Demystifying "Curriculum" for the Homeschooling Exemption
In New Zealand, if your child is 6 - 16, you will need to obtain a homeschooling exemption from the Ministry of Education.
When applying for a homeschooling exemption in New Zealand, one of the most common stumbling blocks is the requirement to provide an overview of your broad curriculum.
Many parents fall into the trap of thinking this means purchasing an expensive, pre-packaged box curriculum or tightly aligning their days with the NZ school curriculum. It doesn’t.
In the eyes of the Ministry of Education, a curriculum is simply your plan for learning. It is a description of what content, experiences, subjects, and activities you intend to provide to ensure that your child will be taught at least as regularly and as well as they would be if enrolled at a registered school.
What a Curriculum Actually Is...
A curriculum is not something you buy off a shelf; it is something you design. It is the roadmap of your educational philosophy, resources, and passions tailored specifically to your child.
A thorough curriculum overview needs to clearly demonstrate:
Goals & Learning Objectives: What you aim for your child to achieve or explore over the year.
Content Covered: The topics, subjects, skills, concepts and topics you will dive into.
Delivery Methods: How you will teach and facilitate that content (e.g., hands-on projects, reading, online tools, mentoring, or community classes).
Monitoring & Assessment: How you will track your child's progress, evaluate their understanding, and keep records of their learning.
What It Looks Like in Practice
If you AREN'T buying a boxed curriculum, your overview might involve:
Real-Life & Project-Based Learning: Outlining how your child will learn mathematics through cooking, budgeting, and building; or science through gardening, nature walks, and local conservation projects.
A Mix of Resources: Listing a variety of flexible tools rather than a single textbook—such as library books, documentaries, online subscriptions, community classes, and museum visits.
Themed Unit Studies: Focusing on topics of high interest to your child (like ancient history, aviation, or creative writing) and weaving multiple subjects like reading, history, and art through them.
Unschooling / Natural Learning: Describing how you will facilitate learning through your child's self-directed projects, play, community involvement, and everyday family life while ensuring core foundational skills are covered.
The Takeaway:
Your curriculum overview just needs to show the Ministry how your child's days will be filled with rich, meaningful learning opportunities, complete with your goals and methods for tracking progress.
You have total freedom to build a pathway that works for your family—no shopping cart required.
Want to know more?
Need some help or guidance writing or planning your exemption application or curriculum.?
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