Like their bricks-and-mortar school student counterparts, home-schoolers from the Nanaimo area kicked off the start of the school year Tuesday.
Approximately 150 people attended a picnic at Bowen Park and while it was billed as the Not Back to School Picnic, Susanne Lee, picnic organizer, said there are some instances where home-school students go to a physical school.
“The beauty of it is we have such freedom in B.C. and so you can choose a distance learning program, where you have a hybrid, where the kids can go to classes, but also do the majority of their learning at home,” said Lee. “Brick-and-mortar would be where they’re there 9-3 every single day, Monday to Friday, and then we also have the privilege in B.C. of registering only and … basically telling the government. ‘Thanks, I’m taking care of my child’s education.’ We have the freedom to do that.”
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Home-schooled children follow the regular B.C. curriculum, according to Lee.
“We just like to celebrate the start of the school year for home-learning families because it’s such a big deal for school kids when they go get new backpacks and what not and it’s a nice marker for the home school kids to come… If you choose home-school and home-learning for your family, this is the place to connect,” Lee said.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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