[ourquest]

Anyone on the forum homeschooling or considering the option once you arrive in NZ, either temporarliy or long term?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Well, our daughter would be in school now if we were still in UK, so although not in school here, we are doing some teaching of sorts until she starts school over here....hopefully very soon. There are some resources for NZ homeschooling and you can also get funding for some resources text books etc.

http://www.home.school.nz/

[marcia]

There are quite a few children I know who are home schooled, one of my friends is taking her children out of school next year to home school them, she is a qualified teacher anyway, and her youngest goes to playcentre (she has 3 kids!) You have to apply to the MOE to be able to do it, and get approval from them. There are groups of parents who meet with their home schooled children, one of the groups in Palmerston has been filming a production of Romeo and Juliet with all the children as actors, or producers or camera people!

Personally not something I would consider, but it does seem well supported here if you choose to do it (and get approval!)

[veronica]

where are you in NZ. We homeschooled our two in the UK until they were 11 when they chose to go to school so I have an interest in it here too. there is a group here in Christchurch and there is also an alternative state school called the discovery school that may be of interest to you too.

[ourquest]

Thanks for the responses. We are not yet in NZ, but planning to be in the Auckland area, later perhaps to BOP/Coromandel. Our arrival coming up in March 08 is essentially a second visit to really get a feel for what it might be like to live in NZ, so during our visit we will be basing ourselves (mostly) in one place and not travelling all over both islands as we did on our previous visit. If PR happens to come through while we are there then it opens up the option to stay on.

As far as regulation is concerned, we need to be registered for homeschooling in South Africa (our current home)...a difficult one as they require to be able to make home visits, impossible for an inspector if we're in NZ at the time. But registering with NZ would not make sense until we had right of abode, either by PR or work permit. And of course we may return to SA for a period in between.

So we are choosing to homeschool to help our 3 (!) boys adjust to our adventure with some stability. Everyone thinks they're unusual of course, but in this case it is me (Hubby) doing the schooling. How long we keep at it will of course depend on circumstance as well as how the learning actually goes. We are blessed with boys who get on with each other, are hungry to learn and academically strong, all three of them having grasped to basics of reading and writing and some math at this stage. So this makes my own adjustment to teaching them a little easier. My own training is that I at least know more than they do. I also had two years of lecturing at University which gave me some confidence now (although teaching children is of course vastly different). We tend to have fun educational sessions around the dinner table already and so we will build on that. We basically buy a curriculum here and base the content and pace on that as well as the assessments. I am a member of our current school's governing body so this has given me some insight into the schooling system (good and bad).

It would be great to connect with others with similar goals, so please let me know who you are. Nothing like a bit of mutual support, which is one of the many benefits of a forum like this one!

[JoanneG]

I'm not planning on homeschooling, unless I have to in the beginning because I don't think my sanity could stand having all four of my children around me all day. I have an interest partly because I feel that here in the UK children are often forced into a system that they are simply not ready for. They have announced today that they want ALL children reading BY the age of 6! Why can't children learn at their own pace instead of being pressured!

Anyway, in short, here is a nz home-ed website that you may find useful:-
http://home.school.nz/homeeduc.shtml

These were suggested to me after an earlier question on curriculum:-
http://www.teamup.co.nz/WhatChildrenLearn/default.htm
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/

Good Luck!

[Carey]

See also; http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11471&highlight=home+schooling

Well thats what came up when I put home schooling into the search. We know people who home schooled in NZ for a while, all are great individuals, very grounded and all enjoyed it....

[Carey]

[QUOTE=JoanneG;165272]They have announced today that they want ALL children reading BY the age of 6! Why can't children learn at their own pace instead of being pressured!

When will the govt. relaise that one model does not fit all kids? In most of the rest of Europe kids don't even start school til aged 6!

[dharder]

[QUOTE=JoanneG;165272]In most of the rest of Europe kids don't even start school til aged 6!

My older children just spent three months in a German school. After having just completed Year 2 in the UK (which means having completed three years of formal schooling if you include Reception), we put them in Year 2 in the German school, which is their second year, so they have completed 1 year of formal schooling.

As far as reading was concerned, you could not tell the difference.

Felt a bit guilty for having lived in the UK and made them start school at age 4, where they could have had two more years of nursery (rather fun and games here, my little ones are enjoying it, and not a letter to write or read in sight) here.

Ah well. Everything certainly depends on the individual child, but I also get the impression that once they are a bit older and actually ready for something, they learn a lot quicker.

Daniela

[migratory birds]

(This comment is based on something that I read about on another NZ immigration list a year or two ago within a discussion of homeschooling so it's lacking in depth in detail but something to look into)...Homeschooling families recieve a stipend from the government of something like $750 twice a year for supplies.

Some homeschooling friends of ours scoffed at the puny amount...but it surpasses what the state or federal gov't in the US pays homeschool families (which is nil)!

[JoanneG]

Also nil here in the uk

[veronica]

anyone on this thread belong to Education Otherwise (EO)

[ourquest]

anyone on this thread belong to Education Otherwise (EO)

What is EO? I presume it is either an organisation or a curriculum?