In Victoria, to home school you generally have to be registered but don't have to report or anything like that as far as I know. Although I plan to keep records of stuff we do that kinda reflects the VELS just for interest if I'm organized enough, and depending on one's educational philosophy, you can choose to follow a curriculum or not.
We're inspired by the philosophy of 'natural learning', ‘life learning’ or ‘unschooling'. It's basically child led learning. My job is to pay attention to what interests them and let them explore those things freely without my intervening or controlling. Although I need to be available to answer any questions, support them or 'play' with them in their chosen activities when they request without going overboard (much harder than it sounds!). I aspire to be free of judgements, appraisals and criticism and try to be as positive and honest as I can. I personally learn hugely from this philosophy too – it’s massively challenging!
This learning style may seem a more chaotic, ‘fits and starts’ style than the traditional school style curriculum.
There's absolutely no pushing or pressure to do a particular thing like reading or maths by a certain age, or be of a particular 'standard'.
The assumption of natural learning is that human beings/children are by nature curious & social, and if free of pressure and evaluation and given freedom to choose their path, will choose to learn the things they need to know when they individually need to know them to fit in with the community that surrounds them.
So to use the school ‘subjects’ of reading and writing as an example: our family home is packed with books, magazines, letters, bills, newspapers etc. Darren and I write and type words everyday. Our society relys on the written word, there are signs everywhere, ads, television programs with the alphabet to music etc etc… hence, April has been imitating the writing of symbols as opposed to drawing pictures for months. There is a definite difference in her approach when she is ‘drawing’ as opposed to ‘writing’ even in her choice of pen!
Roxie requests me to read to her pretty much every sign, subtitle etc that she sees. She can write her name, her sisters name and the names of her favorite tv character (!) she recognizes the word zoo (and others). She writes letters to me with a jumble of her familiar alphabetical letters. Most of this (aside from writing her own name) has happened in the last month or so.
I try to set up frequent playdates (we have a large homeschooling/ natural learning community of kids Rox's age) and offer lots of activites and opportunities which she is free to take on or not. For example, through a homeschooling network I found a beginners robotics 'class' and a session on the planets both of which Rox was very keen to do. She loves taking part in a creative dance class regularly as well. And she enjoys playing online computer games. And now there's tele too. (Rox can watch whatever she wants, whenever she wants - a big change from no television at all last year!). She's currently 'teaching' herself to read. All from her own volition! It's very intense to be with the kids in this way but so amazing seeing how much Rox and April learn and soak up from the basic day to day without traditional school.
Rox's current interests are reptiles (she now has a pet Blue Tongue Lizard named Olive Bluey), always art (drawing,painting, pasting), tatoos/body art, creating cake recipes (on her own - that are edible!), writing, planets and the solar system, going to the zoo, computer games, halloween and heaps of other stuff that she wouldn't even be introduced to in school yet! It's pretty amazing.
