Budget Home Education

As of today I will not be able to post to this blog thanks to the fact my gmail address, associated with both this account and other google websites, is linked to a suspended G+ account - suspended mind you due to Google's crap attitude to pseudonyms... almost none of you whom are reading this would ever know me by the name on my drivers licence (which is the one Google wants me to use to unlock the account) and so would not know who the hell that person was if you met them online, unlike this name (quadrapop) which has been in use by me, quite legally, for 30 + years!

I have no idea if this will post - if it does at least you know why there are no more postings by me on any Blogger blog.

Site mapfor printable activities
http://www.printactivities.com/site_map.html

main mazes page:
http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes.html

includes straight mazes, number (counting by...) and letter mazes

http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/state-emblems.html
Maps - outlines
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with rivers
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state borders
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colour with capitals
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Coat of Arms
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dot to dot Australia map outline
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/connectdots/mystery/country/australia/map.GIF

We use a style known as natural learning or unschooling which is child
interest led with the adults acting as facilitators and keeping an eye
on where the kid's interests might lead next and trying to stay one jump
ahead of them. There are a number of other styles, some based around
particular curricula or philosophies/religious beliefs - it all depends
on you and your family as to where your home ed will end up.

For information on the legalities etc of home ed in WA please read through:
http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/homeeducation/index.htm
this is the Ed Dept's take on home ed. Actual homeschoolers vary greatly
in the ways and means of educating their children, sometimes even within
the one family.

For general info on getting started in home ed in Australia have a good
read through Beverley Paine's Homeschool Australia site:
http://homeschoolaustralia.beverleypaine.com/ especially her articles page.
Beverley is a very experienced home educator who has tried a variety of
approaches over the years. Her children are grown now but she still
keeps up with what is happening around Australia in the Home Ed
community. She both writes home ed books and distributes a variety of
books and resources to do with education through her Always Learning
Books website.

She has two useful email lists for those new to homeschooling in general:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolAustraliaFAQ/
great for asking those getting started questions and for general advice
once you are home educating
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyhomeschoolingtips/
daily tips and ideas from a variety of sources - all available through
Beverley's Always Learning Books - inspirational and strangely useful

Locally you can subscribe to several yahoo groups dedicated to home ed
of various kinds in Perth the two most useful are:
Perth Home Ed Networking List

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PHENetworking/
A place to sharing information on what is happening in and around Perth
and to connect with other home based learners in the Perth area. This
list is mostly an announce list as the replies go to the sender not the
entire list, but you can still use it to contact others in your area or
ed style.

Home Based Learning Network Perth

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HBLNPerth/

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PHENetworking/>
A general discission list and mouthpiece for the Home Bsed Learning
Network. They also have a website - which is unfortunately down atm -
usually found at http://www.hbln.org/ for more info on the Network for
the time being you can goto:

http://www.hea.asn.au/hea/resources/disp_res.asp?type=3&id=609 for
contact details etc

You will find that home education usually involves a bit more travel (at
least in distance) than you may experience currently - home educators
live everywhere and no two families educate in exactly the same way -
but you will probably find kindred souls if you attend any or all of the
organised events relevant for your children held within the Perth metro
area.

If/when you remove your children from school it is best not to expect
them to replicate school at home. This is a common mistake and often
ends up with the kids back in school after only a few months due to
'failure' or 'burnout' - successful home edcuators rarely use a pure
school at home approach with strict lesson times and assessments etc but
end up with a eclectic range of approaches depending on the family's and
individual children's needs and interests.

Basically take a holiday from formal schooling for a few months to get
used to the way each of your children learns and for them to rediscover
their own interests and motivations (this is known as the deschooling
period and last approximately 1 month for eah year of formal education -
for both parents and children, so the kids often will get the idea of
how home ed works for them well before the adults;-). Go on lots of
excursions to those places you never had time for with the kids at
school - museums, performances, sporting events, festivals, holiday
places after the schools have gone back so you have them to yourself and
can explore in peace. Whilst doing this take note of what they learn -
and they will learn stuff whether they want to or not - and any
developmental changes that you notice. Continue with any extra
curricular activities they are currently doing - if necessary enroll
them in local sports/arts/performance activities instead of school ones.
Maybe take up new activities they have wanted to try but didn't have
time or money to do. Go to any Home ed group events you find interesting
or accessible - get onto PHEN to find out what is on and when.

Take the kids out of school at your convenience - tell the school you
are moving them somewhere else ( you are not under any legal obligation
to tell them where) contact the Education District office and say you
have removed you children from school as you wish to homeschool them.
They will supply you with a form to fill out. Send this back to them and
you will receive a certificate saying you are now homeschooling. On that
certificate will be a start date. You then have 3 months from that date
in which to arrange a meeting with your modertator, if you make this
date as late as you can in that 3 month period (just make it clear you
are not prepared to do it any earlier) you will get as long as possible
to settle into home ed without interference. (If your children are
removed from school at the end of the school year you can give yourself
almost 6 months of settling in time, as you will not need to notify the
education dept of home ed till the beginning of February)

At the first meeting the moderator will be looking for an overall
education philosophy (in my case essentially child interest led with
parents ensuring that over the years all learning areas are covered),
and assessment on your part of where each child is currently at in each
of the 8 learning areas, what you expect them to be attempting or
covering over the next 12 months and an idea of the kind of resources
they will be using to do this. They will want to know how you are going
to approach any deficits or advances the kids might have academically
or physically, this can be as little as acknowedging that they are
behind in reading, for instance, and that you will be addressing this by
using texts they will read or might entail using outside professional help.

You should only need one meeting per year - if they try to do an
introductiory meeting and then an 'assessment' say that you want to do
the assessment at the first meeting.

Feel free to ask specific questions.

One of the best and easiest units to do wth children for home ed on a
budget is gardening.

You will need to invest in some stuff but much of what you need can come
from your own house and recycling bin.

Sources of seeds/plants:
tomatoes: save the seeds from tomatoes you like
potatoes: plant the spuds that start to sprout in your fridge
capsicum: keep the seeds from the capsicums you eat
cuttings: many plants will grow from cuttings, you can collect these
from friends' or neighbours' plants

Sources of containers, seedling trays etc:
egg cartons: make great seedling trays, keep moist and when it comes
time to plant the seedlings out divide the carton up and make a small
hole in the bottom of each cup before planting the whole cup. The paper
mache will degrade and the plant will grow through it.
various plastic conatiners from our food will make great pots: poke
holes in the bottom for drainage. Yoghurt pots, juice bottles (with the
tops cut off), take away food containers, milk & juice cartons,
save your old sponges: these make great water collectors and stop soil
from falling through holes in the bottom of plant pots. Make sure the
sponge is clean and not full of cleaning chemicals etc.
If you have small ones who are still in nappies and you use disposable
nappies then you can recycle the wee only nappies in your compost or
even directly into the ground. The moisture retaining crystals in the
nappies are the same as those used in the water retention preparations
you buy in the garden centre, but when you use the nappy contents you
also add some fertilizer as well:-)

Investment:
seeds: italian parsley, buy seeds and when some plants start to go to
seed let them and then plant out the seeds later for more parsley than
you can ever eat.
seedlings: many veggies grow best from seedlings and it is worth
investing in good seedlings to start your veggie patch, those that grow
best from seed it is worth investing in seeds from a reputable source.
Most flowering plants are best bought as seedlings unless they will
strike from cuttings.
good quality potting mix: if you will be growing some or all your garden
in pots
cow, chicken and sheep manure: these will be useful both directly in the
garden or in your compost to encourage correct the right bugs to aid
decomposition
worm farm: even if you live in an apartment, as long as you have a
balcony or outdoor area you can recycle your kitchen waste and more with
a worm farm
rooting powder: this will aid the root formation in cuttings - always
make sure an adult is present during its use and that all involved wear
gloves and/or thoroughly wash their hands afterwards.
mulch: unless you have a hay field and the means to harvest & collect
the hay then investing in a suitable good quality organic mulch is
essential, it will save water and encourage healthy growth whilst
eventually adding to the organic matter content of your garden. If you
keep guinea pigs or other animals that live on straw or shaving add
their bedding to your compost or directly under larger trees/shrubs.

Lots of links to help home educators.