“Our daughter had her very first school visit today and we were absolutely mortified at the way the school was structured. Our daughter has bad anxiety and we can tell she will not do well in an open plan class. I am considering home schooling but my partner is not too keen and may need convincing, and my parents think our child will be stupid if schooled at home. What should I do?”
Preparing our children to attend school can be a daunting experience. It doesn’t matter if we are thinking of enrolling them in a local public school, a private school, an alternative school or considering keeping them in the home environment to school them. All learning environments come with their own challenges and successes. These days it’s more about shaping our children’s educational journey to meet our expectations rather than conforming to societies norms.
This is a big time in your family’s life, and a huge next step for your child. There is no need to rush into this! Taking the time to think this through from various angles and putting in an education plan that suits your family’s needs is one of the most important steps you can take towards guaranteeing success in education in the long run.
Remember back to the tortoise and hare story. There is no better time to apply the old ‘slow and steady wins the race’ stratagem than when considering what is important to you as a family when it comes to the how, who, where and why of what your children will be learning over the next 13 years of their ‘schooling’ journey.
Gone are the days where the only option was the local school down the road. The Covid lockdown experience has more than demonstrated the abundance of home schooling options out there. In fact, latest scientific research shows in a survey conducted by CensusAtSchool with over 13,400 students and families interviewed, “Seven out of ten New Zealand school students say that learning at home was the same or better during lockdown compared to learning in school normally”.
The educational journey your child undertakes and the experience they have along that path is going to be a corner stone of who your child then grows into, including; the morals and ethics they hold, how they interact socially with others, cultural awareness, creative expression, how they approach and tackle problem solving, decision making and their academic ability to access higher thinking. This absolutely shouldn’t be passed over to an outsourced babysitting service until you have thoroughly thought about the journey from multiple aspects.
This thought process however can be daunting as parents. If home schooling is unfamiliar to you then stepping out of the ‘known’ can seem like too big of a leap. It’s okay to feel this way and it is normal to have doubts and questions, particularly from partners and parents who had preconceived ideas of what schooling was supposed to look like. The answer to this is to access information, and in New Zealand, we are lucky. We have enormous numbers of home schooling families plugged into networks and communities who provide support, information, resources and a friendly face to accompany you. There are multiple paths you can choose so that you can find a home based system that fits your ideals as a family. We also have an e-book available that is written specifically for this very reason. Feel free to download a free chapter here. https://www.functionaleducation.com/book Knowledge is power.
Educating at home is fast becoming the new norm and can deliver an extremely high level of education tailored specifically for your family’s requirements. Children who follow this path have as many opportunities later in life as their public school educated peers. They can complete the same degrees and achieve the same high level successes and they can do it all in a welcoming environment without trauma. They can love their learning and be passionate about the world around them, immersed in social interactions and inspired to grow into the very best person they could dream to be.
Be curious, see if home schooling is for you. Click the link below to an article on home schooling in New Zealand https://www.functionaleducation.com/homeschool/thinking-of-homeschooling
Up to 2 hours of lessons a day, plus hands on activities means you can easily give your child a quality education at home.
View Course OverviewInstant access. No credit card required.
We respect your privacy and won't give your email to anyone else.
Please watch our getting started video which covers a lot of the questions you may have.
The Parent Dashboard is where parents manage their Functional Education account. You can manage your plan and billing, update payment details, add or remove students, change a student’s class, view invoices, and check learning access and progress.
Students use a separate Learning Hub login to access their lessons.
New to Functional Education? Create your parent account here.
Already have an existing Functional Education account? Connect it here.
Parents can sign in to the Family Dashboard here to manage their plan, billing, students and progress.
New to Functional Education? Create your parent account here.
Already have an existing Functional Education account? Connect it here.
Start your 7-day free trial here. Create your parent account, choose a course and plan size, then add your student or students. No credit card is required to start the trial.
Classes are numbered by the equivalent year of schooling: Class 1 is the first year, Class 2 is the second year, and so on. Choose the level that best matches your child’s current learning needs rather than relying only on their age.
If the class is too easy or too hard, you can easily change it from the Family Dashboard.
A Family Pass supports up to five students from the same family. Parents manage all students, billing and progress from one Family Dashboard account.
Each student has separate Learning Hub access and progress. Students do not share the parent’s dashboard login.
Don’t have a Family Dashboard yet? Create your parent account here.
If you have a Family Pass, sign in to the Family Dashboard and select Add student in the Your students section. Enter the student’s details and follow the prompts. Each student needs their own email address so their learning access and progress stay separate.
If you are not currently on a Family Pass, use Change plan on your dashboard to choose a plan that supports additional students.
Don’t have a Family Dashboard yet? Create your parent account here.
Sign in to the Family Dashboard. Your trial summary will show when the trial ends and which plan you selected. Choose Start plan, review the billing details, and add your payment method through Stripe Checkout.
If you are currently on a free trial, sign in to the Family Dashboard when you are ready to continue. Your trial summary will show the plan you selected; choose Start plan to continue with that plan, or Change plan to review other options before adding your payment method.
If you do not continue, your 7-day trial ends automatically and you will not be charged.
Your 7-day free trial ends automatically unless you choose Start plan in the Family Dashboard and add a payment method. If you do not continue, you will not be charged.
Check your spam or junk folder first, then make sure you entered the correct email address. You can request a new verification code from the Family Dashboard sign-in screen.
If the code still does not arrive, contact support@functionaleducation.com and tell us the email address you used to register.
Sign in to the Family Dashboard. On your Current plan card, select Change plan, choose Weekly, review the billing summary, and confirm the change.
You do not need to cancel or wait for your current billing period to end.
Don’t have a Family Dashboard yet? Connect your existing account here first.
Holidays are easier with the Family Dashboard. Sign in to the Family Dashboard and select Pause or cancel on your Current plan card.
Choose whether to pause for a number of weeks or until a specific restart date. No charges are made while your plan is paused, and billing will restart on the date you choose. Your students can continue learning until the access end date shown in the dashboard.
Don’t have a Family Dashboard yet? Connect your existing account here first.
If you need help with your account, billing or student access, email support@functionaleducation.com.
For account and billing questions, please include the parent email address associated with your Family Dashboard. For student-learning issues, include the student’s name and learning login email.
You can start your child anytime.
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.
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 curriculum 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.
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
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.
info@functionaleducation.com
Questions? Chat directly with the principal on Facebook Messenger.