Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on Home Education in South ... · encouraging homeschooling….: i...

HOMESCHOOLING CURRICULUM GUIDE ON

Home Education in South Africa

by Willemien Krüger

my

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gold

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ond

This book is dedicated to my friend Helena who has been

share information from the day she started the home education

journey with her children. She is also an honest mom growing in this journey of learning to enjoy

home education.

HOMESCHOOLING CURRICULUM GUIDEon

HOME EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

by Willemien Krüger

Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on


Copyright © 2013 by Willemien Krüger at:

www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com

This book is for encouragement and educational purposes

only. Permission for personal use is granted.

All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic

(photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior

permission in writing from the author.

Find support to continuously improve your homeschool on

www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com pointing YOU in

the right direction, whether you are starting out homeschooling

or have been doing this for a while.

ISBN: 978-0-9922150-3-3

eISBN:

Cover & Layout design:

Designwave

www.designwave.co.za

Preface:

The Homeschooling Curriculum Guides series will

be pointing YOU in the right direction as it provides

lots of practical answers to questions by parents

investigating homeschooling. As you read this guide, it

will help you:

Understand details regarding the South African law

on home education

Understand how homeschooling in SA was established

Understand who and what the Pestalozzi Trust (legal

defence fund) is and have their contact details

Get to know South African websites providing help

See some of the well known curriculum providers

Learn how support groups and Expos work

Understand in SA

Read information on the concept of a home ‘school’

Read more detail on Legal issues in South Africa as

well as

Get a detail insight into options for Matric and

University admission

This book has been developed for the public interested in

home education in South Africa. This guide is best read

as companion to all the other guides in the series.

v

The seven guides included in the Homeschooling Curriculum

Guides series currently are, in order of a recommended

reading strategy:


CONSIDERING HOME EDUCATION


HOW TO START HOME EDUCATION


CHILD DEVELOPMENT PHASES




ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND SOCIALIZATION


THE 7-STEP PROCESS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOMESCHOOL


A PERSONAL ECLECTIC CURRICULUM

websites are active and current during the publication

process. If any link is not active, I do apologize. Please

inform the author.

vi

Contents

Preface: ........................................................................................................................................v

1. INTRODUCING HOME SCHOOLING – THE

MORE EXCELLENT WAY ......................................................................1

2. HOMESCHOOLING IN SOUTH AFRICA –

THE BETTER CHOICE .................................................................................3

2.1. South Africa’s education system ..................................................4

2.2. The law on home education in South Africa .........6

2.3. The establishment of homeschooling in South

Africa .............................................................................................................................................7

2.4. Homeschooling is growing strong in South

Africa .............................................................................................................................................8

2.5. Home education builds strong families in

South Africa ......................................................................................................................12

2.6. The Pestalozzi Trust - why a legal defence

fund if homeschooling is legal? ...........................................................15

2.7. Well-known curriculum providers in SA ......................16

2.8. Qualifications in South Africa ...................................................17

2.9. Can I put my child into a home-‘school’? .................22

3. HOMESCHOOLING NETWORKING IN SA......25

3.1. South African websites for help ...............................................26

3.2. Homeschool expos .....................................................................................27

3.3. Support groups ................................................................................................28

3.4. Yahoo groups .....................................................................................................30

3.5. Curriculum-related support groups ....................................33

vii

4. APPENDICES:...........................................................................................................34

4.1. Appendix 1 - Legal issues in South Africa ..............34

4.2. Appendix 2 – Matric and admission to

University ...............................................................................................................................39

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................52

viii

1. Introducing home schooling – the more excellent way

believes that home education is the best option

for creating independent thinkers and nurturing

their natural talents and interests”…. said by

announcement of Old Schoolhouse Expo 2010.

Homeschooling is not so much about schooling as

about educating your own children at home. For

many of us this already implies a big paradigm shift

since we have grown up with schooling and education

school away from home and education was done at home.

In reality homeschooling is about integrating the two, and

maybe the word is a misnomer. The truth is that when you

homeschool you educate and every time you educate you

are ‘schooling’. It is also true that a good education will

support you in life anywhere and all the time. If your child

is homeschooled there may be time and opportunities

available which are not provided by a school system

requiring conformance to pre-set requirements. I truly

1

believe that potential is not only not developed, but even

lost in the constraints any human designed system has.

Many parents are considering the school systems and they

perceive the loneliness, the insecurity, loss of creativity

and interest and the boredom their children experience,

and usually this is the starting point for many to consider

home education. Others may have known all along that

the school system did not develop their own potential and

has therefore considered home education from the start as

the way to educate their own children.

What is home education in short:

It is a wonderful journey of educating your children that

one undertakes in faith…the path is not clearly marked.

COMMITMENT you and your family make

to each other.

It is not just a good idea; it is so much more than that.

It is personal decision you make with your heart, and

your head follows later.

It is the right thing to do.g to do.

2

2. Homeschooling in South Africa – the better choice

Homeschooling or home education is legal in South

Africa and is a fast growing market at about

20% per year. According to many media reports

(see below), the education system in South Africa is not

improving. Therefore, parents in SA will have to face the

fact that their decision to keep or to

put their children in schools will

have long-term consequences. It

is important that parents realize

that they do have a choice in

education. Homeschooling in SA

is the same concept as internationally and therefore all the

information provided can be read as applicable in SA.

It is important that parents realize that

they do have a choice in the matter of their children’s education.

3

2.1. South Africa’s education system

A number of articles appeared in the media

system is questionable:

Beeld newspaper – School shock, children cannot read

or count

Beeld newspaper - Most in SA want private schools

Rapport newspaper –

Cape Times newspaper –

varsities

Fair Lady magazine – Teaching in turmoil


teaching is endangered)


no joke

Business Day newspaper –

There were also a number of articles explaining and

encouraging homeschooling….:

Woman’s Value magazine – Lessons at home where

the experience of two mothers with homeschooling is

discussed and some advice on homeschooling is given.

Beeld newspaper – Oos, wes, tuisleer bes (East, west,

home learning best) is a long article in Afrikaans on the

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improved performance of homeschooled children above

the public educated children. Dierdre Bester’s research

paper is also discussed.

Taalgenoot magazine - Education options for you

children, where research done by Dr Esther de Waal

and Dierdre Bester is cited indicating that people who

choose to home educate their children in SA do so for

similar reasons as in the USA. It is also stated that there

are a number of advantages to homeschooling, but that

Beeld newspaper – Tuisleerlinge vaar baie beter

in language and numbers skills than their school

counterparts.

The Pretoria News newspaper – The pros and cons of

homeschooling, where homeschooling is discussed as a

new trend in education as more South African parents

choose to teach their children at home.

Beeld newspaper – Leer tuis as boelies pla, (Teach at home

if bullies bother) where safety reasons are discussed as

another motivator for teaching your children at home,

and positive results are discussed.

5

2.2. The law on home education in

South Africa

Section 51 of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 (SASA) provides that parents may register their children (learners) for education at home.

Act) unless there is legitimate reason for not doing so.

SASA provides three exceptions to the rule that children

a) A child may be exempted from compulsory school

these have been used in the past for children who, for some reason such as long-term illness, severe disability or distance from schools cannot reasonably be expected

b) A child may be registered for education at home (Section 51 SASA). Such a child must receive an education that meets the minimum requirements of the curriculum and the standard of education in state schools. The parents must also comply with such other reasonable conditions as the education department may set.

c) There may be “just cause” as contemplated in Section

notice from the provincial head of education to fail to

send a child to school.

6

2.3. The establishment of

homeschooling in South Africa

Since the end of 1996 homeschooling is expressly

provided for in South African law. The Association

for Home Schooling was established in 1992, when

homeschooling was still actively repressed by the previous

government. Homeschooling was incorporated into the

in parliament, and after the Home School Legal Defense

Association of the USA exercised political pressure to have

homeschooling recognized in South Africa. In 1998 a legal

defence fund for home education, the Pestalozzi Trust, the

legal defence fund for home education was established in

South Africa. It guards over the interests of homeschoolers

homeschooling parents.

“Historically, therefore, legal recognition of home

education came against the will of a reluctant government.

placing a wide variety of stumbling blocks in the path of

home schooling families in South Africa.” [Quote from an

undated brochure supplied by the Pestalozzi Trust – the

legal defence fund for home education in South Africa,

available at www.pestalozzi.org.]

7

2.4. Homeschooling is growing

strong in South Africa

Home education is growing more popular in South

Africa, just as it is doing in the rest of the world.

According to current estimates, the number of

homeschoolers in South Africa can be in the order of

van der Eems from the Association for home schooling.

He is also the manager of the website Association for

Homeschooling.

An article appeared recently in a national newspaper

with the title – Homeschooling growing more popular. In the

USA homeschoolers are growing at a rate of 75% over

homeschoolers in the USA. In Australia, the number of

homeschoolers has doubled from 2008 to 2012. Even in

China, where home education is unheard of, there is a

growing interest in this alternative education model.

The primary reasons why parents choose home education

include dissatisfaction with academic quality provided

at schools, and concerns with the school environment

(safety, drugs, peer pressure). Even though these are

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usually considered public school related issues, there is a

growing concern in private schools as well.

There is a general consensus that public schools in South

in this situation. Everywhere in the world, public

schools are failing at providing mature adults who can

real world of work. The generation needed to function

in the 21st century is not educated and prepared well for

the challenges they will face, especially where teaching

models are funded by taxes and managed by politics.

statistics of youth unemployment.

Parents who have lost their trust in the school system,

is choosing home education for their children. This

are educated in a safer environment with people with

whom they have a personal relationship and whom they

each child’s unique requirements, children can progress

according to their own pace and no child can really fall

‘behind’.

Estimates on the number of homeschoolers currently

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included a question on homeschooling as an option. If

the rate of growth is the same as in the US, then South

000 in a few years. Parents who are serious about their

as an alternative. Information on homeschooling aims to

empower parents to make informed decisions regarding

home education and connect people to support each

other.

In an interesting study by United Family International

(an organization which supports families as the building

block of society) amongst their own members, 66% of

parents indicated that they are considering homeschooling

in the future even though they are not doing it currently.

The total number of learners in South Africa currently

are estimated at 12 million in public schools. This

means that homeschooled learners are nearly 1% of the

total learners. As parents are becoming more aware of

Google Trends indicates South Africa as the country with

the second largest number of searches on the keyword

‘homeschooling’.

10

province currently are as follows (from province with

most to least):

Gauteng about 21 000

Kwazulu Natal about 18 000

Eastern Cape about 12 000

Western Cape about 10 000

Limpopo about 10 000

Mpumalanga about 7000

North-West about 6000

Free State about 5000

Northern Cape about 2000

11

2.5. Home education builds strong

families in South Africa

As home education is not only about academics,

homeschooling can also be seen as a very important

contributor to building strong family relationships.

Home education is not only something that is good for

children but it builds healthy families. Healthy families

in turn build a strong society with values from which all

Research done on the topic of healthy families found the

following interesting facts (from www.sahomeschoolers.

org

The average number of children per family has fallen

are not growing in numbers.

Marriages are not increasing but divorce rates are

a broken home.

More families have both mom and dad working outside

the home, resulting in parents spending only 10 to 12

hours per week with their children. This implies that

children are spending MUCH MORE time with peers

12

the child and not the parents’. It is also this situation

which can probably explain the generation gap the best,

as communication with parents are not supported or

encouraged and relationship building are not happening.

Lots of children are raised without an actively involved

dad.

The above will shape the social environment in schools.

These might be reason enough for parents to consider

home education. When you home educate, a whole

following (from www.sahomeschoolers.org accessed on

Homeschooling families are more positive about children

and the future than the average family in society.

Since parents and children spend a lot of time together,

family relationships are build and families grow

stronger.

When parents homeschool their own children, it is

their value system that are shaping the child’s value

system. In most cases these values are of such worth

there is not a gap between value systems of the parents

and children, with the resulting misunderstandings and

In most families who homeschool, the dad plays an

important role in the home and is usually actively

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involved in his family’s activities. This provides very

important identity input in children’s lives.

When children are home educated the family’s faith are

not only taught but also modelled with the advantage

that children not only learn about it but also to live out

their faith actively.

Home education should however not be seen as the cure for

all family issues. It is something that should be considered

carefully as it takes a heart commitment. To support you

to homeschooling read the Homeschooling Curriculum Guide

on Considering Home Education. Too many parents do not

is sad, as school can often contribute to problems in family

relationships.

14

2.6. The Pestalozzi Trust - why

a legal defence fund if

homeschooling is legal?

Although homeschooling in South Africa is legal

there may still be some confusion, especially on

registration processes and concerns for parents

who are interested in homeschooling their children. The

Pestalozzi Trust is the national legal defence fund for home

law in South Africa with respect to home education. They

a regular basis. They can also be invited for an information

session to your area. For the latest updates on legal issues

visit the Pestalozzi Trust website or contact them in

Karin van Oostrum.

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