Posted in Information

We've been so busy with tending the garden, foraging and life in general that I have a lot of entries begun and very few finished! The time passes so quickly...

FIVE WEEKS left until school "begins"! I know; school is a year-round thing. What I mean is that we have five weeks to go until the public school year begins in Sweden, which puts us on a certain timetable since payday here is only once a month. Also, whether or not we are allowed to homeschool is greatly affected by how much our school is similar to public school.

I'm not kidding. More than one family with whom I've had contact since moving to the west coast of Sweden at the end of the last school year has told me they were approved and not harassed since they followed the public school calendar and bought and used the same school texts. You can actually purchase the real texts here. It's not cheap, but providing the funds is not my "worry", but His.

We've decided to take other parents' advice -- mostly. DH contacted local schools and found a Christian school that not only gave us the name of their text publishers, they provided us with which classes, what hours and schedule our daughters would have if they were going to the school! Baruch haShem!

The requirements for "ground school" in Sweden:

• Nine years of education (instead of 12, as in the States)
• 185 days per year/4 hours per day minimum
• 2/3 of classes MUST be held indoors
  
• Six categories of subjects:
  • Basic skills (English, Swedish, Maths)
  • Practical/aesthetic skills (Home Ec, Crafts, Economy)
  • Social Science (History, Geography, Civics)
  • Natural Science (Biology, Physics)
  • Second Language (French, German or Spanish)
  • Elective. (Art, Music, etc.)