Education and Early Childhood Learning

When developing a program of studies and setting learning goals, consider each child's interests, skills, and abilities. Providing a wide range of resources encourages student engagement in learning.

Parents may choose to use Manitoba-developed curricula; however, there is no requirement to do so. Visit the Resources for Teaching and Learning webpage for educational programming resources. Varieties of print and online resources are available to support homeschool programs.

Homeschooling Liaison Officers are available to assist homeschooling parents with planning a program of studies. Contact the Homeschooling Office for more information.

Parents may consider program delivery options such as hiring tutors, naming a main instructor other than the parents (such as a grandparent), and part-time enrollment in a public or independent school, as mutually agreed to by the school and family. A homeschooling family wishing to integrate their programming with that of a school should contact a school principal as early as possible.

Parents may consider a child-centered, structured or blended approach to learning. Parents using a child-centred approach determine their child's interests and then plan the program outline. This program outline contains educational resources, activities and materials and is included on the Student Notification Form. In a structured approach, parents use pre-packaged programs/curricula featuring lesson-by-lesson instruction in a print or online format. A blended approach combines elements of both the child-centered and the structured approaches.

Parents who homeschooled their children in the previous school year and plan to continue for the upcoming school year, must notify the Homeschooling Office by September 1 of each school year. Parents new to homeschooling or withdrawing their child from school must notify the Homeschooling Office within 30 days of establishing their homeschool.

Parents may make adjustments to their homeschooling program during the school year according to the needs and progress of their child.  Parents are encouraged to submit program plan changes to the Homeschooling Office.

An important part of effective instruction is evaluating and documenting a child's progress through observation and work samples, as well as using assessment tools. A portfolio containing samples of a child's work may be used to record and show growth over time.

Best reporting practices include documenting what a child is doing well, what they are struggling with, what needs improvement, and next steps in programming. Parents using structured programming can note the units completed. Changes made to program outlines or student resources after submitting Student Notification Forms should be noted in the progress reports.

Notification forms and progress reports submitted to the Homeschooling Office are student records and may be used when pursuing future studies.