Help for Single Home Educating Mums in NZ

A message from Lisa:

Hi everyone!

I have just started a new facebook group, called Blessings for Single Parent Homeschoolers NZ.

The idea behind the group is to have a place where we can gift useful, beautiful things to single parent homeschoolers. If you have curriuculum, clothing, household items, etc, you may offer them for free, to bless others.

Please join if you are a single parent homeschooler and would love some love and support, or if you are in a position to gift things to others!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1670534149897879/

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Please share/forward this link with other home educators.

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Needing help for your home schooling journey: https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting startedhttps://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemptionhttps://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: http://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading

Red Tape Cluster Buster Meetings and the Scoping Survey: https://hef.org.nz/2014/next-steps-deadline-8-december-2014/

 

Homeschooling 2015 Statistics

Homeschooling

As at 1 July 2015, there were 5,558 home schooled students recorded in the Ministry of Education’s Homeschooling database. These students belong to 2,916 families and represent 0.7% of total school enrolments as at 1 July 2015. Out of the 5,558 homeschoolers 66.5% were the aged 12 or under, 66.6% had been home-schooled for less than 5 years, and only 4.4% had been home-schooled for 10 years or more.

Homeschooling Students Time Series Downloads: File Type & Size

Homeschooling Turnover

Between 1 July 2014 and 1 July 2015 there was an overall net increase of 3 students; 1,032 students entered into homeschooling and 1,029 students finished homeschooling.

The average age of the 1,032 students entering into homeschooling was 8 years old…

To read  more and to see more graphs please go to the MoE website:  https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/student-numbers/homeschooling

It has always been a concern for Craig and myself that the turnover of home educators each year has been so high and this year is no different with 1032 students commencing and 1029 students finishing. There are a lot of people willing to help others on the home education road who might be overwhelmed, needing help or encouragement. All around New Zealand there are support groups as well as Facebook and the Yahoo groups which are a great place to get your questions answered, to get encouragement etc.

Edited to add: Students Finishing Homeschooling by Duration & Region 2015 Click on link to see the full graph

Number of students finishing homeschooling by Duration & Regional Council (Year ending 1 July 2015)

Regional Council Number of Years Student has been in Homeschooling
Less than one year 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years 6 Years 7 Years 8 Years 9 Years 10 Years 11 Years 12 Years 13 Years or more
Northland Region 20 9 2 6 4 1 3 5 3 12 2 5 1
Auckland Region 65 39 34 17 20 10 10 8 15 25 7 10 8 1
Waikato Region 37 23 17 7 10 3 8 4 4 16 9 9 3
Bay of Plenty Region 27 10 4 5 9 5 4 2 4 14 4 4 1
Gisborne Region 2 1 1 1 1
Hawkes Bay Region 4 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 2
Taranaki Region 4 4 2 1 1 5 2 1 4 1
Manawatu-Wanganui Region 7 7 8 2 4 2 5 2 2 10 4 4 1
Wellington Region 10 12 5 7 8 6 3 3 2 6 4 7 1
Tasman Region 12 4 5 1 1 1 1 3 1
Nelson Region 3 4 2 3 3 1 4 1 2 2
Marlborough Region 1 2 1 1 1
West Coast Region 3 2 1 3 1
Canterbury Region 12 11 12 9 15 8 6 7 5 16 11 7 4
Otago Region 8 2 5 1 1 2 2 1 3 5 1
Southland Region 3 3 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2
Unknown 7 2 1 2 3 1 1 2
Total 222 134 102 59 80 45 48 40 46 124 47 56 25 1

Less than 1 year: 222
I year:                    134
2 years:                  102
3 years:                    59
4 years:                    80
5 years:                    45
6 years:                    48
7 years:                    40
8 years:                    46
9 years:                  124
10 years:                  47
11 years:                   56
12 years:                  25
13 years:                     1

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NZ Home Education Support Groups

NZ-r-Online Encouragement for Home Educators

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Please share/forward this link with other home educators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needing help for your home schooling journey: https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting startedhttps://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemptionhttps://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: http://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading

Red Tape Cluster Buster Meetings and the Scoping Survey: https://hef.org.nz/2014/next-steps-deadline-8-december-2014/

Posted in MoE

HOMESCHOOL BOY IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY 7 YEARS: Parents fight officials in ‘last hope’ to see own son

Update 30 November from Ruby and Christer:

From  Ruby Harrold-Claesson:

We have already sent three (3) applications/complaints to the European Court of Human Rights:
1 – the violation of their freedom of movement and violation of their right to private and family life;
2 – the violation of their right to a fair trial, i e the right to choose their own lawyer and
3 – the transfer of guardianship, i e the violation of their right to private and family life.
All have been declared inadmissible.

 From Christer:

On top of the Swedish page about human rights I read the following,

Human rights are universal and apply to everyone. They state that all people, regardless of country, culture and context, are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

– – – – – – wow, sounds good doesn’t it.

We have no funds to work with anymore, so there is little we can do from here. I kept the pressure for a year on 750UDS per month, went below 120 pounds because of that. So it’s fight or eat.

They know exactly what they are doing, this is what they want, and they smile about it for sure…

Have tried pretty much everything when it comes to fighting and getting a job etc. So the question is what to do from here. Fight and die, or just live.

The actual image of Sweden should be clear now though. The country in it self, the nature and all animals is beauty, but that’s about it.

Have no clue what to do from here, neither do we have any tools to work with.

http://www.manskligarattigheter.se/en

 

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When Domenic Johansson was seven years old, he and his parents, Christer and Annie, were moving from their home in Sweden to his mother’s native India. They actually were seated aboard the jet waiting to take off.

Then Swedish police, dispatched by social workers infuriated over the family’s homeschooling, boarded the airliner, took Domenic by force and put him in the custody of the nation’s social services agency.

He’s been there since.

And he hasn’t even seen his parents since 2010, after social workers torpedoed what had been sporadic and supervised times together.

Now that nation’s Supreme Court is being asked to review what has been described as a “vicious” attack on the family, and supporters of the Johanssons say the rest of the world can chime in.

Officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association have confirmed that a lawyer working with the Johanssons is filing an appeal with the Swedish Supreme Court, aided by both the HSLDA and the international Alliance Defending Freedom.

They say those who are interested in justice in the case can contribute by sending a message to the court regarding case O-4373-15 with the request that the judges grant the family’s appeal.

Contact information for the court and other details have been posted online by the HSLDA.

The organization suggests that people point out to the court that “The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights recognizes the family as the fundamental group unit of society and entitled to protection of (and from) the state.”

“Now we are asking for your help in what may be their last hope and appeal to ever be reunited with their son,” HSLDA said in a new report on the situation.

See what American education has become, in “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.”

HSLDA outlined the history of the case: Social workers enraged by homeschooling, which was legal in Sweden at the time, used police to abduct the little boy, and then added claims of issues with his vaccinations and teeth to the complaint. Then social workers, aided by the local courts, simply kept Domenic.

“Imagine – living just miles from your child but being prevented by government authorities from seeing him at all – for years,” HSLDA said. “This is the tragic story of the Johansson family, who were homeschooling in Sweden when they decided to move to India, Annie Johansson’s home country. The three of them were seated on a jetliner in June 2009 when, moments before takeoff, police and social workers boarded the plane and seized Domenic.”

The HSLDA said the initial explanation was the family’s homeschooling.

“Later they [officials] said the parents had neglected Domenic by failing to keep his vaccinations up to date and to have cavities in his teeth,” HSLDA said.

After years of court fights, in December 2012, the courts transferred the custody rights for Domenic to the state, and the European Court of Human Rights has rejected appeals submitted to its officials.

Domenic’s parents now have left the “tenuous thread of hope” with a petition filed by Ruby Harrold-Claesson, a human rights attorney and chief of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights.

Her appeal is to the Swedish Supreme Court.

“This is a tragic case. Unfortunately, it’s not the only one I’ve dealt with in Sweden, but it is very tragic,” she told HSLDA. “Our previous victory in a lower court was so diametrically opposed to the appeals court’s ruling that this appeal should be heard. The Swedish court culture is vicious to families who are caught in it. I’m doing all I can for this family, but it is very difficult.”

“The Johansson case represents every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Mike Donnelly, the head of HSLDA’s global outreach. “Domenic should have been returned to his parents years ago, but the Swedish social services machine is pitiless and unrelenting. I can’t even imagine the pain and suffering this family has endured. HSLDA and our allies at ADF are committed to helping this family, but the outcome is doubtful absent a miracle.

Domenic and Annie Johansson

Domenic and Annie Johansson

“Even if we win, the damage done to this family by the Swedish state is unimaginable. We need our friends to pray and show solidarity with the Johanssons as we try to get the attention of the Swedish court,” he said.

A recent ruling from the international human rights body said, “The applicants had failed in their care of [Domenic], both physical and psychological.”

It claimed Domenic “had not been allowed to go to school” and was “isolated.”

But WND reported legal experts argue Swedish officials violated multiple human rights enshrined in international treaties to which the Swedish government is a party: the right of parents to direct the education of their children, family life, due process, travel and more.

“The seizure of the child without a valid court order, from a plane he was lawfully entitled to be on, the detention by the state in foster care with virtually zero contact with his family and finally the termination of parental rights is a clear violation of international human rights standards,” HSLDA founder and Chairman Michael Farris, who holds a master of law degree in public international law from the University of London, said earlier.

Swedish officials several times have declined to respond to WND questions.

When the family tried to leave Sweden in 2009 for India, the mother’s homeland, armed police stormed the plane and abducted young Domenic without a warrant or court order.

Numerous experts and attorneys have described the incident as a brazen example of “state-napping.”

When one court decision was released in Sweden in favor of the parents, government officials simply kept Domenic in custody until they were able to get it reversed.

Legal experts from around the world have told WND that the pretexts cited to seize Domenic do not stand up to scrutiny, especially because homeschooling was legal in Sweden at the time, and the right to homeschool is guaranteed under multiple human rights treaties.

“No legitimate justification has ever been produced to defend the seizure or the ongoing custody of the boy,” HSLDA said.

As WND has been reporting for years, the Johansson family is hardly alone in battling Swedish authorities for the right to homeschool.

Dozens of families have already fled abroad, including Jonas Himmelstrand, the chief of the Swedish Homeschooling Association, ROHUS, who fled to Finland with his wife and children.

See what American education has become, in “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.”


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/homeschool-boy-in-govt-custody-for-7-years/#rPJRePLfod9Ef4Au.99

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Please share/forward this link with other home educators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needing help for your home schooling journey:https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting startedhttps://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemptionhttps://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: http://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading

Red Tape Cluster Buster Meetings and the Scoping Survey: https://hef.org.nz/2014/next-steps-deadline-8-december-2014/

 

NZ Home Schooler wins the World Education a Games

Twizel pupil Joshua Toon, 8, beats 6 million kids to win World Education Games

Twizel 8-year-old Joshua Toon describes his victory at the World Education Games.

Twizel whizkid Joshua Toon can make a claim to being the smartest 8-year-old in the world.

Joshua has just returned from an awards ceremony in Sydney after he swept aside more than 6 million children from 159 countries to take out first overall for Year 3s in the 2015 World Education Games.

His total points score of 4,727 across three categories – science, literacy and maths – was a whopping 344 points higher than that of his nearest competitor, a boy from Australia.

Twizel's Joshua Toon, 8, was the top year 3 pupil in the world in the World Education Games.

CHRIS HYDE/FAIRFAX NZ

Twizel’s Joshua Toon, 8, was the top year 3 pupil in the world in the World Education Games. 

As well as winning the overall award, Joshua took out first in science by three points with a score of 347, and his score of 1,578 in maths was good enough for a bronze medal behind boys from Nigeria and Pakistan.

“I was like, wow, I really did it. I tried and I got it,” Joshua said. “I was feeling really happy then, especially when I found out I was going to Australia for a trip.”

The World Education Games, created by Australian-based company 3PL Learning, involved an online speed and knowledge test, which ran over three days in October.

Joshua, who is home-schooled, has the perfect skill set for it.

Firstly, the car-loving youngster has a near-photographic memory. When he goes on a long drive, just about every number plate he sees is matched to the make and model of the car and stored for future use.

Secondly, and almost as importantly, he’s “extremely fast” at typing.

The maths section of the games is a sprint race, and Joshua answered an average of about 100 questions a minute. Science is less of a sprint, with more points given for answering difficult questions.

“I think science is probably my favourite of the categories because it has history in it too,” Joshua said. “It asks things like when did Thomas Edison invent the lightbulb and I like those sort of questions.”

As a 6-year-old, in 2013, Joshua placed second in maths and third in science in New Zealand in the 4 to 7 years category of the games, but said this was a far better feeling.

“I was actually able to smile for photos this time. Last time, my two front teeth had just come out so I couldn’t do it without feeling embarrassed.”

For his efforts Joshua had won a new generation Microsoft Surface Pro laptop, worth about $1,500, and had made his parents, Kalyani and Trevor Toon, “very proud”.

“He would never have done it without a bit of a mother’s push,” his mum said with a laugh.

“He has the talent of being able to think very fast on his feet and it’s great that he’s using that. I want him to keep going but also to keep staying humble.”

Joshua might face some family competition in coming years, with younger sister Kayla also expressing an interest in taking part in the games, Kalyani said.

From and also watch video:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/74409035/twizel-pupil-joshua-toon-8-beats-6-million-kids-to-win-world-education-games.html

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Please share/forward this link with other home educators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needing help for your home schooling journey:https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting startedhttps://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemptionhttps://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: http://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading

Red Tape Cluster Buster Meetings and the Scoping Survey: https://hef.org.nz/2014/next-steps-deadline-8-december-2014/

Services to Schools changes for home educators-National Library

Email from the National Library

I’m Kia ora

The National Library is currently updating all users about our new services, and in particular, our lending service changes for next year.  We want to make sure that all the home educators around the country know what is changing and how to get in touch with us if they have any questions.  We would very much appreciate it if you could please forward this to your members.

How to borrow resources from the National Library’s Services to Schools in 2016

This email is to update you on changes to National Library’s Services to Schools. From January next year the way you can borrow resources from the National Library is changing.

The aim is to provide you, as a home educator, with high interest print resources that support the development of inquiry skills (Inquiry Loans) and reading for pleasure (Reading Engagement Loans).

Features:

  • You can request a loan four times a year of fiction and nonfiction print resources to ignite inquiry learning and to stimulate reading engagement.
  • Your loans will include up to 8 inquiry items, up to 8 reading engagement items and the option to request up to 4 author/titles based upon your own author/title search of the Schools Collection catalogue or the National Library General Collection catalogue (maximum of up to 20 items per family per term).

Next steps

You will be contacted in January 2016 about how to register and order books online.

Other changes

In addition to the lending service, National Library is also developing and revamping the other services provided to New Zealand schools. These are:

•             Digital content service

The National Library is currently creating a digital content service that will make it easy for teachers and students to find useful and relevant digital content for a wide variety of learning contexts. This service will be introduced progressively during 2016.

•             Capability building service

This service includes professional learning and development opportunities, targeted initiatives, learning events and professional learning resources. The National Library will be continuing with its facilitated online courses during 2016 and its other capability building opportunities will be introduced progressively during the year.

If you would like more information on the services that National Library’s Services to Schools will be delivering next year then please visit www.schools.natlib.govt.nz/about/service-changes-2016  or email them on: s2stransformation@dia.govt.nz.

Kind regards

Services to Schools Transformation

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Please share/forward this link with other home educators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needing help for your home schooling journey:https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting startedhttps://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemptionhttps://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: http://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading

Red Tape Cluster Buster Meetings and the Scoping Survey: https://hef.org.nz/2014/next-steps-deadline-8-december-2014/