Homeschooling in British Columbia: what to know before you start
· 2 min read
Registering each year with a school, and what the province says registered homeschoolers can access.
The HeyScholr team
Notes from the people who build HeyScholr.
In British Columbia, a family that homeschools registers its child with a school. This post summarises what the province's homeschooling page says. It is not legal advice, so check the page and your school before you act.
Register by September 30, every year
The province says parents who choose to homeschool must register their child by September 30 of each year. You register with a B.C. school. How that works depends on the type of school.
- A public school. The principal handles registration, and the school district has its own homeschooling policy, so contact your district office to find out how it works.
- An independent school. The school decides whether it registers homeschoolers, and it may charge a registration fee.
What registering gets you
The province says public schools offer evaluation and assessment to measure your child's progress, and loans of recommended learning materials, at no cost. You can accept or decline both. Independent schools offer the evaluation and assessment they normally provide to their own students, plus loans of learning materials, and may ask for a deposit on materials.
Funding
Provincial grants for registered homeschoolers go to the registering school, not to parents. Families who homeschool do not receive the money directly.
Where HeyScholr fits
HeyScholr plans lessons from British Columbia's published curriculum for Grades 1 to 6, and can produce a portfolio PDF of what your child has done. It does not register your child with a school. You do that yourself, each year.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check your region's official requirements before you act on it.