Monday, January 7, 2013

Can You DO That?

Today is Monday, January 7th and the first day back to school for the kids in our area. I lost count of the number of Facebook status updates I've read last night and this morning posted by folks complaining about how nice it was to spend the holidays with their kids and how sad they were that school was back in session. 

It makes me crazy when I see this (I think of the farm dog and the nail every time)... I guess I wonder how serious they really are since they do have the option of not sending their kids back to school, ever.

When I tell people that I home school, and particularly unschool, I'm always asked if it's legal. Granted, education laws vary from country to country, state to state or province to province but in Ontario, Canada where we are from the Education Act allows parents to home school their children quite freely with little interference. There is no standardized testing required each year (although it is optional), no regulation in terms of a standard curriculum that must be followed. It is assumed that parents will provide "satisfactory education" to their children. If parents fail to do so then children can be forced to return to school. With that being said, in conducting my own research on this type of interest-led learning in Ontario, I found that school administrators and CAS have, on many occasions attempted to interfere with homeschooling but were unsuccessful in most cases in proving that the children were not receiving satisfactory education at home.

This doesn't mean that parents who are clearly unable to facilitate their children's education for whatever reason or perhaps are hiding things like child abuse or drug/alcohol problems shouldn't be thoroughly investigated however in my experience as a volunteer for the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents, I saw a larger number of cases of loving, competent parents who were unnecessarily harassed because they chose to exercise their right to create education goals as a family. It's frustrating and kind of sad that as a society we have such a hard time accepting change and progressive thinking. Fortunately, with the help and advice of veteran homeschoolers and associations like the OFTP, we manage to support one another and get by okay.

A common source of frustration is with departments of the government such as Canada Revenue Agency. There seems to be an interesting process that the CRA uses to verify who has care and control of children. This is important in cases of benefits that are payable to parents/custodial guardians such as the monthly Canada Child Tax Benefit. Their process is to request supporting documents such as affidavits from the family's doctor, clergyman, attorney etc. which seems perfectly reasonable. Where things get a bit sticky is the area of the standard request for information form that asks for at least one supporting document or signature from the child's school. There is no alternative option given for homeschooling families. Yes, confirmation from the local school board that the child is exempt from attending school will do but what about those families who do not wish to register their children? After all, this is our right here in Ontario.

I am very grateful that I come from a place where the freedom to educate one's own child exists however we still have a long way to go before homeschoolers can feel accepted. For the moment, we exercise our rights while treading lightly. Even most school administrators aren't very well versed on PPM131 and the Education Act. I had the principal of my son's school sit me down and threaten to have me charged for not sending my son to school. She seemed genuinely convinced that she had this power. Truth is, in Ontario, government courses are available online and open to homeschooled kids as young as first grade. The downside to this is that enrollment does require the involvement of your local school board.

If you'd prefer freedom from rigid schedules, compulsory testing and government indoctrination I urge you to research the local laws regarding homeschooling/unschooling where you live.


3 comments:

  1. Hello Mandy, thank you for your blog, being a mom of two (twins 2 y.o.) I know one doesn't get much down time so again, thank you for your valuable post. Writing from Montreal, looking for warmth and sunshine for 3 months, from mid-Jan. Will contact blease managements but I am concern with emergency care on San Pedro. Do you have recommendation on other places for me to look into (with access to quick medical care).
    Would love to meet in person and chat about homeschooling....I just so much HATE winter.
    Tnx Manon



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    1. Hello! Sorry about the delayed response; I am enjoying my first day off in months and trying to catch up on so many things. I hope you were able to find something suitable. I don't blame you a bit for being concerned about emerg care in SP. It can be very frightening however you won't really find great medical care in any part of the country. Belmopan has a decent hospital from what I hear but the closer you are to Mexico or Guatemala the better your chances of getting the care you would need in the case of serious injury or illness. It is my understanding that Mexico on the other hand has a public health insurance plan that tourists can purchase for long-term visits and most majors cities have excellent medical facilities. You've got more of a language barrier there but we rather enjoyed it. We turned the challenge into a fun way to learn something new!

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