If you live in New South Wales, there are many reasons to homeschool in Sydney. These include socialisation, freedom and legality. Depending on the circumstances, a structured or unstructured approach may be best for your children. For more information, check out the Sydney and NSW Home Education Network.
Legality
While homeschooling is legal in NSW, it is important to follow the relevant laws. Parents must register their children with the state, provide educational materials upon request, and allow home visits. The state has recently undergone a parliamentary inquiry into the topic, and its findings have been released. The inquiry heard evidence from a range of home educators on their philosophies and methods of education. While some home educators practice a school-at-home approach, others view themselves as facilitators of learning and use the services of tutors or mentors. Some home educators also use group classes.
Homeschooling in NSW requires parents to prepare individual plans for each child, addressing all required NSW curriculum requirements. Unlike public schools, homeschoolers can use whatever approach is most appropriate for their child. Once a parent has completed this process, an Authorised Person will visit their homeschooling program to examine their educational program. They will review their educational plan, learning area, and recording and reporting methods. In many cases, parents are willing to attend these meetings with their Authorised Person to answer any questions.
Freeness
In Sydney, New South Wales, freeness of homeschooling is legal. To homeschool your child, all you need to do is to be a resident of the state, send an email application to the NESA Home Schooling Unit, and write an education plan for your child. The NESA will approve your plan within 90 days. In the past few years, more families have chosen to homeschool in NSW, especially after the Covid lockdown. As a result, there are currently more than 6000 registered homeschoolers in NSW. The numbers are expected to reach 9000 by October 2021.
While NSW has regulations regarding the duration of homeschool registration, most homeschooling parents opt to apply for a shorter registration period. For instance, a four-day week may be ideal for some families, while five half-day weeks may be more flexible. Whatever the length of the registration period, it is important to remember that you’ll have to follow the guidelines of the state’s curriculum. If you’re going to be homeschooling for longer than 12 months, you’ll need to send a copy of your documentation to the NESA. Once you’ve submitted your application, a NESA representative will contact you to schedule a meeting. At this meeting, the NESA representative will discuss your plans with you in detail. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure that the homeschooling program you’re creating is healthy and that your child will
Structured approaches
In recent years, more families in Australia have chosen to homeschool their children instead of sending them to mainstream schools. This trend is growing, and more research is needed to better understand how this educational method can be implemented in the contemporary Australian context. The study’s sample included 385 parents, who were homeschooling 676 children. Most were women, with the highest proportion coming from Western Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. In addition, more than half had a degree-level education. Moreover, the age range was large, with the median being thirty-five to fifty years old.
While there are a variety of approaches to homeschooling, most are less structured than unschooling. Highly structured homeschooling mimics the school curriculum and involves extensive bookwork. Unschooling, on the other hand, gives children more freedom and autonomy in their learning. Unschooling requires less formal written work and may include more informal learning methods.