Homeschool Help is Available from Experienced Home Education Consultants

by Beverley Paine & April Jermey, March, 2022

With the current exodus from mainstream education by teachers and families, please be aware that there are a lot of new start up businesses marketing themselves to home educators. Some are offering "learning at home" / "remote learning" set ups similarly to what was offered by schools during lockdowns. Others are putting together curriculum packages, or simply charging for writing learning programs for registration purposes.

Many of these have little to no home education experience, and don't realise that home ed doesn't need to look like school, and more often than not, looks NOTHING like school. They may have classroom experience, they may be qualified educators, but they don't know your kids.

Furthermore each state has different requirements for home ed registration, and as an example, a school teacher from NSW isn't going to have a good understanding of the requirements to home educate in the NT.

We're not saying that these options aren't good opportunities for home educators, we're suddenly spoiled for choices, but they aren't necessarily going to understand how your family needs to home educate. You're not an expert, but you know your kids, and you've been educating them since birth.

We encourage any teachers new to home ed to home educate their own children for a minimum of one year before marketing their services to home educators. And frankly one year is baby steps.

If you are looking at employing the services of one of these many new homeschooling businesses try searching for the person offering their services in the homeschool group/s they are advertising and spruiking their services within. Have they been a member for a few months or a few years? Have they contributed in any meaningful way to other posts, and without trying to sell themselves within the comment? Are they truly a part of the homeschooling community, or do they only see us as an easy target market?

If you do want to seek the help of a consultant to help with planning and registration take a look at the list of consultants below, all have years of experience home educating their own children, and many are trained teachers also.

• That Homeschool Life: Lusi Austin is a home education consultant and resource provider, experienced with neurodivergent children https://www.thathomeschoollife.com.au/
  
• Freya Dawson Joyful Living: Freya Dawson is a home education consultant specializing in unschooling https://www.freyadawson.com.au/
  
• Fearless Homeschool: Kelly is a home education consultant, organiser of the Australian Homeschooling Summit, and offers 'how to homeschool' courses. http://fearlesshomeschool.com
  
• Homeschool Confidently: Bel Moore offers 1:1 home education support to families, as well as face to face workshops and online courses. fb.me/homeschoolconfidently , homeschoolconfidently@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolconfidently/
  
• Home Schooling Solutions Australia: Rachael Clarke is a home education consultant offering consultations, plan writing, report writing service, assistance with de-registrations and show cause notices for QLD families https://www.facebook.com/pg/HomeSchoolingSolutionsAustralia/services
  
• Marion Pears, Home Ed Consultant & Tutor: experienced home educator: Marion Pears is a trained and registered teacher, qualified to teach both primary and secondary years. Maths and English. Phone ACE academics on 0418 413 409
  
• Mulberry Magazine: home educating magazine, planners and diaries. Grace & Eric, Australia http://mulberrymagazine.com.au/
  
• Tutor Your Own Child: Tamara Kidd is a home education consultant who can help with registration applications and reviews http://tutoryourownchild.com/
  
• Angus Bugeja Home Education Consultant and Tutoring: Angus Bugeja is an experienced educator of 10 years, consulting for all your home and natural educating needs, plus tutoring. angusbugeja@iinet.net.au https://www.facebook.com/angusbugejaeducationalconsultant/