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I thought we needed a place for this with what seems to be more people interested in and beginning homeschooling, which has many advantages. If you homeschool, feel free to introduce yourself and how what you do here. Likewise, if you're keen on looking into it, join in too! Enjoy!
I'm really interested in learning more about others' experiences of homeschooling.
My little Daniel has just turned 2 and my husband & I aren't really enamoured with the current school system and so want to homeschool Daniel.
At first I thought homeschooling was about doing the regular school curriculum at a more leisurely pace at home, but in recent times I've read about "Unschooling" and following your childs' lead.
So I'm looking forward to hearing some first hand experiences.
:)
thats so wierd. DP and i were talking just this morning about homeschooling. I ve always wanted to homeschool but DP has alwasy said that the social side of school is too important. untill yesterday, not sure what changed his mind but he just came to me and asked me to find out more about homeschooling as he thinks it might be right for DD. So this will be great to find out about it!!!! BB saves the day again ;)
Hi I'm currently homeschooling 3 of my four kids ( my little one is 11 months old).
There are so many versions of homeschooling - that can be very liberating!
I've met unschoolers, natural learners, formal learners, Buddhist homeschoolers, steiner, montessori, Charlotte Mason, Christian homeschoolers, Atheist/secular homeschoolers, wealthy homeschoolers (who take their children to the Louvre for an art excursion), homeschoolers who are doing it on the cheap (me usually), homeschooling parents with masters degrees and doctorates and homeschooling parents with a year 8 education - all kinds of people homeschool for all kinds of reasons - it's lots of fun. we all share a passion for our children and a love of learning as we go along! It's an educational/philosophical journey!
Some books I'd reccomend:
Getting Started with Homeschooling - by Beverly Paine (best practical Aus how to)
Dumbing Us Down - by John Gatto Taylor
and lots of people love books by John Holt (I find him a bit boring)
Unschooling: Make the world your child's classroom
The Teenage Liberation Handbook....
There are heaps of others..........can't think of any more off the top of my head!
I'm happy to answer any questions.
:-)
Banshi
xox
Hi!
DH and I just recently made the firm decision to home school after meeting HEAPS of people who home school and being VERY impressed with how the children behave and carry themselves.
I am a trained primary school teacher and have worked in the schools both here in Australia and in the United States as well.
I am generally unimpressed with formal, public (and most private) education programs and feel that since I would be supplementing HEAPS I (and my children) would be much better off if I do it myself.
Banshi:
Thanks for your post - I have a feeling I will be picking your brain a lot in the months to come.
DS#1 is nearly 4.5 years old and I'm not planning to start anything formal until the year he turns six. For the time being I'm enjoying the fact that he is learning HEAPS just with our every day life. Already he knows all his numbers and letters, can recognize and spell his name, and is starting to ask me to read signs and directions to him. He can count to 100 with minimal help (usually at the 10's) and he does the rest. Already I know that he would be somewhat bored in a preschool program.
Thank you SO much for the list of books - I'm keen to start doing some REAL research and reading as I plan how and what I want to do. Can I find these books in my local library? Or will I need to buy them?
It is late (12:30am) and it has been a rough week with both the boys being very sick PLUS the torrential rain - so I need to make myself go to sleep but I wanted to get started in this thread before I forgot for another night!
I am keen to hear what other parents are doing and to get ideas and thoughts on how to get started when the time is right!
Specifically I'm interested in hearing who uses specific curriculum and what kinds they use...
how to home school on the cheap...
what kind of routine people follow for "school" each day...
I hope that gets things started and I'll look forward to hearing back from people!
Thanks,
Heidi
Hi liprecious,
It sounds like you are already on the right track with your LO. Learning really flows at that age, you just need to be there!
I've never found many homeschooling books in libraries - but I guess it depends on where you live. The only people I've ever met who use ready made curricula are a small number of Christian homeschoolers who follow ACE (accelerated christian education). Most people devise their own curriculum depending upon state requirements and the family's interests, most use some text books (commonly for maths) others devise their own programs.
The legal requirements vary state to state. I live in NSW so I must comply with their 'minimum curriculum requirements' package to gain registration. I usually get 2 years registration (during which time you are totally autonomous) - then an authorised person comes to your home to check what you are up to or you can re-register via documentation - basically by providing a portfolio for your child's learning. In NSW there are 6 Key Learning Areas you must include in your program to gain registration (not all homeschoolers choose to register - but most do because their can be legal trouble for unregistered HSers). The 6 KLAs for primary level are : 1 English; 2 Maths; 3 Science and Technology; 4 Human Society and Its Environmen; 5 Creative arts; 6 Personal development, Health, Physical Exercise.
How you show your child is learning in relation to each KLA is entirely up to you - many families focus on a child's interest in a particular thing, for eg, butterflies and then they will create a cross curricula unit: read stories about butterflies, count butterflies in the garden, identify species of butterfly, paint a picture of a butterfly etc......of course that is an example for a very young child!
Some people have a formal timetable, others, esp natural learners just allow everything to unfold - most people do something in between! I know I have had months where my children have learned very formally (it usually takes us only an hour or two to cover at least as much formal ed that they do in school in a day) - then other times when my children were turned off by 'book work' type stuff and they really want to do their own thing: during this natural learning time my eldest taught himself guitar (with the help of library books and you tube); my daughter who is 11 has written a 200 page story book (she has others on the way too); and my 6 year old son learned to read and write!
It's worth checking if there are any local homeschooling groups in your area: these are really worth finding as you will meet plently of people who've done it all before and are happy to discuss how they do it and also your kids will make friends.
A good place to find groups is at the HEA (Home Ed Australia) or HEN (home ed networks) websites. These sites also advertise for home ed functions ( a couple of years ago there was a conference in Sydney lots of good international speakers attended). They also have resources re getting started, the legalities etc.
Banshi:
Thank you SO much for your reply!
I will be registering when we start school officially as I am one of those people who likes to stick to the rules. I'm known as the goody-two-shoes in my family!! *grin*
I have searched for homeschooling groups in my area online and found a bunch of people and had full intentions of trying to attend some groups and email some of the members but it has been a rough few months with my 10 month old teething furiously and really not sleeping and life has just seemed a tad difficult. It is on my To-Do list to get in touch with some of them and try to meet some new people.
So if I want some of these books on home schooling I guess I'll probably have to go searching for them in book stores! *grin* Will most mainstream book stores carry them or be able to order them for me?
Where is NSW are you located?
Thanks again for all your information - is gives me some things to think about and some stuff to get started on.
Hi again!
I understand the baby thing - I have an 11 month old daughter and this year has flown by!!
Well I'm not sure if you will find many HS books in shops - I haven't - but I live in regional NSW (Orange atm, Lismore previously). I've found them online and at HS conferences - perhaps your bookshop could order them in. This website is a good place to start: Always Learning Books Catalogue Getting Started with Homeschoolin.
I'm giving you a link to a great essay about school and homeschooling by John Gatto Taylor - it's interesting reading and succinct: The Odysseus Group People's Education Debate & Discussion Center
This Aus website seems to have a good collection of books too! (not sure if they sell!) Kids First Australia: Book List - Recommended Reading
Another fantastic book that I personally wish everyone would read is Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich - when reading this one must make allowances for the period in which it was written
(early 1960s - pre computer age) but it is truly remarkable and revolutionary !
This is an interesting article that I just found: Theresa Willingham, "The Humanism Behind Homeschooling," for the journal of the Friends of Religous Humanism
Hope I'm not overloading you!
Have fun!!!
Where are you?
Hi Banshi
Thanks for all the information! Some night soon (I hope) my son will sleep at night so I can get some computer work done. As it is I'm typing this message one-handed while holding him in my other arm!
I am in the Sydney area!
May I ask how/why you decided to home school?
My friends and family are all asking why we are planning to home school and while I know the reasons in my heart and m head, I struggle to adequately communicate that to other people.
Hi,
Well, I began homeschooling as my son was bright and he was: a) not understood nor catered to at school, ie he wanted to read books in kindy, the class had to sing 'a is for apple a, a, a' - he was bored and the teacher complained that he was distracting himself.....
B) he was bullied by a group of year 6 boys who all ganged up on him and hit him with sticks and cricket bats - after I saw his face and the bruises - I never ever was going to send him back there! And this was at a private school with small class sizes and a 'zero tolerance' stance on bullying - it still happens, schools are unnatural, that many people confined together all day - it's too much. Few adults spend 6 hours per day with 30 people all the same age, all in one room, all at once in their working lives ( oh, I forgot, then they have to lunch with up to 1000 people in a yard at lunch breaks etc).
From my experiences with my children (they chose to go to school for a few months when my eldest was in yr 6 and my dd was in yr3 - they were curious and the school had a good rep so I let them - academically and socially they were fine - but the bureaucracy was annoying) schools really try, and some of them try harder than others, but in my opinion a 30:1 ratio (students:teachers) is just not good enough, nor is 20:1 - children thrive when learning at their own pace, whether that's faster or slower than 'normal'.
I no longer believe in institutional education - it obscures a child's talents by comsuming too much of their time with jumping through hoops to make themselves mediocre - which is what teacher prompted class tasks really do (everyone - draw a chicken - what if a child would rather be reading a book, running, making lunch, playing violin - is the chicken drawing exercise going to give the child a memorable experience? maybe one or two in the class - for the remainder of the class the poor kids' time is being wasted! Another example I saw in my dd's classroom: ' everyone here's a diagram of a heart, colour it in and label it like I have on the board' - this kind of stuff teaches in a shallow way that bores most of the kids most of the time and they switch off and think 'gee, science is boring' - when you are homeschooling you can go as deeply into a topic as your child wishes, allowing much greater experiential learnoing and if they are disinterested you can move on - minus the busywork filler).
In my ten years associating with homeschooled kids I've learned that every person, child and adult, has abilities and talents and these are best fostered out of the school system. Also, when I see homeschooled children playing together they never go off in neat age brackets, they mix in large loose groups, they never bully each other - they don't need to, I feel that they do not behave as bullies because they feel secure. Their parents never left them at school at 5 feeling lost, alone and scared. They feel happy about themselves, they do not have to compete with anyone - I just find homeschooling better on so many levels, emotionally, academically, socially - and the lifestyle is less stressful - that 8.30am deadline and 3.30 deadline are always in the back of your mind.
I also dislike the way in which school compartmentalises society: kids are at school, babies at daycare or at home with mum/dad, adults are at work, the elderly in homes - I dislike institutionalision of humanity - I feel it robs us of experiencing the fullness of life.
Hi!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings as far as your decision to homeschool is concerned!
I feel much the same way about many of the points you made - I just can't seem to communicate it well when people ask me face-to-face why I'm planning to homeschool.
I'm already really sick and tired about people commenting on how I'm going to socialise my child and the newest one was a lady from my church who asked how my son is going to have friends if he doesn't go to school???
Excuse me?? He hasn't gone to school as yet, but he has friends already, from mother's group, playgroup, and children's church!! I should have been brave enough to say - by homeschooling I have the power to help my child choose quality friends - rather than being lumped with a HUGE group of children and be under the influence of people I don't want him to spend a bulk of his time with.
Before I had children I worked as a casual teacher in the public schools and the catholic schools and bullying was a big pet peeve of mine. I felt horrible reading that your kindy aged son was bullied so severely by year 6 boys. Did the school (try) to do anything about it? Or simply turn a blind eye?
My son is very bright and I do believe that he would find school boring and would act out and get in trouble. I also don't feel that schools teach boys in a way that is helpful to them so having two boys so far I would be really leery to put them in school. Right now he has a natural love of learning and I just KNOW that would be ripped out of him within weeks of entering school and that just breaks my heart.
I am enjoying chatting with you and I hope that you don't mind me continuing to ask you questions and run ideas past you as I prepare to embark on my homeschooling experience.
Do you (or have you) used a set curriculum at any time or do you (have you) created your own the entire time you have home schooled?
If you created your own curriculum how do you show that the child has mastered each KLA for their age? Do you make your own tests? Or create a portfolio to show what you have taught/they have learned over the year?
10 month awake for second time tonight - more later
If anyone is interested, i have a huge list of books, websites and other recommendations for homeschooling. I have also made my own curriculum if anyone wants to take a looksee to see how you can cover each syllabus.
Regarding the bullying the school was useless: first, they kept ringing me saying 'your son keeps going out of bounds' -yep, that was because he was escaping from bullies, but HE got into trouble; secondly, they didn't notice the bullying or help him in any way until he was severely attacked, then they made excuses, such as, 'one of the yr 6 boys has a troubled past' - blah; thirdly, he wasn't telling me about it because the boys had threatened him and his friend with severely violent threats should they tell. So overall I feel the school handled it badly, the teacher once asked me if 'you even bother setting rules for your children?' - because he wanted to visit the library to read during recess - which was against the rules.
Regarding your comment: 'Right now he has a natural love of learning and I just KNOW that would be ripped out of him within weeks of entering school and that just breaks my heart.'
Going to school has permanantly altered the way my son views education - before school he saw it as exciting and he was proud of his acheivement, after school anything that could be neatly recognised as 'school work' he just hates - he still loves learning at 15, reading and playing guitar and he stays up late having in depth conversations re books we have both read/are reading, film, politics, spirituality, etc - but pull out text books and he switches off! Which is very sad - I wish he'd never gone! My younger two children will never go to school - it teaches children that learning is dull! When he went to school for a while in yr 6 he was 'identified as gifted and talented' which was the worst thing they could have done - everyone is g&t in some way and for him it just switched him off from formal learning all the more, like , 'i'm already smart, so why bother'
I have never used a set curriculum but I do use some textbooks sometimes - I'm happy to email you a copy of my 7 yr olds curriculum if you are interested!
Have a nice day!
Hi girls, just poping in to subscribe and thank everyone for the info thus far :) I'd love to homeschool but not sure what our situation will be when the time comes. In the mean time I'll be learning as much as I can from you guys. In my ideal world I'd like to home school and have a social 'school day' once a week or something with a group of other home school kids, just to keep up that social aspect and to learn from other home school teachers/parents. Sounds like you are all doing a wonderful job with the arrangemtns you have. Thanks again :)
Hi, I've lived in Lismore/Ballina, Canberra, Blue Mountains/Penrith and Central West NSW and all those places have had a homeschooling group that meets once a week. You can find your local group through the board of studies, HEA or HEN. Getting together is lots of fun.
Have fun!
With the social side of things, i think homeschool is better. Because at school they only interact with children their own age. Homeschooling lets them interact with all age gruops, which personally i think is better.
You can register them for a sporting team and most places have groups of homeschoolers who go on regular excursions to keep up with the kids social life.
Banshi:
For some reason I can't PM you to give you my email address! Can you PM me with your email address and then I'll send you a message? I would love to see what you are doing with your 7 year old to give me ideas on how to create my own curriculum.
Antheia:
I PM'd you my email address as I would love to see what you have created as well!
Thanks to both of you lovely ladies for offering to share your hard work to give me ideas and a head start with my own planning.
One of the other reasons I don't want to put my children in school is because I don't like how teachers talk to them and treat them. Students are yelled at (even screamed at) and I'm quite sure that hampers the learning process.
I taught a LOT of preschool in the 3 years I worked as a casual (especially the last year as I was pregnant for most of it and my supervising teacher put me on infants so I could rest a bit more through the day) and I was disgusted at how they were spoken to. They are still babies at the tender age of 4 and yet they were being yelled at all the time.
Also, going back to a comment you made Banshi - it drove me crazy that EVERY child had to do EVERY activity during the "desk work" time whether they wanted to or not!
Okay, this message is random and I'm getting interrupted by both my boys so time to sign off and hopefully I'll get some time to work on the computer this afternoon or tonight. My 10 month old was VERY ill last week and although he is well now we are in a horrible pattern at night now. He was awake from 11:30pm until 2:30am and then woke (more or less for the day) again at 5:30am!
HI ladies, I was wondering if you could help me with the legalities of homeschooling a child for just one school term. Is this possible?
Hi All!
Quick question for you all...
I noticed at our local shopping centre that one of the bookstores is having a clearance sale and has a bunch of primary level textbooks on sale (some for about 50% off) so I was wondering if it would be worth it to pick some of them up? I recognized some of them as the books the schools I use to work in have used.
Do you use textbooks for your teaching?
I don't want to buy them if they won't be helpful so thought I would ask first...
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments...
re the textbooks - if any look useful to you then buy them - I like to have some textbooks and workbooks (some get used and some don't....it's part of the learning process) they can add to your ideas (and it looks good when the BoS authorised person visits too!). The ones I find useful are maths textbooks - my daughter likes the colourful pretty ones, she finds plain maths dull so they get her a bit more interested, also some english workbook/textbooks are good for children learning to write and read - but some are boring. I have found that some text/workbooks that my son liked my daughter didn't, and vice versa - my son hates colourful workbooks - to him they seem patronising and stupid but to my daughter they seem pretty and fun!
i usually look through the books with the children and pick the ones that they like!
Thanks Banshi!
I'll go back to the shopping centre this coming weekend and have a closer look with hubby.
I liked the look of some of the maths books and I think there was a writing/reading book that looked good too.
What have you done in the way of Handwriting with your children? Did you teach them the same handwriting they would have learned in the schools? Or something different?
I noticed this bookstore carries the handwriting book I'm familiar with but I'm not 100% happy with that form of handwriting.
SO much to think about - I'm ever so glad BellyBelly has started this thread AND that I have time to figure some stuff out before DS turns 6!!
Hi again!
You get me thinking!
;-)
My children usually begin by playing around copying letters from anything lying around, then they want to learn to write their names, then other family members names, or comment on a picture they draw, etc. About that time I buy them some kind of handwriting/phonics or such workbook and let them know what it's about but I don't push them to do it. It's just something like a game - i try to choose a book that is simple yet amusing, with pictures and simple words or phrases or rhymes. It just goes from there. Sometimes they ask me to write down something for them, then they may copy that onto their picture or a book or something and then they ask me to tell them the spelling etc as they bcome more independant.
I've found heaps of worksheets online too - some homeschoolers have businesses manufacturing customised handwriting books - you can ask them to turn your favourite poems and such into writing practise. However, my eldest despised handwriting books/sheets of any kind and only wrote when he wanted to (which was not everyday!), whereas my younger two enjoy writing in handwriting books, or doing calligraphy or creative writing (my 11 yr old daughter adores writing stories and writes a few pages every morning before she comes out of bed for breakie); my seven year old is very proud when he does his writing workbook neatly and he likes to show everyone.
My eldest prefers typing - although his handwriting is legible (just!!) he couldn't be considered neat! The two younger ones have much neater handwriting but I'm not sure if this reflects the time they spent on handwriting books or is more indicitive of natural disposition and their personal inclination. I don't make them do much in the way of repetitive handwriting workbooks, rather I get them to focus on quality work.
In hindsight I've often thought I gave in to my eldest and I wonder if I should have somehow 'made' him do more handwriting, however, I then remember how much he hated the whole idea of it (he'd get upset or angry if I gave him those trace n copy type handwriting things) and I just think that perhaps everyone has different inclinations and if i'd forced it we would have clashed and our experience of homeschooling would have been tainted with angst. He is nearly 15 and beginning to write essays regularly now and he always works on the computer - which is far simpler for editing and citing - so after all, esp considering our IT era, I don't think it actually matters much in the long run as all uni essays must be typed - so long as the individuals handwriting can be read!
Sorry for going on and on!
Have fun shopping!! Getting everything together is quite a satisfying experience!
Hi Banshi!
Wonders never cease - my boys are actually sleeping well tonight so that I can get a bit caught up on the computer. Tuesday nights are MY night (providing the boys sleep) as DH has a weekly snooker competition he attends and thus doesn't get home until about 11pm. I watch mindless TV (or a movie) and work on my blogs and email that needs answering. I've done well so far tonight despite my 4 year old initially pulling out all the stalling techniques he could think of. My 11 month old woke for the day at 6:30am and flatly refused to sleep at all during the day so he was in bed and asleep by 6:30pm! I won't hold my breath that he will sleep straight through the night - but he should do better than normal (3 wakings)!
Thanks for the insight and thoughts on how you do handwriting and reading with your family. James is showing NO interest in learning how to hold a pencil correctly or do much in the way of writing so I'm not going to push him at this stage. After all, he is only 4.5 (actually not quite) and part of the reason I have chosen to home school is because I think it is CRAZINESS that we are throwing kids (boys especially) in to school at the tender age of four!
It turns out DH and I couldn't get any of those textbooks that were on sale. DH runs his own business and though it is WONDERFUL one of the downfalls is that we don't really know when money is going to come in. We aren't suffering but it is just that we live in a "drought and flood" sort of situation and although we always have money for things like rent and food we don't always have extra money sitting around for extra stuff that we want to buy spontaneously. But I'm not the least bit worried because I'm sure I'll find more on sale sometime (several times actually) between now and when James turns 6!
James' newest obsession at the moment is a worm farm kit that I bought at Kmart on Sunday. We've put it together and now we have to collect our soil and our worms and get it up and running. I LOVE that he is so excited about it and I need to get moving on it before he loses his motivation and excitement about it.
How are things with you and your children? Do you give them a break during the "school holidays" or do they continue with school if they want to?
I hope you are well and I'll look forward to hearing from you through here again soon.
We've been homeschooling for just over 18 months. DS had three years at school; DD had one year at school before we pulled them out.
I am a school teacher with 17 years experience and no way would I send the kids back to institutionalised education.
I find it hilarious that we get the same two questions with regard to homeschooling every time. The first question is "why would you want to do that?" as if spending lots of time with your kids is a bad thing, closely followed by "what about their socialisation?"
Neither of those things have been a problem for us. People are always commenting on how social our kids are; they'll talk to anyone about anything, anytime. We love spending time with them (yes, it is exhausting but it is also worth it) and it has brought our whole family closer together.
We use a loosely classical approach and love it.
Hi Banshi!
Just a quick question - DS doesn't hold a pencil or pen correctly yet (he'll be 4.5 years old on the 13th) is this something I should be overly concerned about?
Noooo! He will figure it out - especially as he see others around him (you and Dad etc) holding pens, pencils etc in the more comfortable, more convenient 'right' way - also if young children have been learning drawing and writing with chunky crayons their grip will have developed to grasp a bigger item and this will evolve as their fine motor skills develop and they experience writing /drawing in a range of media.
Also, as a boy, his fine motor skills will take longer to coordinate than a girl of the same age - my first son could read at four but his writing was not really clear until he was 6, my second son was neater but took until about 7 to become neat (he's not 7 and a half and a really neat and proud writer!).
Also, it just occurred to me that I have met people who grip pens in an unconventional manner - is it really a big deal? Maybe/ maybe not!
I would relax, he's very young (remember registration is only required at age 6 - likely your son is quite bright to be writing/drawing at 4 - but due to being bright he may seem older - I found this with DS 1 - therefore in ten years looking back you will say OMG I was worried about such and such - he was only 4! I have thought this alot with my now 15 year old DS1 - he was clever so I accidently fussed a bit too much - we live and learn!).
So do suggest to him that You find holding Your pen in a certain way better, but allow him time to find his way. When children feel like what they do is critiqued they can sometimes become sensitive about trying - not that I am suggesting you are critiquing - just that in my experience with my children encouragement works great but correction seems to have unforeseen repurcussions - and with my DS2 (my 3rd child) I've allowed him to go at his own pace and to learn for himself when he's made a mistake and he's learning to correct himself (for instance when reading aloud and he mispronounces a word - with the first two I'd correct them by pronouncing the word correctly - which was ok - but - I've let DS2 realise himself and he is sooo confident, proud and self-assured as a result - IMO it has worked better! And now that he's more fluent he realises, backtracks, pronounces correctly - or says 'how do I pronounce this?' then I tell him - he's in control of it)
All the best to you!!!
Hi Banshi!
UGH!! I just typed a big reply to you and then hit the wrong button and it disappeared! GRRR...
So I will start again but it will probably be shorter.
ANYWAY!! DS holds a pen/pencil in a VERY unconventional way that is too hard to describe in words but essentially he grips it in a fist grip and therefore has absolutely NO control over what he does at all.
I gently suggested that he let me show him an easier way to hold it that will give him more control and allow him to start writing and colouring in. He was agreeable to this and just a couple of days ago came up to me and said "is this how I hold it mummy" and was almost holding the pen correctly! So I'm not worried anymore and I'm sure that with a little correction and a lot of practice he will be fine.
I have a good way to offer him incentive as well. He is very interested in activity books and colouring-in books at the moment and has been wanting me to buy him Cars and Thomas activity books so I told him that I would buy him some special activity books and colouring books when he has practiced holding a pen/pencil correctly and can do the work more easily. He is excited bout this and I think it will be a good motivation for him.
Thanks again for your thoughts and input!
I have also been looking for home schooling blogs and in the process have found some blogs geared specifically towards home schooling boys so I'm excited to read through some of these and get ideas and information!
I hope all is well with you and your family...
I feel like I'm full of questions all the time...
I know the legal age in NSW (is it also Australia wide?) to either enroll a child in school or commence home schooling is six years of age but that leaves me confused...
Does that mean (regardless of which form of schooling you plan to use) they would start kindergarten the year they turn six or year one?
I'm just debating whether to start our home school program THIS year or NEXT year with DS and I seem to be getting more confused as I research - not less!
Anyone out there who could help would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Hi
You only need to register once the child has turned six, however, you may choose to register when your child is five turning six.
School kids seem to start at five...but many educationalists suggest starting boys at a later age.....it's a personal decision.
Maybe you could just pause to reflect for while - school/homeschool is mandatory until 17 years of age now (in NSW anyway) so you have plenty of time to find your angle....also....just because you choose not to register 'til he's six doesn't mean he won't be learning until then! Mostly, by the time I'd registered my 3 eldest, they were six or seven and doing year 1 or 2 stuff......so if I were you I wouldn't bother registering too early - it's just an unnecessary distraction.....do it when you need to......well those are my thoughts.
Good luck - it's quite an education, huh?
Have fun and all the best!
Hi!
So essentially I can "teach" him kindergarten curriculum informally for the next 17 months and then register him and start him on year 1 work in Jan/Feb 2012 and all would be kosher?!?
I guess then my next question would be - if I register him in 2012 and board of studies comes for my first "inspection" will I need to show proof that he did the kindergarten work or will they be satisfied with the fact that he is six and studying year 1 stuff?
I have done heaps of study and reading about boys and how they learn and just about everything I've read stresses that boys really shouldn't start school until they are six but my husband is concerned that he starts with kindergarten when he is six then he won't finish year 12 until he is 19 and for some reason that bothers him.
I'm not fussed either way - just want to make sure that he is learning and enjoying the process - how long or short it takes him is not that big of a deal with me. But I did promise my husband I would ask the question - so here I am - asking the question! *grin*
Thanks for your thoughts...
Also, don't hesitate to contact the Home Education unit at the BoS - as they now suggest you register for the 'year level' your child is up to.....it's all silly paper trail stuff, not important really - but - if you are concerned it may make you feel more certain and confident if you speak to them.
What I would do in your situ (and it's actually what I did with my 7 year old - I only formally registered him this year, Feb) is to naturally progress through Kindy-Year 1 stuff and then when he's about 6 - 7 and you are ready register him - the 'proof' of his learning (and your 'teaching') is usually impressive for the inspector. They can then see you have it all under control and that your child has made progress.....always remember that however you do it is up to you! In this way a child who legally need only be up to a kindy level but who is actually beyond that speaks volumes to the authorities and this makes them relaxed and confident - and your son doesn't need to be bound to doing kindy at 6 or whatever - that's the beauty of homeschooling - it caters to the individual. The legalities don't decree which year level to teach at which time - it just says what age you need to be registered by.
Good Luck!
Banshi is right - the age you register your child at is no indication of their grade level. There is a 16 y/o homeschooler who has just started doing a few uni units with us. It's best not to get stuck on the idea of "grades" anyway but rather how well they can do or understand the learning areas. Grades are only something that schools use to categorise and manage having lots of children at similar ages using the idea of "average" on every learning area. Unfortunately, very few kids are actually average on everything - they have strengths and weaknesses that unlike a school you can individually cater for (intensively if needed) and will typically find your child to be either on average or ahead in most areas.
We currently use the ENKI curriculum. Must say I LOVE it and it really suits our family and my daughter's learning style (she has some special needs, and is particularly behind in speech - so verbal-instruction-based teaching is not the most effective - she needs to SEE). It's a sensory integrated program that sort of combines all the best parts of the Steiner, Montessori and traditional education models. The reason why I love this curriculum so much (other than I only have to organise it, not write it) is that it teaches her learn in a creative child-led way while still focusing her in a certain direction (so it's not all over the place).
When we first decided to homeschool I started doing a uni course on how to write a primary school curriculum because I thought it would be helpful - it was in a sense as it made my choice to homeschool more concrete. I stopped after a month because it infuriated me. It was very obvious, sometimes even blatantly stated, that the purpose of the school curriculum was to teach children WHAT to think and WHAT to learn, not HOW to think and HOW to learn. I think there is a very big difference between the two; one was the "give a fish you eat for a day", the other is the "teach to fish you eat for a lifetime". I don't want a child who's a sheep and needs to look to other people to form her opinions/interests etc. I wanted a child who was able to look at something critically and logically and make her own decisions.
Hi everyone,
Am really interested in your homeschooling and unschooling discussions. It's great to read others' experiences.
A little background to us...
I homeschool/unschool my four children. They are Z who is 13, almost 14yo, I who is 11, almost 12yo, H who is 7yo and C, a preschooler who is almost 5yo (it's his birthday this week). We live on the edge of the Outback in a small town with very few facilities. We are the only homeschoolers here.
The local schools here are not my cup of tea in any way and my kids had grown tired of the travel associated with attending the school in the next town, which is 100kms away. We did not qualify for Distance Education since we do not live on a remote property anymore, so I decided to homeschool.
We registered with the NSW Board of Studies.
I started out doing basic homeschooling. I basically formulated a curriculum and found textbooks and resources that were similar to what they would experience in a classroom. I tried desperately to meet the KLA outcomes for each child and it was terribly hard work for all of us. The kids hated their school days, and I found myself mentally exhausted by it.
More recently, I have been experimenting with the concept of child-led learning and the difference it has made is fantastic, not just for the younger children but for the older ones too.
The kids still have a small amount of appropriate textbook work but they set their pace and branch out into other associated topics as they feel it is appropriate. If anything, the textbooks have become a launching pad for the kids to discover more. The textbooks trigger an interest in something and away they go!
We have also found some excellent programs based on Bloom's Taxonomy and other thinking skills methods, which cater for multiple intelligences and the many stages of development.
The effect that me taking the pressure off the kids has had has been nothing short of spectacular for them and for me. They actually want to find out more about a whole range of things and I am able to help them do it, knowing full well that this type of learning is valid. I feel like I am not knocking the curiosity out of my kids anymore.
I look forward to hearing more about your homeschooling journeys.
Hi!
Just jumping in here...I'm super interested in homeschooling but am also a bit unsure as well...
I have 4 boys - nearly 5, 3, nearly 2 and 6months...we're about to move to the country and will be around 22km from school...
In my heart I feel like home schooling would be fantastic for the boys - an opportunity to learn academically as well as have time to spend learning a lot of life skills and when they're older they can learn trade and practical work...also would give them lots of time for fun!
I worry that putting them into school will break their spirits...maybe not straight away but eventually...my first boy is so clever - he is reading and writing already which makes me think prep will just be boring to him and my second struggles to focus but is very bright and I think he will need to learn in a more fun/hands on manner than text book learning...
I guess the whole thing appeals to me and the main thing holding me back is wondering if they would miss out on anything as well as of course what everyone would say around me! Most importantly I don't want the kids to hate it! I guess we could always give it a go and if it doesn't work out they can always go to school...or vice versa - gives school a go and homeschool if we encounter any issues...?
Gosh...so much to think about! Sorry for the rambling! lol...
Hi!
I'm popping back in here after being away from this site for awhile!
I am still VERY keen to homeschool my children.
My eldest (who will be 5 in February) shocked me two weeks ago by sitting down at playgroup and writing his name for the first time.
I hadn't given him ANY direction as far as writing was concerned AT ALL up to that point. He knows how to spell his name and how to type it on the computer but had never tried writing it. I had only been slowly encouraging him to hold his pencil or pen correctly when he colours in and hadn't worried about anything beyond that. Then he calmly sat down and wrote his name (all capital letters) and I'm ever so proud of him.
I am curious where I could find a list or document that states what schools expect that a kindergarten child should know/be able to do by the end of their kindergarten year? I'm just curious to see how much of it James already knows and can do.
Pretty much I have decided to formally register James with the Board of Studies in early 2012 and start him on Year 1 work then (providing he hasn't already started it before then)! Between now and then I'm sort of doing whatever natural learning we can do. I have some workbooks I've picked up here and there (mainly beginning writing ones and maybe some kindergarten maths workbooks) that I might let him try but I'm not pushing them on him.
Krisvee: welcome to this group... my thoughts are... if home schooling is in your heart then go with it and don't worry what other people think! No matter what you do with your children (in all aspects of parenting not just education) you are going to find people who don't agree with your choices. What matters it what you and your husband feel is the best method of education for your boys.
Sarahw: welcome to you as well... I read your post with interest and will most likely have questions for you as I begin my home schooling journey but it is late and WELL past my bedtime so I will probably have questions for you in the near future.
In the meantime, I'm happy to see more people in this thread and I'm looking forward to sharing thoughts and experiences with you all.
Each state has their own curriculum framework. For N.S.W it's: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au...lum_fw_K10.pdf
and another brief overview:
http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/...ements_es1.pdf
But you might need to take into account that they are developing a federal or australia-wide curriculum that is to be implemented in the near future: Curriculum | ACARA
Hi!
I am hoping some people still read this thread.
I am wanting to get a decent collection of old Australia Geographic magazines (or similar) for my son to use for school but I'm having some trouble.
I was able to pick up 3-4 at our local Vinnies shop but I don't drive so don't really have the capability of checking lots of Vinnies in many different suburbs.
We don't do much in the way of garage saling either.
Anyone know how I could get my hands on several dozen magazines??
Have you tried ebay? Not sure how expensive they would be but it's certainly convenient!!
Hi all we homeschool Ds13 and dd6.
I have popped in to subscribe to this thread and I'm affraid I have to duck back in later on and leave my two pennith worth.