Home Education Plan Examples Alberta: EPP Templates and Philosophy Statements

The Education Program Plan is the most important document Alberta home education families submit each year—and the one that causes the most confusion. New families often spend hours staring at a blank Word document provided by their associate board, unsure what level of detail is required, whether their approach is "legitimate enough," and how to put it on paper in a way that will satisfy both a government facilitator and their own sense of who they are as educators.

This post walks through what a functional EPP actually contains, provides real examples of how to structure it, and covers how to write a philosophy statement that gives your facilitator the context they need without over-committing you to a rigid plan.

What the EPP Is and Who Needs One

Families registered with a supervising school authority—the funded route—must submit a formal Education Program Plan to their associate board each academic year. This is the document that defines your program, links it to provincial learning outcomes, and justifies your reimbursement funding of $901 per child (for Grades 1–12) or $450.50 for Kindergarten.

Families on the independent, unfunded pathway (notification only) are not legally required to submit an EPP to anyone. However, developing an internal plan—even a simplified one—is good practice. If your child ever applies to post-secondary or transfers back into the public system, a documented plan demonstrates intentionality.

The Four Components Every EPP Needs

Regardless of which board you are registered with—WISDOM, THEE, Argyll Centre, CBE, or any other—a legally sound EPP addresses four elements for each subject area:

1. Learning Outcomes Identify which provincial outcomes your program addresses. Most Alberta families register under the Schedule of Learning Outcomes (SOLO) rather than the full Alberta Programs of Study (APS). The SOLO offers 22 broad, cross-curricular outcomes that a student is expected to achieve by the end of basic education. Under SOLO, you do not need to map your work to all 1,400 specific APS grade-level outcomes—a significant reduction in paperwork.

Example SOLO outcome entry for Math: "This program addresses SOLO outcome 6: demonstrate a knowledge of mathematical concepts and skills, and apply them with confidence in practical situations."

2. Resources List the textbooks, programs, subscriptions, and materials you will use. This section matters doubly: it documents your educational approach, and it serves as the paper trail for your reimbursement claim. Any item you intend to submit receipts for must be listed in the EPP.

Example resource entries:

• Math Mammoth Grade 4 workbook
• Reading: Story of the World, Volume 2 (Susan Wise Bauer)
• Khan Academy (free, no receipt)
• Monthly museum membership (science centre visits, documented separately)

3. Instructional Methods Describe how you will deliver the program. You do not need to justify your pedagogy—you need to communicate it clearly enough that a facilitator understands what your school day looks like.

Example instructional methods statement (Charlotte Mason approach): "Instruction is delivered through short, focused lessons of 10–20 minutes per subject area, with emphasis on living books, copywork, narration, and nature study. Direct instruction is used for mathematics; all other subjects use a literature-and-discussion model."

Example statement (eclectic/structured approach): "We use a combination of direct instruction, textbook-based work, and project-based units. Each core subject receives 30–45 minutes of focused daily instruction. Unit study topics are integrated across subjects where possible."

4. Methods of Evaluation Describe how you will assess your child's progress. This does not mean standardized tests—under SOLO, facilitor evaluations are built around portfolio review and parent-reported progress. Your evaluation methods might include portfolio review, daily observation, oral narration, written assignments, or parent-administered quizzes.

Example evaluation entry: "Progress is evaluated through ongoing portfolio collection (dated work samples, project documentation, and reading log), semi-annual facilitator reviews, and parent observation. PAT participation is optional; we will decide in December whether to register for Grade 6 PATs based on the student's readiness."

A Practical EPP Example: Grade 4, SOLO Framework

Here is what a compact, functional EPP entry looks like for a single subject area:

Subject: Language Arts SOLO Outcome Addressed: Outcome 1 (read for information, understanding, and enjoyment), Outcome 2 (write for a range of purposes and audiences) Resources: Brave Writer Arrow program (Level 2), library books selected by student interest, daily independent reading, weekly read-aloud chapter book Instructional Methods: Daily independent reading (30 min), weekly dictation and copywork from Brave Writer passage, biweekly writing assignments (narration of read-aloud, creative writing, or non-fiction paragraph), oral narration after library books Evaluation: Portfolio of dated writing samples (one per month minimum), reading log with title/date/response, facilitator review discussion in November and April

This level of detail is sufficient for most Alberta associate boards. It is specific enough to demonstrate intentionality without locking you into a rigid daily schedule that becomes unrealistic by November.

How to Write a Homeschool Philosophy Statement

Many boards and, eventually, university admissions offices request a philosophy statement alongside the EPP. WISDOM Home Schooling in particular emphasizes this document for high school students seeking their WISDOM Certificate of High School Completion.

A philosophy statement is not a sales pitch. It is a clear explanation of why you teach the way you do and what you are trying to achieve. It should be written in the first person, typically one to two pages, and cover:

• Your overarching educational goals for your child
• The pedagogical approach or philosophy you have adopted (Charlotte Mason, classical, unschooling, eclectic, faith-based, etc.) and why
• How you define success—what you want your child to be able to do, think, and value by the end of their home education
• How your chosen methods serve those goals

Example opening paragraph (Charlotte Mason approach): "Our home education program is grounded in Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education as a life, a discipline, and an atmosphere. We believe that children are born persons, capable of self-directed learning when given access to living books, time in nature, and relationships built on respect and curiosity. Our goal is not academic acceleration but the formation of a child who reads deeply, thinks independently, and approaches the world with wonder."

Example opening paragraph (classical approach): "We follow a classical model of education organized around the trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. In the elementary years, we focus on foundational knowledge and memorization; in junior high, on developing reasoning and argumentation skills; in high school, on applying those skills to original expression and research. We believe classical education develops not just competence but virtue and judgment."

The philosophy statement gives your facilitator the lens through which to evaluate the child's portfolio. Without it, a facilitator unfamiliar with Charlotte Mason narration records or unschooling documentation might misread sparse worksheets as evidence of educational neglect. With it, they understand that the child's reading log and nature journal are the primary output of the program.

Keep the EPP Simple, Achievable, and Measurable

The acronym SAM—Simple, Achievable, Measurable—is widely used in the Alberta homeschool community, including by WISDOM, to describe what a good EPP should be. The planning document that will serve you best is the one you will actually use, not the one that looks most impressive on paper.

If you write an EPP with 45-minute daily blocks for every subject and formal weekly assessments for each area, you are creating a compliance burden that will collapse by October. A plan that is honest about how your family actually operates—including the days when you spend four hours on a project and skip the workbook—is more sustainable and more useful.

The Alberta Portfolio & Assessment Templates include fillable EPP templates for Kindergarten through Grade 12 that are pre-structured around SOLO outcomes, along with a philosophy statement template and prompts designed to help you articulate your approach clearly. They are formatted as professional PDFs rather than clunky Word documents, so the presentation reflects the care you put into your program—without requiring hours of formatting work.

Before the September Deadline

Alberta's funding count date is September 29th. To be eligible for the $901 reimbursement grant, families must have their notification form and EPP submitted to a willing supervising school authority by that date. If you are registered with WISDOM, EPP submission for returning families is due in late August.

Do not wait until September 28th to draft your plan. A rushed EPP written in an anxiety spiral produces vague outcomes and imprecise resource lists that will cause friction at your October facilitator meeting. Give yourself two to three hours in August—and ideally, review last year's plan as a starting template rather than starting from scratch.

See more Canada homeschool guides →