Which curriculum?

[kanda]

We have no idea which continent we will be living in when our son is of secondary school age.  This leaves us wondering which country's curriculum our son should follow when he starts primary school, such that he will then have the widest range of options for seondary school.  I guess there must be many other expats here in a a similar position, so it would be great to hear your thoughts.  

[our story]

Well we've got our kids at the French Lycee and have no plans to move to France or any other French speaking country.  We'll move back the the UK eventually so they have an hour of English tuition once a week to keep him up to scratch. Not necessarily recommending this for everyone just wanted to illustrate that we, like many people don't worry too much about matching up the curriculum.  I'd say you can't go far wrong with the IB, British or Australian curricula.  They may need a bit of help to catch up in some areas if you switch but as long as you, as a parent keep on top of this, then it won't be a problem.  Personally, if I was in your situation, I'd be looking at Tanglin or UWC as both schools will stand them in good stead wherever you end up.

[ibc]

  Should we send him (waitlists permitting!) to an Australian or British or Canadian school?  Does any one of these countries have a broader or more rigorous curriculum than another? Or are they all much of a muchness?  Thanks.

Most schools do the IB PYP as do many of the good schools in US/AU/Canada. Inquiry learning will prepare them well for anything.

[IB for me]

I think I'd go with IB.  I studied in a UK school and my children are doing IB, first at primary level here and now at secondary and so far there doesn't seem to be too much difference with what they do at school with IB and what I did at a normal state school back home.

As secondary progresses it does seem to get harder, with them having to concentrate on being a bit of an all-rounder with most subjects, but the IB qualifications seem to be well regarded in most countries and I have heard from parents who've moved around to different countries that if their children ended up in another IB school, it was a fairly seamless transition, so IB does seem to make sense.

[Latin?]

Granted, I took a year of Latin in high school, but given that no one actually speaks it, I can't see the point of spending a lot of time studying it. I wouldn't go out of the way seeking it out. There are far too many spoken foreign languages in the world that would prove far more useful in life.

[up Pompeii]

Granted, I took a year of Latin in high school, but given that no one actually speaks it, I can't see the point of spending a lot of time studying it. I wouldn't go out of the way seeking it out. There are far too many spoken foreign languages in the world that would prove far more useful in life.

it can be useful depending what you go on to do in later life.  My sister did Latin and it turned out to be a good thing in her chosen career, but I agree, it's not something that's essential and as you don't know what you're kids are going to do when they grow up, it might be better for them to study a modern language and they can always go on to do something like Latin if they need it for further study later on in life.

[Brit and French]

Only schools I know that do it are French Lycee and Tanglin.  Both at secondary only.

[Is IB suitable?]

In many ways I have the same considerations as the OP.  However, I wonder if IB is a good solution because when the expat merry go round stops, it would be quite an expensive option to follow in the UK and most European countries to continue with IB (if available at all, it would be in an international school with very high fees).

Any comments?

[IB for me]

In many ways I have the same considerations as the OP.  However, I wonder if IB is a good solution because when the expat merry go round stops, it would be quite an expensive option to follow in the UK and most European countries to continue with IB (if available at all, it would be in an international school with very high fees).

Any comments?

we thought about that, but think ours will do OK in state school back home after doing IB here.  We wouldn't be able to afford private school at home and I've checked who does IB there and it seems that only private schools do so far, so there would be no option but to put them in state school.  The state schools in the area we'd move back to are great though so we don't have any worries about that.