Curious...

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I'm curious about the hoops that need to be jumped through for homeschooling in other parts of the world.

 

We're in Queensland in Australia and I'm registered with the state government as having my youngest daughter homeschooled. For us, this means I've taken on full responsibility for her education and we need to touch base with the education department once a year to renew our registration. 

 

I've just posted off (YAY!) our yearly documentation, which ends up being quite a significant wad of papers.

 

Each year I do the following:

- year in review write-up (general ups and downs and overview)

- planning for the coming year for each KLA, including resources I plan to use and also learning goals, learning environment, social opportunities etc

- work samples for the previous year

- lots of photos

 

I actually enjoy putting together our yearly report and I find it satisfying to reflect on our year. It settles my ongoing 'am I doing enough?' and 'is she doing enough?' anxiety attacks ... to a certain extent.

 

Is this a similar process in other parts of the world?

 

[Arcadia]

I register my oldest as a homeschooler in Singapore because he falls under the compulsory education act until he is 15. He would have to sit for the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) at 6th grade if we are in the country. PSLE exams are for English, 2nd language, Maths and Science. The paper is in the format of multiple choice and short response questions. There is a composition section for the languages exams.

 

For California where we are residing, I just need to file the private school affidavit every year.

 

ETA:

For Singapore, anyone can take the Cambridge GCE 'O' and 'A' levels exam as private candidates and the exam board will locate a test center for the candidate. Science exams include laboratory exams though.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Arcadia

[Jackie]

In the U.S., the regulations are determined by each state. In my state (Indiana), the only rule is that I have to keep attendance records. Only the superintendent of my district is even allowed to request them, and that never actually happens. Therefore, in reality, there are no regulations or requirements and I don't report to anyone.

 

ETA: I keep records for myself because I also find them quite satisfying!

Edited November 20, 2015 by Jackie

[GThomas]

We are US expats in Dubai, UAE. Currently there are no requirements for us to check in with the local government. We follow US requirements but because we are not residing the US, we don't need to check in there either. We have complete freedom. I did decide to enroll in an umbrella school back in the US last year so I have lots of paperwork to fill out now. It's a lot of work but I agree it's been wonderful to look back and document.

 

We lived in India for a year as well and there was no government oversight there either.

 

We have Australian friends here in Dubai and their government offers free distance learning since there are so many kids in the outback. Every 6 weeks a teacher sends them a box of books and worksheets. They send their work back online and domsome video assignments. This has worked well for them.

[Dmmetler]

In my state, you have to be registered with a school, either public or private. I register with a private school because they're much easier to deal with than the public district. (Legally, I have the certifications and degrees required to let me ser up my own, but it's a lot of paperwork to go through for one child.) I provide a plan of study for each year that meets or exceeds their minimums, attendance, and shot records at the same ages they're mandated for schools. Test scores are also reported there, although the school we're registered with doesn't require them until high school. They issue the transcripts as needed, and, if DD finishes high school, issue the diploma. So far, the only problem I've had is that they do not allow me to mark courses for high school credit on the transcript until she's in 8th grade. So, DD's transcript shows things like "General Math-Elementary grades 4-6-AOPS Introducfion to Algebra, Life of Fred Advanced Algebra, Algebra Gateway Exam, 96%-Pass"

[Loesje22000]

In Flanders (part of Belgium) the rules are:

 

- a yearly letter you plan to homeschool the coming schoolyear, one agree to homeschool the child:

      with respect for it's own culture and environment, 

      to prepare to take it's place in society (as an adult)

      according to his /her capabilities

- supplemented with your planning for the next year = list of books / textbooks/ courses/internetsites etc. one plans to use. It is wise to show you teach the same subjects as a school would do.

- accepting inspection when the inspection decide to inspect you. Normally you'll see them once in 3-4 year unless they think it has to be sooner. Two negative inspections in row = enrolling your child in a state accredited school. 

- the child has to attend and to pass the 6th and the 8th grade exams for all subjects. 2 fails for a subject = enrolling your child in a state accredited school

 

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Thanks for your replies.

There's such a wide range of requirements!

Total freedom sounds nice .... but some accountability certainly helps with ensuring we provide a breadth of study to a certain level and across a range of subjects.

 

I'm glad we're not in Belgium, though. I'd be freaking out over those exams and the threat of having to enrol in a school!

 

For schooling here in Queensland, Australia, we really have these options:

 

- attend a school (as in, put on your uniform and go to school 9 - 3). Uh, no thanks.

 

- enrol in school via Distance Education. It's essentially school at home. Your child is in a set grade and does the lessons online with the class teacher, all work is set and marked by the teacher, all planning, reporting etc is by the teacher. The parent basically provides the environment and ensures the work gets done. This is a great option for many families. But I can't imagine my daughter being limited to a set curriculum or having to do things at a set time. So for us, uh, no thanks.

 

- register with the government as a home schooler. We have freedom within certain limits and with accountability. That's us and we like this. I can go at my daughter's pace, choose our own resources, organise our days as we please and do our written reporting once a year. So, yes please.

 

- don't enrol in a school or distance ed or register for homeschooling. This 'flying under the radar' is illegal here. The government needs to know how your child is educated and needs to monitor all children's education. So, for us, this is a definite no thanks. I'd be on edge all the time, waiting for the knock on the door from the police!

 

 

With such a range of requirements in different places, have any of you actually moved to a different state or country to have more freedom or maybe different options?

 

[abba12]

Hey! Can't contribute since I'm also a Queenslander, but wanted to say hi since we're in the same part of the world :)

[Loesje22000]

So far I know, the only negative inspections were in case of educational neglect or social isolation.

If your child learns you will have proof of it, somehow, if you can't show anything, then you have a problem.

 

The exams are stressfull, and it is often not clear what or how to know the topics.

But as this law is just 2 yo; I can't say much about the negatives.

The law has been created as soms people were misusing the homeschool option.

So far we are glad we can still homeschool :)

[Dmmetler]

No, but I admit one thing I've looked for when DH is considering whether to apply for jobs is what the homeschooling requirements are. In the US, it varies widely, and in some areas homeschoolers can partially enroll for single classes, participate in extracurriculars, or otherwise get some benefits from the public schools as well, which I could see being an advantage in high school.

 

I do like having the third party that sees my plan of study, and I do know they at least glance at them because when DD was younger, I'd sometimes get questions about the levels of materials we were planning to use. (Which stopped being an issue as soon as DD took the EXPLORE for the first time), I've heard parents complain about getting questions at the high school level if the materials listed were seen as too low.

 

 

 

 

 

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Hi abba12!

It's nice to know there's someone in my neck of the global woods.

Edited November 22, 2015 by chocolate-chip chooky

[IsabelC]

I'm in Tasmania and I suspect that we have it easier than you, because we don't have the full range of key learning areas. All we have to cover is numeracy, literacy, and interpersonal skills development (plus career planning if you have teens aged 14 and above, which I don't yet). We've found it very easy to get approval, and at the moment I have been re-approved for the next two years.

Edited November 23, 2015 by IsabelC

[Laura Corin]

In Scotland, if your child has never been in school, you don't need to register or report at all. I actually think that more oversight would be good, but that's the legal situation.

[OneStepAtATime]

In Scotland, if your child has never been in school, you don't need to register or report at all. I actually think that more oversight would be good, but that's the legal situation.

Similar situation and I agree.  

 

U.S. (specifically Texas) and here, too, if a child has never been in the public school system you don't have to do anything at all.  It is as if your child doesn't exist as far as the state and education goes.  There are "requirements" for homeschooling but since no one anywhere ever sees anything there really isn't any oversight at all.  I think some oversight would be better but we literally have none.  The issues come into play if there are custody problems or neighbor problems.  Someone can report you to CPS and if you haven't kept any records it may be really hard to prove that you were following state requirements.  Also, when your child applies to colleges, or testing, etc. it can be challenging.  Homeschoolers here who don't have good support may not realize the quagmire they are creating for themselves if they don't keep records of what their kids are doing.