roughnotes

We didn’t start out planning to homeschool. Alex was in Nanyang Kindergarten and had a great experience—good friends, kind and capable teachers, a full Chinese immersion program. It felt like the right fit at the time, and we assumed we'd be able to continue into the local primary school system.

But when we applied for Primary 1, we didn’t get a spot. That came as a real surprise. We thought we were strong candidates—both in terms of background and interest in being part of the local system—but as foreigners, we just weren’t a high priority. We got the news in November, which didn’t leave us much time to figure out what to do next.

The Push and Pull

I was the one who first suggested homeschooling. I’ve had long-standing doubts about traditional schooling. It’s not that I think schools are bad—I had a good education myself in Singapore and benefited a lot from the system. It’s rigorous, challenging, and produces strong academic results. But I also think it fosters a kind of drone mindset—conformity over creativity, obedience over initiative.

The structure of traditional schooling tends to reward compliance. It teaches kids to function well within a system and prepares them to become reliable workers. That’s not necessarily wrong—but it leaves out the development of independent thinking, curiosity, and adaptability. Education should be about preparing kids for a dynamic, unpredictable world—not just helping them perform well in a fixed one.

Katherine had more reservations. She was worried about the time commitment, and about whether we’d be able to meet Alex’s social and emotional needs. And she was thoughtful about the impact it might have on their relationship—being both parent and teacher is a different dynamic, and not always an easy one.

We spent a lot of time talking it through. For me, a big shift had already started during COVID, when we were still living in San Francisco. It became clear that many schools were acting in ways that didn’t prioritise students’ interests. Schools stayed closed far too long. There were policy changes that didn’t make sense—like removing algebra for most high schoolers. And at the same time, I saw how quickly kids were able to learn at home. Our nieces and nephews could finish their academic work in a couple of hours a day and still be ahead.

I was also starting to see a lot of interesting school models and experiments being shared online—microschools, mastery-based learning, more flexible and tech-supported approaches. Around that time, I also came across this profile of Palmer Luckey, which reinforced some of my thinking about how agency and unconventional paths can lead to real innovation.

Our Philosophy

We didn’t just want to pull Alex out of school—we wanted to build something better for him.

Our philosophy is that education should empower Alex with curiosity, independence, and adaptability. We want him to develop the tools to thrive in a fast-changing world, not just follow instructions in a fixed one.

Some of our core principles:

• Self-directed learning and choice-based education.
• Balancing academic rigour with interdisciplinary and real-world learning.
• Prioritising resilience, ethical reasoning, and empathy through practice.

We’ve designed our goals and methods around that:

Academic Mastery:

• Cover the Singapore P1 and P2 curriculum, focusing on foundational skills in English and Math.
• Emphasise practical application over rote memorisation.

Physical and Life Skills Development:

• Regular tennis to build discipline and resilience.
• Support for problem-solving, emotional regulation, and teamwork.

Understanding the World:

• Introduce systems thinking and project-based learning.
• Use real-world activities to create interdisciplinary connections.

Methods We Use:

• Inquiry-Based Learning: We encourage questions and guide Alex to discover answers.
• Project-Based Learning: He has time for focused, hands-on projects across subjects.
• Choice-Based Learning: “Learning menus” give him structured independence.
• Growth Mindset: We frame academic and physical challenges as training grounds.

What We Didn’t Know

I wasn’t especially worried about the academics. One-on-one learning with the ability to go at your own pace seems clearly more effective, especially in the early years. We could cover the standard Primary 1 curriculum and also make space for things that usually get squeezed out—projects, applied learning, independent exploration.

The one thing I wasn’t sure about was how we’d handle Chinese. But Katherine stepped in on that. She found great tutors who used a more interactive, play-based approach, and Alex has really enjoyed learning with them.

The main alternative would have been an international school. We toured the Singapore American School and liked it—it’s well-resourced and probably one of the best options within the traditional model. But it’s expensive. And if we’re staying in Singapore for the long term, we want our kids to be part of the local system.

We also talked with Alex about it. I’ve always said that if he wants to go to school instead of being homeschooled, I’d support that. We tried to lay out the pros and cons in a way he could understand—though I’m sure my own bias came through a bit. In the end, he chose homeschool. I think part of that is because he’s still holding out hope to get into Henry Park with his cousins if we get PR. We applied for PR right after getting the school rejection, and we’re still waiting.

We also had some logistical advantages. I work remotely and often keep US/Europe hours, so I’m able to homeschool Alex in the morning. And we recently moved to a home that has enough space to create a good study setup for him.

So we agreed to give homeschooling a try. Katherine was open to doing it for a few months and seeing how things went. Her hope is that if we get PR, we can enrol him in a local school. I’m more agnostic—if it’s working well, we might continue. If it’s not, we’ll reconsider. But for now, this is what we’re doing.