Great news! Maryam and Danyal both got A*s in their Accounting iGCSE’s, but it was close. Edexcel iGCSE Accounting is flipping hard, as Isabelle realised mid way during the course. The A* ground boundary is 90% and the papers are not easy. Maryam and Danyal managed 93% and 94% respectively – it’s by far the closest they’ve got to not getting A*s in all their iGCSE’s to date.
I can’t find stats on percentage of A*s for Accounting iGCSE, but A* rates do vary wildly between subjects. 6.5% of all GCSE’s are A*s, but it’s 40% for Latin, 3% for Business Studies, less than 1% for Engineering, and if memory serves me right, low for Accounting. I assumed that the disparity is because of the type of schools that do each subject – for example only the posh public schools do Latin, but I now think that is only part of the story – the other part is that some subjects, such as the Accounting, are simply much harder than others. So avoid them. It leaves us in a bit of a dilemma for Sabeen as Accounting is the only useful subject our dynamic duo have studied in their GCSEs so far.
So Maryam has got the 5 A*s that we wanted her to get and her GCSE’s are now history. Danyal still has 2 to go. Sabeen is about the start the journey.
A quick update on the A-levels – Maryam and Danyal are doing shockingly well with their physics. Bear in mind that it’s meant to be a 2 year course – they started work 6 weeks ago and are getting B’s in past papers in 40% of the assessment. We’ve covered the material in the other 60% too, but have’t done any past papers on them yet, so they are perhaps 4 weeks away from getting B’s in their past papers over the entire syllabus. 10 weeks to be getting B’s in past papers in an A-level?! I find that incredible – but it has all been about leveraging the power of intensity – they’ve been studying physics for around 3 hours per day, after all.
However, the Physics A-level seems to be an outlier – Maryam has been working for her Biology A-level for 6 months now and she’s not nearly ready for the exam. Physics is all about understanding principles and so if the child is fairly intelligent, has a strong foundation in maths, and is taught well (ahem, that’s me!), they can pick things up very fast.
The Wonder Years 
Hahaha! Awesome!
How old are both of them again?
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Thanks Eddie. Maryam is 12, Danyal is 10.
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Congratulations! I don’t know how you do it! How old is the youngest who is about to be starting his IGCSE? Mine is 8 and no where near. I think you need to definitely write more about your kids’ journey. Would be enlightening for the rest of us homeschoolers. Simply amazing. Thanks.
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Nancy, thanks for your kind words. The youngest is 8, and she now getting low A’s (remember there is also an A* which is a grade above A), occasionally B’s, in her Maths iGCSE. However, she is probably the most mathematically gifted of the 3 though.
I am absolutely confident your 8 year old could do the same, at the latest by the age of 9, or if he/she is exceptionally slow, by 10. It’s a matter of being focused – both parents and child. And frankly, I can understand many parents not wanting their kids to do exams so early – I want them to because I feel it looks good on their CV and let’s them focus on their passions much earlier in life.
If a child does exam papers again and again, their grades will improve very quickly…
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Hi Asim!
I was just binge reading through the articles of your home-schooling blogs. Really liked reading them. You have defined the approach clearly to be honest. Keep up the good work!
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Hi Asim!
I’ve enjoyed reading your homeschooling journey, its very well executed with great results! May I know where did you register the kids for their IGCSE exams & is there a minimum age for taking the exams? Thanks!
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Brenda, we registered the kids at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur.
There are no age limits for taking IGCSE exams.
Good luck!
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Hi Asim
Thank you very much for all the insights its been quite helpful. My name is Thuli and I am from South Africa.We are currently homeschooling our 2 daughters aged 8 and 9. How are your kids learning all the languages? which schools or apps are you guys using?
Thanking you in advance
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Thulie, I’ve mentioned it elsewhere on this website – perhaps search for “Skype”. We basically get students to talk to them via Skype for 30 minutes a day at least 3x per week. It must be a chat with as little English used as possible. Total immersion. Good luck!
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enterprise
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You make several sound points I find agreeable. Your article is a good example of superior writing from a writer that cares.
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I read your article and then I read through some of the comments other people made. I homeschool my two teenagers and when I found this article I knew I had to make them read it.
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