Homeschooling for japanese kids abroad?

Hi everyone,
I know homeschooling is forbiden in Japan before 14 years old but I was wondering if there are specific adaptations for kids between 6 and 14 who travel with their familly for a long period ? I can't find anything about that. Isn't possible for japanese kids to study with their parents abroad while beiing watch by japanese schoolard autorities ?

Thank you

Chika,

When I was growing up (decades ago, i admit), the whole family had to relocate to the US due to my father’s work assignment. I was 13, and we stayed there for 2 years. There was no Japanese school in the city where we lived, so i attended the local public school, and on the side took the correspondence course that… overseas student study association or something (I will look up the name) provided, for “Kokugo” and “Sansu” at least.

It might have been this one:
https://www.joes.or.jp/
They seem to provide textbooks and correspondence course. You might want to consult with them.


But when we came back to Japan, what mattered was that the I had some paper stating I completed such and such schooling at a local school, that I finished (due to the different school year) a semester of 8th grade, full 9th grade, and a semester of 10th grade, at an American public school. That showed which year I finished, and i was able to take a test to get into a high school in Japan which accepted overseas returnee kids. Maybe this has changed over the years, I do not know. Maybe the correspondence course fully replaces the local school. Best wishes you find a good solution.

If you can home school or not will depend on the laws of the place where you move to. Eg in Germany home schooling is not allowed. While other countries are allowing it. Eg tge US.

But PP made a good point about considering the return to Japan. Probably your current school can give some guidance what their expectations would be for a returning kid.

I think Japanese government has no educational responsibility for Japanese young nationals, who are in areas out of Japanese laws. you can teach Japanese by yourself. there are a lot of teaching books which are sold in book stores.

it is very curious that you bring your children to out of Japan during school times, whereas many parents in Japan and other civilized countries bring their children to travels only when they are out of school times, like summer school holidays. that is, the parents abandon their children's educational opportunities to learn in school times.

There are Japanese schools taught by accredited Japanese teachers from Japan in places where there is a large population of Japanese who are there for work, and/or areas where there's a large population living there. My husband went to one in Seattle. He would go to regular US public school during the week, then had Japanese school on Saturdays, and ended up getting his JHS diploma through the school. They also had full time Japanese students who weren't attending local schools.

A couple I know, who are both public JHS teachers here in Japan, relocated to Malaysia for a few years to teach at another school like the one in Seattle, before coming back and resuming their public school jobs.

By the way, both the schools in the example are Japanese schools supported by the Japan Overseas Educational Services (海外子女教育振興財団 https://www.joes.or.jp) You can even get the textbooks used overseas free from them before leaving. They are definitely a good resource to start with, as they will have a list of all the schools they support around the world, and advice if you are going somewhere that doesn't have a school nearby.

but, OP is "travelling", not "residing one foreign place".

I know homeschooling is forbiden in Japan before 14 years old

It isn't forbidden. A lot of Japanese kids are homeschooled. The law says that a guardian owes the duty to educate the child, but the place of education could be at home or anywhere in the world.

I was wondering if there are specific adaptations for kids between 6 and 14 who travel with their familly for a long period ?

Homeschooling is not as systematic as it is in say the U.S. But there are mail-education, and various other ways to be educated. When I lived abroad, I used them to gain Japanese education. Families can gain that sort of information through the child's local school in Japan, or through organizations such as Jetro. You don't even have to be "watched".

In any case, you seemed to be mis-informed in many ways. What is the purpose of your question anyway? I wonder if I could help you in a better way.