AHEA Updates

My name is Chantelle, I'm 15 years old. Everyone we come in contact with effects us. Friends, family, and the people that surround us in our everyday lives. In schools, where kids spend about six hours a day, five days a week, they are heavily influenced by the people around them, which are the teachers and their fellow students. So who is influencing them the most? Well, with the average class size in Alberta being as many as 28 children to one teacher, they are learning how to talk to other people, how to interact with others from other children.

When I am at home, the people who are making their impression on me? My parents. They are my examples of how to maturely interact with other adults, how to hold conversations and speak civilly to others. In schools how many times do you see the teachers talking to each other? Maybe a couple times a day in the few minutes in between classes, but when you have a bully who is being rude to other students, that is what children are picking up, that that is how you speak to other people, and are then treating other students rudely, who will in turn treat others like that. The primary influences in their lives five days a week are children talking to other children. When we have to run to the store for milk I see my parents talking to the cashier, or when we are at a camp or event I see them talking to other parents, and I see them making conversation and that is where I pick up how to talk and interact with other people. One of the benefits of homeschooling is something kids in school simply don’t get, which is modeling and practice; we model ourselves after our parents, and then we have the opportunity to put into practice what we are learning in our everyday lives.

Thank you, and God bless,
Chantelle

The Celbrate Home Education Rally featured several youth who wrote about their home education story. Here is one feature story:

Casey's Homeschooling Success Story

January 2017

I have been homeschooled my whole life, and I will be forever grateful for all the opportunities it has
given me. I have been able to custom make my curriculum and pursue my interests while learning all of
the essential skills I need to survive. My flexible program allows me to go out and explore the real world
through volunteering and part-time jobs. Earning me experience and a level of maturity that leads people
to believe that I am so much older than I really am! Participating in Wisdom’s online reading courses is
always a lot of fun, and I learn just as much from reading the classics as I do from the other students. I
find I am free from most peer pressure because I can focus on my education rather than what other
students think of me or public school dramatics. Homeschooling has helped me shape my dreams, I know
where I want to be in five, ten, fifteen years down the road. I can spend my time making my goals happen
rather than memorizing random facts for a pop quiz. When I look at the difference between
homeschooling and public schooling I am floored by how much more freedom I have opposed to other
students. With that freedom comes responsibility and a need for organization, and whenever those skills
are called upon I know that I am prepared to be depended on and expected of things. Homeschooling has
also taught me the value of hard work, you get what you put into a project, and I know I want the best
result possible, and how to get it. With the customization of my education I can choose what I want to
expand upon by finding educational opportunities outside of the regular classroom setting. I appreciate
my schooling because I know that learning is the lighting of a fire, not the filling of a bucket. I would
never give up my education, I love homeschooling from the deepest corners of my heart and will alway
remember how Wisdom helped me create who I am.

reimbursement. It may be found at: https://education.alberta.ca/home-education-blended-programs/responsibilities/everyone/resources/

February 28, 2016

In Alberta, there are a couple different ways to legally educate your children at home. The first way is to Home Educate under the Home Education Regulation 145/2006 http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2006_145.pdf. This regulation outlines the responsibilities and recognizes the parent's primary role in developing, monitoring and evaluating the program plan for their child(ren). A parent must notify of their intent to home educate using the form set out by the Minister http://www.thewise.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Home-Education-Registration-Form.pdf and a teacher from their board must conduct at least 2 evaluations of the progress of the student (according to the outcomes described in the parent's program plan) per year. The parent may develop their own plan using the Learning Outcomes for Students as the basis of the plan, or may follow the Alberta Program of Studies. A parent may receive reimbursement to defray the costs incurred by the parent, up to a maximum amount set out in Alberta Education's funding manual.

The second manner of educating at home consists of providing a school authorized program at home (sometimes inaccurately referred to as 'aligned'). With this method, a school allows the parent to educate at home, but the school maintains the authority for all components of the child's education. The expectations on the parent will vary from school to school, as the parent is officially providing a school program at home. The range of programming is as vast as under the Home Education Regulation, but who is responsible for the programming is where the difference lies. In a school at home program, the school authority maintains ultimate authority for the program, monitoring and evaluation, and as the authority responsible for the education of the child, they place requirements upon a parent and student as they deem fit. The school is not required to provide any financial reimbursement to parents, but they often do, and often at a higher monetary value than possible when educating under the Home Education Regulation 145/2006.

A blending of these two types of educating at home may also be done.

While the 'look' of each program may appear to be similar, who maintains the authority for each program is clearly different. The parent is the responsible party when the child is educated under the Home Education Regulation 145/2006. The school is the responsible party in any other form of educating at home.

It is important for parents to understand the difference in parental and school authority between the two methods.