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Educating for IGCSE in English

4 replies

jenpetronus · 21/11/2012 13:55

Just posted a similar question in Home Educating, so apologies for the duplicate post, wasn't sure where would be best...
We live in France, & DS1 (nearly 11) has always had some kind of "extra" English lessons - tutors etc - since the age of 4 as I feel it's crucial to have a good grounding in Grammar, spelling and the nuts and bolts of English that he would miss out on if he only spoke English at home (DH & I are both English & speak it at home, his schooling is entirely French)
It's been pretty successful over the years, and he's achieved the standard of a similar aged child in the UK (based on KS2 testing) For various reasons it's becoming increasingly difficult to get him to his lessons & I'm looking at other options, as I really think it's important to continue for as long as possible. Having given it a lot of thought, I would really like to try and continue teaching him myself, at home, and eventually take the IGCSE. Has anyone done this? is it even do-able and possible? I have no idea where to start with resources, information etc. As a guide, he has two hours English lesson a week at school (where he is allowed to work from worksheets I set him instead of learning his colours Grin ) and we also have an hours formal lesson with a teacher, as well as homework, and lot's of reading in English.
Am I being unrealistic? Are we likely to end up hating each other? tia for any advice

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fussychica · 21/11/2012 16:18

DS did IGCSE English with a tutor for an hour every week or so for a year while we were living in Spain. His schooling was totally in Spanish. He also did IGCSE Spanish without tuition - got A*s so sure your DS would be able to do the same with French. It is definitely doable but though I trained as a teacher we never hit it off with me teaching him so I found another expat who had recently taught English at this level in the UK - she was brilliant. He took the exams at an International school about 2 hours away as that was the nearest recognised centre. You need to decide on the examination board you are going to use (our choice was made by what the school used) then work to their syllabus. These are on the internet along with past papers. To be honest I think that if your son is bright he won't find it difficult to get a good grade. It's really essay writing, comprehension, reading with compare & contrast or explaining why. Happy to try & answer any questions.

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mummytime · 21/11/2012 16:38

I have found Catherine Mooney to be very helpful and she does an distance learning iGCSE course. You would then need to find somewhere to actually sit the exam.

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jenpetronus · 21/11/2012 20:35

mummytime I've come across Catherine Mooney from another recommendation, it's certainly a possibility. Thank you.
fussychica Bravo your DS! This is our goal. Will start to look into where he can sit the exams rather than focusing on the coursework which is all I've looked into so far in any detail. It's quite a challenge, as I've only ever done a bit of voluntary teaching with French tots before, but I'm getting more excited about it the more I read.
Appreciate both your replies.

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fussychica · 22/11/2012 14:49

Thanks -v proud of him. Started the IGCSE thing about a year or so before the exam. He then passed Bachillerato (Spanish A level equiv) with flying colours and is now studying European Languages at a UK Uni.

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