Keith Frank's Home Schooling Reviews

Homeschooling in Australia?

i live in QLD, Australia and im 15 years old and in year 11 at the moment. i suffer from depression and im not coping at all with high school. is it possible to get homeschooled even though ive gone to public schools all my life? if so how would my mum and i go about getting everything set up, do you have to get registered or anything like that?

Yes, it is possible to get homeschooled (more commonly called home education here in Aus.) irregardless of your current or previous schooling. The only requirements for being home educated (homeschooled) in Qld are that you must be of compulsory school age or in the compulsory participation phase and are not/no longer enrolled in a State school or non-State school.

As to getting things set up, you and your mum need to 1) decide on your learning philosophy and/or the educational program to be used *, 2) pull you out of your current school, and 3) apply for registration **.

Check out the pages of faqs @ http://education.qld.gov.au/homeeducation/faqs.html for heaps of info. on the details of how to go about home educating in Qld.

You and your mum may also want to get in touch with your local home-ed group, listed here:
http://www.hea.asn.au/resources/results_sg.asp?state=QLD&groups=y&loc=0 for more help and advice.

* What do you intend to study? How? Where? To what purpose? What are your aims and objectives for your education outside of school and how do you plan to go about meeting them. That sort of thing.

** registration is a moot point and one your mum may want to take advice from your local home ed group before deciding whether it is a track she wants to go down. You’re supposed to register. The government is desperate for you to register. Not all home educators do register. Some estimates put the number of registered homeschoolers in Qld as low as 20%. Many registered home educators in Qld say registering is unhelpful and detrimental to their kids’ education.

Alternatively, you may want to check out the possibility of doing ‘school at home’ (i.e. finishing school as a home-based learner) by going through BSDE (Brisbane School of Distance Education) @ http://www.brisbanesde.eq.edu.au .

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