The language law in Quebec has limited access to an education in English since the late 1970’s. For those of you unfamiliar with the issue, yup, we have “language police” here in Quebec. The intent of the law & its associated limitations was to preserve the French language and to encourage both anglophones and allophones to learn to speak it. I won’t get into the constitutionality or efficacy of the law here. That is a subject for another time, and perhaps another forum.

Let’s just say that if you’re concerned about all the schools in Quebec teaching in French, this simply isn’t the case. There are lots of English schools in the province, especially in the Montreal area. The issue, however, is whether you get to send your kids to one of them. One of the measures implemented in the language law was to require that anyone enrolling a child in an English school produce a certificate of eligibility to access English-language education. That little piece of paper is so precious, I know of at least one family who have framed the certificate and hung it on the wall!

If you are new to Quebec and you are coming from outside of Canada, in all likelihood you are not eligible to send your kids to school in English. If your family has lived in Quebec for generations, but no one has ever been educated in English, chances are you will have to send them to school in French. There are some exceptions, but basically it’s not easy to get that little paper for your kids unless you were educated in English somewhere in Canada.

It is important to note that the language law applies to public institutions, and as such, does not apply to homeschooling. If you are a homeschooler moving into Quebec, or if you are withdrawing your child from a French school, you may have been told that you are not permitted to educate your child at home in English. Rest assured, this is simply not true. You may educate your child at home in the language or languages of your choice.

Here is the official statement of the ministry of education (the MELS):

[L]’enfant non admissible à recevoir l’enseignement en anglais, en vertu des dispositions de la Chartre de la langue française, peut recevoir, en anglais, son enseignement à la maison puisque ces dispositions sont inapplicables dans ce cas.

My translation:
The child who, due to the provisions of the French Language Charter, is not eligible to attend an English language school, may nevertheless receive instruction at home in English; the provisions of the Charter do not apply to homeschooling.

~ La Scolarisation à Domicile, Orientations, Projet; MELS, Mai 2005

The document continues by saying that parents can register for homeschooling with either the English or French school board in their region, according to the language of instruction. (This registration is, however, a hot issue. Many feel this is not required by law.)

We are also told that, as is now the case with private education since the legal loopholes have been closed, homeschooling in English cannot be used to establish eligibility for public education later.

Folks who may benefit from this option:

• Anglophones and allophones entering Quebec from outside Canada, who would ordinarily have to send their kids to French school, and who are concerned their children will not be able to keep up with their classmates;
• Francophones without eligibility certificates, who would like their children to benefit from earlier exposure to English instruction or from a bilingual or English immersion format that is not available through the local public French-language school;
• Anyone with a child who seems to struggle a great deal with the French language, but who has no specific diagnosis of learning difficulty or other disability that may grant him eligibility, and who would therefore be required to send this child to school in French.

If you choose this option, do keep in mind that if you ever need to return your kids to public school they will have to attend a French school. It is wise to provide some French instruction!

The bottom line: If you are not ordinarily eligible to send your children to English school you have a legal right to give them an English education by opting to homeschool.

Update: I’ve just re-read Sonya’s post on this subject at Montreal Homelearners. The advice from AQED is worth reading, particularly if you have approached an English board about homeschooling & been refused for lack of the eligibility certificate. Check it out here (and thanks for the shout out, Sonya!)

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

The content of this blog is offered in the spirit of sharing information and ideas, and all factual information is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing. Please be aware that laws change and new requirements may be imposed on homeschooling parents. I am not an expert. You should consult legal counsel for the best advice on homeschool legalities and your rights as a home educator.

I had quite an interest in calligraphy when I was a teenager, and this interest has been passed on to our Dojogirl. I happened upon an interesting tutorial today when I was rounding up some foreign language resources, and while I think it’s probably a bit too soon for Dojogirl to be attempting this work I wanted to share it with you all. I’m sure somebody out there will be ready to put it to use!

Palæography is the study of ancient handwriting, and for anyone with an interest in either philology (essentially the study of classical languages) or calligraphy, it is an asset to have some experience in this field.

The British National Archives web site offers a free tutorial in palæography of English written between 1500-1800. There is an introduction that offers some hints about decrypting old texts, complete with some references for common abbreviations, currency, etc. What follows are ten interactive texts to be transcribed (and scored!) line by line. Once a student has completed these, she can try her hand at the ducking stool game (a sort of 17th century-palæography twist on hangman) or look at some of the texts recommended for further practice.

Enjoy the challenge!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

Anytime a homeschooler asks a group to recommend a good foreign language program, inevitably Rosetta Stone gets a mention. It is a very popular, if costly, option that has a version geared specifically for homeschool use. There are currently 31 languages available - from French and Spanish all the way to Polish and Hindi. They even have Latin, a subject many homeschoolers like to include in their curricula.

The other day I was watching TV and there was an ad that went on about how this young man wanted to get ready for the Beijing Olympics, and he was doing it by using Rosetta Stone to learn Chinese! It also said that a free demo was available, so I wandered over to the site to check it out.

Yes indeed, you can get a free demo CD of Rosetta Stone! Follow this link and select the language you want. You can also indicate whether you are interested in using CD-ROM’s or the online access.

Before you commit to an expensive program - or write it off because other programs are available at a better price! - take advantage of free offers like this one. If you decide you like a more costly program there are always options:

• create a study group and share the cost between several families;
• give the program to an eager student as a birthday gift;
• save the environment some wear & tear by vacationing locally, and put part of your savings towards buying the program;
• ask if grandparents or godparents can help to pay for the lessons;
• some programs can be purchased through monthly subscriptions & some publishers will allow you to negotiate a payment schedule for the purchase of a kit.

If you discover you don’t like Rosetta Stone you’ll have no regrets as you move on to a more affordable program like:

• The Easy French or The Easy Spanish (both use the François Gouin method recommended by Charlotte Mason);
• Free French language workbooks (printables) for grammar, penmanship, math & more from La Librairie des Ecoles (it helps if you can read French, but essentially just register & click on the box that says “Acceder gratuitement à nos manuelles scolaires”);
• Mángo Languages online lessons (free basic lessons & affordable fully featured lessons);
• Flip Flop language books (for kids as young as age 3);
• BBC Schools interactive lessons & printable resources for French, German, Spanish & Welsh (primary, secondary);
• French for Kids by Kids podcasts;
• Enchanted Learning printable worksheets, booklets & dictionaries in multiple languages;
• First School printables (especially alphabet tracers) in Spanish & some in French (preschoolers);
• Free self-paced courses in Latin (classical or Biblical) & several modern languages from Virtual School of Languages (older students);
• Free Latin & Greek resources from TextKit (older students);
• Latin (1086-1733) tutorial from the British National Archives (older students);
• Create your own program - thoughts on teaching foreign language in a Charlotte Mason context (Ambleside Online & Parents’ Review articles)

If you have other foreign language resources to recommend - especially those that offer multiple languages free of charge or at a reasonable price - please let me know. Modern languages are especially welcome, but if you’ve got resources for Latin, Greek, Hebrew or other historical languages please share these too!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!