Homeschooling in Perth
The flexibility of homeschooling in Western Australia can make life easier for both the students and the whole family. The child can learn at their own pace, and you get to closely monitor their progress.
All parents and legal guardians can homeschool their children during their compulsory years or from 6-17 years old. This means that the parent are in charge of educating their children during their compulsory education period.
All parents must apply for a registration certificate from the Department of Education as home educator thru the School Education Act 1999 in Western Australia. The registration is valid for compulsory education until the children are enrolled in a school.
Once registered, the home educator must to plan the program, obtain materials, and deliver and monitor the program. There is also a need to demonstrate the children’s progress on a regular basis.
Once registered, the home educator is expected to:
- prepare the curriculum plan
- arrange the education program and provide materials
- deliver and track the progress of the program
- show child’s progress on a regular basis.
The Home Education Policy and Procedures provides details of your legal requirements and how the Department of Education can support you.
How to Start Homeschooling
The home educator must fill out a homeschooling application form from the Education Regional Office. Fill out the essential details and ensure all required information is provided.
If the child was enrolled in a school before homeschooling, the principal must be informed in formal writing regarding the intention to homeschool the child instead. The registration form should be submitted within 14 days from when the child last attended school.
Following documents must be summited:
- Birth certificate of the child
- Child’s educational history
- Document showing your legal right to homeschool the child
- Any extant court orders
After filling out the application and submitting the requirements, you’ll be issued the Certificate of Home Education. This certificate does not expire.
Homeschooling becoming popular
Home schooling and ‘un-schooling’ is no longer reserved for hippies or conservative religious types. In fact, it’s fast becoming a more adopted and less taboo education method in own backyard and around the world (except for Germany and Sweden where it’s illegal).
An estimated 25,000 to 55,000 children are now home schooled in Australia each year, and these figures are continuing to rise as more parents are seeing the benefits of making the change.
Why choose home schooling?
The main reasons why parents opt to home school their kids are:
- dissatisfaction with school (i.e. child not being challenged enough, poor learning environment and teaching methods)
- bullying
- special needs
- religious or philosophical reasons (e.g. don’t agree with the mass education system)
- travel distance
- moms homeschooling kids
Benefits of home education
In the past it was believed that home schooled children suffered from the lack of social interaction with peers and teachers, however the statistics are now telling us the benefits far outweigh any potential risks.
Known key benefits of home schooling include:
- the education is tailored specifically to the individual needs and interests of the child (particularly beneficial for those with autism or other special needs)
- it allows more quality time for children and parents to spend together
- greater flexibility with home school hours, allowing children more time to play (and learn outside of class)
- increased learning – in a 2014 NSW study home schooled children did significantly better in all NAPLAN areas than those in traditional schools
- independent learning – home schooled kids are apparently better at learning on their own, a valuable skill when it comes to further education meaning they’re also less likely to drop out of university or other courses
The types of home schooling
There are a few different methods of home schooling, so it’s important to find out which one is best for you or use a combination of different ones.
- The traditional home school method is a similar structure to school but just set up at home using distance education textbooks and workbooks.
- The Charlotte Mason Homeschool Method offers up a more gentle approach with books but also forming good habits and interesting tasks.
- Then there is also the classical method (with a strong literature component), natural learning (through play and discovery), and
- unschooling – where there are no school-like tools or lessons and everything is learned through life e.g. math from doing cooking measurements.
The cost involved
The cost of homeschooling really depends on what method you’re doing, how many kids you have, their ages and your personal preferences (e.g. the type of supplies you buy).
As a guide, however, for your first child you’re looking at between $1,500-$2,400 per year which is, of course, way cheaper than the cost of private school fees, yet only slightly more than public school expenses (when you consider all the extra curriculum fees like sports and excursions, plus uniforms, stationery and more).
Initial set up costs are pretty minimal too, as most homes now have a computer, a printer and the internet; so it’s really only the curriculum courses you’ll need – unless you’re doing un-schooling – plus a small amount for stationery and art supplies.
Can anyone do it?
Yes! You don’t have to be a teacher or have studied education in order to home school your child. You just need to have the time available to do it, which generally requires you to be available during the day, although home school commitments are usually fewer hours than a structured mainstream school day.
Although everyone can become a home educator, home schooling may have potential benefits but it also has specific responsibilities associated with such a decision.
Then come obligations linked to legal requirements and most importantly, the effective and ongoing education of your child, as this will affect not only their education but future life. It must be done with due care and understanding for it to be effective. Done properly, it can work very well. Done wrongly, it may have devastating consequences.
Thus there are available help, to assist parents to cope with the decision in home schooling their children one of which is Aussie educator, this page looks at Home Schooling in all Australian states & Territories. Registration, Support Group and Other Information, it is provided in separate listings within each section.