|
Homeschool Australia!
Home educate the easy way... simplify and save time... Learn from experienced home educators how to write your own curriculum. |
Please note: the information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice. |
Search this site:  |
Teach your children from home! Welcome to the world of home education - learning without school! We officially began educating our three children in 1985, when our eldest was five years. In truth, we had helped them learn what they need to learn as they grew and explored and discovered this amazing world since the moment they were each born! I am a passionate advocate of allowing children to learn unhindered by unnecessary stress and competition, meeting developmental needs in ways that suit their individual learning styles and preferences. We are a homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning family! There are hundreds of articles on this site to help you build confidence as a home educating family. "Thank you... The information you supply is real and generous - fantastic reading. Your honesty is rare. Most books do not really explain 'how' as well as you do." Tracy Getting Started with Home Schooling: Practical Considerations by Beverley Paine
A comprehensive common sense manual detailing how to write your own curriculum tailored to your children's educational needs! $25... |
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||
|
When is the Best Time to Start Homeschooling?
© Beverley Paine Jun 2004 "We've decided we want to homeschool. Would you recommend waiting until the school year ends, waiting until there is some school break, pulling them out this week, or what?" I am often faced with answering these questions. I usually advise parents to just do it! Too many parents have reported back to me how wonderful homeschooling life is, how well-settled and happy their children are, only a few weeks after beginning. The joy keeps growing too. There are seldom any regrets for beginning homeschooling straight away. Plus families have tended to give homeschooling a lot of thought, long before the issue gets out in the open... Just do it! It's really that easy. Schools make education look hard. And it is - with hundreds of children to organise each day, up to thirty in each class - why wouldn't it be? You don't have that problem though - life learning at home is little different from life during the holidays, when you pay attention to your children, enjoy their company, explore your community and environment with them, have fun, play games... with a little structured learning thrown in for good measure. Children are less cranky, can sleep in, eat to suit their individual needs, wear what they like... Life is so much easier! Remember - each day that you put off doing it is one more day that the school district has control over your child and you do not, one more day that they and the hundreds of children in the playground have a huge influence on your child. If your child is in danger at school, I wouldn't hesitate. The same might be true if you child is feeling bad because of falling behind in whatever the class is doing, or if your child is bored because the class is the one who is 'behind.' You may decide to wait if the school is hostile to your plan - but I don't think there's much sense in that as it's one thing that time won't necessarily change. I'm not in favour of moving house and home to minimise conflict, which some families do, unless the situation is dire and necessitates it. IIt's not unusual for children to 'break' from school - children do it for all sorts of reasons - illness, extended overseas or interstate holidays, or moving because dad or mum have been relocated with work (think of the armed services - they move families around constantly). Most adjust reasonable quickly, but remember, your child isn't starting a new school - he or she is coming home! That's much more II often tell soon-to-be homeschoolers that it's okay to keep the kids home tomorrow and send off a note in the morning to the school informing the Principal that your children will not be returning because you're now homeschooling! In some states it's a good idea to check out with homeschooling groups or the internet what the legal requirements are, and you may need to get in contact with the educational authorities. Most of the information needed is on the 'net now. Some families find it useful to write up two lists: one detailing why they should send the children back to school tomorrow and one detailing why they should keep the children home. When the lists are complete, the list detailing why the kids should stay home tomorrow usually is much longer than the list supporting sending the kids back to school. Some parents are still reluctant though, worried that they don't have a curriculum, or concerned that they aren't smart enough to teach the children, or that the children might miss out if they don't finish the year. It's easy to reassure parents about the curriculum issues with the vast amount of resources readily available to homeschoolers now - not only from businesses run by experienced home educating families but also access to exactly what teachers in schools can buy. I like to reassure parents that designing a curriculum for the year is not on the same level as brain surgery, and after a year or two only takes an afternoon! Wanting to finish out the year is often about the children missing out on social opportunities - I usually hand them the local network calendar (or direct them to my contacts page on my website) and remind them that just because their children will be dropping out of school doesn't mean they can't play with their friends on the weekend or after school. That settled we tackle the last issue, often the biggest; wondering they're smart enough to homeschool their children. A friend of mine lists off all the famous scientists, artists and writers who were homeschooled... If that doesn't work I tell Basically though, when to pull a child from school is a personal family decision. You'll do it when you're ready, or you've been pushed far enough. It's sad to see children going downhill, but it's fantastic to see those children months later after they've been rescued. Love is a wonderful cure for what schools do to some If you intend buying curriculum you'll find that no matter how hard you try to match up the activities or skills to the year level your daughter or son was doing there will be many sections that overlap. There's a good chance your child will be repeating some areas and missing information or skills in others. This isn't a big deal - usually a minor inconvenience that will require some extra attention from you to fill in the Homeschooling is very different from school. Instead of being governed by an hour for math, an hour for English, a semester for this, a semester for that, homeschooling life flows. My children tended to gravitate towards things that interested them, their curiosity piqued by something seen on TV, a conversation we've had, something found out on the internet, browsing through the library, a field Carol, a close friend, said that if she had her time over again, she'd take her son out immediately, instead of waiting until the end of the year. Seeing the difference in his enthusiasm for learning, their closeness as a family, the freedom they'd gained, she definitely wouldn't want to delay homeschooling for another hour or semester or summer holidays.
Was this article helpful? Was it worth $1.00 to you? |
Beverley's LATEST book
|
Conference/Workshops Unschooling Conference
If you like what you
Since 1989 Beverley Paine has steadfastly promoted and supported home education as an educational choice for Australia families. Her books and websites aim to demystify education, gently deschooling families so that they may meet their children's individual and unique educational and developmental needs. Her honesty, insights and wealth of experience continues to bring hope, reassurance and confidence to families. Beverley publishes her recent articles, tips and links to resources in her quarterly magazine, Homeschool Unschool Australia!
|
|||
 |
 |
|
 |
   |
|
education in Australia. State and Territory governments are responsible for regulating home education and have different requirements, however home educating families are able to develop curriculum and learning programs to suit the individual needs of their children.
Join the Home Education Association of Australia
what to teach? See the Site Map for our
full list of articles.
Interested in homeschooling, but still not sure?
Read All You Need Is...'
Without revenue from Google Ads we
could not continue to provide over 700 pages of information to home educators.
Thank you for visiting!
Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1985 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.
Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several online groups supporting families teaching their children from home.
In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and was a committee member for three years, editing and producing the HEA Newsletter, Stepping Stones for Home Educators magazine, annual Resource Directory and other publications.
If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Homeschool Australia Facebook page.nor do they endorse or recommend products (other than their own) listed in contributed articles, pages, or advertisements.