University and life after school

I thought it might be interesting to find out how many students completing the HSC go on to enter into University.  Here is what I found.

30% enter university
30% go to TAFE
30% enter the work force.

As for the other 10% well I am going to assume, they are unemployed and not pursuing further education, or perhaps a percent of these students are enjoying a 'Gap' year.

How about those who took the home education route?

We made a decision

Well it would seem we took the plunge and in January I submitted the application to homeschool Princess M.  The next few weeks I was met with the challenge of getting thing ready.  I had already spent time working out the kind of program I thought would both suit our needs and the requirements for the NSW Board of Studies (BOS). I founnd things either too broad, or not broad enough. Another decision to be made!  I was rather pleased with what I ended up with in the end. A lengthy, but open document, that showed direction.  We included, the why and how of each KLA, with a pretty good philosophy of education!

My AP came for our first home visit at the end of January, just under two weeks from when I submitted the application to homeschool.  I took the advise of the Home Education Association (HEA) and had a seasoned home educator, sit in on the AP visit.  For anyone starting out with the registration journey, I would recommend having a support person.  The visit went well and started with Princess M sharing the photo album of the things she had done during 2013.  AP seemed very impressed :)  Princesses M,A and V (MAV) went with Daddy and AP went through my program for the following year.  I was pleased in the end when I was told we could have a years registration, but she couldn't give us two years, because it was only our first registration. 

So here we are embarking officially on this journey and it is only through the grace of God that this journey can be made!
MAVMum

How Many Home Educate Their Children?

 I have been asked to put together some information on homeschooling.  I though rather than just presenting in a Word document, I would blog about the information I come across.

Homeschooling is an option for education that many parents are now choosing for their children.  In Australia there are between 29 000 and 60 000 homeschooled students.  In NSW during 2003 the BOS had 1400 students registered, by 2009 that number had grown to 2342 registered students and some data would suggest there being over 5000 students homeschooled in NSW.  

According to HEA it is estimated beweeen 1-2% of Australian school aged students are homeschooled.   

Further afield http://edudemic.com/2012/11/the-20-biggest-education-facts-you-should-know/
says there are over 1.4 Billion students over the world and 56 Million teachers world wide (K-high school) 

No matter what the numbers currently are, homeschooling is growing in Australia and with that growth comes more support networks for homeschooling families. The more people I talk to the more I am told by people they would love to homeschool their children!  

I can make a decision!

I think I have come to the conclusion that I don't always have problems making decisions, rather I have problems convincing people on what I have usually put a lot of effort into researching, thinking about and praying about. It seems that I am hardly ever the one to actually make the decision, but rather I wait around for other people to see what I have for what is sometimes years. I guess I need to realise that God is in control of all this.