What Are the First Steps to Homeschooling?

1. Evaluate Your Reasons

A parent has the right and freedom to withdraw their child from school to begin a homeschool program on any given day of the school year. Before taking your child home, take considerable time to evaluate your reasons to be certain to provide the time and resources to commit to this new responsibility and lifestyle.

2. Be Informed

Acquaint yourself with information pertaining to the homeschooling option. Call our office or e-mail us for assistance. Check your local public library and contact someone in your area. Local support groups are located in most BC communities and a listing is provided on our web site.

3. Register

Your child ages 6-16 must be registered by September 30th in either a public school program, independent School or with a Distance Education which is the correspondence program provided free of charge from the Ministry of Education. Students will not receive any recognition from the Minister of Education for academic work unless enrolled in correspondence with Distance Education or participating in a current "alternative" program which assesses student progress. Otherwise, no one will be marking, grading or checking on your "learning program" other than the parent. BCHSA can assist families with their individual Education Plan in the parent chooses to use their own programs.

4. Transfer Child's Registration

The Public school that your child is registered in on September 30th is the school that will receive the funding. If you are planning to home school after September 30th you may simply inform the school that you will be taking your child home to school and the child can remain registered at the present school. A local public school registering a home school student presently receives 1/8th funding for administration cost whereas an Independent School receives 1/16th of the full-time student from The school has no obligation to provide the student with resources, field trips or services other than testing upon the parents request. Some schools may request a registration fee or book deposit. Offering supports and/or services to a home school student is entirely left to the deciding authorities in each school. An alternative Choice would be to transfer the student's registration to an Independent school that offers support to Home School families and BCSHA can provide recommendations. Another choice is to enroll the student in a Distance Education Program. The only information that the school registration requires is the child's full name, birth date, telephone, gender, and personal education number.