All is not equal

between the laws governing homeschooling policies and procedures between the provinces in Canada.

Most of our homeschooling has happened in the province of Ontario. I think we were somewhat spoiled by homeschooling there. While nothing was offered, nothing was expected. In other words.....while there was no funding extended to homeschoolers, no reporting or monitoring had to be given in return.

Tyler and Brittney both attended public school in Ontario. Tyler finished grade four Brittney, grade two. When we decided to homeschool, a letter stating our intent (along with each child's name and birthdate) was the only requirement. We hand delivered one to the principal of the school and sent a copy to the school board.

A couple of weeks later, we received a reply letter from the school board. They thanked us for letting them know and provided us with a couple of phone numbers should we wish to have our children take part in the provincial standardized testing (we didn't.....that's one reason we decided to homeschool....but that's a whole different post).

End of story. We had no further communication with the school or the board for the five years we continued to homeschooled there. No reporting, no monitoring, no testing. That suited us just fine....even though they did not extend us any funding either.

Homeschooling here in Newfoundland seems to be a lot different. Upon our first visit here, we were quite surprised by the requirements and stories relayed by other homeschoolers. Reporting and monitoring seems to be common procedure. I feel being so new here, we don't really have the right or the knowledge to properly comment on the laws and/or requirements. We are still learning as we go along.