This excerpt is from the book ‘The Homeschooling Handbook’ by Lorilee Lippincott, 2014. It is an excellent reference for all things homeschooling, and contains lots of lovely case studies from families who have successfully embarked upon this journey.
This particular chapter refers to a speech from Sir Ken Robinson on education in 2006. For those that aren’t familiar with Ken’s work, I would highly recommend that you watch some of his Ted talks. You are in for a treat.
He talks about a very important idea that relates to the fact that we don’t know what kind of a world we are training our kids for. Right now, we know that computer coding and security are growing fields for future employment, and we know that nurses are currently in demand, but if our children are only starting school now, what world will they live in twenty years from now?
When I look back, I can clearly see twenty years ago, that the world was very different to now and there is no way I could have predicted the changes we made. Twenty years ago, for us, we didn’t all have personal home computers, cell phones for children, televisions that screened 24 hours a day, social media accounts and 3D printers that printed tools for the astronauts in the space stations to fix satellites. It is a very different world to now, and twenty years isn’t very long ago.
The education system was originally designed with the end goal in mind of workers skilled to a particular level, able to undertake a certain kind of work. Those days have long passed. It is now not possible to predict exactly what skills our children will need to fulfil jobs in their futures. The jobs they will undertake possibly haven’t even been invented yet.
“Do our kids need more advanced math, better computer education, better environmental training, or do they need wilderness survival and disaster training? We really don’t know.
But instead of this being a reason to stay awake all night immobilised by fear, this can free us to pursue a deeper kind of learning. What Sir Ken Robinson points out is that we need to be teaching our children creativity. Instead of teaching them the knowledge for their future lives, we need to be teaching them the skills so they can adapt to whatever life brings”.
Well said Lorilee and I agree with you. There are certain skills that if children really grasp these during childhood, they will be well adjusted and adaptable for whatever future awaits them:
Obviously, the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic are important forms of communication and definitely still skills to learn, however a lot of those skills can be learned at the same time as the skills listed above are being honed. If your child embarks upon any career in their future, the skills listed above are all skills that will assist them achieve success.
When we choose to educate our children at home, we have the freedom to alter the curriculum to ensure that the skills above are being developed well alongside the core curriculum subjects we decide are important as a foundational base of knowledge to build upon.
Up to 2 hours of lessons a day, plus hands on activities means you can easily give your child a quality education at home.
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Please watch our getting started video which covers a lot of the questions you may have.
Below is a playlist of videos that cover the learning steps for each class, in reading, writing and maths. You may find this useful when applying for an exemption. There is also a short description of what we cover in each course on the course overview page.
Use the playlist button (top right of this youtube player) to skip between classes and subjects)
Home schooling applications are different in each country and region. Before you apply to have a homeschool exemption we suggest you follow these steps:
If you are in New Zealand, and need further help with your exemption, Cynthia Hancox has various resources on her website that can help, as well as an application writing service. Cynthia and her team have processed many exemptions for families planning to use Functional Education.
This question is on the MoE application form in New Zealand.
Functional Education delivers lessons that align with the standard NZ curriculum. They are designed to sequentially follow the natural learning progress for each year level. There are planning sheets provided for each topic covered and these sheets contain learning goals and outcomes so that parents can clearly see what the child is aiming to achieve. The senior classes from Class 4-7 have weekly spelling tests. Each topic is designed to have a project/presentation at its conclusion. Some children will present to their families, others will access our platform and share their projects with 'classmates' and receive/give peer feedback as part of this process.
School workbooks are kept as a record of the child's learning throughout the year, along with handcrafts, art and photographs.
We have numbered our classes as follows:
Class 1 - first year of schooling (could be any age between 5-7 depending on when you choose to start your child at school)
Class 2 - second year of schooling
Class 3 - third year etc
Class 6 and Class 7 are the 'Intermediate' years
You can reach Fran directly through Facebook Messenger, or contact us at info@functionaleducation.com. We’re a small team and we respond personally. You are not dealing with a help desk.
Fran’s teaching style is warm, calm, and consistent. Many parents tell us that children who flatly refused to participate in school activities are willing to try Functional Education — often because the classroom pressure is gone, the sensory environment is controlled, and the same familiar teacher shows up every day. The 7-day trial is the best way to find out. There is nothing to lose.
This is the question almost every parent asks. The short answer is: not with a structured programme in place. Functional Education covers all core learning areas at the appropriate level for your child’s year. Many families find that their child actually progresses faster at home, in an environment where the pace is theirs and the anxiety is lower.
Holidays are now a lot easier with weekly billing. Simply cancel your plan during the last week of school. Enjoy your holiday, then re-enrol when you want to start learning again.
This will stop the payments. When you are ready to return, head to ourmain Functional Education website and click 'Enroll'. Use the exact same email from last time. This will reconnect you back into your original account and all of your progress will have been saved for you. You can just continue forward from there.
Note: If you are on a monthly plan, be aware that you are paying in advance for a whole month, so if your payment went out on the 2nd of Feb, you should have access until the 2nd of March. If you want to take a holiday during that time, there is no point in cancelling your plan as you have already paid for those weeks in advance.
You will need to cancel your current plan, then when your access runs out (at the end of your billing cycle), you can re-enrol using the weekly link. Here's how:
Please try signing in here: https://functionaleducation.thinkific.com/users/sign_in
If you don't know the password, or haven't set one yet, use the forgot password button.
If you still need support, please email support@functionaleducation.com
To view all the relevant laws and requirements for homeschooling in New Zealand. You can read the entire Education and Training Act 2020 here
Our friend Cynthia Hancox has written a fantastic summary of the act here: http://www.cynthiahancox.com/information/relevant-laws-education-and-training-act-2020
If you're currently doing a trial, you may find it hard to signup to the paid course.
The solution is to either:
If you cancel your trial, and signup with the same email address, our plaform will remember which modules you have completed and you'll be able to continue where you left off.
If you are homeschooling more than one child, you can enrol using a family pass. Use the link on the enrolment page
A family pass allows a single login to see all content across all courses. We don't offer different logins under one payment plan.
Up to 5 members of the family can use the same login details to access content, and this can happen simultaneously.
You can start your child anytime.
info@functionaleducation.com
Questions? Chat directly with the principal on Facebook Messenger.