Registered!

We had our registration application reviewed today with a representative from BOSTES visiting our home to look at my plans and record keeping system. She was very encouraging and helpful. After discussing what I have been working on with MissG and looking at the paperwork I had prepared for her, she advised me she is recommending we be approved for a 12 month period (the maximum allowable for a new registration) and that we will be reviewed again after that. This is pretty standard, I gather.

So, here is a quick summary of what I did to prepare for her visit.

I made a plan for what MissG and I will be doing this year. Simple!

I did it in steps.

1. I wrote a page outlining why I want to homeschool. This helped show that I have clear goals and outcomes in mind. It will also serve as a remind and focus as the year progresses.

image is a screen capture of the BOSTES curriculum page
on their website  http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au 

2. I looked at each Key Learning Area (KLA) on the BOSTES website (it's pretty comprehensive, easy to use and helpful)  and found the curricula I needed to teach: English, Maths, Science, History, Human Society and its Environment (HSIE), Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), Physical Education Health and Personal Development (PDHPE)  { http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au }

3. I made a document and copied and pasted in the outcomes BOSTES wants kids to achieve for the stage MissG is in.

4. I left links to where I got the information, and to the teaching content guidelines suggested by BOSTES in case I need to find them quickly later. I am not required to teach the same content schools do, but it's good to go look at that stuff to give me ideas and help me stay on track to meet outcomes.

5. I added my own plan of what we will be doing this year to work toward meeting the outcomes set by BOSTES. I don't actually have to stick to my plan.... I just have to have one. { I use an eclectic mix of student led and theme based learning, which is a fancy way of saying I watch and see what MissG is interested in, let her initiate the activities then I interact with her guiding and extending her learning. I do make suggestions and offer activities and experiences but if she is not interested, I try something else. More on this in another post later }

6. I made a system for recording what work MissG does and how it relates to the outcomes desired. I keep this system very simple. I take pictures and keep them with dated work samples and my notes in an online diary each dy. Once a week I sit down with the spreadsheet of outcomes I have and add the dates I observed outcomes achieved into he spreadsheet. It takes me a bout 5 mins a day, and then 15-ish mins once a week to collate.

7. I put it all in a folder with nice coloured dividers for each section.

That's it. Not complicated.

Now I just have to wait for the official certificate to arrive in the mail and we are all official!