English

This blog is dedicated to Italian families who want to know more about Homeschooling.

Home Education is legal in this Country even though it is hardly ever considered as a real possibility.
There are few homeschooling families but they remain a minority against the vast majority of the population that believes not sending kids to school, in order to teach your own, is against the law and will lead to detention.  

Despite the fact that there exists a fairly clear legislation on this subject, schools – which hardly ever have to deal with HS – tend to judge this choice negatively and don't support the students (obviously there are some exceptions). Here in Italy HS parents have to present a personal curriculum at the beginning of the school year which will then have to be approved by the head master. Right before summer vacation the HS child will have to pass a yearly examination. Clearly it is very difficult to do Unschooling in this Country.

I am a mom of 3 future HS children aged five, three and one. I have American and Italian citizenship and my kids are bilingual.
My husband and I chose HS because we believe children belong with their families and don't have to spend eight hours a day, five days a week segregated in a building having to ask permission for talking, standing and going to the bathroom. We don't want to mold our children, we want them to have the freedom to learn for their own reasons, asking questions not answering them while taking part in life's immense diversity of situations.

FAQ

Can I homeschool just in English?
No. You have to do an Italian curriculum that is approved.

Can I unschool?
Your child will be tested annually, if you fail two years running you will have your permission to home ed revoked. So yes, you can unschool, BUT only if you are 100% sure that the method will produce the results that the school is looking for in terms of reading, writing (in ITALIAN) and maths at any given age. I unschool, but of course my kids live here so their Italian is good even though their English is better, thus they can handle the year test (they are in primary now). Anyway you will need to talk to the school officer of the area where you will reside and decide together what your kids will be tested on and how.

Are the rules different for children with SEN ?
Unchartered waters, since I don't know anybody home educating a child with notable SEN here. One school might be completely cool about it, another may kick up a right fuss based on their belief that you cannot possibly have the technical ability to take on their education. You can always dereg from one school and register with another to try the process again if the first school is being difficult.

What if I'm only here for a short time?
Well then you are in luck. It is very unlikely that the school system will notice you if you are here for a year or less. I personally know many foreigners who home ed happily in this Country without any problems just because nobody knows they are here. Instead if you register as homeschoolers at your local school district, your kids will be asked to perform an end of the year exam. The kids are tested annually and they have to fail two years running before your home ed status is at risk. If you are here for a timescale where it really doesn't matter if they pass or not, then once you've gone through the process of sorting out with the school that you are a homeschooler, just home ed as you see fit safe in the knowledge that you will be gone before it is an issue.

Can I home ed under the radar ?
Of course. However you will be running the risk of the police and social services on your doorstep. How much of a risk depends on so many factors like what kind of nieghbours you have, where you live (huge city v small town) and how gung ho the local school director is.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about HS (tips and tricks are available), if you feel you can support the group or if you just want to say "ciao".