Home schooling with enrollment in Japan?

Hello, we are currently enrolled in a homeschool program in California. It�fs acharter homeschool program where you receive vitriol funds for curriculum, etc. we need to send in monthly work via email & login to register attendance.
However, we want to enroll our child into an international school here in Japan. It is a new school & not yet registered with the Japan�fs BOE. The BOE stated since we are USA citizens we do not need to register my son with their school system (in our city) and therefore they won�ft need to keep track of him etc. The downside he wouldn�ft be able to apply for High School exams while staying in this status at this school if we were to stay in Japan that long.
I�fm wondering, should I keep my child enrolled at our California homeschool program for 1. Attendance into an American school if & when we return and 2. To continue our CA education, English & history.
I just don�ft know what to do here. TIA

I think if you commit yourself to starting a new life in a new country. You really need to embrace the education system their also. Not keep doing what you have been doing at the country you are leaving.

Start in a new school. Make friends. Enjoy new life.

I'm afraid there seems to be a lot of misinformation although it may not affect your decision in the end.

an international school here in Japan. It is a new school & not yet registered with the Japan�fs BOE.

Private schools are never registered with the board of education in Japan. This includes the numerous private schools that ordinary Japanese students ages 6-18 commonly choose to attend. And all international schools in Japan are private schools.

The BOE stated since we are USA citizens we do not need to register my son with their school system (in our city) and therefore they won�ft need to keep track of him etc.

Even ordinary Japanese children do not have to attend his/her local public school. They commonly choose to attend private schools, and it's also possible for them to homeschool. In these cases, the local school will/can not keep track of the child. But instead, the private organization (such as the private school) that the child registers to will commonly keep track of the child to make sure (s)he gets proper education in good health. This has nothing to do with nationality.

The downside he wouldn�ft be able to apply for High School exams while staying in this status at this school if we were to stay in Japan that long.

Any student who is due to finish the proper courses of an international school is free to apply for ordinary high schools in Japan. But ordinary high schools offer all classes in Japanese language, so it may be difficult to keep up for an international school graduate.

For this reason, many students from abroad attend international schools until they graduate high school. Then a lot of them choose to go to college back home.

Now, here is my opinion. I'm not against homeschooling as a whole at all. But it seems to me that the homeschooling system you're applying to offers no opportunities for the student to interact with other students in real life. If you find no problem about letting your child attend an international school in Japan, that would automatically offer the child to learn how to socialize while learning English and international history.

Hope it helps.

Hi Gabrielle,

If you have any specific questions about international schools in Japan, feel free to PM me. I used to work at an international school in the Kanto region so have a reasonably good knowledge of schools (including quality and the like).

I can't talk exactly about your situation, but when I worked at an international school in Japan a couple of years ago the school is not approved by the board of education like they are in normal countries. Note that I worked at what was considered one of the premier schools in Japan. You look for other international things. COS (Council of International Schools), IB (International Bacculauriate) and WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) are the main ones which are most common. In particular, the latter allows for direct access to a basic US HS Diploma. The IB Diploma is a bit more stringent in it's expectations compared to the normal US system....

Hmm. There is misinformation above. I don't know where she has pulled it out.

Private schools are never registered with the board of education in Japan.

Every private school is registered with it, but they aren't controlled as strictly as public schools.

But instead, the private organization (such as the private school) that the child registers to will commonly keep track of the child to make sure (s)he gets proper education in good health. This has nothing to do with nationality.

Any student who is due to finish the proper courses of an international school is free to apply for ordinary high schools in Japan.

The local governments don't care about foreign children.
And what they call international schools are not proper schools in Japan. Even if a child graduates from one of them, they can't get the right to take the entrance exam for university.

In these cases, the local school will/can not keep track of the child.

They keep track of children who don't attend school for a long time. The statistics by Ministry of Education includes children who belong to private schools.

In short, homeschooling and attending an international school aren't different as neither of them gives the child the right to get higher proper education such as senior high schools and universities in Japan.

In short, I think the OP should have another good talk with someone from the authority. But just for reference, here are my opinions (the links are just for back up):

Every private school is registered with it (BOE), but they aren't controlled as strictly as public schools.

I'm sorry that my wording was inaccurate. Private schools aren't "under the jurisdiction" of BOE was how I should have written it.
http://www.kyoiku.metro.tokyo.jp/administration/general/structure.html

The local governments don't care about foreign children.

Just to clarify, if a child of foreign nationality entered a local public school, which of course is under the jurisdiction of BOE, the school and BOE will look after him/her just as they would their Japanese students.
http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shotou/121/shiryo/__icsFile...
http://www.edu.pref.ibaraki.jp/board/qa/faq/kyouiku/gaikokujin.html

And what they call international schools are not proper schools in Japan.

Just to clarify, it is true that they're not exactly the same thing as most private high schools in the sense that students of international schools usually don't get student discount on trains and such.

Even if a child graduates from one of them, they can't get the right to take the entrance exam for university.

Anyone 18 and over, including those who never went to high school of any kind, can obtain the right to take the entrance exam for university by passing the koutougakkou-sotsugyou-teido-nintei exam.
http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/shiken/

They (local school) keep track of children who don't attend school for a long time. The statistics by Ministry of Education includes children who belong to private schools.

I suppose it depends on your definition of "keep track", because as far as I know they don't/can't. I mean, how would schools keep track if they never obtain the child's record? For this reason, many students who start skipping private schools tend to transfer themselves to the local public ones so that they can be taken care of.

I don't prefer to waste space on someone else's thread. I'm just hoping that the OP is provided a fair amount of information to chose from.

currently in homeschool program in CA / want to enroll in intl school in JP / USA citizens / stay enrolled in CA homeschool program?

We've been through this, including a 6-year stint of homeschooling in Japan, and everything came out just fine. We used a California-based homeschooling program, too.

First, simply ignore the people who don't know your child or your situation and who feel a need to interject their opinions about socialization, the need for schooling, and so on.

Second, there's no single approach that's going to cover all bases in both the USA and Japan. Start by asking yourself if having your child attend a Japanese public high school someday is extremely important. If so, you may need take certain steps. If, on the other hand, it isn't very important, that will free you to do other things. (Also, if you have the money to send your child to an international school, then you should also be able to afford a private Japanese high school. There's bound to be a private high school that would consider your child without prior Japanese public school transcripts.)

When homeschooling in Japan, we found that there was usually a fairly simple work-around to such "problems." People would tell us that if our child homeschooled, we couldn't do such and such, and it almost always turned out to be incorrect.

@Uco
You should have been more clear. Your first answer was quite misleading.
It's rather worse than "wasting space on someone else's thread" by pointing out someone's misleading answer.

I'm truly sorry if I had been misleading on my first post, although it wasn't my intention.

And if I may add one more clarification, I don't believe that socializing is for everybody. It's just that the OP already seems to be considering international schools as the first option, and I'm just saying that choosing international schools instead of homeschooling is not at all a bad idea.

Thank you for all the helpful information.

Yes it seems I was given some miss information and maybe some was lost in translation. It now make sense what was originally told and all the helpful information you guys have given me.
I am greatfull for the info you all have given me, the international school we toured is an IB school.
I am thinking the international school will be a good fit for us. And glad to know my son can still test into a private high school here in japan if we are still here by then.

I am still wondering; I unenroll my son in his homeschool program in CA & my son is then enrolled with the international school in japan will I have issues when I return to CA getting re-enrolled.

*side note we will participate in social activities, local sports & Japanese language lessons regardless if we continue homeschool, public or international/private.

Hi Gabrielle,

If you look closely at your new schools website, you will probably notice that if your school is an IB school, then it is also probably a member of COS and WASC which is what I mentioned in my previous post.

I can't talk for every situation, but you should have no problems going back to California as I've written many letters of reference for students who have gone back to the US and other schools to elite private schools in the US. The same is true for public schools in the US, but I don't normally have to write a letter of reference for that one.

Do note that most of the better international schools in Japan have a very different student cohort than most western countries. The kids are normally very worldly with what's happening around the world (political events, world affairs) but also tend to lead a bit of a more sheltered life. That's also one of the great things about Japan - you see 5 y/o kids catching the train to school by themselves on a daily occurrence.

Also note that your son will almost 100% learn Japanese if he is taking part in the PYP or MYP. If he's in Grade 11/12 then he won't as the IB don't allow abonitio Japanese (learning Japanese from scratch) in the diploma program.

Do note that your son should still be able to take part in the SAT's as many international schools in Japan have some links to this. The IB Diploma is also more challenging than the American High School Certificate and will open up a lot of doors to some of the best universities. It's accepted at almost all US Colleges so getting into a good university won't be a problem if your son preforms well on the exams. Note that I teach DP and MYP classes for almost a decade so it's something that I know about here.

It's possible to get into Japanese universities using the IB Diploma, but this is only really English speaking courses. The school is also probably a member JCIS (http://www.jcis.jp) and other sporting and artistic groups. There will be plenty of opportunities to play sport, music and such around Japan through the school.

Thank you @mfedley! This is exactly what I was wondering. I just would hate to go back to CA and run into problems getting back into their school system for such an awesome experience. The international private school we are looking at is a lot of money, want to make sure its not in vain.

As mentioned previously, feel free to join japan guide and personal message me any questions you may have. I dont need your name but am aware of the quality of different international schools in Japan. As such I would not write my opinion on the open forum. My username is a bit too obvious and these posts come up through google search....