Blog - Home Education Network

VHEAC Communique April 2019

May 20, 2019

[gview file=”https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/FINAL-VHEAC-Communique-30-April-2019.pdf”]

By Matthew Panopoulos, M.Ed. (research) As a NSW music teacher of almost six years, I frequently work with hundreds of students in three main roles: primary classroom, secondary classroom, and private tuition. If you asked me which one I enjoy and believe in most, it would be the last one. Having flexibility and the freedom to tailor learning to the interests of each student

The Resilience of Home Educating Parents

May 7, 2019

By Lyn Saint The following statement may be depressing for parents of small energetic children – life is an emotional and exhausting roller-coaster ride for parents of teenagers and young adults. Small children are easy in comparison. We just have to pick them up and bandage their knees and show them how to do the million practical things they have to learn in life –

Supporting friends and family who home educate

March 19, 2019

So, a loved one has told you they’re going to home educate their children. DON’T PANIC! It’s really okay. You will be fine! These parents have thought long and hard about their decision. There’s a load of information and research out there on home education and chances are they’ve done their homework behind the scenes and come to decide that home education will be

Home Ed Registration Numbers 2018

March 7, 2019

Glenda Jackson has compiled a rundown on registration figures for 2018 around Australia. [gview file=”https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Home-Educated-Student-Numbers-in-Australia.pdf”]

Home Education Outcomes

March 7, 2019

The following information is available about the academic outcomes of home education in Australia: The education departments of three states are known to have examined educational outcomes of home educated students through NAPLAN testing etc. Those studies have only been released via freedom of Information requests. NSW BOSTES study on NSW NAPLAN, Year 10 and Year 12 results students being home educated plus those

Chemistry @ Home

March 5, 2019

By Kathleen Humble There is quite a difference between the way I thought I would teach chemistry and the way my son, Canary, prefers to learn. Canary is very visual-spatial in his thinking. He absorbs knowledge when he can see it and touch it. He doesn’t mind listening, but he can’t just listen – there has to be a visual component, or lots of

Other Ways to Uni and Careers

February 14, 2019

Home ed students have a wide choice of pathways to university and careers. They can tackle university courses whenever they are ready – anywhere between age 13 and 100. Career pathways and destinations can be almost as individual as home education itself. This is a 68 page PDF on pathways to university and careers written by home ed veteran, Sue Wight. Available now $20 Members

A fable for School People

January 28, 2019

Once upon a time, the animals decided that they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “New World” so they organised a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact, better than his

Community Engagement

December 18, 2018

By Kirsty James My 16-year-old son is passionate about woodturning, and is a member of the local Guild. Two years ago, he barely knew that woodturning existed, but thanks to various kind and helpful people in our local community, he has learnt a new skill and found what may become a lifelong interest. At the start of 2016, a friend and I were keen

Budding Writers

December 11, 2018

By Sue Wight Story writing can be encouraged from a very early age. When your children are drawing, you could ask them to tell you the story of what is happening in the picture and write that down. If your children like to tell stories, you can begin to write them down and make them into books as early as you and they enjoy

VHEAC Communique Nov 2018

December 6, 2018

[gview file=”https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/VHEAC-Communique-8-November-2018.pdf”]

Skills First Submission

November 13, 2018

Home educated students are effectively locked out of VET funding at the moment and HEN is trying to get this changed. Our submission is below. An explanation of acronyms is provided below the submission for younger families. [gview file=”https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Skills-First-Submission-HEN.pdf”] Acronyms and terms: VRQA: Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority – the registration body which registers home ed students of compulsory education age. DET: Victorian Department

Starting THAT Co-op

October 23, 2018

By Kirsty James Looking through the photo book documenting the first year of Tyabb Homeschool Activity Teens co-op (THAT), I realised that there were two recurring expressions on the faces of the kids; happiness and concentration. Whatever they were doing – pyrography, cheese-making, polymer chemistry – their expressions were the same. They were learning, and having fun. Sometimes when we look back on activities,

Single Home Educators & Centrelink

October 8, 2018

You may be eligible for: Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B. Once your child reaches the minimum school starting age for your state, if you are geographically isolated, your child has specific learning needs or medical issues (including anxiety, depression, bullying, family trauma, ill parent), you may be eligible for Assistance for Isolated Children a substantial payment which not income or assets tested and does not