Home-Based Learning Program
We look forward to helping support you and your home-based learning journey. We work with a wide variety of families, from those who like a very child-centered, interest-based philosophy to those who like the stability of a more structured approach.
On This Page
Parents
Understand your role in supporting your child’s home-based learning journey.
Your Role
Regardless of your philosophy, if you are willing to follow a flexible curriculum and engage with us throughout the year about your child and their learning – sharing work and setting goals, then we hope our program will be a perfect fit for you.
Support for Your Family
When you learn with IDLC you’re a part of a broader community! There are many resources to help you start learning and feel confident with each step along the way.
Learning Approach
How we support your child’s learning through support at a distance.
Our Teachers
The teachers at Island Discovery are all B.C. certified, and we all have a deep belief in the power of home-based learning. Many of us have followed the same path with our own kids, and we have seen first-hand that when a child learns through self-direction and attachment, they grow to be very productive and engaged learners, as well as confident and happy people.
Contact, Assessment and Reporting
The teacher will be available to either meet live, or by email or phone, at any time of the year. We want you to feel supported, especially when you are feeling unsure about how things are going. We will always promptly return your emails or calls, usually within 24 hrs. It is important that we touch base with you regularly. Please never feel shy about contacting us if you need help.
After the learning plan meeting in early September, we will follow up with you in early October to see how you are doing with implementing your learning plan. We want you to feel like you are off and running, and are happy with how things are going. At this time, we will also ask to see and collect work samples from each child. This can all be done very gently.
At the end of each term, the teacher will meet with you to discuss progress to date, and to hear about all the learning adventures you have been having at home and in the community. After this meeting, the teacher will create a report card. Reports are done in early December, March, and June.
We try our best to make this process as helpful and as non-intrusive as we can, so that it feels like a worthwhile experience to you. We believe that the most important thing is that we use these times to simply celebrate the child for who they are and what they have done, rather than making them feel insecure or inadequate in any way, and to set attainable goals for the term ahead.
Learning Plan
Each family is responsible for following the B.C. Curriculum. You will need to follow a certified learning plan, created by your teacher, with input from you. In late June or during the summer (or soon after we receive ALL your registration documents), we will send an email to you explaining the details of this learning plan. Then, hopefully in late June or early September, a meeting will be set up where the learning plan will be discussed and finalized. This must be completed, signed, and on file before September 30th.
There will be ample opportunity to customize the plan to suit the interests of your child! We understand that when children follow their passions, it is incredible how much and how quickly they can learn. During the year, it is inevitable that changes will need to be made to the plan as emerging interests and ideas come forth, which is totally fine, so don’t worry that we all need to figure out the entire year in advance.
Program Features
Learn how home-based learning works from planning to learning plans and assessment.
How It Works
Our program was started in 2003 by a group of parents just like you, for the same reasons you have chosen to learn at home. We hope to establish a relationship with you where you feel like we are working alongside you to help your child thrive this year – socially, academically, and emotionally, too.
Funding
We offer individualized funds for each child, which can be used for classes and materials. This money can be accessed after September 15th, with spending done directly by us. All spending needs to be approved by one of our teachers before monies are spent. Please contact us to find out what the current amounts are per child.
There are three ways to access these funds.
- Store accounts – we have a number of accounts at shops in your area and online, where you can choose and/or pick up materials for learning at home after they are approved by us
- Classes at community centres and other community providers
- Opportunities for website subscriptions, memberships, field trips, performances, and others as they come up.
All spending needs to be completed by Mar. 15th each year. After registration, you will receive a set of spending guidelines and ideas which will help you plan your spending with your teacher.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.