Home Schooling’ or ‘home education’, is where a parent of a learner of a compulsory school-going age may provide education for his/her own children at home.
As many parents are still hesitant to send their children back to school, the Minister of Basic Education has agreed that parents can apply for exemption for school attendance by registering for home-schooling. Parents who would like to home school, need to apply to the head of their Provincial Education Department.
Documents required for application:
Parent/s certified ID copy
- In the case of foreign nationals, certified copies of passport/ study permit/ work permit/ Asylum document are required
- Last copy of school report (if the child was in school before, but if the child is only starting school now, you must attach an immunisation card)
- Weekly timetable which includes contact time per day
- Breakdown of terms per year (196 days per year)
- Learning programme
- Certified copy of child’s birth certificate
The application process might take up to 30 days to be processed but learners can continue home-schooling during the application period.
CAPS is a structured curriculum with assessments that was compiled by the South African Department of Basic Education. It prescribes what teachers must-do for every subject.
To home-school children, parents need to ensure that they follow the requirements, including that lessons offered to the learners fall within the scope of the compulsory phases of education set out below:
- Grade 1-3: Home Language; First Additional Language; Mathematics; Life Skills
- Grade 4-6: Home Language; First Additional Language; Mathematics; Life Skills; Natural Sciences and Technology; Social Sciences (Geography and History)
- Grade 7-9: Home Language; First Additional Language; Mathematics; Life Orientations; Natural Sciences; Technology; Social Sciences (Geography and History); Economic Management & Science; Creative Arts.
The information provided below is sourced from the Department of Basic Education website and contains the curriculum that must be used to regulate both the DBE and IEB exams. It is categorised under Home Languages, First Additional Languages, Second Additional Languages, Non-languages in English as well as Non-languages in Afrikaans.
The information below is sourced from Cambridge International Website and contains the curriculum that is used by Cambridge home-schooling:
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/
Parents are required to keep the following records when homeschooling:
- Record of attendance
- Portfolio of work
- Portfolio of the educational support given to the child
- Evidence of the continuous assessment of the child’s work
- Evidence of the assessment and/or examination at the end of each year
- Evidence at the end of Grade 3, 6 and 9, that shows whether your child has achieved the outcomes for these grades.
If parents do not send their children back to school, they are required to teach their children from home and are able to use a curriculum of their choice.
Basic prerequisites needed to home school:
A tablet or laptop
- Internet access – ADSL, LTE, or a fibre connection
- Timetable for teaching and learning- If you need help with setting up a timetable, here is a daily schedule that can guide you and your children with staying on track: https://www.calendarpedia.com/weekly-schedule-word-templates.html
- A printer (especially for younger children who need to write and colour)
Parents should have a suitable understanding of the outcomes required for each subject and term.
Implementing learning at home is also about taking a more holistic approach that includes factoring in play and exercise. If your child’s school has handed out learning packs, make sure you have them on hand. If possible, look through the packs and search the internet to see if there are ways to supplement the learning topics with e-learning.
Parents can download FREE learning resources from www.schoolclub.co.za. School Club offers the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) resources and other support material parents will need from their website.
There also other free channels and websites available to assist with learning:
| ü DBE TV on Channel 122 OVHD |
| ü www.read.org.za |
It is also important that your children are engaging in physical activities. You can add playtime into your timetable as a reward for completing schoolwork. Apart from this, you can also encourage your children to take part in hobbies.
Parents know best how their children learn. Every family is unique, so they need to find the home education method that works best for them and their children. There is also no right or wrong way to home educate. Home Education is about the holistic development of your children and parents can best guide their children on their journey of discovery and development.
Application forms and processes on how to register your child for homeschooling can be downloaded here for each province:
Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
North West
Northern Cape
Western Cape
References:
bizcommunity/homeschool
Main Picture: AW Creative
Thanks to Annie Spratt for sharing their work on Unsplash.
