Homeschooling in Egypt--Part 2

KUWAIT TO BAHRAIN

If you'll remember, nearly the entire time we were in Kuwait we thought we would be moving to Bahrain so we were making plans to move there. We'd heard about a chain school that was recommended by many people. It's called the International School of Choueifat (ISC). There are several locations throughout the Middle East. They use the Sabis school system and there are even schools in the States that use the Sabis system. It is a very structured curriculum with lots of testing to make sure the students are learning what they should be learning. The theory is you could go to any Sabis school on any day and you would find the same lessons being taught in each class, in each grade. We can debate all day about the pros and cons of this type of education. Believe me, I'm not 100% on either side. But after our experience in Kuwait and after the recommendation of many people of the reputation of these schools, we decided to try it out.

We registered for the ISC in Bahrain and even flew the kids there to be tested for placement. It was a gorgeous campus. It was completely the opposite of the ASK campus. There was a beautiful soccer field surrounded by a track, a beautiful pool for the older grades and a smaller pool for the kindergartners. There were modern playgrounds and computers. The walls were a little "sterile" meaning there wasn't a lot of decoration. But at that point it seemed like it was an affirmation that they were there to educate the kids, not entertain them.

At the last minute, we found out we'd be moving to Jordan instead. We were happy to find out there was an ISC in Jordan. With the sudden change of plans moving to Jordan instead of Bahrain, finding a place to live, getting ready for our summer trip back to the States and returning just before the school year started, we decided it'd be just as easy to transfer application to ISC Amman from ISC Bahrain. I mean, how different can the two schools be?

ASK (are you confused yet by the abbreviations?) had a rule that was fairly strictly adhered to and that was on campus you were not to speak Arabic. Even though all students 4th grade and above were required to take Arabic language classes, the day-to-day education and conversations had to be in English. ISC is a school that advertises itself that the teaching is all done in English and students will be well equipped to pursue higher education in the States, or anywhere in the world. Never having actually attended ISC Bahrain, I'm only making an assumption but it seemed as though that were true. Bahrain has more of an international make-up. ISC Amman though was not that way.