Homeschooling

Despite beliefs to the contrary, homeschooling isn't a "hick" thing to do when you live "out in the sticks." In fact, parents who are legitimately concerned about their students receiving the very best education will consider homeschooling. However, homeschooling is a bit of a misnomer: the schooling occurs "at home," but it doesn't have to be given by the parent.

Why Homeschooling?

There are services and associations out there supporting parents and families interested in homeschooling by providing materials, guidance, instructors and even funding. Whether public or private, the school system always caters to the lowest denominator, and this happens at multiple levels. Homeschooling is parents' opportunity to provide an education tailored in so many ways to their students.

Student Needs

First and foremost, the school system is just that: a system. The system isn't perfect, and it doesn't suit everybody. Some students have special needs, some students need or want to achieve more in a subject, others couldn't care less about a specific subject, some students are early risers, others are night owls, some students crave personal attention, some students need more breaks, others like long classes and just get it over with, some students need some variety and can handle 4, 5 or 6 subjects, others need to focus on one subject and see it through. With homeschooling, only the end result really matters (can the student meet the learning milestones by the expected date), the "how" doesn't really matter so much, as long as it is sound and reasonable.

What Should/Could I Teach?

That's the beauty of it! The Government, in all it's wisdom, establlishes minimum standards, and as long as you meet those, you're fine. You can teach anything else above and beyond that. Want to focus more on history? Want to teach your students about their ancestral origins? Want more advanced math or science? Go for it! The truth of the matter is, there's a couple of things wrong with the Canadian High School curriculum. Anybody who's looked into going to university overseas realizes that many countries will not recognize a Canadian High School Diploma as "good enough" to get in. Indeed, in the eyes of the world, the Canadian High School curriculum is "lightweight," students just don't learn enough. Homeschooling gives parents the opportunity to fix that.

How Do I Set Up Homeschooling?

Well, there's a few hoops to jump through.

First, you can't go at it alone. You need a schoolboard to "support" you. There's a bit of paperwork involved, the schoolboard will receive Government funding for "supporting" you, and some of it will be available to you to cover some expenses (books, internet, tutors). The schoolboard basically oversees your program, makes sure you are meeting the minimum guidelines set out by the Government.

Second, you need to put a curriculum together. You need to write down what your students will be learning and how they will be learning it. The schoolboard can provide guidance on this, and feel free to use online learning services. They already have a curriculum and assignments and quizzes, it makes for a strong foundation you can add to.

Lastly, once your curriculum is approved, teach your students!

There's tons of resources out there: Government of Alberta Homeschooling, Alberta Home Education Association, Education Unlimited and Phoenix Foundation are just a few.

Be In Control

Did you know that schools and schoolboards basically decide whether or not students will go to university? They do this in 2 ways.

First and foremost, based on a student's math grades in Junior High, students will be funneled into one of two math programs: one that only gives access to trades and technical colleges, or one that gives access to universities. This is what all the "Math dash <fill in the blank>" is, and your student's Grade 9 Math score decides which stream they will go into. That ain't right.

Second, universities and colleges hold "open houses" for High Schools twice per year, each High School picks which one they go to. Perhaps unsurprisingly, High Schools with a weaker standing or which are located in poorer areas of Calgary tend to go to the open house of trade schools, while High Schools with better standings or from better off areas of Calgary tend to go to the open houses of universities.

Is There Any Reason Not To Homeschool?

Well, while there are several significant advantages (listed above), there are a few drawbacks as well.

Social Interactions

Social skills are just as important to a successful life as academic skills, perhaps even more so. In a traditional school setting, there's hundreds of other students and dozens of teachers to interact with, and you just can't replicate that with homeschooling. Make sure your students are involved in plenty of extracurricular activities, a different one every weeknight would be about right, in terms of balance. Get them signed up in a martial art (karate, tae kwon do, judo), a team sport (volleyball, badminton, indoor soccer), a music lesson (guitar, piano, drums), an art class (drawing, painting, sculpting) and a fitness class (yoga, pilates, bodybuilding, running, swimming), for example.

Time

Will you have time to manage this? While parents are not required to be the ones delivering the teaching, overseeing things takes some time, daily.

Cost

The one true benefit of the school system is that the cost of teachers is spread over dozens of students. Not so with homeschooling, your costs will be up. This can be mitigated by using supporting services (linked to above), or by pairing up with other parents homeschooling so a tutor can teach multiple students at the very same time and split costs that way.