Experiences from Home Education Alumni
Have you ever wondered what happens to home-educated students once they finish their secondary education? Ever worried about whether your children might regret being home-educated, or have trouble getting into university? The home ed alumni below share candidly about what they’re up to since finishing their secondary education, the benefits, and disadvantages of their home education experience.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
Once I left homeschooling, I went on to do a degree in Audio
Engineering and Music Production, a course in Training & Assessment,
as well as a Microbusiness Management Cert.
I’ve started my own business as an audio engineer, working in music venues, music festivals, as well as recording studios. I also host my own radio show, Electric Avenue, on 107.3fm and have nearly been hosting for nearly a year.
As time goes on, I really want to work more in the recording sector, and record albums for some of my favourite bands. I’m also working as a window washer, and towards gaining a better hold of performing music myself and perhaps even starting my own band.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
It allowed me to have extra time to focus on what I love. Rather than
having to spend 8 hours a day at school, I could smash out my work for the day, then spend the rest of my day learning things that I wanted to learn, rather than what I was told I had to learn.
I loved the flexibility of deciding what I felt like doing and having
the motivation to then finish the work, because I was enjoying it,
rather than being forced into it.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
The only “disadvantage” I found, was when I was moving into higher
education. Because I never went to school, it was a bit of a rude shock
to have such strict deadlines and intense workload once I started
University / TAFE.
Once I got past that transitional period, it was no problem at all. I
was quite surprised that, even with the little experience I had, I
weathered the intense workload better than a good majority of the class.
In my Audio Engineering degree, we started with 90 students and graduated with 13 (one being me).
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
We were quite surprised by how easy the process was. Even though I was homeschooled, and at the time, the youngest person to ever do both of my degrees.
They were more than happy to take me on, as they could tell I was
committed to learning. As long as you are able to show a good portfolio of work, and can demonstrate good self-learning techniques, it was rather simple.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
I finished my year 12 study in 2016. Since then I have completed a Certificate III in Zookeeping and am now in my third year of a Mathematics and Statistics degree at Murdoch University.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
After spending my early primary school years at school, I had begun to hate education.
Homeschooling helped me to enjoy learning again because I got to see how learning is something that happens naturally throughout life, not just in school settings.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
None that I can think of.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I went back to school for years 11 and 12 and did ATAR. I was very worried that I would struggle going back into the school system, but I didn’t end up having any trouble at all.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
Since finishing high school I completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at UWA and I am now doing my 4th year of the Doctor of Medicine course. My goal is to work as a GP or a geriatrician.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
Homeschooling benefited my education in so many ways. I could be flexible with when I did my studies, which meant I could fit in other activities like ballet classes and work. Flexibility with the curriculum meant I was able to study things that interested me. I was able to study at my own pace which meant I could focus my time on what I needed to work on. The self-directed nature of my home education is probably the benefit that most resonates with me going onto further education. I was able to develop strategies for independent and self-directed learning earlier on than many of my school-educated peers.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
Homeschooling did not have any disadvantages for me. The immense variety of activities, classes, and social events available for homeschoolers meant I never felt like I was missing out on social opportunities or resources for learning.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I completed years 11 and 12 through open learning at Cyril Jackson Senior Campus. This meant I could do the WACE and get an ATAR whilst still doing a proportion of my studies at home in my own time.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
I completed a Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Neuroscience & Health Psychology at Murdoch Uni. I’m now enrolled in a Bachelor of Law, a Bachelor of Criminology, and a Postgrad Diploma in Psychology.
The aim is to get into forensic psychology, however, I also intend to study other things as well at the completion of these studies.
I’ve also been actively involved in community theatre and sporting clubs, including participating as a committee member. I believe I have a total of 6 committee roles at present, with an executive role (including president and vice president) on 4 of them.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
I retained a love of learning throughout my formal education, which homeschooling was definitely a catalyst for.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
Only that because of the way the school system works, I ended up completing years 11 and 12 at Cyril Jackson Senior Campus (which was also a form of alternative education anyway), as I would have had to wait until I turned 18 (halfway through what became my first year of uni) in order to apply for a bridging course to uni because they don’t allow you to do your WACE through homeschooling.
If I’d been 18 at the end of year 12 I think I would have decided to stay homeschooling throughout.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I did end up doing ATAR through Cyril Jackson Senior Campus because I decided I wanted to do a more science-based course, and ATAR seemed like the best way to go in order to apply with the rest of my cohort.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
I finished my homeschooling journey in year 10, because I knew where my passions lay and I was impatient to get started on working toward them. I’d always wanted to be a nurse, and decided that after I finish my bachelor of nursing I’d do midwifery.
I went the TAFE route because I felt it was a more direct pathway to Uni, and it gave me more practical experience in my chosen field.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
School is good in the sense that it gives you stability in curriculum and a structure that some people find beneficial when learning, but for me, I found it suffocating. I left school at the start of year 4, as I’d been bullied and really wasn’t learning at the pace I should have been.
After leaving, I flourished in subjects that I’d previously struggled in, merely because I was able to progress in them at my own pace. I learned to love learning.
Having to structure my own day was a challenge sometimes, but my supportive mother directed me when I was young and I learned to do it by myself when I was older. I believe this led to better time management skills and a sense of independence and accountability.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
In the beginning, as an only child, I was sometimes bored and unmotivated not having anyone to play with every day. I think this was the main issue for a while, however, I was soon enrolled in several classes where I was able to have more social time with others.
As for the later years, one great disadvantage that I discovered only after I went to TAFE, was that the amount of exposure that some tertiary systems have with actually dealing with homeschoolers is minimal. As such, they don’t really have procedures in place to deal with our applications effectively.
However, that was simply my experience, and I know others who’ve not had any issues at all.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I decided to go with the TAFE pathway, because at 15 I was too young to go straight into Uni.
We enrolled me into a Cert III of Assistance in Nursing, and then a Cert III of General Education to get the “year 10 equivalent” formally recognised. These two certs helped me get into a cert IV of Preparation for Nursing, which then led to a Diploma of Enrolled Nursing.
I completed that at 18 and then decided to do another Cert III in phlebotomy in the 6-month period before I could start my Bachelor. The Diploma credited me with a year off of my degree, and so I’m currently in second year at the University of Notre Dame doing Registered Nursing.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
My first stop after homeschool was the SEDA multi-sports program which I graduated from with a Cert 2 in Sport & Recreation. Then I decided to try a Cert 3 in IT at the local Tafe, then a Cert 4 in Web Technologies online with Open Colleges.
After some health issues, I am currently studying Music at Tafe and loving it. I am working on various music and art projects at the moment.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
Homeschooling moved me away from the large classroom situation that didn’t suit me and allowed me to mix with other homeschooled friends in smaller and more relaxed situations. I think it also helped me to take responsibility for my own learning and my own actions as a whole.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
Nothing comes to mind.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
Going to SEDA (seda.wa.edu.au) gave me a Cert 2, which gave me the ability to enrol in further Certificates at TAFE.
What have you been up to since finishing your high school education?
After finishing year 12, I did a Bachelor of Arts at UWA, majoring in English and Cultural Studies, with Linguistics as a second major. I went straight into Honours, writing my thesis on representations of women in slasher films.
One of the casual jobs I did during uni was as a market research interviewer, and after finishing Honours I left there and went to do a Graduate Diploma of Library and Information Sciences at Curtin.
I was lucky enough to be offered some records/information management work at (what at the time was) the Department of Agriculture of WA before finishing my degree.
After DAFWA was swallowed up in departmental amalgamations, I found work as a Library Technician at Edith Cowan University Library.
Now I’m a Library Technician with Australian Indigenous Health Info Net, a health database/ research centre based out of ECU. I’m actually in the bizarre position of having a relatively stable job that I like.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
I was taught by my mum, who knows me and who only had me and my three siblings to teach, rather than a room of thirty kids.
I got more personalised attention, I could work at a level appropriate to me without the stigma of being better or worse at something than other kids my age.
I also wasn’t embarrassed to ask my mum for help, and in my extracurricular activities and later at uni I often felt I seemed to be more comfortable answering and asking questions of the instructor than my cohort who went to school.
Although my mum wouldn’t let me out of having to do maths, we were still able to tailor my studies to my interests to some extent and were able to prioritise extracurricular activities I was interested in, such as dance.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
My parents were generally clear with us about their reasons for rules, and this was also the case when my mum was teaching us.
Although a good thing, this gave me unrealistic expectations of what many authority figures are actually like, and some did not respond well to well-intentioned critical questions.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
In years 11 and 12, I went to Cyril Jackson Senior Campus, where students are treated more like adults who are responsible for their own learning.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
Instead of Year 12 I successfully applied to WAAPA and completed a Certificate IV in Classical Music (Composition). After doing 3 years there I moved to UWA and have now finished a Bachelor in Specialist Music Studies.
Since 2016 I have been teaching piano, music theory, and singing, along with composing for theatre, film, and arranging for orchestra.
Currently, I own and run a music school called Marcato Music based in Wembley.
I aim to complete a Masters in Teaching (Primary) at ECU next year, along with continuing to compose for theatre and film.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
I had the freedom to focus on subjects I enjoy, as well as work hard on things that I struggled with. Having someone who understood my ability/potential, my mother, oversee my learning, meant that my days were suited entirely to what worked best for me.
I spent most of my time playing piano and going to music classes/choir.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
There was a point while homeschooling that I wanted more social activities but instead of going to school my family decided to start the Perth Learning Hub, classes for high-school-age homeschoolers, covering many subjects, that we originally ran from our home.
Regarding music, there were many opportunities to participate in after-school music activities and groups but it would have been good to have a homeschool orchestra or symphonic wind ensemble with an option for students to hire instruments.
My websites are: www.lilaanneraubenheimer.com
www.marcatomusic.info
What have you been up to since finishing your high school education?
I didn’t go to school really at all until year 11 (age 16) but once I did, I excelled. Passing all of my classes for both years 11 and 12 with mostly “A”s, a certificate 2 in engineering pathways and a newfound passion for poetry and people.
After this, I took a short hiatus until the start of this year when I decided to go into TAFE to study hospitality. At TAFE, I found a passion for mixology and decided I wanted to use bartending and hospitality to travel the world, which at this time is still the plan. I aim to work and get my diploma this year (2019) and head over to Europe to start my life’s next adventure.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
Homeschooling allowed me the freedom to decide what I wanted, without the restriction of public schooling. There’s also a degree of stress with public schools that isn’t present with smaller groups like homeschooling where students can be looked after and considered as individuals.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
I initially found it hard to make connections with people and develop social skills but attending a homeschool learning centre helped a lot with that – having access to similarly minded people was fantastic.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I completed years 11 and 12 through open learning at Cyril Jackson Senior Campus. This meant I could do the WACE and get an ATAR whilst still doing a proportion of my studies at home in my own time.
What have you been up to since finishing your high school education?
I went to the local Tafe to study Cert 2/3/4/Diploma/Adv Diploma in IT (Networking). I am now employed full-time in IT. I am the youngest person on the team and am now training others.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
I find that I am quite comfortable with talking to adults, even from a young age. It taught me that I was responsible for my own learning and getting my work done.
I also got to learn more about the subjects and interests that I wanted to pursue.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
Sometimes I felt like I lacked general knowledge on subjects – usually around schooled people once they knew I was homeschooled (they would do pop quizzes on me) & then I would turn around and assist them with their TAFE work.
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I gathered references from people who knew me, especially people who knew me through an interest in IT eg. Darwin Computer Club, and a family friend who had taught me about Databases.
What my mum found was that the people who looked after the admissions process were not actually part of the TAFE business, and if you could visit the TAFE and talk to people in the department, you could usually get admission, especially at a Cert 2 level. I really enjoyed my time at Tafe and met some great students and lecturers.
What have you been up to since finishing your secondary education?
I have just completed my Cert II and IV in Performing Arts/Musical Theatre and I am working towards my Diploma of Screen and Media Creative Makeup. I will be applying for musical theatre, acting, and classical voice courses next year.
I hope to pursue a career in one of those fields.
What benefits did home education provide for you?
Homeschooling gave me the benefits of giving me the freedom to fully explore the things I am passionate about while continuing my schooling. It also provided me with one on one help with all of my studies and allowed me to spend more time on the things that I was struggling with.
Were there any disadvantages of home education for you?
It can be harder to find friends, but if you join some classes and groups, you should meet plenty of people!
If you went/are going to TAFE or university, how did you get in?
I got into Tafe using my certificate IV mentioned above.
