Homeschooling in Québec: How to Get Started

Hi,
I want to start home-schooling my daughter in English even though I’m in Quebec and French is the main language. The reason for that is that there is a strong possibility that we move to Ontario in the next few years and I want to teach her in a language that I am more comfortable with. I want to know if that is possible or even legal since I studied my whole life in a French school in Montreal (which didn’t help much since I know English better than French) and my husband’s 5 years of elementary school in Ontario don’t really count due to him not having his Canadian citizenship. I don’t even know where to register, which books I need to buy and, basically, I don’t know where to start. I want to make sure I have everything right from the beginning.

Hi
This is a drop off the normal path, but I was wondering if you could help me. If I wanted to keep my child [secondary] home and out of the local schools, aside from homeschooling, would it satisfy Quebec requirements if I enrolled my child in a distance learning program in an accredited US school? He would get a high school diploma via accredited online classes. Thanks for your help !

Hello
my child just started grade 5. I am thinking about homeschooling now, we luce in laval. Can anyone point me in the right direction please? I also have a child in grade 2 and a three year old.
thank you.

I want to start homeschooling my child (I’m a mother of 2 with no diploma ) I only want to homeschool one child because she is getting bullied. I’m a stay at home mom and my spouse works. I live in rouyn-noranda. Do you think I can just do online classes (Rosetta stone , HSLDA)

I have a 4 year old daughter who I’ve been teaching at home since she was a baby. She is currently completing Grade 1 math, reads at probably a Grade 2 level, is learning to write, etc, etc. The one subject I am concerned about is french. I want her to learn and be comfortable in french. I plan to homeschool her for all of her school years. However, I have been toying with the idea of putting her in half day kindergarten when she turns 5. There is only full day here, but would just have her be absent every afternoon. As I’m a single mother, I feel its in her best interests to spend the morning in a french environment which we will consider her “french class”, while I can work from home in the morning, and then she’ll have my full attention to homeschool the other subjects in the afternoon. I have been told by many not to put her in school as Quebec is not very homeschooling friendly, and once she’s on their radar, putting her in school for kindergarten is not worth the hassle I will later have. However, I do feel this part time school attendance is in my daughter’s overall best interests. Am I making a foolish decision? Also, does Quebec at all support part time enrolment for certain subjects in future grades. Is there any info on that? For example, if she could go to school in future grades for only the part of the day where they have french class, that would be extremely ideal. Or is it full time enrolment or nothing. Thanks in advance.

Hello;

My wife and I are moving to the val-des-monts/notre-dame-de-la-salette with our year old baby. We are looking for the possibility of a shared homeschooling program for our children with other parents/teaching groups in the area. If there is also an option from these groups for daycare, I would like to discuss options here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 🙂

Andrew

Hello, my son is in his first year of high school and I am thinking about home schooling him. He goes to a French school board and I am not sure of the procedures. I would like to home school him in English. Where do I start? Should I become a member of HSLDA?

Thanks,
Natasha

Hi,
I have 2 children in the school system right now: my daughter in kindergarten, and my son (who is repeating grade one).

I am seriously considering homeschooling due to my sons needs for extra help. He was diagnosed with ADHD, speech apraxia, and we fear that there is yet another learning disability. He is quite bright, and he has had some wonderful teachers, but truly requires more 1 on 1 help.

I am very concerned with the process here in Western Quebec, and don’t even know where to begin despite my research.

Could you help point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Tina

Hi,
I have a daughter who has just turned 6, i have been homeschooling her so far. The schoolboard here requires the parent to sign a contract that i feel totally corners the parent,that i do not want to sign but I have heard stories so i am all paranoid. Would like to connect with other homeschoolers as well. Thank you for any help and advice in advance

Hello,
This is a different question from a different person… I’m in high school, I’m 15 and turning 16 in December, I suffer from anxiety, I’m recovering from an 8 year depression, I have regular panic attacks and I’m transgender (also known as Gendee Dysphoria). All of these together (and more that I don’t need to include; you get the basic idea) make me afraid to go to school, even though I know I’m ‘safe’ there. I’ve been homeschooled in grade 1 for over half of the year since the school had me kicked out because I was bullied (I know… it’s ridiculous) and when I went back to public school the next year, I was in an advanced class.
I’ve been thinking about going back to homeschooling for a bit over a ywar now, however I don’t know where to get the supplies (textbooks, workbooks/sheets, etc) nor the cost. I was also wondering if there was a possibility of learning at your own pace; as in, if you have the capacity to fit a whole school year in four months, would it be allowed?
Thank you in advance,
M.

i have two boys. We were first temporary resident and got eligibility to send children in english. My older one passed high school and is in college now. However my younger son 13 was going to english high school till 2014 June. He is diagnosed with ADHD. i applied to school board to extend eligibility as he has other learning disabilities too. Govt wants more and more proof for his disability. i don’t know really what to do. he would not be able to survive in French et all. Please help.

Hi, My son is 5 and I am debating whether to send him to a special school or home schooling him. He is physically disabled and mentally as well. He needs assistance eating, sitting, ect. He plays with toys that are approximately 6 months to a year, so would not be able to learn a normal curiculum. Ive looked for information everywhere and am not sure what my options are. He is in a wheel chair as well, as he cannot walk. I am very nervous about sending him to a school for these reasons. I know him well, hes not comfortable with new people, or loud noises and the list goes on. I live in St.Hubert , Quebec and would really appreciate being pointed in the right direction. thank you so much.

Hi, I live in Gatineau area and my daughter just started grade 3 at commission des draveurs. We are currently having some issues with transportation. The board has cancelled school bus in our area and I had to register her in daycare. However, I know it will be a struggle for our family. I am on maternity leave right now and I would like to try homeschool her for this year. By hearing about the probable reaction of school board, I am feeling scared to initiate the process. Can please someone help me and guide me on the process and tell me more about the evaluation. Thank you

Hello, I am in the greater Montreal area. My son is just 1 year old, but already we know that he is intellectually advanced. My issue with the school system is the incredible amount of time that is wasted in classes designed to suit the general population, not to mention the late age at which we start teaching our children! My son was born in November and so he will be almost 7 by the time he will be allowed to start school, which is unacceptable to me. My issue with homeschooling is that almost all of the information I have found is religion based and almost cult-like to be honest. What I really need is a secular curriculum that I can teach my child or recommendations for schools that think outside the box and can help my son to move through the system more quickly and efficiently. I’m open to suggestions!

Hello,
My kid has been bullied for a while and he’s been coerced into doing some things against his will and it got him into serious trouble. I don’t want him to have to deal with any of that ever again, I can’t trust the school to handle it anymore. I want to homeschool my child for what’s left of the year because we can’t change schools in the middle of the school year and I don’t know to proceed, can you please enlighten me? it’s pretty urgent. Thank you so much.

My family are US citizens who recently (5 weeks past) moved to the island of Montreal, in Quebec for my husband’s job. Despite having the necessary paperwork and approvals to be educated in English, my youngest was put into a French immersion elementary school. He has severe anxiety, and was already having a hard time with the idea of a completely new school. The school principal who has witnessed some of my son’s reactions to this huge change has told me “her hands are tied” when it comes to special services to get him through this emotional crisis. In my husband’s and my eyes, the only good option here is to homeschool. We’re both educated people, and I stay home with the kids so I have the time & resources. Please help me to understand my rights and my son’s rights, and can the HSLDA really help me living in Canada?

I have a 6-year-old who is miserable at school. He is an anxious child and the school does not know how to deal with his anxiety. He keeps getting in trouble instead (becomes he sometimes tries to hide under his desk, or behind a bookshelf, or tries to sing to himself to sooth his anxiety). I have tried patiently, nicely to work with them but they just dismiss me every time I make a suggestion. They tell me what to do, they are not interested in hearing anything I suggest. There is more…..but I am just very sick of it. I want him to be learning and happy. At home he loves to learn and has deep knowledge on many scientific topics (his natural passion). I am a single working parent – I don’t know if it is feasible to home school him. I don’t know if I can help him with French. I don’t know if I can deal with the School Board after experiencing the stonewalling at the school, I dread to deal with the schoolboard on this issue. I feel demoralized by the whole system

Hi there,
Our child has a terminal illness, she has been taught by a teacher from the local school board in our home 6 hrs a week for over 5 years (now virtual with COVID-19). We have not been very happy with the school boards handling of her educational needs for many years now. I am orig form the UK where my sister is homeschooling there for the last 2 years. Can it really be true that we get no financial support over here to help home school, if that’s what we choose? to be honest my sister gets quite a lot over there for homeschooling supplies etc. and they have a decent income. if its true, if there is no financial help here in Quebec, then we just wouldn’t be able to home school i think. any advice? i would have emailed one of the emails in the comments for advice, but i wasn’t sure they were still relevant. im not too sure how often i can get back here to see if anyone replied, but ill try check back soon.