We are a neurodivergent, single-parent household with one remaining teen of school age (L, 15 years old). Two older siblings (C, 19 and A, 23) sometimes join our activities out and about and often join in home-based learning. However, our learning no longer looks anything like traditional schooling: L is a self-directed learner and prefers periods of deep dives / hyperfocus. Our home education
A week in the life of our home educating family Kirsty James Three of my children are now at university, so home ed looks very different for my remaining teen, Rosa (15). There’s no more traipsing around after her siblings, the whole week is planned around her activities. Our style is eclectic, and ranges from academic classes to days of nothing much. We discuss
The End of Home-Ed: Where Are the Parents Now? By Rosemarie Tipping Home educators sometimes wonder what life will hold after the home-ed journey is over. Some feel lost, even down, particularly when the ending is unexpected. Others feel excited, having made plans for new adventures. We hope Rosemarie’s words offer some inspiration and also comfort to those who may be feeling blue about
Rebecca Gelsi My daughter and I have only just begun our home ed journey. She’s autistic and school has been challenging for years. She’s in Year 10 but I’m resisting that panicky (and unfounded) feeling that she’s somehow going to miss out. We’re unschooling and waiting for learning interests to emerge – in the meantime I’m encouraging her to enjoy and extend a couple
Jane Berry One of our roles as a parent is to help our children develop the necessary skills to function well as an adult in today’s society. In raising children who are world changers, hubby and I are trying to become intentional in how our children learn these skills and what those skills are. We are also trying to be intentional with raising our
Heidi McCormack Why? I guess the first thing most people want to know is why we started home educating, and why now? That’s an easy and a hard question to answer. Easy because once I knew this was right for us, it made perfect sense. Hard because it was quite a journey to get here. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more self aware and
Non-year 12 entry to university: an example Home educated students have successfully applied to universities all around the country using non-year 12 pathways. In Victoria, high school students at school typically sit their VCE exams and receive their ATAR, which then allows them to enrol in a university degree if certain requirements are met. But what do you do when home educated kids can
HEN regularly answers questions about how home educated teens will access tertiary education, but some students will be more interested in joining the workforce, in either a part time or full time capacity. Sample CVs seem to focus on school achievements, so what does a teen who is not in school put on their CV? Work experience is extremely worthwhile. Not only does it
Sue Minto Our second child entered year 7 this year. She’d been home educated from Grades 3 to 6. Prior to that, she was in the school system. Here’s our story of her transition from home education to high school. Her older brother, who was also home educated, is now in year 10, having started high school at Year 7. Both our children decided
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 –
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
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,
Victoria Legally, teenagers are required to be at school or registered for home education until the age of 17. When kids aged under 17 move to a TAFE course, they may be asked for a Transition from School Form (form will download when you click the link) during the enrolment process. You can download the form using the link provided here, but it must be
If parents are receiving Jobseeker or Family Tax Benefit, they may lose it when their youngest child turns 16, but not everyone does. Jobseeker Once the youngest child turns 16, the automatic exemption from the Mutual Obligation Requirements ceases. You may still be eligible for an exemption but if so, you will receive the lower level of Jobseeker (not the higher level you received previously).
Can it be done? Yes! Parents often feel pressure from those around them to put their children into school for the high school years. ‘What about university?’ is one of the most frequently asked questions of home educators. ‘What about VCE?’ is another. Home educating your teenager isn’t as big and scary an undertaking as some may have you believe. While it is understandable
By Kirsty James Our family always joked about “those poor home-schooled kids with no friends”, as we drove from one playdate to another, but slowly as the kids got older our social circle decreased. We made new friends, but we had to try harder and travel further. My eldest is 18 now. He has a few friends who were educated at home, but he met most
By Marie Cosgrove I’ve always valued being different but now my girls say they just want to be ‘normal’… My home ed journey began long before I had children. I was first introduced to the idea by my sister–in-law, who was home educating my two nieces. At the time I was teaching in a primary school and struggling with a system I felt didn’t
By Sue Wight Home educating primary-aged children was easy as far as I was concerned. I spent time with them, read to them, played games with them, talked lots, encouraged their interests, took them to interesting places, and stood back and watched the learning happen. But home educating teenagers? I knew nothing about that! That would be hard – what about the Maths, what
By Lyn Saint It can be done If you have found your way to this article, chances are you are having an unhappy time at school. Maybe you are being bullied, or are bored out of your mind or are just plain angry that your life is being wasted in the schoolyard. You may think you are a failure because teachers have said so
By Jim Batt Yes it is possible, although not easy, to get into university without completing (or even starting) VCE. I have spent only a very insignificant amount of my time in high school but still wished to further my education at a university level. I began by undertaking the FAST course (Foundation Access Studies) at Ballarat University. This course is aimed at mature
