What is homeschooling? How does it work?
"Homeschooling" is probably the most common term currently in use
to describe parents taking direct responsibility for their children's education
instead of sending the children to school. Other phrases used include: home-based
learning, family- and community-based learning, homelearning.
There are a number of different approaches that can be taken by homeschooling
parents according to their values, beliefs and personal styles and also according
to what works for their own individual children. On the spectrum between structure
and freedom, at one end there is the structured approach of "school-at-home"
in which the family follows a grade-based curriculum using textbooks and worksheets,
and at the other end of the spectrum there is what is sometimes called "unschooling"
or "child-led learning," which is more informal and integrated into
daily life. There are also approaches in-between these two poles, that combine
structure and natural learning in different measures, and for each of all
these approaches there are variations according to the family's values and
beliefs and particular philosophies of life.
It's up to you to decide what form homeschooling will take in your own family.
We recommend you find out more about the different approaches before settling
on one. You may find, as well, that your approach changes over time as you
respond to the needs and interests of your children and the logistics and
economics of providing for their education at home. For further exploration
of your options, please see the next question (How do I decide what approach
to take?) and visit our page on Teaching Methods
and Learning Philosophies.
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How do I decide what approach to take?
Start by questioning any assumptions or preconceptions you might have about
childhood education, and redefine it according to your own beliefs and in
the context of your own overall parenting goals. How we approach the academic
aspect of our children's learning has an impact on their development and well-being
in other dimensions of their being as well: physical, social, psychological,
mental, emotional and spiritual.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you explore the issues:
Is education about preparing children to enter the job market as adults?
Giving them a foundation of culture (helping them become "educated"
persons)? Developing their intelligence? Developing their talents? Overcoming
their weaknesses? Drawing out their full potential?
Is it important to conform to the predetermined set of knowledge and skills
delineated by the standard school curriculum? What are the minimum skills
and knowledge children should have acquired by the time they are adult? How
can I best help my children acquire that set of skills and knowledge? What
is their learning style? What approach will they respond to with the most
positive results in terms of overall learning (i.e. not just academic learning,
but what they learn about themselves, life and relationships, through interacting
with me as I parent them through my chosen approach to the academic)?
Having explored some of these questions, you can more clearly see what approaches
are aligned with your beliefs and overall parenting philosophy and goals.
A number of approaches to homeschooling are described on our page on teaching
methods and learning philosophies.
What are some of the benefits of homeschooling?
Response written by Marian Buchanan
Different approaches to home-based learning offer different benefits to some
degree, but there are also major benefits that all approaches share in common.
Academically, the main benefit of homeschooling is that each child receives
individual attention that is tailored to his or her own abilities and readiness
to progress. Each child can therefore learn at his or her own pace. Even in
a curriculum-based or grade-based approach to learning, in the home setting
there is no need to push a child through to a certain lesson by a certain
date. When a child isn't understanding what is presented or is having difficulty
retaining the information given, the parent can continue working with the
child until the lesson is assimilated before moving on to later lessons that
build on it. In this way, homeschooling children are never left behind if
they are having difficulties, which makes homeschooling ideally suited to
those with learning differences ("learning disabilities"). By the
same token, neither are they held back if they are ready to advance, which
makes homeschooling ideal as well for gifted children. The "average"
child benefits in a similar way, since there really is no such thing as an
"average" child — each child is a unique individual with a
unique set of talents and interests that make some things harder for them
to learn and others quite easy.
Another major benefit is positive socialization.
From the point of view of both social and psychological development, there
have been a number of studies that confirm what homeschooling families witness
firsthand, which is that homeschooled children tend to have more developed,
positive social skills than their schooled counterparts. Homeschooled children
learn their social skills from their parents rather than their peers, so they
are learning from adult role models. Because they don't spend much time in
peer-intensive environments like school, but do interact with other children
in smaller or more supervised groups, homeschooled children don't experience
too much peer pressure or bullying, so they don't tend to develop dysfunctional
bully-survival strategies nor the excessive peer orientation that is of such
concern these days.
As Vancouver psychologist Dr. Gordon Neufeld warns, excessive peer orientation
undermines the natural authority of parents and thus impedes the natural course
of the child's psychological development. By contrast, not having excessive
peer orientation to contend with, homeschooling parents retain the ability
to guide their children gradually to a connected type of independence by way
of the natural dependency of childhood, which is what children are developmentally
supposed to have in relation to their parents, in whose care Nature/God has
placed them.
Which leads us to another one of the main benefits of homeschooling: the
developing and nurturing of strong family bonds. As family members —parents,
children, siblings— spend time together, sharing their lives, learning
and playing and working together, they develop close ties with each other
and a secure emotional base from which children can venture out into the world
as they grow older and more independent.
The flexibility afforded by being able to set your own timetable is another
advantage, both in terms of the logistics of family life and in terms of children's
readiness to learn.
In point form, the short-version list of benefits of homeschooling include:
- closer family bonds
- course of study can be tailored to the child's individual interests and
abilities
- the learning environment is more relaxed and natural
- children can learn free from physical and psychological bullying
- diminished influence of peers and "peer pressure"
- more positive and broader socialization experiences with children of various
ages as well as adults
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How many children are homeschooled?
Many home educating parents do not register with local school officials
so an exact number is not known. However, it is estimated that approximately
1% to 2% of all school-age children are homeschooled in North America, which
translates as around 20,000 children in Ontario. The number for Canada as
a whole is estimated at approximately 60,000 homeschooled children. Estimates
for the United States range between 1 million to 2 million children being
homeschooled.
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Is homeschooling legal? What does the law say about
it?
Yes, homeschooling is legal
in all Canadian provinces and territories.
In Ontario, the Education Act states the following under Section 21(2)(a):
Satisfactory instruction is not defined in the Ontario Education Act nor
does it say who should make this determination. In the past, school boards
assumed it was up to them to make that determination, and therefore adopted
a policy of making demands of homeschooling parents that OFTP believed exceeded
the authority given them by the Education Act. Such demands included requesting
forms be completed (detailing the curriculum used, activities engaged in,
hours of instruction, methods of assessment, etc.), and/or having an attendance
counsellor visit them in their home.
As a result of OFTP's efforts to have this non-legal policy changed, the
Ministry of Education drafted a new official policy, released in June 2002
as Policy/Program Memorandum No.131, which directs
school boards to accept a family's letter of intent to homeschool as sufficient
evidence that the parents are providing satisfactory instruction. School boards
are directed to investigate only if there are "reasonable grounds"
to suspect that the instruction is not satisfactory, and are given
to understand that homeschooling methods and schedules etc. may be very different
from the kind of instruction provided in schools.
Some school boards continue to attempt a more routine monitoring of homeschooling
families. If this is the case for you, you may wish to refer them to PPM131.
It should be emphasized that both the previous policy of routine monitoring
and the current policy detailed in PPM131 are policies only, not laws. The
only legally enforceable document is the Education Act. Therefore, if a homeschooling
family chooses not to cooperate with a school board's attempts to monitor
or investigate them, they are not breaking any laws. A provincial inquiry
is the only investigation with which parents are obligated by law to comply.
The provincial inquiry is the procedure provided by the Education Act to
be followed in cases where there is a dispute between the parents and the
school attendance counsellor concerning the applicability of Section 21(2).
Under Section 24, the procedure to be followed is a provincial inquiry by
officials appointed by the Provincial School Attendance Counseller. The Act
states explicitly that these inquiry officials should not
be from the school board that operates the school that the child has the right
to attend.
Nevertheless, the policy outlined by PPM131 includes the possibility of a
school board investigation. The decision about whether or not to cooperate
with a school board investigation is up to each individual homeschooling family.
See our pages on homeschooling legal issues for
more details.
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I would like to start homeschooling my children.
What do I need to do to make it legal? Do I need to register with the government?
In Ontario there is no legal requirement to register with any government
body in order to educate your children at home. If they have never been registered
in school, you may simply proceed with your plans to provide for their education
in whatever way you see fit. If the children have been attending school or
are registered to attend school, you will, of course, need to let the principal
and school board know of your decision to withdraw them (see below).
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How do I remove my child from the school system?
It is your parental prerogative to switch to home based education at any
time of the year if you so choose. If your child is already attending or registered
to attend a publicly funded school, you must notify the school authorities
that you will be withdrawing your child from the school system in order to
home school.
The government's current home schooling policy was released on June 17, 2002
as Policy/Program Memorandum No. 131 (PPM131). We recommend you read this
document on the Ministry
of Education website and OFTP's
reaction to it as it sets new ground rules and expectations for school
boards in their dealings with parents who choose to home educate their children
in Ontario.
PPM131 includes an Appendix
B: Sample Letter Indicating Notification of Intent to Provide Home Schooling.
You can use this to notify the school board that you will be homeschooling
your child. Just print a copy of the sample letter, complete it and send it
to the local school board, and a copy to the principal of the school.
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To whom should I send my letter of intent?
When withdrawing children from the school system with the intention of homeschooling
them instead, a written notification should be sent to the school board so
that the children are not considered truant. For the same reason, and out
of common courtesy, it makes sense for you to inform the principal as well.
You might, for instance, provide the principal with a copy of the notice to
the school board.
You can find the list of all Ontario school boards, with addresses and phone
numbers, on the website of the Ministry of Education:
http://sbinfo.edu.gov.on.ca/brdall.asp
Is there a sample letter of intent I could use?
You can use the government's Sample Letter in Appendix
B of Policy/Program Memorandum No.131.
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Do I need to keep records of our homeschooling?
There is no legal requirement in Ontario to keep home education records.
Your child might choose to document his/her learning during the 'high school
years,' in other words once he/she gets within a few years of applying for
university if that is the route she/he decides to take. The documentation
needed for the admissions process changes from one university to another.
We recommend the young person find out specifically what is required for admissions
at the particular universities to which they will be applying, with enough
advance to have time to tailor their studies accordingly and gather the documentation
together. The university admissions policies
listed on our site are not just for Ontario, but for all of Canada.
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Do I need to be a certified teacher to homeschool
my children?
No, there is no requirement in the Ontario Education Act for a parent to
be a certified teacher in order to homeschool their children. Although many
teachers have chosen home schooling for their children, parents from a wide
variety of professional and educational backgrounds successfully educate their
children at home. Research has shown that homeschooling parents who are not
professional teachers do just as well, if not better, than homeschooling parents
who are certified teachers.
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How long can you home school?
From birth to whatever age the child leaves home.
How do home schooling parents avoid burnout?
Academic pursuits take fewer hours a week than in school because of the
one-on-one tutoring, therefore a homeschooling parent does not need to spend
the same amount of time as the school system to teach their children. Learning
to work independently teaches children how to fill their time wisely which
is more feasible in the homeschooling environment with the parent acting as
a resource and facilitator. It has often been noticed that when a child is
ready, many concepts that can take years to learn in the school system are
mastered within a matter of weeks. Readiness is everything. Here are some
ways to avoid burnout:
- join a local support group to participate
in activities and field trips and network with other parents;
- have other parents teach material to your child that you may find difficult
or are not familiar with;
- in order to allow some free time for the parent who is home with the children
on a regular basis, have the parent who is gone during the day for "paid
employment" (if this is the situation that exists in your home) interact
and spend as much time as possible with their children when they are at
home - i.e. talk to and/or play with them, read or teach some curriculum
material to their children in the evening or weekends (note: learning doesn't
just happen between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, September
to June).
Many families do not experience the feeling of burnout since they fall into
a natural rhythm of being home with their children on a regular basis. If
the child attended school then the family usually follows the schedule of
the school - i.e. getting their child to school, picking them up at the end
of the day, finding alternative child care on school closure days, March break,
summer break, staying home from work with sick children and taking paid vacation
days or unpaid days, etc. In the homeschool environment the family can set
their own schedule. If a child is sick then any activities that were scheduled
can be canceled with minimum fuss. Parents do not have to worry about who
is going to watch their children when they are not in school due to illness
or school closure days since they are home with their children on a daily
basis and have taken full responsibility for the care and education of their
children.
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What do I teach? Must I follow a curriculum?
The goal of education is to understand the world we live in, to gain self-awareness,
and to be able to find out what we want to know. Curriculum is a tool, a context
within which education takes place. Some parents use a structured learning
curriculum. Others follow a child-centered approach, believing that a child
learns best when he/she is fully engaged and interested in the subjects being
studied. Some families use a mixture of the two approaches - concentrating
on a few core subjects: reading, writing, math, and research, and allowing
the child to follow his/her interests in other subjects. There are many texts,
workbooks, curricula, video taped lectures and other resources available.
Please note that there is nothing in the Ontario Education Act that states
you must use curriculum. Therefore, the decision of whether or not to use
curriculum is determined by each homeschooling family.
For more thoughts on the subject, see our page on Curriculum.
For ideas and suppliers, see our pages on Resources.
If you wish to follow the same grade-by-grade sequence as the public school
system, see the Ministry of Education's Ontario
curriculum guidelines.
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Is homeschooling expensive?
Homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive, although it certainly can
be if you take advantage of all the educational products and services that
are available on the market.
Your homeschooling costs can be tailored to your budget and the approach
you have chosen, and can depend as well on what your children's interests
are (if your child is going to be a computer programmer when she grows up,
she will need a computer; if he hopes to be a research scientist, a microscope
might be a worthwhile investment). If you have decided to buy a ready-made
curriculum package for each grade, you will of course spend a lot more than
if you use only free or low cost resources such as the library, the internet,
or learning opportunities that are available in the community (museums, tours,
demonstrations, field trips) or through your local support group. Even with
prepackaged materials, though, you can often buy them second hand, either
online or from other homeschoolers, used book stores, garage sales and curriculum
fairs.
Expect to pay a few hundred dollars a year if you use mostly free or low
cost resources, and several thousand if you are buying prepackaged curriculum
for a family of several children at different grade levels.
Please note that in Ontario the Ministry of Education does not provide any
funding to homeschooling families. Therefore, if you plan to purchase any
curriculum materials or resources you will have to pay for them yourself.
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How do I know which materials and resources
to use?
The place to start is to decide what approach you'd like to take. (It will
likely change over time as you observe how your children respond to your methods
and materials, but you have to start somewhere.) The reason to consider the
question of approach first, is that it will make a difference in your choice
of materials. There's no point in investing in expensive materials if it turns
out you won't be using them after all.
If you haven't explored the question of approach yet, consider the following:
education as provided in schools is institutional mass education, in other
words it is based on delivering instruction towards a predetermined set of
knowledge and skills, to a group of 25 to 35 children simultaneously, on a
set schedule, in a set order. The standardized curriculum that informs that
instruction is designed to conform to the logistics of that type of mass education,
not to the interests, abilities and readiness of any particular individual
child. As a parent, you have the opportunity to tailor your child's education
to his or her own style of learning, growing abilities, state of readiness,
and personal interests. You may or may not be able to do that with a standard
curriculum and the materials that support it. You will need to decide what
your parental and educational priorities are and how best to fulfill them
in practical terms.
No matter what your approach, your children will learn through daily life,
conversations and exploration of the world around them -- it's just a natural
part of their development. The materials that support this type of learning
will therefore naturally include household objects, toys and boardgames, bikes
and baseballs, tools and gadgets, CDs, DVDs and books, and whatever else you
already own or have access to (e.g. through the library). If you choose to,
you can supplement this natural learning with deliberately educational materials
to whatever extent you feel is needed or desired.
If you're planning on following a child-led approach, you likely won't be
looking at curriculum packages (although you might if your child asks for
them) but you still might want to have certain reference books on hand (e.g.
dictionary, atlas). You might also find some of the hands-on educational supplies
(math manipulatives, science kits) fit in with your perspective on how to
stimulate your child's creativity, curiosity and experimentation.
If you're planning on following a curriculum-based approach, you'll be wondering
which brand is best suited to your own philosophy and beliefs and to your
child's learning style and interests. Eventually we hope to provide product
reviews of some of the materials available, to help you in your decision.
Meanwhile, you can ask fellow homeschoolers to share their opinions, advice
and experience of what worked well for their own children, and this might
give you an idea of what could work well for yours. You can contact fellow
homeschooling parents through local and online support
groups.
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Where can I get materials and resources?
Materials and resources come in all sizes and shapes - and many don't look
'schoolish' at all. Many families find their most treasured learning resources
at garage sales and thrift shops. Think of building and needlework materials,
cooking tools, books, magazines, motors, gears, etc... Other families frequent
the bookstores and educational supply stores in their communities. Some find
videos from the video rental store valuable. Most think the public library
is the best possible resource. Send for the catalogs that look interesting
to you. They are filled with resources which you may find helpful. If you
are interested in finding out more about prepackaged curriculum or correspondence
schools write for their brochures and informative flyers. Homeschooling
conferences and learning fairs are another place for looking at materials
and getting ideas.
See our pages on resources for ideas and suppliers.
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What if my child wants to learn something I can't
teach?
Children have the most amazing ability to want to learn the one thing about
which we know absolutely nothing! It's a universal attribute. Homeschooling
families are blessed in having the 'world as their classroom.' There are classes
(correspondence, video, support
groups, community centers, colleges, etc...) taught by experts, but many
children are very capable of teaching themselves - just as adults do when
they have something new they want to learn. One of the most powerful learning
experiences for a child is to have a parent learning right alongside the child.
Parents, thankfully, do not have to be the expert in every area. Learn with
your child, or search your community for resources that will help your child
learn. And when searching for 'teachers,' don't overlook friends, acquaintances,
and businesspeople in your community - most people are delighted to have a
young person around who is sincerely interested in what they do and know.
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What about socialization? How will my child learn
to get along in the world?
One of the many benefits of homeschooling is positive socialization. See
the FAQ on benefits and our page on Socialization.
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Can I work at a job and still homeschool?
Homeschooling families have often been portrayed as "Dad going to work,
Mom staying at home with the kids." The reality, for many families, is
much different: single parents homeschool, working parents homeschool, dads
at home homeschool, parents with ongoing illnesses homeschool. Some families
homeschool some of their children but not others. Grandparents homeschool
grandchildren. It may take a little creative juggling, but many of the perceived
barriers can be gotten around with some thoughtful problem-solving.
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How do I know if my children are learning?
Children are always learning - they just can't help it! Just like when they
were babies and toddlers, you can discover what they are learning by spending
time with them and observing the growth in their understanding of the world.
Observation as an assessment (titled 'authentic assessment' and a big educational
buzzword these days) acknowledges growth in understanding and skill level.
Homeschooling allows for direct observation by the parents who know their
child better than anyone else. There is a smaller child-to-adult ratio in
the home environment (compared to 25:1 or 30:1 in schools) so it is easier
to observe the progress of the child. Unlike standardized testing, direct
observation by the parent doesn't give a 'snapshot' that attempts to quantify
learning at one point in time. It is fluid and flexible and has no preconceived
notions about what a child 'should' be able to do. You can look at the whole
person and concentrate on what your child knows, instead of what your child
does not know.
Children are constantly asking questions so we know that they are thinking
and curious. Everyone has their own internal schedule for learning (i.e. not
every child is ready to read at the age of 5 - some may start to read as early
as age 3 and others may not be ready until they are 8 or 9, or as late as
13) and we need to try to respect the internal schedule of each child. If
you use a curriculum package with your child you will know whether or not
they understand the material they are learning when you review the lessons
with them and look at their work.
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Should I test my child?
Testing, like many other educational concerns, should be a personal decision.
Some questions to consider before making this decision include: which tests
will be used and why, how might the testing process affect the learner, how
will the test results be used, and are there less intrusive alternatives that
can be utilized instead? Testing, in the home environment where parents are
always very aware of how well their children are doing, is unnecessary and
intrusive. Testing is under fire from many teachers and educators, and many
educational establishments are attempting to eliminate standardized testing
in their schools. Very careful consideration should be taken before any testing
is done to children for any reason.
See our page on testing for more information.
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What about higher education?
Homeschooled children can and do attend college and university. Some homeschool
through the elementary years and then attend high school to get their diploma
or obtain credits through correspondence schools and virtual schools. Others
homeschool through the high school years and are accepted at post-secondary
institutions without an official high school diploma. Many universities and
colleges in Ontario are starting to prepare admissions policies for homeschoolers.
However, even if a college or university does not have a specific policy,
homeschoolers have still been able to gain admittance to many of these institutions.
It is recommended that you determine what the admissions policy is for homeschoolers
(if a policy exists) or determine what the general admissions policy is, for
any particular college or university that you are interested in attending.
It is also a good idea to speak to the Registrar to inform them of your particular
situation in order to determine what criteria are necessary for you to gain
admittance.
Universities like Harvard and Stanford actively recruit homelearners because
of the creativity, independence and motivation that comes from being a self-directed
learner at home. These universities are more interested in the student's actual
ability and attitude than in the formal documents (transcripts, diplomas,...)
that are meant to serve as evidence of these qualities.
Many teens will find their chosen career does not require them to attend
a post-secondary institution but is much more quickly and appropriately accessed
through a different venue: apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and career
colleges are some of the other options.
It's also never too late to pursue higher education, as universities and
colleges welcome older applicants as "mature students" without the
need for a secondary school diploma. An option for homeschoolers who do not
have a secondary school diploma, is therefore to wait to attend college or
university until they can do so as a mature student - age 21 for university
and age 19 for college - since the criteria for the admission of a mature
student are different from those for a student under the age of 19 or 21.
See our pages on University/College Information
for more details.
Cafi Cohen's book "And What About College?" (Holt Associates, 1998)
and Grace Llewellyn's "Teenage Liberation Handbook" can be great
helps to families working through these decisions.
Some well-known homeschoolers include: John Quincy Adams, Winston Churchill,
Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, Agatha Christie , Astronaut Sally
Ride, Noel Coward, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin
Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." ~ Albert
Einstein
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." ~ Mark
Twain
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Is there a support group in my area?
OFTP maintains a list of support groups
that we are aware of. (We also provide support through our OFTP
Area Reps.) If you do not see a group in your area on the OFTP list, then
perhaps you could place a notice in your library or community centre indicating
that you are looking for a homeschooling support group. If one does not exist
in your community then perhaps you may want to consider starting one. Post
a notice in your local library indicating that you are wanting to start a
support group and invite other homeschoolers in your area to join you. If
you know of a group, or are forming a new group, please let
us know. We will let others know of its existence.
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Other FAQ pages
Please note that the legal requirements and information are different in
the U.S. than in Canada, and even from province to province within Canada,
so any specific legal information on the following pages should be disregarded
if it's not geared directly to your province.
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Homeschooling
Frequently Asked Questions 
