Homeschool, an Alternative Education: How to Get a Perfect Plan?

Currently, as there have been changes in educational concept, online platforms have broadened our horizon to a great extent amidst news and rumors that may make many families lack confidence in the conventional classroom system due to the concerns of their kids being at risk to get infected from studying together during the pandemic of COVID-19. 

Homeschooling is therefore an interesting new choice which is getting popular more and more. However, as being part of the Thai educational system, there will surely be costs and expenses incurred. As a result, financial planning for the best education of your kids is highly important.  

1. What is homeschooling? How good it is? And why is it suitable to the situation? 

Homeschooling is a type of education in pursuance of the National Education Act, B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999). This method of education offers several advantages. For instance, all curricula can be based on interest of your kid; all schedules can be arranged as you wish; hands-on skills can be learned from direct experience outside your home, etc. On top of that, you can also spend time with and be close to your child. 

Certainly, all parents do concern about their children’s health during this COVID-19 crisis, or even during any other potential outbreaks of diseases that may cause; therefore, homeschooling is an educational system that suitably responds to these situations.  

2. How to get prepared for homeschooling? 

Modern parents may get interested in homeschooling. Preparation for homeschooling can be divided into two key stages as follows: 

• The parents should study on this type of education. You need to be ready in terms of time and follow strict procedures according to the laws. You need to understand development milestones of your kid, be able to plan for each learning curriculum, behavioral training, and arrange an environment that encourages learning. Importantly, you need to have discipline between yourself and your kid.
• Submit an application to the responsible education authority within your area. The application will include studies on child’s development milestones and his/her special interest, learning curricula or teaching plans. The parents must have graduated with at least a senior high school diploma, or equivalent. Moreover, there should also be assessment conducted by the district educational office once a year. If your child lacks any skill, you’ll be provided with time to fix.  

(Source: http://www.ducatoys.com/article/62/การทำโฮมสคูล-การเรียนแนวใหม่-พ่อแม่ม…) 

 Apart from getting prepared in terms of study plans, time management, and document tasks, there will also be expenses that you need to plan for in order to provide good education for your kids. 

3. Recommendations of financial planning for homeschooling  

Based on information obtained from the online platform directly shared by parents who have homeschooled their kids, it was found that the expenses range from thousands to more than ten thousands per month, based on subjects and forms of study, and the expenses will get higher based on age. 

Therefore, when you plan a learning curriculum for an entire subject and a form of study, you will notice of approximate expenses. Then, the parents should start to allocate part of income in order to cover these expenses. The expenses should be divided into short-term, medium-term, and long-term ones. Just keep your money with you seem to make you lose opportunities in growing your money; therefore, investment is another good way to enhance your savings. “Mutual funds” are a proper tool for those parents who spend most of their time on kids’ education.  

By investing through mutual funds, there will be fund managers who are specialized in investing in certain types of assets on standby in order to monitor the invested money. Moreover, there are many types of assets for mutual funds which are suitable for different objectives and durations of each saving. For example: 

• Savings for ‘short-term’ expenses should be invested in money market funds which prioritize government bonds and are subject to very low fluctuations.  
• For savings for ‘medium-term’ expenses, you may choose general fixed income funds, or mixed funds, which may be subject to a higher fluctuation compared to money market funds, but chances for higher returns can be expected. 
• For ‘long-term’ expenses, investment in equity funds (equity securities), or an investment portfolio that consists of money market funds, bonds, stocks, and alternative assets, such as golds, or real estates are also suitable alternatives in getting returns for your savings while you’re not using them.   

Homeschooling is another new alternative for education that comes with flexibility in terms of subjects, time, and locations. And as there will definitely be expenses coming, for any family interested in providing homeschool education, apart from managing time and subjects, financial planning and preparing to cover expenses are also important. Therefore, investment in “mutual funds” could be another choice for you as they contribute to higher returns from the savings that are dedicated for your kid’s education.  

Each investor should first understand the nature of products (funds), conditions, returns, and risks before making a decision./ The investor should study about mutual funds, especially the investment policies, risks, and performance of such mutual funds which are disclosed in different sources, or request for further information from responsible staff before making a decision./ Past performance shall not be considered as a guarantee of future results.