NCHENZ » Tarnya

DPB work requirements back on the agenda

Tarnya — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:01:02 +0000

“Solo parents will have to look for part-time work once their youngest child turns 6 or have their benefit halved.”

see National cracks the whip on beneficiaries.

A blogger wrote to Bennett regarding home education and DPB see

Will home educators on the dpb be required to find work?

It looks like it will be left to the discretion of the WINZ staff which I don’t find very encouraging at all.

Perhaps you would like to email or write to Paula Bennett ?

ERO report

Tarnya — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:52:30 +0000

ERO put out a 58 page report on reading/writing in Years 1 and 2 which is available online here.

Some comments from Kiwiblog and quite a few comments.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Links Around the web – Mar 2010

Tarnya — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:26:22 +0000

Technology Teacher Bill Bassett has a new website. Bill teaches technology to home educated students. The classes are for students from age 10 up, and cover electronics, woodwork and metalwork, and can be done in conjunction with a TCS course for teens seeking NCEA credits in technology (since Bill is a registered teacher).
See his website for his prices . There are 4 students per class so they get plenty of 1:1 support. His workshop is in Papakura -not far from the motorway offramp.

English grammar (not US grammar) www.dailywritingtips.com

Rethinking Homework www.stuff.co.nz

Out of the Classroom www.stuff.co.nz

Music lesson plans artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/les.cfm

Looking for great Links http://wonder-mints.blogspot.com/ ( Blog by a Christchurch Home educator)

Culture- international crafts www.culturecottage.com/

NCEA Science Level 1 resources www.SoundClassroom.com free resources and free newsletter subscription for students doing NCEA Level 1 Science.

Other great Links? Share them with us in the comments ( New Zealand Home Educators only please)

New Article

Tarnya — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:11:50 +0000

A new article has been added
The Correspondence School (TCS) and the homeschooling allowance.

New additions to the website

Tarnya — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:38:22 +0000

On the Qualification page

Some notes on NCEA by Kay ( These were given as a supplement for an audience who heard Kay speak.)

HASCA google calendar

Tarnya — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:24:43 +0000

NCHENZ is hosting the HASCA calendar. HASCA is a friend of NCHENZ.

If you would like a calendar for your local group on the web, NCHENZ will happily host it for you.

If you would like some help to get a presence on the web for your local group let me know.

October’s Links Around the Web

Tarnya — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:11:46 +0000

A selection of links

From New Zealand

Mad Hatter Books Mad Hatter Books specialises in second hand, collectible and out-of-print children’s books

Auckland Zoo’s education programmes which are individually priced. www.aucklandzoo.co.nz

Freecycle is a worldwide movement aimed at reducing items – both working and non-working – which would normally go to the landfill, in a not-for-profit way. You can either wait for items to come up (be very quick to make contact for a chance of getting them); or you can place a “Wanted” note which has to be very short.

www.freecycle.org/group/NZ/New_Zealand/Auckland – for Auckland
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/ManurewaFreecycle/ – for South Auckland

I am sure there are other groups around the country.

Around the world

Exploring Homeschooling the ins and outs of the BIG decision ( Christian ) www.exploringhomeschooling.com/

Making a timeline using Excel www.microsoft.com/education/createtimeline.mspx

FREE e-book for those interested including stuff from Ruth Beechick, FIAR,
Amanda Bennett and Old Schoolhouse www.knowledgequestmaps.com/The-New-School-Year.html

Incredible Art Lessons

Database of Free online curriculum

Free Kids Astronomy Course

Spelling City A wonderful resource for free.

Audio science snippets for kids ( Thanks to Darnia )

A conversation with Greg Harris . Greg Harris has a blog here

www.brainpop.com ( approx 10yrs and over) and www.brainpopjr.com (approx 6-10 yrs)

Aspire Scholarship

Tarnya — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:21:20 +0000

The Government announced details about the Aspire Scholarship which is available to home educated students.
The criteria is strict: income includes working for families and you can’t have a family trust. Net worth includes your family home.
The scholarship is for full fees and $1500 towards uniform and trips.
Applications close 14th October and a second round on the 28th October 2009.
Students are chosen at random.

Details linked here

Links around the web

Tarnya — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:52:04 +0000

From New Zealand

Winz and Home schooling and the DPB
http://hef.org.nz/2009/home-schooling-and-winz-dpb-in-new-zealand/

Help in filling out an exemption:
http://hef.org.nz/category/applying-for-exemption/

Around the World
Click on the headings.www.khanacademy.org The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere.
We have 800+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, and finance which have been recorded by Salman Khan.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ Free on-line writing school
http://www.mes-english.com/ Printables – great helps for homeschooling: free flashcards, worksheets and handouts to match, free phonics cards, free ESL games, an international project exchange library, printable certificates, printable stickers and activities all ready for printing

http://www.urthemom.com/ Homeschool Planner and help with self teaching and mastery learning. She runs a Yahoo group called Raising Self-Learners 4 Life! (US based but open to New Zealanders) and a blog

http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/educational.php Astronomy. An excellent, free download open source program runs in planetariums… it is called Celestia. If your computer is not too old and your graphics card is more than 256K then this should work very well on your computer. This page will take you to the Educational version download, which has had activities programmed and documented for it. And, yes, those activities and worksheets are downloadable too. It pays to print out the overview to give you a starting point, and this will help you learn to navigate without too much overload. There is also an updated full version, and extra models and objects that can be uploaded – including spacecrafts from real life, and fiction ie. Star Wars, Star Trek.

http://www.livingjoyfully.ca Unschooling

Handbook of Nature Study available free online version http://www.archive.org/details/handbookofnature002506mbp
There is also a great blog with challenges/activities etc based on the book http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com

Sites to feed a hungry mind: list of sites that can be visited daily for students

Twin City Home Educators

Tarnya — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:32:57 +0000

Have a look at the Twin City Home Educators website

Full of great resources. Well done!

Twin City Home Educators is a loose-knit network of 60+ families in the greater Hawkes Bay region, New Zealand.

Our members represent a diverse range of pedagogies from unschooling, through eclectic materials, thematic units, overseas vs NZ, christian vs non-sectarian, living books to monitored curriculum.