Documents
- Alberta Education
Parent handbooks, Alberta curriculum, etc.
Main site: http://education.alberta.ca
This goes directly to the Programs of Study (from here, you can go to a specific subject, then to the "Programs of Study" for that subject, to get detailed curriculum documents for each subject and grade): http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program.aspx
Curriculum Handbooks for Parents
This goes directly to "Curriculum Handbooks for Parents:" http://education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/handbook.aspx.These are not exclusively for home schooling parents, but they are very useful to home schooling parents.
This goes directly to the "School Choice" page: http://www.learning.gov.ab.ca/educationsystem/choices.asp (get the "Home Education Information Package" near the bottom of the page, and you may want to check out some other things here).
This link goes to Alberta Education's "Authorized Resources Database." These are resources that teachers can use, to meet the requirements of the Alberta Program of Studies (which is what guides schools in what they teach). As home schoolers, we don't "have" to use resources from this database, but this database has lots of ideas for materials you "might" want to use: http://education.alberta.ca/apps/lrdb
Guide to Education
This webpage has links to the current (and past) Guide to Education. It is the book that guides schools and school boards on policies that they must follow. It covers ECS (kindergarten) to grade 12. We found this book particularly useful in guiding us through some "exceptions" we needed to make in high school.
http://education.alberta.ca/admin/resources/guidetoed.aspx
Learn Alberta - For Resources
This site lists various resources for teachers (which we can use, too). Check out the Alberta Encyclopedia, the Canadian Encyclopedia, etc., in the "Online Reference Centre" tab.
http://new.learnalberta.ca/Home.aspx
Learning Resources Centre
Here is another site that lists learning resources, from Alberta Education.
http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca
PAT's - Provincial Achievement Tests
If you are going to have your child write the PAT's (in grades 3, 6, and 9), you should check out these pages from the government. Even if you are going to opt out of the PAT's, as many home schoolers do, the old tests are a useful teaching resource for us.
This is the main Alberta government PAT webpage. It has "information about teacher participation in marking and other activities related to provincial tests and other provincial assessments":
http://education.alberta.ca/admin/testing.aspx
They did have the previous achievement tests and answer keys on their site, but I couldn't when I was updating this page. It is possible they have been added back on their site by the time you are reading this - if you find them, please let me know through the Contact Us link on our menu.
- Alberta Advanced Education
Learning Clicks - Alberta Government Planning Assistance, for Post Secondary Education
Learning Clicks is an interactive, dynamic, and informative multimedia tool to assist Grade 9 -12 students with planning for post-secondary studies.
http://alis.alberta.ca/ec/ep/pps/lc/learning-clicks.html
- The Growth of Home Schooling in Alberta
Some graphs I made from data in an Alberta Government report.
http://www.calgaryhomeschool.com/hsgrowth
- Homeschooling Horizons Magazine
Encouragement for Home Educators.
http://www.homeschoolinghorizons.com
- Homeschooler's Guide (Alberta, Canada)
The Homeschooler's Guide is a magazine and website which connects families with homeschool resources. The Homeschooler's Guide magazine is published three times and year and can be read at your local library or online. It contains programs and events, products, services, school boards and current information related to homeschooling. The Homeschooler's Guide website includes links to updated research on homeschooling, information sessions, steps to get started, and various homeschool groups.
www.homeschoolersguide.ca
- Fraser Institute - Home Schooling Report
The Fraser Institute has a very detailed report on how well home schooling is working in Canada and the United States. The report is called, "Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream." It is very encouraging. (It's also good for the skeptics in your family.) Here is the direct link to the 2nd edition of the report (2007): http://www.fraserinstitute.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2953. Or to go directly to the first edition of the report (2001), go here: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2952
(Note: The report is in a PDF file, so your computer must have the Acrobat Reader program (which is free) on it, for you to read this report. So, if you have trouble getting the report to show up on your computer, ask your local computer support person for help.)
Or if the above doesn't work (they move these around now and then), go to their main site, here http://www.fraserinstitute.org, search for "home schooling," and look for the report titled "Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream" and some other very interesting reports on home schooling.
- Post Secondary Admission Requirements in Calgary
University of Calgary:
This web page shows the high school courses required, for admission to the different faculties at the U of C.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/admissions/alberta_nwt_nunavut
Also, this webpage lists the high school average needed to get into various programs at the U of C:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/admissions/office-mastergwoc3817
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)
This web page has links to how to get into the different programs they offer.
http://www.sait.ab.ca/pages/cometosait/howdoigetin/index.shtml
Mount Royal University
This web page has information on the Admission Requirements for Mount Royal University (foremerly Mount Royal College).
http://www.mtroyal.ca/Admission/AdmissionRequirements/index.htm
St. Mary's University College
This web page shows the admission requirements for St. Mary's University College. Note that there is a separate section for home schooled students.
http://www.stmu.ab.ca/futureStudents/admissionRequirements.html
