Homeschooling in Yukon

Yes. Yukon's Education Act makes school attendance compulsory for children under 16, and registered home education is one of the recognized alternatives. The Act (section 31) and the Home Education Regulations set out the registration system.

The Department of Education no longer handles registrations directly. Instead, English-language home educators register with Aurora Virtual School (AVS), a Yukon public school that also runs online courses. French-language families register with École Nomade, a home education program run by the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon (CSFY).

• Contact AVS or École Nomade. Ask for the current registration form and home education guidelines. Staff can talk you through what the plan needs to cover.
• Register before you begin. Registration is renewed each school year. Secondary sources say AVS asks for registration, re-registration or withdrawal by mid-May for the following school year; confirm the current date with AVS.
• Starting partway through the year. If you are taking your child out of a school, register with AVS first and let the school know. Keep your child attending until the registration is in place so they are not marked absent.

Yukon asks parents to submit an education plan when they register. Secondary summaries describe it as an outline of the learning activities you plan, the curriculum you will follow, and the materials and resources you will use.

Yukon schools use the British Columbia curriculum, adapted with Yukon content, and AVS's home education guidelines refer to BC learning outcomes when describing the plan. You do not need teaching qualifications, and you choose your own teaching approach and resources.

AVS staff can help you put the plan together and suggest resources. Through AVS, home educators can also borrow textbooks and equipment from the Department of Education's resource services.

AVS arranges achievement testing and provincial exams for registered home educators. Secondary sources say home-educated students are expected to take the Yukon Foundation Skills Assessments in Grades 4 and 7, as public school students do. Ask AVS what assessments apply to your child this year.

Keep simple records anyway: your plan, a list of resources, and samples of work across the year. They make re-registration easier and help if your child later moves into a school.

Because Yukon follows BC's curriculum and graduation program, a Yukon graduation diploma is earned through credit courses. Home-educated teenagers usually take some or all of their Grade 10 to 12 courses through AVS or a school so that the credits count towards graduation. AVS also arranges provincial exams.

If your teenager is aiming for a diploma, talk to AVS early (ideally before Grade 10) about which courses to take for credit. Colleges and universities each set their own admission rules for applicants without a diploma, so check with the institutions your child is interested in.

AVS staff provide guidance, resource suggestions and access to borrowed materials. Several secondary sources describe an annual per-student reimbursement for registered home educators' resource costs, paid against receipts, but we could not confirm the amount or rules on a Government of Yukon page. Ask AVS what is currently available before you buy materials.

Families who want more structure can enrol in AVS online courses instead of registering as home educators. That is distance learning through a public school rather than home education.

You can home educate a child with special needs or a disability. Talk to AVS about any assessment results or learning plans from your child's previous school, and what support, if any, can continue while they are registered as a home learner.

Families in Yukon also connect through local home education groups and through Canada-wide organizations such as HSLDA Canada. Your local library is another good starting point for meeting other families.