Hoi An Homeschooling Families

09/04/2026

Our homeschooling base ❤️

Hoi An was where everything began for Hannah and Pierre. Drawn to its slower pace and outdoor lifestyle, they began building a life that felt more aligned with their values, and from that, Tay Tai grew. Today, it offers families a learning community shaped by practical skills, independence, connecti...

20/01/2026

What ages are you homeschooling right now? You can reply with just the age or age range - no intros or explanations needed! This helps us to keep shared posts and resources relevant to the families who are actually here 😊

17/01/2026

Hoi An homeschooling families look very different from one another - different ages, rhythms, backgrounds, and reasons for being here.

If you’re open to it, introduce yourself in the comments with the ages of your child or children, how long you’ve been in Hoi An (or if you’re planning a move), what your days feel like right now — busy, spacious, messy, calm, or somewhere in between?

Some families are deeply settled.
Some are still finding their feet.
Some are here for a season, others for much longer.

All of that belongs here.

If you’ve been in the community for a while, a simple hello to someone new helps keep this space human 😊

14/01/2026

New to Hoi An?

Here are a few things homeschooling families often wish they’d known in their first month here 👇🏻

If you’re new to Hoi An with kids, the first few weeks can feel like a mix of “this is amazing” and “why does everything feel slightly harder than expected?”

A few things many homeschooling families say they only really understood after that first month:

Hoi An days move with heat, rain, and light, not clocks. Early mornings often work better than long afternoons, and plans shift quickly when weather changes.

Learning here tends to happen in shorter, more flexible blocks. Many families drop the idea of a full “school day” and build learning around movement, reading, projects, and daily life.

Errands take longer here generally, especially with kids! And that’s normal!

Scooters, walking, cafés, and waiting become part of the rhythm rather than something to rush through.

Community doesn’t usually click instantly.

Families come and go, and it often takes a few weeks of seeing the same faces before connections settle.

Most families adjust their approach within the first month.

What you arrive with isn’t usually what you keep and that’s all part of the process, not a failure.

If you’ve been here a while, what surprised you most in your early days?

If you’re new and quietly finding your feet, you’re welcome to ask practical questions here whenever it feels helpful.

18/12/2025

Yesterday morning we ran our first Explorers session.

The idea was simple: build a mini Christmas village together.

What actually happened was… something else entirely.

Some kids built. Some adapted the idea. Some did their own thing.

My son barely touched the craft materials and spent most of the time in the playground with a few others who also weren’t drawn to the activity.

The parents talked. Kids drifted. Nobody forced anything.

And it was great.

There were no clear learning outcomes.

No neat objectives ticked off.

No moment where I could say, “Yes, this is what they learned today.”

And that used to make me uncomfortable.

As a former teacher, I really thought homeschooling would look more like school-at-home. I tried it. I planned it.

Within a week, I knew it wasn’t going to work - at least not for my son.

What I’ve had to learn (and relearn) is how to let go.

Not everything needs to produce something.
Not every session needs to teach something academic.
Not every activity needs to be “successful” in the way we were taught to measure success.

Kids are learning all the time - just not always the things we can easily label.

They’re learning how to be around others.
How to move in a group.
How to opt in and opt out.
How to read situations.
How to listen to themselves.
How to feel comfortable saying yes, no, or not right now.

Right now, I’m not trying to raise a child who can pass exams at all costs.

That time may come, and we’ll deal with it when it does.

What I care about most at this stage is helping my son become a grounded, confident little human - someone who knows himself, feels safe being himself, and experiences learning without constant pressure.

This morning didn’t look like school.
And that’s exactly the point.

15/12/2025

This is how my son plays Scrabble.

He stands up. He moves around. He steps away, comes back, spins his diabolo, places a tile, reads a word, wanders again.

For a long time, I thought learning was supposed to look quieter. Still. Seated. Contained. And I spent a lot of energy trying to gently (and not-so-gently) guide him into that shape.

Eventually, I realised something important:
this is how his brain works.

Once I stopped resisting it — once I accepted that learning doesn’t have to look tidy to be real — everything shifted. He engages more. I feel less tense. And the learning actually sticks.

Scrabble becomes literacy, pattern recognition, and strategy.
Movement becomes regulation, not distraction.
Play becomes the doorway, not the reward.

Homeschooling has taught me that learning doesn’t need to look like school to be meaningful.

I’m curious — does your child learn best while moving too?

15/12/2025

This was our morning.

Word games, Scrabble, a marble run, books on the floor, kids dipping in and out of focus as they needed.

Nothing loud.
Nothing rushed.

Just time to read, play with language, build, problem-solve, and relax into learning together.

This is the kind of rhythm I’m trying to create more of for Arthur, and, naturally, for other kids who thrive in this sort of environment too.

Small groups. Real materials. Space to think. Space to talk. Space to just be.

So many children learn best when things are calm and social rather than structured and pressured.

When literacy happens through games.
When logic shows up in marble runs.
When attention is invited, not demanded.

If you’re a homeschooling parent in Hoi An with a child who enjoys (or might enjoy) this kind of low-key, hands-on learning - reading, games, building, thinking together - you’re very welcome here.

I’m sharing these moments partly to document our days, and partly to help other parents see what’s possible when learning is allowed to be gentle.

If this looks like something your child would enjoy, feel free to comment or reach out.

And if you’re already doing something similar at home, I’d love to hear what your mornings look like too.

13/12/2025

Anyone heading here today?

We’ll see you there! 😊

13/12/2025

Yesterday I ran our first little maths and numeracy club and turned it into a “café.”

We started simply - a game of who can collect the most marbles, then counting them up together.

We used the marbles to practise a bit of multiplication.

Then the kids wrote a menu, priced their items, made food from play dough, and “sold” it to us.

We worked out totals, paid, checked change.

It was noisy, imperfect, and fun.

And every bit of it was maths.

What struck me (again) is how different this feels to worksheets.

Over the last couple of years with my son, I’ve tried a mix of things.

Worksheets, real-life practice in shops, little maths games here and there.

And I notice the resistance.

In him, and in me.

I’ve always felt “bad at maths.”

I feel slow, unsure, and honestly… a bit dumb when it comes to numbers.

The other day, during one of our entrepreneurship sessions, we tried to show the kids long division.

And most of us adults couldn’t remember how to do it properly.

We were all educated in different countries.

What does that say about the systems we came through?

My own lack of mental arithmetic and basic operational maths has genuinely been a disadvantage in my life.

Not remembering how to work with fractions, not being able to quickly calculate things in my head - that feels strange when you really stop and think about it.

We’re moving into a world where tech and computers are everywhere.

And for me, that’s exactly why I want my son to be able to do certain things without them.

Yes, we all say “they have calculators now”, but what happens when they don’t?

What happens when the tech isn’t there and you need to reason something out?

I don’t want my son growing up thinking he “hates maths” or that he’s “bad at it,” the way I did.

My goal isn’t speed or perfection - it’s confidence.

Comfort with numbers.

The ability to think, estimate, reason, and work things out without immediately reaching for a device.

This is also why I’m cautious about online learning and apps for him.

Not for everything, but for a lot of things.

With all these incredible humans around us, and a whole real world to learn from, I’d rather start there.

Fewer bells and whistles.

More thinking, talking, doing, and discovering.

Whether that’s maths, science, art, or music.

I’m curious how other parents feel about this.

How are you approaching maths and numeracy with your kids?

What worked for you, and what didn’t, growing up?

11/12/2025

One of the biggest reasons many of us choose to stay in Hoi An long-term is the chance for our kids to build real friendships.

The kind that come from seeing the same faces, sharing small adventures, and growing together over time.

Homeschooling gives our children so much freedom, but it also means we have to be intentional about helping them find a little “village” of their own.

Kids need friends just as much as we do.

People to play with, learn with, and feel at home with.

If your children are looking for steady friendships here, you’re not alone!

Many of us are hoping to connect with other families who want the same thing.

Regular meet-ups, simple outings, shared activities, or just kids running around together while the parents chat.

Let’s start gently.

Comment below with your kids’ ages + the kind of meet-ups or activities they’d love.

Beach days, crafts, nature walks, board games, STEM projects, gaming anything goes.

This group is here so we can find each other and build a small, supportive network for our children.

Looking forward to seeing who’s here ❤️