Homeschooling in South Africa
Homeschooling in South Africa became legal in 1996. Since then the number of children being homeschooled in South Africa has risen steadily. We have students in many South African cities including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria.
We pride ourselves on the quality of our course materials and the online learning platform used by students to access their courses, submit assignments and correspond with their Tutors. We look forward to welcoming your child into the fast growing community of families in South Africa homeschooling their children with Wolsey Hall.
Should I Register With The Department Of Education?
The SA Schools Act requires parents to register their children for education if they are being taught at home. This registration must be done at the provincial department of education.
In practice however, some provincial departments do not have the administrative capability to register children for home education. Some of the larger provincial departments may have limited administrative capabilities, but unfortunately the officials in these departments have a very narrow understanding of home education and the law on home education. These officials often require parents to meet all sorts of requirements that are not stipulated by the law. Because of this, more than 95% of homeschooling parents in South Africa do not register with the department.
How To Do Homeschooling In South Africa
Step 1 – Join the Pestalozzi Trust
The Pestalozzi Trust is the homeschool legal defence association that defends the rights of home educating families in South Africa. You can download the membership application forms online and pay by EFT. Go to www.pestalozzi.org
This is so that you can sleep well at night and not worry about the legal aspects of home education. The decision to register with the Department of Education or not is a complex one which must be an informed decision. Registering for Homeschooling will explain why.
You must join the Pestalozzi Trust before there is any potential conflict with government officials. There is unlikely to be, but you will have peace of mind and support the work the Trust does to guard our freedom to choose home education.
Step 2 – Notify the School
Notify the school that you are withdrawing the child/ren if they are already at school. You don’t owe the school a long explanation. Keep it short and businesslike.
Simply send them a very short letter or email
- notifying the school that you have transferred your child to home education and
- asking the school to prepare the necessary transfer certificates for the child/ren.
(You don’t actually need the transfer certificates, but they need to do this admin!)
Give them as little information as possible and avoid any potential conflict.
Step 3 – Start Deschooling
In home education communities, deschooling refers to a period of adjustment for children who have been schooled. They need some ‘down time’ to adapt to learning in a less structured environment. It is also a time of healing from the stress and emotional damage that they may have suffered during their time at school.
Give your child/ren a few months to “chill out” and deschool. You no longer have to keep up with the school system once you take them out.
Deschooling is even more important for parents, who have most probably spent at least 12 years being conditioned by the school system.
Parents need to make a mindshift. Replicating the school system at home is the worst way to implement home education, but since it is the way we ourselves were educated, this tends to be what most new homeschoolers have in mind. Don’t make that mistake!
You need to you do your homework well and gather the info you need to make good decisions for your family.
Read more about Deschooling and what to do during this time with your children.
Step 4 – Learn More about Starting Homeschooling
DO NOT RUSH TO BUY A CURRICULUM.
DO NOT RUSH TO BUY A CURRICULUM.
DO NOT RUSH TO BUY A CURRICULUM.
First take time to learn more about education and how children learn best. Break free from your ‘old school’ thinking and deschool your own mind.
You can give your child an excellent, customised education and let him/her progress at his/her own pace. Don’t implement school at home.
Your aim should be not only to give your children a good academic education, but also to help them develop the character traits, relationship skills and confidence they need to be successful at anything they set their minds to accomplish. This is almost more important than academic credentials, yet it is often most overlooked by new homeschool parents.
You will know when your child is ready to write a matric or an equivalent and when s/he is ready to be released to the next step on their journey. It might be at age 16 or 18 or 20 or anywhere in between. There is NO DEADLINE!!!
Buying a curriculum is the LAST THING YOU NEED TO DO!
Can I Send My Child Back To School?
Many parents are concerned that they will not be able to send their homeschooled children back to a formal school if circumstances change and they need to do so. A public school is not allowed to discriminate against children who have been homeschooled or use tests to place children in a certain grade. The admission policy for public schools states that: “26. Learners are to be admitted to public schools and placed in different grades in the school according to the age requirements published in the same notice. 11. The governing body of a public school may not administer any test relating to the admission of a learner to a public school, or direct or authorise the principal of the school or any person to administer such a test. ”
Can Any Parent Do Homeschooling?
Mothers have been uniquely created to be able to teach their children. A mother’s protective instinct means she almost always knows what is in the best interest of her children. A mother who can teach her children basic life skills, such as how to say “Please” and “Thank you“, can also homeschool her children.
