Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 at 12:15
There are a few choices, but lots more confusion with this subject I believe. I intensely researched this for myself not long ago, but I am from NSW and each state has different requirements.
Generally you have 3 options:-
1) Distance Education
2) Register for
Home Schooling (with state Board of Studies dept)
3) Enrol in your local school and take 'approved leave'
1) Distance Ed - you enrol with your closest Dist Ed Centre and pay enrolment fee (costs vary from state to state, I think Vic is $50; NSW is $100 and Qld is $1000 per child + refundable bond for teaching resources). The Centre is responsible for compiling the cirriculum in line with the Board of Studies, marking and assessing work completed, issuing reports etc. The 'program' for 'travelling' kids is different from 'isolated' or 'special requirement' kids and some schools appear more understanding of time & bother contraints associated with travelling, compared to whats acheivable if you were a kid on a cattle station for example. You receive packages of work/art/sport equipment/library books on a regular basis (ie fortnightly) which you complete and then post back. In contrast to Dist Ed students who are
home based, Travelling children do not need headsets, satellite phones etc - just a postal address every fortnight. Great if you need structure and have no previous experience with schooling!!
2)
Home Schooling - in NSW travelling families are NOT ELIGIBLE for
Home Schooling, this may also be the case in Victoria. A
Home Schooled child must remain at the
home environment which has been assessed as suitable, and must remain in that particular state. Ie, you cannot register as a NSW
Home Schooler and move your
home (or
home on wheels) to Queensland, Victoria or any other state.
Home Schoolers must write up a cirriculum which meets the standards of the state's Board of Studies (ie, teaching the same things in each of the 6 key learning areas as every other kid in Aust). Great if you are a natural teacher and know all about what every other kid in Aust is learning and all the methodologies needed to teach it!!
3) Enrol in your local school (whether it be a state, independant, or private school). Ask for official approval to take your kids out of school for however long (most will allow 12 months no problems) for the purposes of family travelling. Most schools consider the travelling experience very beneficial for kids and have no problem with the idea. NSW Board of Studies also allows the schools this discretion up to HSC level - at HSC level, kids need to have regular 'face to face' learning with their teachers. Your school might also be kind enough to provide resources and a program to follow for you to teach your kids what all their peers will be learning at the same time. It will then be at your discretion/ability/time avail etc as to what and how you get to teach them. Ie, counting shells at
the beach, science/HSIC lessons via the tour guide talking about the
cave or bats or rainforest etc, trips to the local library/
visitors centre, history lesson at the Burke & Wills Dig Tree etc. Great option for those who need flexiblity and who can self motivate/regulate the learning opportunities (both formal & informal).
Legal requirements: - children must be enrolled in a school (local school, boarding school, Dist Ed Centre) or enrolled as an Approved
Home School before their 6th birthday. Therefore, only your prep child needs to be enrolled, your kinder child does not. Unless of course, they turn 6 during your travels.
One of kinders' best things is that it teaches both the child and the parent about school structure (start & finish times, controlled activities). A kinder program whilst travelling will be able to teach the art, gross & fine motor skills, team playing etc - but will never prepare the child for a typical classroom. So just dont try to replicate kinder, just replicate the activities that a Day Care Centre or Kinder would provide.
On the other hand, your prep kid will end up
miles behind their peers if you do not put in effort to teach reading, writing, basic maths etc. But it is also very common for parents to repeat their child if they havent mastered it, or enrol them in a school with small class numbers and a reputation for doing wonders with kids who have become behind or experience difficulties learning. However, many (if not the majority) of travelling children actually learn better and quicker in this environment, so these 2 "back up plans" may never ever need to be worried about/considered/taken up.
If you have not yet introduced your children to the typical school environment,and you are not employed in the teaching profession yourself, then I would choose Distance Education - everything needed is supplied from the resources to the teacher + more. The structure & workload will be tight and at times onerous, but better to miss a few than to fail in teaching your kids the lot/majority. If they are already in the school system, have a school that will provide the program cirriculum & resources, and you are accustomed to working thru their homework with them, then choose option 3.
Hope this heaps, and happy travels.
On The Road to Discovery (with 2 kids - year 1 and year 2)
By the way, we chose option 3 - with a very understanding & brilliant school that provided ALL the resources and a week by week program, + regular email contact with the teachers)
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