User:Crankymom/sandbox

Plan to create a new article called Home Schooling in Canada

In my article about home schooling it will focus on the history and trends of home schooling in Canada. Although there is an article on home schooling, it is not Canada specific. As homeschooling is on the rise in Canada, I think this would be a very useful addition to Wikipedia. More and more parents are choosing to teach their children at home. I will try to illustrate the main reasons for this and still present a neutral case. I will have an introduction, a section on the history, and a section on current trends. I am also considering a short section on the arguments against home schooling. The article will link back to the main article on home schooling. I will include references from television, journal articles, magazines, and newspapers. Viewpoints from the media, educators, parents and students will be included.

Bibliography

Crankymom (talk) 21:19, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I think this is a good addition, Crankymom. Your sources here are a good start - I imagine there isn't a lot of secondary historical sources in this field. But you might want to look at general histories of education to see if they include information about home schooling. And a caution about the Fraser Institute -- since they are notoriously right-wing in their perspectives, it would be beneficial to seek out an alternate perspective as well. Cliomania (talk) 21:53, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

On further consideration, you should also see if Sandra Hill published any part of her dissertation in a journal or book. The thesis could work, but some on Wikipedia see dissertations as too close to primary research, it seems. I see it as a useful sources, but do see if she's published similar research elsewhere. Cliomania (talk) 06:25, 28 February 2016 (UTC)

Home schooling in Canada

Home schooling was a typical method of instruction for children before the 19th century and the introduction of common schools. This was especially true for boys in rural communities as their labour was needed at home. Between 1900-1940, shortage of labour was second only to illness as the reason why children were schooled at home. By teaching their children themselves, families not only had their children's labour but could structure class time around harvest, helping with younger children, and other necessary tasks.

As schools became more common, the number of children being home schooled decreased. Also, since Education is a provincial responsibility in Canada, guidelines on home schooling vary from province to province. For instance, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec require formal lesson plans and evidence that the student has followed them while other provinces are not as strict on formal teaching methods. Reasons why parents choose to home school their kids include: ideology, religion, parents that frequently travel for work, health problems, and commitment to extra curricular activities such as swimming, gymnastics, and dance among others. Families find that home schooling allows them to be more flexible and allows them to include instruction on moral and religious teachings not covered in the public school system.

In the 1970s and 1980s, home schooling was seen as a challenge to the status quo, either that parents fundamentally disagreed with the curriculum, often based on philosophical or religious differences, or that parents saw it as their responsibility to teach their values and beliefs to their children directly if the structure of their life allowed for it. Since the 1990s, home schooling has been seen as a viable alternative for those who live in isolated communities or whose children require more one on one attention than the school system can logically provide, given its limited resources. Home schooling is once again on the rise. Statistics gathered by the Home School Legal Defense Association estimate that between 1-2% of children in Canada are now homeschooled, totalling approximately 60,000 children.

Home Schooling in British Columbia

Home schooling is supported in British Columbia by the British Columbia Home Learners Association. This association was formed in 1987 to help protect the rights of parents who choose to home school and to present a united front to the Sullivan Royal Commission on Education that was reviewing amendments to the School Act. This submission helped to ensure autonomy for BC home learners, and that they would not be required to follow the BC curriculum or submit to a school authority but would be allowed to create individualized education plans for their children based on their families' needs and priorities.

According to provincial legislation (specific bill? Source?), children who are home schooled in British Columbia must be registered by September 30 of their sixth year. Parents who home school are not required to follow curriculum guidelines but students who home school in grade 12 are not eligible for a Dogwood Diploma. Parents are completely responsible for content, learning outcomes, and methods of instruction. British Columbia also has a distributed learning program where students are mainly taught at home but spend limited time in a classroom, follow provincial curriculum and are supervised by a qualified teacher through their local school district. In this program, the student completes all provincial assessments and is able to receive provincial accreditation.

Home Schooling in Quebec

In Quebec, parents who home school are required to give their child an education equivalent to the education that would be received in the public school system. The primary reason given for this is so the child can re-enter the school system with their peers if circumstances change or if the parents change their minds about homeschooling. Parents are strongly encouraged to submit lesson plans to ensure that this requirement is being met. Primary reasons cited for homeschooling by those interviewed were a desire to pursue a family educational project; an objection to the organisational structure of the school system; a desire to offer curriculum enrichment; and finally, a preoccupation with their children's socioaffective development.

Hi, I just did some tiny line edits and took out a few redundant words here and there. The sourcing seems okay, but you talk about a few things where I didn't know where it was coming from so you may have to clarify where I left comments in parentheses. I'm wondering if you were planning on doing all of Canadian provinces? Other than that, looks good so far. Frozen-constellations (talk) 17:42, 31 March 2016 (UTC)