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Getting Started with
Home Schooling:
Practical Considerations

by Beverley Paine

A few years ago I brainstormed a list of objectives I'd like my son, Roger, to achieve in his early adolescence. As time went by I realised these reflected a longer growth and development time frame, and added some more objectives as the need arose. It forms a pretty basic curriculum, covering many life skills. To this we added interest generated activities, some that he came up with and ones we developed as a family. These included solar technology, computer upgrade and repairs, modelling using LEGO, medieval weapons, astronomy, circus skills, South Australian historyand many others. A highschool equivalent curriculum for home education doesn't have to follow what schools do very closely. Covering the basics is essential and can be worked out using common sense. I did use the National Curriculum Guidelines in places to help me develop this, and to ensure that I was covering similar material and skills over time.

• Personal Computer Repairs (ICS certificate course)
• Basic First Aid, including CPR
• Nutrition
  - what is a good diet for me?
  - why do I eat the food I do?
  - how healthy is "healthy" food?
  - where does my food come from?
  - additives to foods - how are foods processed?
  - what's my opinion on genetic engineering and food?
• Getting Involved in Community Organisations
  - Trees For Life
  - Landcare
  - Local Exchange Trading System
  - Meals on Wheels (Senior Citizens)
  - Sport and Recreation
  - Wildlife/Conservation
  - Overseas Aid/ Human Rights
  - Health Promotion
  - Youth Issues
  - Arts
• Visit Local Council, Parliament
  - understand meeting formats and processes, decision making, planning and development locally
  - effectiveness, how and why of rules
  - how does this all affect me?
  - do kids have any power, rights, how do they assert them if they do?
• Understanding of different cultural practices in Australia
  - especially related to current affairs
  - ways in which different Australians practice and celebrate cultural heritage
  - look into historical causes of wars, etc, around the world changing borders, politics, greed, religious, resources
  - form some opinions based on fact about Australia's multicultural identity, population control, immigration policies
• Positive thinking practice
• Personal empowerment and assertiveness Regular exercise program, recreation/ sport
• Conflict resolution strategies
• Recognising and managing own stress levels and understanding causative factors
• Camping and survival skills - bushcraft
• Cooking for different occasions
  - different groups of people
  - balanced, appropriate menus
  - preparation, clearing away
  - budgeting and shopping
• Maintenance of clothes
  - basic sewing skills, laundry, shoe care
• Telephone skills
  - answering/making (all types of calls)
  - emergency calls
  - information accessing
  - using the White and Yellow pages
• Staying safe in the community
  - peer pressure to conform
  - unwanted attention
  - invasion of privacy
  - safety in the home and environment
• Media awareness
  - reading the "bottom line" - how what I am watching, reading, listening to how the media is trying to sell me an idea or message, the techniques used to "sell" ideas , opinions and products (mass manipulation and control through technology and images, small bites of information repeated, etc)
  - what do I want, what do I need - really?
• Using multi-media effectively and the Internet
• Computer programming and game making
• Make a useful piece of furniture, a kid's toy, etc.
  - using wood/metal/plastics/fibre
  - safe use of tools
  - care of tools, including power tools
• Experiment with clay - raku firing (figures, sculpture, wind chimes, wall plaques, plates, pots, tiles)
• How has the environment I live in changed in recent past, 50 years, 150 years, 1000 years, 10,000 years, 500 million years?
  - what do I think about this?
  - how is this environment different from others I know (visit and compare)?
  - what is it like in other countries
  - how does landscape (and climate) affect how people use the land
  - how are "borders" of countries determined
  - is colonisation a good/bad thing - is it happening in the world now, where, who were the first colonisers
  - what other species of life "colonise" and what effect does this have on the local flora and fauna

• Gardening
  - use of plants (food, building, fibre, fuel, aesthetics, etc)
  - wild foods, traditional uses across cultures (Aboriginal, herbal remedies)
  - use of plants and indigenous plants in the area
  - conservation (why, how, where, effectiveness, responsibility)
  - grow own food, including harvest, care, composting, chemicals, treatment
  - become a Trees For Life grower
• Start recycling and reduce consumption
• Do some simple science experiments in biology, physics, chemistry
  - visit Investigator Science Centre, Museum, Natural History Centre
  - start a natural history collection - identify and label, sort and classify
• Make something or things to sell at a LETS market stall
  - organise your own stall at a market
• Become involved in writing for local publications
  - newspapers, local newsletters, magazines, youth publications
  - letters to the editor
  - responses to articles
  - what is good and bad in the area, how things could be better for kids
  - creative writing - own poems, short stories, illustrations, puzzles, cartoons, etc
• Begin car maintenance, on own car
  - wheel changing, oil and water, basic repairs, trouble shooting, pull bits of engine, car to pieces and rebuild, use of tools, including power tools, visit a mechanics shop, use of petrol/gas bowser, car cleaning and care
• Learn how to drive, and apply for learning permit.
• Open a bank account
• Organise home weekly budget for family or yearly one for self
• Write personal and business letters
• Filling our all sorts of forms
• Personal journal on a regular basis
• Keep own calendar
• Demonstrate (and practice) proficiency in basic maths functions (plus, minus, divide, multiply) to four digits, including decimals
  - become familiar with databases and spreadsheet applications.
  - times table, fractions and decimals
  - using calculator
  - be able to estimate with reasonable accuracy
  - practice in real life mental calculations (shopping, cooking, making things)
  - accurate conversion in measurements (weight, capacity, length - e.g. metres to kilometres)
  - use spacial terms (geometric) to describe things (spherical, angle, parallel, etc)
  - be able to draw to scale
  - read charts, graphs (weather, statistics, in media)
  - read and interpret timetables
  - read maps, flow charts
• Devise ways to manage own time - stay on task, finish things, avoid distractions, making and meeting contracts and agreements to do things in a time frame (finding out what it is I really want to do)

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	Getting Started - how to write your own learning programs
	Beverley's E-books
	Learning Without School - how 30 families homeschool
	The Homeschooling Trail - Christian unschooling life
	Learning in the Absence of Education - how we did it
	Practical Homeschooling Booklet Series - your questions answered!
	Educational Games Booklet Series - make learning fun!
	Practical Homeschooling Language Development Series
	Natural Learning Series
	Homeschool Diaries
	Ready to use Portfolios / Report Cards
	Fridge Magnets - handy reminders!
	Sample Learning Programs
	Stock Clearance

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Please note:
The information on this
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