SUDBURY – Amidst all of the unrest right now with school teachers across our province, a couple in northern Ontario is saying to parents that they have options such as homeschooling.
The Sudbury pair, Amanda and Stephane Ostrander have penned a book that will help people get started.
Stephane works at a public school in Sudbury and Amanda homeschools their two girls Alexie and Zoe.
Their book is called How to Start Homeschooling: When you have no idea where to start.
"The big questions that people ask like what about socialization, where do you get curriculum like how do you just start?" explained Amanda.
They realize that while homeschooling works for them, that isn't the case for all.
"First, it's important for families to figure out their why. Why they want to homeschool and that's the first part of our book, is determining your why. And for us, that's being able to really tailor our kids' education to them to follow their interests. Not everyone's able to homeschool and so public school definitely has a place for those students," said Stephane.
They say homeschooling is growing in popularity across Canada and they know there are roughly 200 families in Sudbury alone who teach from home. They do realize, however, that there are skeptics out there.
"Socialization is still a big thing that people are concerned about, but I can tell you that even though home is in the title, most homeschoolers are out of the house three, four, five days a week with people. So it's not as concerning as most people think it is," said Amanda.
The Ostranders say while things like a flexible schedule and more one-on-one learning than a classroom are some positives, homeschooling can be tough since they spend every moment with their kids every day.
The couple's book is now available for purchase on Amazon as either a paperback or as an eBook.
