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Homeschooling
questions answered
My wife and I (mostly my wife I must admit!) have been home schooling
our two girls (10 and 8) for the last five years. Our oldest spent two
years at a Christian school for Kindy and Pre-primary, but from grade
one she has been home schooled. She is now in grade five. Our youngest
started Kindy at home school and is now in grade three.
Over the years we have been asked a lot of questions about our home
schooling experience. In this article I thought I would share some of
those questions and answers for those are thinking about home schooling
or have just started out. We are by no means experts, but we have learnt
a lot in the last five years and we are continuing to learn.
Q. Did you always intend to home school?
A. Home schooling is not something we intended to do, but something we
fell into after reading a pamphlet at a local library. As we looked into
it a bit deeper we had the feeling it was something we would like to try
and that God wanted us to give it a go too. We are very happy we did as
it has been great for us as a family.
Q. Is it legal in Australia?
A. Yes home schooling is legal in Australia. However, you do have to
have permission from your local Education Department in your state. When
you apply and receive approval you get assigned a moderator who checks
your progress several times per year and offers advice and resources to
help.
Q. Do you use a set curriculum from the Education Department?
No. As far as a curriculum goes we use a variety of resources that cover
the learning areas that are required in our state. Many of these are the
same books that kids use at the local schools. These books are
supplemented by visits to the library, the internet, CD Rom programs,
books in our bookshelves and other resources we get from other home
schoolers.
Q. What about socialisation?
A. This is probably one of the first questions asked. Socialisation is
not a big issue for us. Our kids regularly meet with others kids of a
similar age. They do gymnastics once per week, go to a home school
group, play with our neighbours kids and go to church. As our kids are
with us when we go shopping they regularly interact with people of all
ages in a natural way too.
Q. Do you intend to home school right through?
A. We prayerfully take home schooling one year at a time. However, our
intention is to home school our kids right through high
school. Our aim is to guide our kids through their education and give
them practical life skills so they can be happy, healthy, functioning
members of society. We are also trying to instil into our kids that
school is only part of life's learning process. Learning takes place
anywhere at anytime and is a life long process.
Q. Do you have to be a teacher?
A. No. You just have to be committed to guiding your kids through their
education. Most of the books you buy as part of a series or curriculum's
guide you through the process. Each book progresses at a deeper level as
you go. It is just a matter of planning what the kids will do and when,
and then being there to help your kids as they do the work. You will be
surprised how much you remember from your own schooling and how much you
learn as you go through it again!
Q. Do you test your kids to see how they are going?
A. We do not do formal testing. However, most books have tests in them
and our kids do them as a matter of course. We find
that as our kids do their work, we see how they are
going at their different subjects and what they might need help with.
If they are finding a subject hard we work with them
and get some extra resources or books if needed. The Education Department in W.A.
does have standardised tests your children can
do if you would like to see how they are going compared to other kids
for their age.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Homeschooling can be as cheap or as expensive as you like. You can
spend lots of money on complex computer programs, curriculum's or CD Rom
series. A full on curriculum might cost several thousand dollars and one
Maths program alone that we have seen cost $8000. However, it must be
said that it takes you right through school from years one to twelve.
For most people though homeschooling is relatively cheap. For Kindy and
Pre-primary we brought some books but most of
the things we used were things around the house already. For primary
school we have brought two or three books at a time to cover the main
subjects. These books cost five to twenty dollars each.
Q. How long does it take each day?
A. We usually do formal book work in the mornings. We generally start at
9.00am and finish somewhere around 12.00pm. Some days it takes a bit
less and some days a bit more. In the afternoons the kids might do
things like art, build a cubby house, play on the computer or catch up
with friends. One of the great things about homeschooling is its freedom
to be flexible. If we need to take a few days off we can. If we need to
do something in the morning, we hit the books in the afternoon.
Q. Would you encourage others to homeschool?
A. Generally yes, but homeschooling is not for everyone. It depends on
your situation, your lifestyle and your finances. If you have a big
mortgage and you need two incomes, it wouldn't
make sense to homeschool, as one parent needs
to be home all the time. However, if you are able to spend at least half
a day with your kids each day and you have a
desire to guide your kids through their education,
I would definitely encourage you to have a go. We were not really
confident we could do it, but we felt it was something we could have a
go at and it worked out for us.
Q. Are there any resources you can recommend?
A. My wife recommends a book by Lisa Whelchel called "So
you're thinking about homeschooling". This book looks at 15 families and
how they go about homeschooling. It includes a number of methods and
resources and is a very good overview. My wife Larissa also has a number of
articles that she has found useful on her website. You can access them
here.
Further reading
I wrote an article about 12 months ago after
reflecting on some of "The benefits of
homeschooling"
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