Home Schooling Australia - Resources and Support

Home schooling Australia has received attention over recent years due to more statistics about the number of children who are being educated at home.

According to a recent Parliamentary e-brief on home schooling in Australia, there are about 11,000 children being officially homeschooled in Australia, but some people believe the figure is closer to 50,000.

Also according to a recent article from the Sydney Morning Herald, we read that homeschooling has grown in New South Wales by 65%. As it states, "The number of children being taught at home in NSW has ballooned by 65 per cent in four years, with many parents citing bullying, philosophical objections to schooling and a desire for personal learning as reasons for rejecting formal education."  Read the home schooling Australia article from SMH..

Actually, I am amazed at how many new homeschoolers I continually meet. It is very exciting bumping into families who are just beginning and eager to step into the whole process. It is great to discuss options, ways to teach, materials, home schooling Australia resources, support groups and excursion ideas.

Home schooling support

If you are a home educator in Australia, one of the easiest ways to initially find support is by joining the Home Education Australia Facebook group.   If you do a quick search in your state, you will find that there's quite a number of facebook groups particular to your state.

We have been home schooling in Australia since our eldest, Nathanael was born in 1990.  "Officially" we have been educating since 1996. Since that time, all of our children have completed their home education and have all entered their varied fields.  To find out more about us, see some comments about our home schooling family here.

Design Your Homeschool is written to support home schoolers to develop their own unique approach to the education of their children. All homeschoolers, whether home schooling in Australia or otherwise will develop their own particular style, so if you are looking for some guidance as you evaluate (or re-evaluate) your goals - take time to view the homeschooling guide.  Our guide provides Christian home school families the tools and home school ideas to design an education for your family.

Most of the time, I have used home school resources from all around the world - and looked for the best resources to suit our family. Often it doesn't matter whether you teach from a Maths text from the U.S. or from Singapore or from Australia. After all, it's more about learning how to think and understand things than following a certain curriculum. 

It is fantastic, though,  to see Australian home schooling families develop materials for us, our culture, with our spelling and with our history.

You can find  home schooling Australia suppliers here.

If you would like to recommend an Australian home schooling resource, just let me know.

Australian resource pages

Home schooling Australia articles

• Rise in Homeschooling Numbers spurs Parliamentary Inquiry
• Australia Falling Behind due to NAPLAN
• Homeschooling - a Perfect alternative to schools stuck in a time warp - I just love this article written by James Athanasou. This article was written after the hearings at the Inquiry in September, 2014.

He writes...

Home Schooling in Australia - Will it be seen as a Healthy Alternative?

 I am disappointed that although we talk of educational improvements and 21st education and working with children's strengths and interests,  the reality shows that governing authorities are extremely worried about having people step outside the box, be different, be courageous and step outside of "institutionalized" education system. Somehow it is threatening to them, rather than being seen as a positive, worthwhile, meaningful and successful way to raise well adjusted, intelligent members of society. Read more about Why Regulatory Authorities need to watch the Lego Movie..

NSW Lobbying Information

Although it was quite a few years ago, in  August, 2013, the NSW Board of Studies issued a new Information Package for Registration of Homeschoolers.  This has caused huge anxiety among home educators in New South Wales as there have been significant changes in the way the registration process is being implemented and the way in which home educators are being assessed.  It seems that registration is being based far more on the paperwork rather than the quality of education that your child is receiving.

A petition with 10,000 signatures has been signed and tabled and on the 28th of May, 2014  an Inquiry into homeschooling has been announced.

The Inquiry has finished their deliberations and the recommendations have now been tabled.  

It is interesting, but it seems that bit by bit the state regulations tighten.  It is important to look back at history to see exactly what we are required to provide to the authorities to make sure that we keep the freedom and flexibility we love as home school families in Australia.

Personal Thank You...

I would personally like to thank the HEA Lobby Sub-committee for all their effort in bringing information to the attention of NSW home educators.  It is a huge job to keeping Australian homeschooling families informed and prepared. Home educators are very diverse in their approach, reasons and philosophy and we hope and pray that the shake-up may be beneficial to us rather than detrimental.

There have been some good results from this inquiry and we hope that the new Information package will reflect the many discussions we have had over the years.

I am also very thankful to God that Hon. Paul Green (Christian Democratic Party) was the Chair of the Committee. His presence and input were extremely valuable.

How to homeschool? These steps will guide you on your home schooling Australia journey.