It’s that time of year again, time to register your homeschooled children. Perhaps this is your very first year homeschooling and you’re not sure of the requirements.
It’s fairly easy to homeschool in Nova Scotia. All children ages 5 – 16 (re Amendment to Education Act Regulations, Section 3(1)) must be registered by September 20th of the coming school year, said registration including: "in the case of previous public school experience, the last grade level attained; in the case of previous home education experience, the program level of achievement and estimated equivalent public school grade level; and identification of the proposed home education program" (Regulations Section 39 (2)). You may send in a letter to register with the required information, or fill out the Registration form offered by the Ministry of Education on their website (see link to the right). Please be advised that if you are registering your child for the first time, the Ministry will demand a copy of your child’s birth certificate, so you may want to include one with your registration.
Reference is only made to providing your children with an ‘educational program’. There are no stipulations as to what the ‘educational program’ must be and can be whatever you feel is appropriate that would give your child a well rounded education. This gives you complete freedom to choose whatever materials (religious or secular) you want and to design your own program that meets your child’s needs and the possibilities are endless. If you are new to homeschooling the task of picking what educational materials to use can seem daunting but don’t let it scare you! A great place to start is by chatting with other homeschoolers. Please see the list of links to the right of this webpage for more information on contacting homeschoolers near you. They are a wealth of information to both new and veteran homeschoolers alike and will be happy to have you join them. Another way to connect with homeschoolers throughout NS would be to join an email group. There is one on Yahoo Groups called HomeLearnersNS and one called HomeschoolingCapers for those in Cape Breton.
Live, Love, &
Laugh,
Kimberly
