New Zealand Homeschooling
Welcome to educating at home in New Zealand! We have a wide
range of education beliefs and styles, from those who are doing
school at home, through to those who are unschooling. NZ citizens
and residents are required to send their children to school between
the ages of 6 and 16 unless they have obtained a Certificate
of Exemption (from attendance at school) in order to homeschool.
To apply for the certificate, a form is filled out, and if the
Ministry of Education is satisfied, the certificate is issued.
You may be visited at any time by an Education Review Officer
to establish whether you are "teaching as regularly and
as well as a state school". Reviews are by random selection
and around 10% of the parents of exempted children are reviewed
each year. Home education in New Zealand is now recognised as
a valid education alternative and an increasing number of people
are choosing this option. If you would like to contact someone
about homeschooling in New Zealand, Phil and Lynette Astley's
website at Kiwi home Educators
is a good place to start.
-Mike & Lynette Woods
Associations
The Home Education Foundation
A charitable trust established to encourage Christians to take
up the option of educating their children at home and to support
them in their task.
The National Council of Home Educators of New Zealand
An incorporated society set up to encourage, promote, inform
and advance the cause of home education in New Zealand at a national
level.
Legal Information
ERO
- Review Process - Homeschooling
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department
that reports on the education of students in schools and early
childhood services, as well as on the education of exempted (or
homeschooled) children.
Getting
Started
There are a hundred and one questions that come to mind as one
contemplates the concept of homeschooling their own children.
A few of the more common questions are only briefly dealt with
on HEF's pages. The best source of in-depth knowledge is to talk
to a homeschool veteran.
NZ Legal
and Administrative Issues
Learn why NZ homeschoolers refer to themselves as "Prunes"
while also reading up on the way to legally homeschool in New
Zealand.
Online
Auckland South Home Educators
ASHE exists to inform members about home educating events in our area and around Auckland, and to provide a forum to buy, sell or share home education resources.
ChedNet NZ
The Christian Home EDucation NETwork Email Discussion Group. Discuss curricula from a Christian worldview. Moderated by Craig Smith, National Director of Christian Home Schoolers of New Zealand.
Christian Textbooks - NZ Homeschooling
This email group is for NZ homeschoolers (aka home educators :-)) who use Christian textbooks (eg ABeka, Bob Jones, Apologia) as a part (no matter what size) of their homeschooling programme ... and any other NZ homeschooler interested in being a part of this group.
Classical Christian Home Education Network of New Zealand
This discussion group is for those Christian families who would like to be training their children to think and not just to be concentrating on output (for exams or the ERO).
CM and Friends - Australians, New Zealanders-Down-Under
We are Aussie, Kiwi, New Guinea and nearby region families, using Charlotte Mason-inspired, living books, literature-rich, 'wholehearted child', and 'lifestyle of learning' approaches.
Diana Waring History Alive discussion group
For those who are using the Waring resources in New Zealand. Your questions can be directed to Diana Waring herself when necessary.
Harvest-Curric-Swap-NZ
A New-Zealand e-mail list for buying and selling used homeschool curriculum.
HefNet
The New Zealand based Home Education Foundation email list discussion NETwork. Moderated by Craig Smith, a trustee of the Home Education Foundation based in New Zealand.
Home Educators, Non-Christian
HENC is intended for Home Educators of either no religious persuasion, or of a religious persuasion other than Christianity. The purpose of the list is support for non-Christian Home Educators who exist in a largely Christian HE world.
Kiwi Mayhem
This is an Auckland based contact group for home-educated youth ages 13-18.
NZ Home Educators
An inclusive forum in which New Zealand Home Educators can discuss ideas, issues, questions, concerns, resources, etc., as well as to provide support, advice and encouragement for each other.
NZ Unschoolers
Intended for unschoolers living in New Zealand, interested in unschooling in New Zealand in the future, or those interested in finding out what unschooling means within New Zealand.
Radical Unschoolers Aotearoa
A small, friendly co-operatively run mailing list based in New Zealand. Here purist unschoolers (and wannabe purist unschoolers) can offer each other support, advice, and ideas.
Waikato Activities
A notice board. It is intended to provide information about activities and events of an educational nature, that may be relevant to homeschoolers and are taking place in the Waikato region of New Zealand or within a few hours drive.
Weka NZ
A group for home-educated kids, ages 9-13, to make new friends and share information.
Resources
Boom Family - Music
With Heart
Singing homeschool family and creators of "The Happy Prince"
book and CD to help support an impoverished child. Rosie Boom's Blog.
Catlins Wildlife
Trackers Ecotours and Accommodation
Ecotourism trips emphasise learning about and seeing nature with
us. We're a homeschool family in Owaka, New Zealand.
EducatION
An independant, free-for-all community website dedicated to
helping kids, homeschooling parents and other educators get
the most out of learning and life.
Homeschooling NZ
When I first started homeschooling, I spent hours on the internet looking for sites that would be useful and educational for my children.
ERO
Reviews of Homeschooled Students
In the 1999/2000 financial year, as part of its accountability
review programme in schools, early childhood and other services,
ERO undertook accountability reviews of students granted exemption
from schooling.
Father and
Child
Shows dads in their various roles, their joys and their struggles,
their parenting and their problems. Some articles about a father's
role in homeschooling.
Harvest-Curric-Swap-NZ
A New-Zealand e-mail list for buying and selling used homeschool
curriculum
The
Homeschool Page
Educational articles and ideas largely aimed at homeschooling
young children. Created by NZ homeschoolers, Jackie and Theo
van Oostrom of Wanganui.
Kiwi Home Educator
Large site with lots of resourses for homeschoolers in New Zealand.
The
Quality of Homeschooling
This report summarises the findings of the Education Review Office
(ERO) on the quality of education provided for homeschooled children.
It aims to identify those features of a programme that benefit
homeschooled children.
Rockpool Homeschool
There are overseas reviews sites, but they donçt cater for our unique needs as Australian and New Zealand homeschoolers. Does the history program we want to use have a US centric focus? Will the phonics program cope with our accents? What about all the wonderful products made especially for us that are not even mentioned on overseas review sites? Well, we think we have the solution.
Support
Groups
Auckland Home
Educators
An incorporated society of home educating parents living in the
greater Auckland region, who actively facilitate their children's
education on a full-time basis.
Canterbury Home Educators
CHE presently has a membership of approximately 224 families.
During the year, many of these families get together and
organise shared activities and resources for their children's
benefit.
The Home Educators Network Inc
THEN is based in Hamilton, Waikato, NZ. Quarterly newsletter,
Swimsafe lessons, outings, picnics, science & social
studies fairs, networking and support. Yahoo
Group.
Wellington
Home Schoolers Association
We encourage and help home schooling parents in the greater Wellington
area to foster the fullest development of their children's potential.
Whangarei Home
Educators
A non-profit organisation who take education for their children
seriously, believing that each individual deserves to have a
chance to receive a high quality education.
Support
Group Lists
NZ Home
Schoolers On-line
List of email addresses and websites of New Zealand homeschoolers.
|