Category Archives: Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools

About Us - Series - Beginnings, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Outreach Options, Transportation

“Over here we live like kings, but back home we are like everyone else!” – The South African diplomat said to me as we toured their palatial dwelling in Seoul, South Korea

4 Comments
Somewhere on Lake Annecy, France – You never know where your travels for outreach may take you! 🙂 CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet 🙂

 South African Embassy Friends – Over here we live like kings! …

We were based among the rolling lush green hills and mountains of South Korea. My friend from church  was from South Africa and taught at a local village Hogwon English school while I was teaching at the local university in a nearby city. She said, “Well let’s get on with it … how about skip down with us to Seoul for a visit. We can stay at my friend’s house from the South African Embassy. So my wife and I said sure and off we went. Seoul is a large metropolis of 10 or so million folks. It is an ultra modern city covered with towering glassy apartments that are quite expensive. But our embassy friend, one of zillions we would meet overseas, lived in a sprawling small mansion with a zillion rooms to spare. It was a fun visit. And she said to us, “Over here we live like kings, but back home we live just like everyone else!” I marvelled at the remark, but it pretty much sums up my life over here overseas.

Everyone has a maid, nanny or chef?

Continue reading “Over here we live like kings, but back home we are like everyone else!” – The South African diplomat said to me as we toured their palatial dwelling in Seoul, South Korea →

Church, Family, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Linguistics and Language Learning, Outreach Options

Local Overseas Schools? Series Part #2 , Your child’s education and what you should do about it? , Local schools for expats and is it right for you? … While in an overseas expat context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, from the far side of the planet! :)

Leave a comment
Somewhere in Semi-Tropical Hong Kong – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

Local Overseas Schools? … By CPO, from the far side of the planet!

One of the choices international expat families choose for their children is local schools. These schools usually come in 2 or 3 different flavours – pure local schools, local schools that cater to foreign expatriate families and variations of the above in the private school sector but are not international schools with a foreign curriculum.

Advantages

The advantages to such local schools is many fold, but namely they boil down to flexibility, culture, languages and saving money.

Flexibility

So why do you say flexibility? The reasons are perhaps obvious and not so obvious. First of all is location, location, location. When it comes to local schools they are everywhere and usually in close proximity to your home. Near our home are a zillion kindergartens, Primary Schools, Middle Schools and High Schools. So if you add local schools to your mix of choices, your options multiply exceedingly. Depending on where you live there will usually be a large range of school options near to your doorstep.

Around Hong Kong Bay – – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

What About The Cultural Bubble World?

Continue reading Local Overseas Schools? Series Part #2 , Your child’s education and what you should do about it? , Local schools for expats and is it right for you? … While in an overseas expat context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, from the far side of the planet! 🙂 →

Church, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, International Jobs, International Schools, Ministry Jobs, Outreach Options

Tag Team Married Couples Make For Great Overseas Ministry Opportunities – By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet

Leave a comment
Somewhere on the roads in Germany not far from Switzerland – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

Couple Tag Teams?

So you have decided to let you light shine across the great divide in some far off distant land? Perhaps you are interested in humanitarian efforts, or perhaps some outreach efforts or a bit of both. So what exactly could that look like? Being on the scene for 20 years has given me some insights and I will share 4 stories of just that. Off course I will use fictitious mystery? names and so those folks can remain anonymous – though the light of their work still shines … over on the far side of the planet.

Tag Team One

Continue reading Tag Team Married Couples Make For Great Overseas Ministry Opportunities – By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet →

Financial Independence and Early Retirement, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, International Schools, Local or International Retirement

Your Child’s Education and What You Should Do About It? Homeschooling, is it right for you? … While in an Overseas Expat Life Context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet

2 Comments
Somewhere in Switzerland – Mountains – No international school here! 🙂 – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

So you have decided to travel the world?

So you have decided to travel the world doing outreach with kids and now what? Education?

Okay you are sent off as an international expat to some far hidden corner of the planet, and so where do you park the kids in school now?

Wife!!!: “Well dear, if we go overseas, where should we educate our kids? “

Impish looking husband: “Um good question honey …” 🙂

It is perennial question for newbie expats with kids or newbie newlyweds with babies? … on the horizon. The usual avenues are international schools, local schools or homeschool.

This article will focus on homeschooling seeing the other avenues for your child’s education will be explored in other posts.

A new environment

Wife: “But what were you expecting? What is wrong with pizza with squid on it? It is perfectly normal here!”

Husband: “Hmmm well at least they have pizza, ummmm that is pizza? Isn’t it?”

The smiling local says 🙂  “Well we call it … विद्रूप पिज्जा vidroop pijja (Hindi)”

Usually newbie expats or parents have no idea of what they are getting themselves into when going overseas. You hop on the plane zipping around the world, jump off the plane with your luggage and kids in tow or expecting wife and expect America? Canada? Australia, Britain?

But it isn’t!

Continue reading Your Child’s Education and What You Should Do About It? Homeschooling, is it right for you? … While in an Overseas Expat Life Context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet →