the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) in Primary Six.

Another home visit would also be arranged if a child fails a subject in the Primary 4 assessment, parents told TODAY.

For PSLE, homeschooled children must meet a benchmark pegged at the 33rd percentile of all students in national primary schools taking four standard-level subjects in that same year, said MOE on its website.

This is equivalent to scoring well enough to qualify for the express stream of a national secondary school under a previous scoring system, or about an Achievement Level of 21 under the new system introduced in 2021.

Students who do not meet the Achievement Level of the PSLE's posting group 1, which is between 25 and 30, must be enrolled into mainstream schools.

Those who pass but do not meet the benchmark can continue to be homeschooled but must take the PSLE again the following year until they pass the benchmark or reach the age of 15, whichever occurs earlier, Ms Mattar, whose four children have passed the PSLE, told TODAY. 

MOE said that parents of homeschooling children may approach the ministry at any time to enrol their children in a mainstream school, which will work closely with them to support their children’s transition.

For secondary school-aged homeschoolers who wish to be admitted to a mainstream school, the ministry said that they can also approach the secondary schools directly.

These students' admission would be “subject to the school’s prevailing vacancies and admission criteria, which may involve school-based assessments”.

“Alternatively, they may apply for Direct School Admission to secondary schools based on their talent in any of the DSA-recognised talent areas,” MOE said.

PERSONALISED ATTENTION, FLEXIBILITY FOR KIDS

For many parents who have homeschooled, or are currently homeschooling their children, one major appeal of the pathway lies in providing their charges with personalised attention and the flexibility of allowing them to learn at their own pace.

For Ms Tang, who has a six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in medicine, the idea of homeschooling came up when she found her son to be a highly-gifted child at the age of four.

Ms Tang, 33, who declined to give her full name for privacy reasons, said her son could speak full sentences before the age of one and was tackling math workbooks designed for Primary 3 students by the time he was three. Subsequent tests revealed his IQ to be an impressive 154 — well above the average IQ of 100 for a normal individual.

“Part of being gifted is the asynchrony of development. He may be more developed in the cognitive sense, but another part of it may not be as critically developed, which is up to us as the parent to observe and give this one-to-one attention,” Ms Tang said.

“With homeschooling, I can make it more child-led. So we can actually cater for the child to accelerate his pace of learning.”

Agreeing, Mr Raymond Lim said that for children at a young age, a lot of their development should revolve around observing them to understand their needs.

“I feel that it's actually understanding what they need now and also to observe their feelings. In the classroom setting, it’s one to 35 (children) which is even tougher (to do so),” Mr Lim said. He added that homeschooling provides one-on-one time and allows his children to review and master concepts at their own pace.

Many parents are also drawn to the prospect of offering their children a holistic and creative education that goes beyond academic excellence.

This is why Ms Tupili homeschools her children using the Classical Conversations syllabus, which emphasises learning through memory work and includes philosophical works by Socrates and Plato, as well as Latin language and history, among other subjects.

“A child must be given the opportunity to know the world and learning the way of life of these ancient people enriches a (child) and I think they become better citizens,” she said.

Ms Lenora Lin, 44, on the other hand, homeschools her eight-year-old daughter Liv using the unschooling method, a child-led approach that encourages learning through natural life experiences.

Entrepreneurship fairs organised by the homeschooling community teach her daughter business skills, financial literacy, and adaptability.

"It’s about handing her the reins and letting her learn practical skills on her own initiative," said Ms Lin, who holds a degree in drama and theatre and works as a part-time coach at Forest School Singapore.

While proponents often highlight the holistic aspect of homeschooling, education experts pointed out that Singapore’s education system compares favourably with some of the world’s best, as reflected by various international benchmarks.

Singaporean students excelled in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), ranking first in mathematics, science and reading among 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

Singapore's Primary 4 students also achieved the highest global reading proficiency in the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study results.

Even with such achievements, Dr Betsy Ng, an education research scientist at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice at NIE, said that MOE has continued to enhance the education system to shift its focus away from an assessment-heavy one.

“For example, in 2023, they eliminated mid-year examinations for primary and secondary schools. Additionally, they introduced changes to the banding system, including the implementation of full subject-based banding in secondary schools,” Dr Ng said.

Still, Ms Dawn Fung, an author and activist advocating for children’s rights through education reform in Singapore, said more can be done to provide an education that is “purposeful and meaningful” to children.

“Homeschooling offers a competing narrative (to mainstream education). There is nothing wrong with studying maths, English, science, but why must students learn them all in the same way?” Ms Fung said.

“Why can’t they be appraised with creative projects that are less stressful? Why can’t parents mix and match?”

CHALLENGES OF HOMESCHOOLING

While homeschooling affords flexibility and personalised education, it also presents its own set of challenges.

Each child has unique learning needs and paces, forcing parents to adapt by juggling multiple curricula and learning styles simultaneously.

Mrs Nyoto, who homeschools her three sons, said that the challenge lies in handling three curricula of different levels on her own.

“In school, teachers only focus on one level at a time. But for mums at home we have to tackle curricula of different levels at the same time,” she said.

Since she has all her children study at the same time, she must ensure that each receives individualised attention in subjects where they excel or struggle.

The key to managing this is taking turns — when one child works on a challenging subject, the other two are assigned more manageable tasks, allowing her to evenly divide her attention among all three.

“Like when I’m guiding one child, the other children will be assigned work they don’t need help with. Usually with English, they’re able to handle it so I can help another one with science or Chinese,” Mrs Nyoto said.

As for Ms Mattar, one of her challenges lies in helping her four children learn more advanced subjects as they get older and the material becomes more difficult.

“In school everything is prepared, you have all the teachers there and the children can learn everything they need. For us, we have to actively look, ‘Where am I going to find someone whom they can learn history from?’ for example,” she said.

To tackle this, some homeschooling families form a learning co-operative and share resources, with parents with expertise in specific subjects taking turns to teach a group of children.

These co-ops typically consist of five to eight families who meet regularly each week for lessons.

In terms of socialisation, parents also shared that many people have the misconception that homeschooled children are under-socialised.

According to those interviewed, this is where the co-operatives come in — by offering homeschooled children opportunities to interact with their peers and engage in social activities like sports through regular gatherings.

Associate Professor of Sociology Daniel Goh, from the National University of Singapore (NUS), said that he does not see any pedagogical issues with homeschooling, adding that homeschooling parents “are very well-resourced and resourceful in finding their own plug-ins to make sure their children do not miss out and are integrated in mainstream (society)”.

Several youths who had transitioned from homeschooling to tertiary education told TODAY that they generally enjoyed their homeschooling years, but some initially struggled with group work in university.

Mr Reuben Teo, 24, a first-year political science student at the Singapore Management University, said he had to adapt to his peers' working styles in group projects due to the individual nature of homeschooling.

“I don’t have a problem working in groups, but homeschooling is a good and bad thing in that you can do the individual work by yourself easily enough, but when it comes to projects, you’re either so efficient that you get impatient waiting for the rest to catch up, or you just don't know what to do,” Mr Teo said.

Ms Ariel Ess, a 24-year-old electrical and electronic engineering student at NTU who was fully homeschooled till 16, said she wished she had attended mainstream schools.

She initially struggled with social cues, citing an instance where a minor disagreement among her canoeing teammates caused her significant anxiety as she took it very personally.

“When you fight with your siblings at home, your parents will step in so there’s always a buffer. But when you go into work, internships or projects, there’s no one to tell you who is right, you have to come to a consensus on your own,” she said.

Ms Ess also felt that there might have been more opportunities for her to try different things and interact with people in a mainstream school setting.

“In homeschooling, we have the freedom to do things, but sometimes you’re not aware of the things you can try. Schools bring you out on outings or overseas and let you interact with other people and you get to hear from their experience as well.”

Associate Professor of Sociology Tan Ern Ser, a sociologist from NUS, said that homeschooled children may face such issues raised by Ms Ess when they miss out on having exposure to a microcosm of Singapore society by not participating in the mainstream system.

“The exposure would involve being in discussion groups, collaborating with fellow students in school projects, and learning how to relate to a diversity of fellow students,” Assoc Prof Tan said.

WHAT PARENTS SHOULD CONSIDER

Parents who are considering homeschooling their children should think carefully as it might not be a viable option for all families, said education experts.

Given the strenuous demands of homeschooling, not all parents may be able to cope with it, Assoc Prof Tan from NIE said.

“First of all, homeschooling definitely demands that parents commit themselves fully to the task of educating their children outside of school. They have to be able to undertake that heavy responsibility not just in the short term, but for a sustained period of time.”

He added that children in the same family may also respond differently to homeschooling methods due to individual differences.

Assoc Prof Tan also urged parents to consider the affordability of homeschooling as families also need a certain level of financial security to be able to undertake this pathway.

Dr Ho of ClassPoint Consulting advised parents to consider their preparedness, commitment level and knowledge of subjects before making such a major decision.

“It's a big investment because it is about individualisation of education, so you have to do everything on your own. And it's not just about financial commitment, it’s also time. At some point, you may have to reintegrate back into the mainstream system,” he said.

To address these challenges, Assoc Prof Tan from NIE suggested that parents who lack confidence in teaching subjects like literacy and numeracy can use online learning platforms to support their efforts.

As homeschooled children get older, it can become increasingly difficult for parents to guide them effectively. “These online programmes are some they can subscribe to, to get access to a complete set of learning and teaching materials,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Ho recommended that parents who are just starting out on their homeschooling journey form a community to exchange resources and support each other. 

“The idea of a community is good because you then have shared resources, shared ideas and you can exchange the resources you have as well.”

Ultimately, both experts agreed that homeschooling is a niche pathway, and it is up to parents to educate themselves on the pedagogical approach they wish to adopt. Parents must also learn how to track and assess their children's progress to ensure they meet academic standards.

Ms Tang, the mother of two who are both homeschooled, also has this advice based on her experience: Don't turn homeschooling into a competition and remember to prioritise the children's needs.

“It doesn't mean that if somebody is using a particular learning style, I must also do the same thing. Don't put your child into a mould. It's fine to be flexible and express yourself,” she said.

Ms Mattar also said that parents considering homeschooling should be prepared that others in the mainstream system may question their choice. 

“I think you should be willing to put aside your own bias and be willing to accept there are many ways to get to your final goal, and that may not be the typical way that many will take,” she said.

“So be brave and be thick-skinned to (accept) non-conventional pathways.”