Getting Started with Home Education

So you're interested in home schooling in Australia?

Every family has their own reasons for home educating their kids. For some people, home education is the plan all along. For others, it becomes the preferred (or only!) option if mainstream education hasn't worked out. Home education may also be right for your family for a particular season; perhaps while you are travelling, experiencing a long-term illness in the family, or just taking a break from the school environment.

In Australia, home education is completely legal. Each state has its own requirements for registration, but don't worry - the home education community is welcoming and helpful. You'll have all the support you need with the process.

On this page, I'll take you through the basic steps and link to state-specific organisations.

Registering for home education

Each state in Australia has a government organisation responsible for home education registration. In Victoria, the process is very simple and quick. In fact, if you need to urgently take your child out of mainstream school, you can put the paperwork in and not have to continue to send your child while you wait for approval (more info here).

Victoria

Get Support from the Home Education Network (free resource)

Other States and Territories

The Home Education Network Guide to Registration Across Australia (free resource)

Writing a learning plan for Victorian registration

To register in Victoria, you need to write a general plan (using the provided template) outlining what home education will look like for your family.

This can be a bit daunting! You might have the idea that the plan will be judged by someone in the education system, or perhaps even marked by a teacher (maybe even that really mean one you remember from your time at school!). You might have an underlying assumption that you are not smart enough / educated enough / just 'enough' in general to home school - and that therefore you aren't 'enough' to write a plan either.

In Victoria, the VRQA will take a look at your plan and almost always approve it. In the rare cases where they don't, they will help you fill in the bits that need more detail. No one has ever received their plan
back with red pen all over it and an 'F' at the top.

In Victoria, your plan is also just your starting point. You won't be asked to prove that you've covered the ideas on there. It's just to show that you've had a think about home education and started to look for resources you can access.

As always, the volunteers at the Home Education Network have your back.

Check out their free guide here!

If you're still stuck and you're local to our store in
Croydon Victoria, feel free to pop in and I can help you with your plan for free.

You're a part of my community!

Home education styles

What do home educators actually do all day? How do kids learn if they're not at a school?

There are lots of different answers to that!

Here are a few of the most common ways in Australia at the moment. You can mix and match, or move from one to the other, as your needs change.

Traditional

This is the 'school but at home' option. You have scheduled times for each subject and use school-style resources such as textbooks and worksheets. You might feel most comfortable starting here for the first few months. Or, if you enjoy the style of learning at school but can't attend for other reasons, this is a great option.

A good traditional free option is Oak National Academy.

We also have textbooks with workbook sections (and the answers!) in store from F-10 for English, maths and science. When I was selecting them, I had in mind a parent who was moving to home education suddenly, and just needed something for the first few months to buy them some breathing space!

Eclectic

The 'mix and match' option! Eclectic home schoolers take different approaches to different subjects and find cool resources in all sorts of places. For example, an eclectic home educating family might use a workbook for maths, art classes at the community house for the arts, and free resources from the ABC and YouTube channels for PE, technologies, English, science, humanities and languages.

Another example of what this might look like is a family that uses a textbook to dip and and out of for maths, but who go looking for other relevant resources such as a picture book related to their current maths topic (e.g. Found in Hong Kong: A Counting Adventure), a free online game, or an in-person workshop.

At our store, we have a selection of second-hand books sorted by learning area, each of which has a card inside with ideas for home education activities. They are a great option for eclectic home educators.

Unit Study

In this style learning happens around a theme or topic, instead of being broken into school subjects. Everything still gets covered, but through a particular lens. This a good option if you want to base learning around your kid's current interest. It can also be useful if you kid finds it stressful to jump around between different topics for different subjects.

There are some great Australian small businesses run by other home educators providing units of study, including Simply Homeschool.

Unschooling / Natural Learning

The 'way humans learned for most of human history' option. Unschooling is based on the idea that learning happens all the time, without the whole school system needed for force it. You can read a satirical article about 'Learn Nothing Day' which shows just how impossible it would be learn nothing all day, even if you set out to try. However, unschoolers don't just sit around and wait for learning to happen - they are curious, ask questions, and go on deep dives when something piques their interest.

This is primarily the style that I use as a home educating parent. In store, we often have displays up to show how unschooling unfolds in real life. I also have cards on many of our toys that act as prompts to get you thinking about how you could use them for open-ended learning.

Other Styles

There are many other styles, including Charlotte Mason, Montessori or Gameschooling.

If you want advice, or to brainstorm about learning styles and activities, come in and talk to us in-store.