Things one learns....
As a parent who has pulled her children out of school, I have chosen to remain, for the most part, within a sort of accreditation process. My children have a curriculum, there are expectations for their academic achievement and I try, sometimes very hard, to fit what they want to do and explore within the confines of our home and study habits. Admittedly, it can be a hard life. There is no television in this house Monday to Friday and, sometimes, that is a real pain. The school year never ends; we do take time off any time we want, weeks off in fact but, on the whole, for every month, there is, at least, three weeks of school. There are no summer holidays; there are weeks of holidays, usually 2 weeks in August to correspond with my husband's holidays. But we live a pretty structured life. There are other responsibilities with which I must contend but, on the whole, education is happening all the time, round the clock. We have chosen to live this way and that is okay. It is not for everybody. Having said all this and knowing our routine is listed on the sidebar, I must now talk about University.
Two things must be noted at this point: 1) my oldest child is three years away from actually applying to post-secondary studies. I tend to research things and make sure I know what is going before I make decisions or enable my daughter to make decisions. Maybe I am pushy. It could also be regarded as the responsible duty of a parent whose child will not encounter a guidance councilor throughout their high school experience. 2) I personally know 1 homeschooler who has been accepted at an accredited university. There are lots of stories around about the independently educated who have successfully entered university; I know of 1 person. Needless to say, I actually find this piece of information a tad disconcerting. Surely there would be more graduates around seeing as home education seems to be a valid educational option and is so apparently popular. But, in my social awareness, there aren't. I have heard of other students who have gotten into university, did an email correspondence with a parent and know 1 person. I have a suspicion not as many get into post-secondary institutions as I would like to think do. Maybe others know better....(For the sake of clarity, I include colleges in my idea of post-secondary institution.)
Why I think this really...
My oldest daughter is in grade 10; she is enrolled in high school Science courses through a virtual, provincially-run school board; as all of her exams must be proctored, there is no debate with the marks. All of my children participate in math tests; kangaroomath is run out of the University of Toronto; the Cayley and Gauss tests are run out of the University of Waterloo; there are lots of other math tests and math olympiads around and I do know about a lot of them. I also know, regardless of marks, homeschoolers can use these tests for admission purposes only not scholarship application. For a point of reference, most independently educated students cannot apply for first year scholarships. There are civic and volunteer scholarships, History and Chemistry Exam scholarships of which I am aware that may be used but I know of no university that allows a homeschooled student to apply for a first year scholarship. Think about it: how could they possibly prove their marks? Further, most of these math exams are directed towards school participation. For example, the Tournament of Towns Math Exam requires a team and it is just logistically easier to run through a school program. Having said all this, I must discuss my first email discussion with an university college assistant registrar and the processes required for university application for a home schooled student.
There are none.
My first email to the registrar was a request to discuss my daughter's current academics sometime within the next month. In response, I was directed to the University application process for home schooled students. Having seen the site before I sent my first email, I can tell you it directed me to the Ontario University Application Board, I forget the acronym, and the fees and processes involved. I wrote back to the assistant registrar that I had already looked at this site, found it wanting and, as this was my alma mater, I needed some clarification on the following issues: 1)as my daughter is home schooled but taking Science credits from a virtual high school, how does she apply? 2)my daughter has valid math exam marks and science credits, but no high school diploma; how may she submit a portfolio demonstrating her work? 3)with respect to English, my daughter has no marks but was recently accepted as a junior intern for a National magazine; could the article she is supposed to write be used to demonstrate her literary skill?
I am still awaiting a response.
There are 3 years yet before my daughter actually applies to university; but I do know and understand there are requirements to be met, justifiably so. I have no problem with standards; but, I think, my experience highlights the fact there is no established protocol for independently educated students. It is a serious business and parents who fail to consider this reality are, sadly, misled. I hope the assistant registrar will email some direction or detail what was a previously used method for the assessment of the home educated. I find the whole thing rather scary. For all the popularity of home education, I would really like to know the statistics on actual applications and acceptances. My suspicion again is that there aren't as many home schoolers applying to university as one might think; the fact there isn't a protocol tells me as much.
