With the start of school quickly approaching you may have decided that homeschooling is the best choice for your child(ren) but have no idea what to do with that decision. I am here to help fill in the blanks. Homeschooling in Alberta is completely legal, and the number of children homeschooling is increasing.
How to Register
In Alberta a child between the ages of 6 and 16 must be registered with a participating school board. There are several to chose from, each with it's own focus and philosophy, giving you an opportunity to chose the one that best fits your family.
The participating Boards in Alberta are as follows:
Willing Non-resident Boards
These are boards that are not the student's resident board and that have agreed to supervise a home education program
- Argyll Home Education Center ~ Edmonton Pulblic schools 780-465-1299 or toll free at 1-888-532-7222 website: www.argyll.epsb.ca
- The Centre for Learning @ Home ~ Christ the Redeemer School Division (Catholic separate regional, Section 3), Okotoks Alberta 403-938-4119 or toll free at 1-800-659-1945 email: centreforlearning@redeemer.ab.ca website: www.centreforlearning.ca
- Families Learning Together ~ Lighthouse Christian Academy, Sylvan Lake Alberta, 403-348-0723 email: k.d.snider@shaw.ca website: www.familieslearningtogether.com
- Education Unlimited ~ Morinville Christian School, Tofield Alberta, 780-662-3634 or toll free at 1-877-662-3630 website: www.educationunlimited.ca
- Golden Hills Home Learning , Strathmore Alberta Contact: Donna Seamans, 403-934-5179 or toll free at 1-800-320-3739 Fax 403-934-6279 email: seamans@telusplanet.net
- Moore Academy Canada ~ Sylvan Meadows Adventist School, Stettler Alberta, Contact: Bernice Hafner, 403-742-0428 fax: 403-742-0441 Email: mfca@telus.net website: www.moorehomeschoolerscanada.com
- Pheonix Home Education Foundation, Calgary Alberta, 403-265-7701 email: info@pheonixfoundation.ca website: http://phoenixfoundation.ca
- Roots Homeschooling Program ~ Trinity Christian School, Calgary Alberta, Contact: Jennie Van Hooft, 403-287-6685 email: coordinator@roots-homeschooling.com website: www.roots-homeschooling.com
- School of Hope ~ East Central Alberta Catholic Separate Schools, Vermillion Alberta, toll free 1-888-350-HOPE (4673) Contact: Irene Long email: info@schoolofhope.org website: www.schoolofhope.org
- The Home Education Exchange (T.H.E.E.) ~ Newell Christian School, Sherwood Park Alberta, Contact: Bob Milligan, 780-467-5511 or toll free at 1-877-467-5510 website: www.thee.ca
- Wisdom Home Schooling ~ Trinity Christian School, Derwent Alberta, Contact: Ken Noster, email:office@wisdomhomeschooling.com website: www.wisdomhomeschooling.com
Resident Boards
Boards of the district or division of which a student is a resident student
Online/Correspondence Programs that offer Alberta program of Studies to any learner
Students will still need to register or notify one of the boards above
Once you have selected a School Board you need to consider how you are going to register, Traditional, Blended or Aligned aka Fully Provided
Traditional
When you choose to register traditional you are telling the government you will be 100% responsible for your child(ren)'s education. You will choose, implement and score your child(ren)'s curriculum or even if you are going to follow a curriculum at all. This option offers the parent the most flexibility, and is the only form of homeschooling the government of Alberta considers true homeschooling, however it gives you the least amount of funding per child.
You may choose to follow the Alberta Program of Studies but it is entirely up to you. Parents who choose this style do so because they want the least amount of interference from the school board, they want to have full control of their child's education. Evaluations can be done by portfolio, testing or any other method the parent sees fit.
Blended
When you choose to register blended you are telling the government that you will teach some subjects following the traditional model above, and have the government control the other subjects following the alberta program of studies. The school board you register with will assign work to be completed and submitted for those aligned subjects. As well you will have to complete standardized testing in grade 3,6 and 9 if you align in Language arts or math. Funding for this method is based on % of alignment typically 50-90% with 90% getting the highest funding and 50% getting the lowest.
Some parents chose this method for the increased funding, some chose it because of the increased support from the school board.
Aligned aka Fully Provided
When you choose to register aligned you are telling the government you would like to follow the Alberta program of studies for 100% of your child's course load. The school board you register with will provide assignments, exams, etc for your child to complete and submit for grading. The gov't does not consider this method of schooling homeschooling and considers your child a public education student. This method of enrollment recieved the highest amount of funding available.
Parents may chose this method if they want to make sure their child matriculates and receives and Alberta Education Diploma, or because they like knowing their child is learning what his/her peers are in public school.
Once you have decided the method in which you wish to register contact the board you feel suits your philosophy/needs best. They will get a registration package sent out to you. I mentioned funding in the above section. The Alberta government gives homeschooling boards funds to distribute to homeschooling families to help with the costs of curriculum, learning materials, entrance fees(for museums, etc), Tickets(to plays, symphonies etc),and extracurricular activities. The school board will set up an account for each family, you can either submit receipts for re-embursement or use purchase orders if your school board offers them to order materials for your child. Each board handles the money differently, some offer more funds than others, some have limitations on what you can use the money for so please make sure you ask your board for full information on funding. If you want to receive this funding you MUST have your child(ren) registered by September 30th. You can chose to homeschool and register after that date however you will not qualify for funding, so mark your calendars and be sre your registration forms are submitted before that date.
What happens now that I am registered?
Now that you have completed your registration process, your school board will assign a facilitator to your family. This will be your liason between the school board and yourself for the year. Your facilitator will have at least 2 meetings with your family (more if you are blended or aligned), typically at the start of the year to create your learning plan and determine your goals, and at the end of the year to see your portfolio and determine if you reached your goals. It is common for a facilitator to check in with a family mid-year via email or telephone to just see how they are doing and if they need any help reaching their goals. If you have any concerns or questions about your child's education your facilitator is there to help you find the answers. Your facilitator will help you figure out step by step what you need to reach your goals for your child(ren).
My favorite part of the entire process is the shopping, when I go out and chose the curriculum and learning materials I want to use with my children for that school year. Something about it gets me excited to start teaching my children and that enthusiam rubs off on them.
Now that your child is registered to homeschool you may now be holding your head in hands asking "What have I done? How will I ever make sure my child learns EVERYTHING they need to know?" The best part of homeschooling is knowing you don't have to teach them EVERYTHING you simply have to teach them how to love learning, and how to find the answers they want. Learning does not happen only between K and grade 12, it is a lifelong skill and choosing to teach your child at home is only the first step in creating a life long learner. So take a deep breathe, relax and snuggle with your child reading a good book, the rest will follow naturally.
One last link, for further information on homeschooling in Alberta check out www.shine-hs.invisionzone.com you will find information about this great support group, park days, Alberta homeschooling legislation etc.
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Aug. 17, 2009 - Thanks for the thorough information!
Do you know of a home school board that has facilitators who home school their own children? That is important to me. I don't think they could really support it unless they do it themselves.
Thanks!