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Catalogue

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Getting Started with Homeschooling
Practical Considerations for
School Aged Children

by Beverley Paine

The original Australian homeschooling manual

ISBN 1876651008, Paperback, 132 pages,
210mm x 290mm, illustrated, 1997

Purchase from Catalogue

Packed with practical information and examples, this book sets out in detail
how to write a learning program tailored for your child’s individual learning needs.
Plenty of actual of examples of ways to organise and evaluate lessons, as well
as excellent ideas for recording learning at home.

What readers think...

"The best book of its kind I've seen!"
Valerie Marett, Australian Homeschooling Supplies

"I have found Getting Started with Home Schooling to be a wonderful resource, full of ideas and practical considerations...and easy to read and relate to."  Carolyn

"This is the best advice available for home educators I've seen. It is balanced and thorough and very practical. It is easy reading and very accurate. Although Beverley is a SA. home educator, her advice on dealing with the authorities in Ch2 'Getting Started' is general and accurate enough to be still valid and useful. I recommend this book to new and nearly new home educators and because the 'Recording and Evaluation' chapter has some good ideas I hadn't come across, I'd recommend it to anyone who is re-evaluating their 'program.'" Colleen Strange, Home Education Association of Australia

"I've begun reading Getting Started with Home schooling - Practical Considerations by Beverley Paine. I'm only half way through it but it will definitely be one that I will be keeping handy on my shelf for easy reference. It is a great book which outlines in detail how to plan and organise a homeschooling program and related matters.
The various ideas that a homeschooling parent might have about how and what to teach to one's children eventually need to be consolidated into some sort of plan in order to implement those ideas. This book is a must read for anyone new to homeschooling as it provides a useful reference and outline of the many facets of homeschooling that need to be considered." Umm Hamza

"Getting Started with Homeschooling is fantastic!" Jo Jensen

"I found this book to be invaluable during my very early days of home schooling. I found the early days to be overwhelming and often felt I was floundering as I tried to work out how I would put home schooling into practice. This book is easy to read, and as well as giving the nuts and bolts of how to start home schooling, it also helped us develop our personal approach by giving us direction and areas to focus on such as family goals. It was helpful too in working out our curriculum for the next year when applying for government approval to home school." Louise Wilton

"It is good to see an Australian homeschooling book of this size and quality being produced to meet Australian needs... Beverly has tried to think of everything that a new homeschooling parent could ever wonder about..." Janine Banks

"This practical workbook, densely packed with Beverley's common sense ideas based on years of personal experience, is a comforting guide for parents just starting out on their homeschooling adventures." Grace Chapman, editor of Stepping Stones for Home Educators

What's in this book? Contents...

Introduction

Part 1
Home Education in Practice
1.1 What it means for the parents
1.2 What it means for the children

Part 2
Getting Started
2.1 Registering your intent to legally homeschool
2.2 The interview
2.3 General Requirements

Part 3
Developing a Curriculum
3.1 Preparing a philosophy statement
3.2 Researching other educational philosophies
3.3 Determining immediate educational goals
3.4 Educational approach

Part 4
Preparing the Learning Space
4.1 Physical environment
4.2 Attitude to learning
4.3 Determining your children's educational needs
4.4 Learning styles
4.5 Value of play in the learning environment
4.6 Useful materials for the learning space

Part 5
Writing a Learning Program
5.1 Implementing your curriculum
5.2 Putting it all together
5.3 Collecting resources
5.4 Idenfiying resources
5.5 Evaluating educational materials
5.6 Timetables and flexibility
5.7 Correspondence courses
5.8 Examples of learning programs

Part 6
Planning Methods
6.1 Learning how to program by planning "in reverse"
6.2 Brainstorming
6.3 K-W-L method
6.4 Traditional subject outline
6.5 Basic questions
6.6 Divergent questions
6.7 Language experience approach
6.8 Capitalising on spontaneous learning
6.9 Mind Mapping
6.10 Learning centres
6.11 Text and student workbooks
6.12 Using excursions
6.13 Natural learning approach
6.14 Summary

Part 7
Recording and Evaluation
7.1 The importance of recording
7.2 Involving the children
7.3 Areas to consider in the evaluation process
7.4 Evaluation techniques
7.5 Grades, levels, tests
7.6 What to record
7.7 Types of recording
7.8 Some recording examples
7.9 Summary

Part 8
Connecting with Other Homeschoolers
8.1 Networking
8.2 Setting up a support group
8.3 Promoting homeschooling

Part 9
Curriculum Checklists
9.1 Skills and Processes
- Skills: Independent Inquiry skills, Group work skills
- Processes: Listening and Speaking, Writing, Spatial awareness and mapping, - Reading, Research and Information Processing
9.2 Learning Activities
- Listening and Speaking
- Media Activities
- Forms of Writing
- Art and Craft Activities
9.3 Other Checklists
- Conventions of language
- Health and Personal Development
- Science
- Intercultural Studies
- Mathematics - number, space and measurement
Recommended Reading
Homeschooling Contacts and Newsletters
Bibliography

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About Home Education
Home education is a legal alternative to school education in Australia. State and territory governments are responsible for regulating home education and have different registration requirements, however homeschooling families are able, and encouraged, to develop curriculum and learning programs to suit the educational and developmental needs of their individual children.


Home Education Association
2010 Resource Directory

please select one
please record member number

Have a question about homeschooling?
Please join Beverley's Homeschool Australia Frequently Asked Question group. After 20 years of being a contact and support person Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries about homeschooling. Please join one of her yahoo groups (above) if you want to know more about homeschooling or have a question.

How to Order

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  • If you have any questions about the ordering process only please email us. All other questions join Homeschool Australia Frequently Asked Questions.

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Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.
Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 followed by many more titles on home education. She currently balances spending her time working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects and managing her extensive collection of websites and Yahoo groups.
In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and became a committee member in 2008, taking on the role of HEA Editor, and is responsible for coordinating the production of the newsletter, magazine (Stepping Stones for Home Educators), annual Resource Directory, and other HEA publications.