The homeschooling solution
By Chris Simon
"The Scope" – Innisfil, February 17, 2010
Homeschool educator Heidi MacNeil teaches students on a small family farm near Stroud recently. About 20,000 students are homeschooled in Ontario.
On a small family farm between Stroud and Sandy Cove, there's an emerging trend to public education developing.
At that site, homeschool educator Heidi MacNeil is teaching 12 children ages three to six reading, writing, mathematics, French, science and other elements of the Ontario public education curriculum.
"It's something I always wanted to do," she said, watching several of the children play in a nearby room. "I decided just to take in a few children, and do it from home. I had three kids that I started with, and within the first month and a half it started to increase. They get to pick what they want to learn about. It's geared around them. They really enjoy it here, this is a happy little group. This is perfect."
MacNeil taught in the private school system for several years, before starting her homeschool in September 2008. The farmhouse's main level has been converted into the school, with designated classrooms, and play and kitchen areas. Parents pay a monthly fee, which includes supplies and most other costs.
Although exact figures are unknown, an estimated one to two per cent of all school-age children are homeschooled in North America. That includes about 20,000 in Ontario, and 60,000 across Canada, according to the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents, a non-profit advocacy organization.
The Ontario Education Act requires parents to provide a letter of intent, in order to homeschool their children. However, there are no specific standards for homeschool education. School boards are only required to investigate homeschools if there is a reasonable belief instruction is being withheld from students.
"Parents who decide to provide homeschooling for their child should notify the school board of their intent in writing," said Ministry of Education representative Patricia MacNeil. "Parents should provide the name, gender, and date of birth of each child who is receiving home schooling, and the telephone number and address of the home. If parents decide to continue to provide home schooling in subsequent years, they should give notification each year in writing prior to Sept. 1, to the school board in whose jurisdiction their child last attended school."
Heidi says many local parents are beginning to see home and private schooling as a positive alternative to the public and Catholic education systems. Although it can be expensive with private education generally ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 at facilities across the area, depending on grade levels and the number of classes per week students can receive
more intimate education.
Class sizes are often smaller, and students can learn at their own paces.
"It's a smaller group, they get a lot of individual reading," said Heidi. "I have five in my class (at given times), as opposed to 25. The Junior Kindergartens are on the cusp of reading, the Seniors are all reading, and my Grade 1's are reading words that parents are surprised by. If they're ready to learn, I move them ahead. And if they need the extra, they get that as well.
"It's open to all different stages of the learning process; it's individualized learning."
In fact, many of the students are ahead of their grade levels.
"When they go into the public system, they may be a little bored. I have some children here whose siblings are doing things in Grade 2 that my guys are doing in Grade 1," said Heidi. "It's a growing trend in Ontario; Simcoe County is huge for homeschooling. It's amazing the amount of people that homeschool their children. There are a lot of people looking for alternative education for their children."
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