The me that homeschools is very excited today. I finally got my letter from Premier David Bartlett to say that as of the 1st of October 2009 I am officially a member of the THEAC council. This is definitely an exciting time for me and one that I look forward to as the other council members are wonderful people and I can’t wait to be on Council with them!
The me that homeschools is excited about attending my first meeting with the THEAC council earlier today. I was greatly enthused about the positive energy that just poured out of the council meeting. I must also say that I am extremely happy about becoming a part of such a wonderful group of people, who care deeply about home education in Tasmania and where it is headed.
Well, we just had our monitoring interview today, for THEAC – The Tasmanian Home Education Advisory Council, for the first time. It was supposed to go for around 1 hour, but lasted for just over 2. The lady who did it was amazing and put us at ease very quickly and the whole process was very informal, but enlightening as well to say the least. We enjoyed showing her everything we have been up to, all the hard work DD has done and all the records we keep, she was very impressed with the record keeping and said it was ‘ALOT’ but never the less it was very impressive… I personally did not think it would be much at all… but I am pleased she felt it was more than I needed.
We talked about Maths and the things we use to learn this, English the same, and how we incorporate social opportunities, support, L.O.T.E, science, history, PE, etc etc etc into our life. We talked about routine or the lack of it! and at the end we were informed that we passed without any issues and they will come back in twelve months, and then again if all is still well every 2 years to monitor us! – which is great news!.
We are all so very excited at passing the monitoring, which for us seemed like such a huge thing, but really was so nicely done in a real supportive manner
Going now to celebrate!
Well we have finally sent off our proposed program for home schooling Phinee in Tasmania and received a letter back from The Tasmania Home Education Advisory Council – THEAC saying that our application has been approved and our status is ‘pending’ until we have a person come out and assess our program and make a recommendation, as to whether or not, our program is acceptable and then once the recommendation is made, hopefully we will receive a letter of Approval to home educate Phinee.
It’s is amazing just how different the rules are for Home education from state to state in Australia. In Victoria, when we decided to home educate our children, we just pulled them out of school and registered them and our application was accepted. That was it, once accepted you just taught your child how you wished, no monitoring, no assessment.
Here in Tasmania, however you need to submit your proposed education program in order to have THEAC consider your application. Once they receive it, you are given the go ahead to home school your child or children, though only once THEAC have looked at your proposed program and provide you with a letter stating you now have a ‘PENDING’ application. Once you receive your letter stating your home education program is PENDING approval you have to wait until a visit is organised for some one to come out to your home and assess your home education program. Apparently they interact with yourself and your child and then they submit their recommendation regarding your proposed educational program to the Minister. Then if the recommendation is favorable and accepted, you get a letter stating you are approved for homeschooling.
In Tasmania, you are also required to have regular monitoring of your child’s progress and your education program. The frequency of these visits varies and I believe is dependent on a variety of aspects and information. Now that we have the letter stating our proposed home education program has pending status we can officially start homeschooling our daughter in Tasmania. We are looking forward to having our Initial visit and receiving what will hopefully be a favourable recommendation and therefore grant us our approval to home school.
Why not visit the Home Education Tasmania Community Website!
