Applying for vs Registering to — Homeschool Our Children

Changing the words used shifts where the power sits

It is time to change the vocabulary around homeschooling.

It is common for families to say they are applying for homeschooling, and this choice of words gives the power to the registration body to approve or disapprove the application. We are giving away our power to make a choice that is already established as legal.

An application can be approved or denied. Registration just is. There is no approval or denial when a family registers their child for school.

Rather than applying for homeschooling, we are registering, the same as we would register our children with the local government or private school.

When we register, we are invoking our power to choose the location from which to base our child’s education. We are choosing to base it from home rather than an institution. We register to inform the governing body that our child will be homeschooled.

Homeschooling is a legal and viable pathway of education for our children. We are empowered to choose and using empowered language is important. We register our children as homeschoolers. When we register, we are not asking for permission, but making a statement of our choice.

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