Getting Started with Homeschooling
Practical Considerations for Parents of School-Aged Children
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
Registering Your Intention to Home School with The Local Educational Authority
For families intending to ‘register’ with local educational authorities the following information reflects an overview of the general requirements found in guidelines and regulations from all states of Australia, as well as overseas. It is important to remember that the particular requirements of local authorities will vary considerably from the following outline. Please inquire from your regional educational office for further details, or contact a home schooling group.
In general most of the guidelines are based on a common sense approach to education. The problems that arise usually stem from over zealousness in the interpretation and administration of the guidelines and inconsistency in treatment of home schooling families by educational officers during the process. By knowing your rights you can sidestep many of these problems with an assertive attitude and approach.
Always check that the information you receive from home schooling sources or your local educational authority is current and accurate. Remember that information from other states or countries may not be relevant to your situation. Problems encountered in other areas may not relate to your area. There is an increasing awareness of the legitimacy, effectiveness and success of home education in the community, and most educational authorities approach most applications with more confidence than in previous decades.
If you prefer you can make an anonymous inquiry at first, or find a friend to inquire for you.
From the outset it is important to determine how you want your relationship with the educational authorities to develop. A confident, assertive and positive attitude is definitely an advantage. This is helped by carefully thinking through all of the issues covered in Part 1.
Try to have a flexible and open approach when contacting authorities, staying focussed on the best educational outcomes for your children. Positive comments and thoughts are most useful, and help to focus everyone’s attention on what is best for the children. Long dialogues about the state of education in general, or extended criticisms of schools, educational policies or people are not helpful, and don’t directly relate to your children’s immediate education needs. Your concern should not be to alter the entire education system - just to provide your children with excellent educational opportunities!
Learning to articulate your thoughts and desires in a clear and understandable manner will be necessary, especially if you have radical ideas about education. Explaining and expanding on your own philosophy of education and methodologies will be better received than attacking the ideas and beliefs of others. Keeping conversations and correspondence focussed on your children’s personal educational programs and goals can often avoid a possible conflict of ideas with the authorities, without compromising how you feel or what you believe.
There is never any need to prove the excellence of one system over another. If your philosophy is educationally sound, and is tailored to your children’s individual educational needs, it will be convincing in its own right.
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Excerpt from Getting Started with Homeschooling, Practical Considerations
© Beverley Paine, 1997
