9 Key Benefits of Homeschooling in Singapore
Homeschooling is not as common in Singapore as compared to other countries.
This is mainly because all Singapore Citizens born after 1 January 1996 and living in Singapore must attend a national primary school unless an exemption is granted.
To read more, visit Singapore’s MOE Official Website.
Not only so, but Singapore also has their very own Cambridge GCE O-Level designed for the students studying the Singapore National Curriculum.
This Cambridge GCE O-Level differs from the Cambridge IGCSE and GCSE.
Thankfully, for Singaporeans, attending a public government school is very affordable.
Refer to the table below to see how much we are paying for education here in Singapore.
To find out more, visit the Official MOE page.
However, if you choose to homeschool after your primary education, you are allowed to.
Homeschooling would sound foreign to many if not all Singaporeans since education in Singapore has always been public.
Today, Tutopiya will explore what is Homeschooling and the top 9 key benefits of Homeschooling in Singapore as well as how Online Tuition Will Help You.
A summarised infographic of the 9 Key Benefits can also be found at the end of the article!
What is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling, by the name, suggests, children stay at home and learn instead of going to an actual school to learn.
Home education is usually conducted by an experienced home tutor, online tutor or parent.
For Singaporeans, parents who wish to homeschool their children, will have to apply for Compulsory Education exemption.
Homeschooled children will still sit for Primary School Leaving Examinations in four subjects (English Language, Mother Tongue Language, Mathematics and Science) at standard level.
They will also have to sit for the National Education Quiz before PSLE.
If you wish to begin your homeschooling journey in Singapore, we advise you to join support groups to help yourself become familiar with the procedures.
Here are some Support Groups that you can consider joining!
3 – Exploring Homeschooling in SG
Now that we have explored some of the basic points to Homeschooling, you must be wondering what are the benefits of Homeschooling in Singapore?
Top 9 Key Benefits of Homeschooling in Singapore.
1 – Customised to Your Child’s Learning Habits
The ability to change up the curriculum allows the parent to customise a specific study plan for their child.
As compared to traditional classroom settings, students do not get individual attention from their teachers.
This decreases learning productivity since some students could be ahead of the class but needing to sit through the lectures.
However, homeschooling allows students to enjoy undivided attention from their tutors or parents for learning.
With the ability to switch up the curriculum and customise your child’s studying, it helps to reduce inefficient learning patterns.
Time will not be wasted on things that the child already knows. Instead, this time saved can be used to close up knowledge gaps and other weaker areas the child may have.
This increases the productivity level and makes learning more efficient.
2 – Flexibility
Homeschooling allows students to change their curriculum up however they desire since they do not have to follow a rigid curriculum structure.
It provides flexibility for not only the student but the family as well.
Since they do not have a rigid school structure to follow, the family’s timetable will no longer have to revolve around school hours and holidays. Parents can plan their child’s education around their family’s needs and adjust if something arises.
Having flexibility helps parents to plan out trips and other educational activities to induce into their very own curriculum.
The child also gets to study for as long as they want. This enables them to work according to their own level of ability.
3 – Cultivation of Values
When a parent gives up their job and a stable income to homeschool their children, they gain extra time and opportunities to spend with their child.
Furthermore, they also instil life values into their children.
Homeschooling teaches children to be disciplined as homework can be given to them to complete on their own.
This teaches them to be responsible for their own learning progress as they are the ones that are going to affect their own learning timetable.
4 – More Practical Learning
As mentioned, homeschooling gives so much freedom and flexibility that parents can bring their child out to learn.
Parents or tutor can organise trips to the zoo or museum to enhance and pique students’ interest in learning.
Singapore has many educational places for parents to bring their children to. The Science Centre, Science Museum and the Zoo.
Learning can be fun and interactive for students that are homeschooled since the majority of the things are self-planned.
Studies have shown that the outdoor environment encourages skills such as problem-solving and negotiating risk which are important for child development.
As compared to the mainstream schools, students are limited to how they are taught and trips like this only happen once or twice in their school years.
5 – Relationship Building
A lot of bonding goes behind being homeschooled by a parent. This helps to enhance and strengthen relationships between parent and child.
A parent that is homeschooling their children can spend more time with their child and witness their discoveries and learning milestones.
The parent can also enjoy the success of their child and learn more about their child in the process.
Children will also find it easier to open up to their parents.
6 – Stronger Academic Foundation
Being homeschooled makes children learn and work for knowledge instead of grades.
This is because homeschool removes the competitive environment. Instead of only knowing to compare who’s good and not, homeschooled children focus more on getting their concepts and topics right.
This helps them to build a strong academic foundation as they will be more focused to master the topics and concepts.
This will help them tremendously as they do not have to spend time going over topics again and again.
As we all know, the Singapore National curriculum focuses a lot on mastering topics and building a strong foundation.
This strong academic foundation can help them to succeed in university where topics are built on foundation.
7 – Safe Environment
Children that are homeschooled are not exposed to peer pressure, bullying and bad influences.
This can be especially beneficial for the tween or teenage girls as several studies have found that these girls generally have higher levels of self-esteem when homeschooled.
Parents also do not have to worry about their children mixing with bad influences and picking up bad habits.
8 – Discover Their Learning Style
Homeschooling allows children to discover their style of learning, whether they are easily distracted or that they learn better with visual materials.
These are learning habits that differ from student to student and only time can help to uncover these habits.
Homeschooling gives opportunities to students to adapt to their own learning style which will help them to absorb and understand materials faster.
Some children may learn faster if a certain type of teaching method is used, keep in mind that this differs from child to child.
A parent or tutor after spending much time homeschooling the child, can better understand the child and incorporate effective teaching methods.
Whereas for children themselves, they will be able to learn what suits them the most when it comes to learning.
When they move on to their next phase in education such as university, they will not have to struggle finding their learning style as they already know themselves.
9 – Diverse Learning Materials
Learning materials are really important as they provide information and a study guide to students.
In schools, the resources used by the teachers are a standard. They follow the curriculum and the standards of the school to distribute materials.
However, homeschooling gives the tutor or parent an opportunity to select materials that are the most interesting and educational for the child.
Learning will not be rigid and different options of resources can be used according to the child’s level of understanding.
How 1-1 Live Online Tuition Can Help Homeschooling Students in Singapore
If you are looking to homeschool your children but do not have sufficient experience or simply not confident to take things into your hands, fret not!
An online tutor does almost the same thing as having a personal home tutor to homeschool your child.
Online tuition is becoming increasingly popular because of some of the benefits they provide. Online tuition brings convenience, saves time and money as well as it being safe.
Convenience
Parents, children and tutors no longer have to travel long distances to teach or learn.
Online tuition is easily accessible and convenient such that you only require a tablet/laptop and WiFi to start learning.
Additionally, this helps to save economical costs now that traveling is no longer required. Time will not be spent on traveling and you know how they like to say it, Time is Money!
Subject Expert To Help Your Child
Not to mention having a trained subject specialist allows your child to learn effectively.
An experienced online tutor will be able to give constructive feedback and tips that can be helpful for the student.
Experienced tutors know what national examinations such as the GCE O Level, A Level and PSLE are like and they are aware of the assessment criteria.
Being homeschooled causes one to not be aware of these criteria and specific tips for the national examination.
Therefore, having a subject expert that is well aware of the curriculum that your child is sitting for allows your child to be exposed to constructive feedback and tips for the exam.
This is extremely crucial as ultimately, the child sits for the same paper as those students who are in public school.
At Tutopiya, we screen and train our tutors to teach online effectively. Our tutors are experienced and trained specialists that are able to deliver quality learning content to your children.
Tutopiya provides a platform that has features and tools that improve the online learning experience for both students and tutors.
Additionally, Tutopiya provides customised lesson plans for students.
Tutopiya will assess the student’s strengths and weaknesses and personalise a study plan for them. This personalised study plan is customised to suit the student’s learning pace.
Access to Resources
Other benefits of online tuition are access to resources.
Resources can be hard to find when you are a parent homeschooling your child, even in schools, resources can be limited when students are looking to find additional study materials.
Online tuition has unlimited resources to help enhance online learning. Some online tuition does not even require you to pay for these additional resources, what a win-win situation!
We have our very own Resource centre that is free for all students and parents that wishes to download and keep them for teaching and studying purposes.
Furthermore, students & parents can request for specific resources that they do not find and our team will work on preparing them for you.
Ability to Revisit Classes
In cases of Online Tuition, lessons can be easily recorded.
This provides students the ability to revisit their old classes.
This is an additional resource for students since revisiting classes are not possible with traditional classrooms and 1-1 home tuition/ group tuition.
Tutopiya offers such services, you can have unlimited access to your old lesson recordings and review them whenever you need to refresh your memory. This is all accessible under your account and profile.
Safety
Online tuition is safe as it means you can learn from home without stepping out of your house or inviting somebody from outside your home into your house.
This minimises the risk of intruders and danger from travelling outside.
Due to the Covid-19 virus that is spreading worldwide, self quarantine and social distancing are encouraged.
During this tough time, staying at home seems to be the safest choice. Tutopiya understands that learning and education has been disrupted due to this unfortunate event.
Online learning encourages self quarantine and social distancing as you will not be having a home tutor into your house.
Educational centres like Tuition centres are now closed for a month in Singapore, Tutopiya wishes to reach out to those who are affected during this time.
If you would like to try live online tuition with Tutopiya, you can sign-up right here. You also get a FREE 60-min Trial Lesson on SIgnup
Infographic On The 9 Key Benefits of Homeschooling In Singapore
