Co-operative: Home Options In Childhood Education

Frequently Asked Questions about homeschooling in Ontario

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Is Homeschooling Legal?

Yes! The Ontario Education Act, Section 21(2), states that a child is "excused from attendance at school if (a) the child is receiving satisfactory instruction at home or elsewhere."

Provision is made, in Section 24(2) of the Act, for a provincial inquiry to be called in cases of disagreement between the parents and the school attendance counsellor as to whether a child is to be considered excused.

You are not required to comply with any school board demands beyond a simple notification upon withdrawal of a child from attendance or enrollment. The Education Act does not grant them the authority to grant or deny permission to homeschool, nor to approve or monitor your educational plans.

Please feel free to contact us or the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents if you have any problems with your school board.

What About Socialization?

Homeschooled children have playmates just as schoolchildren do - siblings, cousins, neighbours, and homeschooled friends made at groups such as C:HOICE - so their emotional needs for companionship are far from neglected.

In terms of relating to people more generally, homeschoolers have more opportunities than schooled children for contact with a variety of people of all ages, cultures and races, as they go about their business of living in the vast world outside of school.

The other concern surrounding socialization has to do with learning how to deal with interpersonal difficulties. Some of us know from experience that attending school did not help us become less shy or teach us how to deal with bullies. Homeschooled children are less exposed to bullying and peer pressure than schoolchildren - and we believe this is a good thing. They are, nevertheless, exposed to it to some extent, simply by living in the community at large, and they do learn how to respond to anti-social behaviour and pressure, in ways taught to them by their parents, who have the opportunity to guide them more closely than playground supervisors can.

In terms of raising children to be kind and co-operative and resolve conflict in a civilized manner, it seems to be more effective to have the model of conscious adult behaviour and smaller groups of children than the largely unsupervised, peer-intensive environment of school playgrounds. In a recent study in which psychologists evaluated children without knowing which were schooled and which were homeschooled, on average, the homeschooled children were observed to get along well with others and exhibit good social skills, while the observed schoolchildren generally qualified as having behavioural problems, including aggressivity.

Must A Homeschooling Parent Be A Certified Teacher?

No. Any parent who takes an interest in his or her child's learning can be an excellent home teacher. Although there are many certified teachers among those who have chosen home schooling for their children, parents from a wide variety of professional, educational, and economic backgrounds successfully educate their children at home.

Home educators view teaching their children as a natural extension of their role as parents.

How Many Homeschoolers Are There?

It is estimated that the number of homeschoolers is between 1% and 2% of the number of schoolchildren. In Ontario, this translates into approximately 20,000 homeschoolers.

Will Home Taught Children Be Able to Go On to Higher Education and Careers?

Homeschoolers are accepted at many colleges and universities. Admission policies vary, and may include requirements such as high school credits or diplomas (which can be acquired through approved correspondence courses or online courses), scores from specific tests, entry exams, or Prior Learning Assessment Review porfolios.

After the age of 21 for universities and 19 for colleges, any resident can apply for admission as a "mature student" under certain conditions (such as having been out of school for a certain length of time).

Many universities in the U.S. are actively recruiting home schooled students because of their creativity, independence and ability to work on their own.

A recent study found that many home schoolers become entrepreneurs.

What Do You Teach? Must You Follow A Curriculum?

Homeschoolers, like private schools, are not required to follow the Ontario government's curriculum for public schools. Depending on your approach, you might follow the Ontario curriculum strictly or as a guideline, find another curriculum or create your own, work with unit studies, or take an “unschooling” approach in all or some areas, allowing the child's natural curiosity to direct the learning according to his or her own individual interests and growing abilities.

What Materials Do You Use?

Much of what families use to home school is available at local public libraries, stores (books, videos, software, crafts, toys), through educational TV, local museums and galleries, and in backyards, parks, and the kitchen!

Homeschoolers belonging to a group like C:HOICE can also share their resources, borrowing equipment and availing themselves of each other's skills and ideas.

You can also purchase new or used materials by mail-order, online, or at homeschooling conferences. Free catalogues from some of the homeschool suppliers are available from C:HOICE.

What About Testing? How Do You Know How They Are Doing?

Homeschooling parents have an intimate understanding of their children’s progress because they spend their days with them, facilitating, guiding and teaching them according to direct observation of which knowledge and skills have already been acquired, and where the children's interests lie. Formal assessment is therefore unnecessary and, in any case, is not required by law.

Many parents feel no need to quantify a comparison between their children and a predefined grade, and believe standardized testing is detrimental to the cultivation of learning for its own rewards, as it places value on comparative performance rather than on inner enrichment.

If you do wish to have your child tested, however, you are now able to do so at no extra charge: Step 10 of the Harris government's 21-Step Plan included access to standard tests for homeschoolers, through the schools. It has also always been possible to have a child tested through independent testing companies for a fee.