Saskatchewan Homeschool Written Educational Plan: What to Include and What to Skip

Many families spend weeks agonizing over their Written Educational Plan before submitting their home-based education registration in Saskatchewan. They write exhaustive week-by-week syllabi, map every resource to provincial curriculum outcomes, and produce documents that look like a full-year lesson plan. None of that is required. In fact, the provincial regulations explicitly say scope and sequence is not required — and some families hand over far more than the law asks for, then wonder why the division sends follow-up questions.

This post covers exactly what Saskatchewan's Written Educational Plan must contain, what you can legally omit, and how to write broad annual goals that hold up all year without locking you into a rigid structure.

What the Regulations Actually Say

Saskatchewan's Home-based Education Program Regulations, 2015 specify that a Written Educational Plan (WEP) must include four elements:

1. A statement of reason and philosophical approach — Why you're educating at home and how you approach learning
2. Minimum three broad annual goals per core subject area — For Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies
3. Expected activities, methods, and resources — A general description of how you'll pursue those goals
4. Means of assessing and recording progress — How you'll track whether goals are being met

That's the complete list. The WEP is submitted as part of your Notice of Intent registration and becomes the anchor document for everything that follows — your portfolio, your Periodic Log, and your Annual Progress Report all tie back to the goals you stated here.

What Is Not Required

The provincial policy manual is explicit that the WEP does not need to contain a scope and sequence. This distinction matters because some school divisions have developed the habit of asking for one anyway, and because many commercial homeschool programs are built around detailed scope and sequence documents that make parents assume this level of detail is legally required.

It is not. You are not required to:

• Map your goals to provincial curriculum outcomes
• Provide a week-by-week or unit-by-unit teaching plan
• Name every resource or textbook you intend to use
• Submit a course outline resembling what a classroom teacher would prepare

If a division official asks for scope and sequence or curriculum alignment beyond what the regulations specify, that request exceeds the division's legal authority. The regulations represent the maximum a school division can require, and additional demands are not enforceable. You can note this politely and provide only what the law requires.

The Philosophical Approach Statement

The first required element is a statement of why you're homeschooling and how you approach education. This can be one paragraph. It doesn't need to be a manifesto.

What works: a genuine, specific description of your family's approach. Saskatchewan formally recognizes five pedagogical orientations — structured, Charlotte Mason, classical, unschooling, and eclectic — and any of these is a valid basis for a philosophical statement. A few examples:

Structured approach: "We approach home-based education using a structured curriculum that provides clear daily objectives and sequential skill-building. We believe consistent routine supports our children's learning, and we supplement with hands-on activities and community experiences."

Eclectic approach: "Our approach is eclectic — we combine a structured math program with literature-rich Language Arts, interest-led Science inquiry, and project-based Social Studies. We adapt our methods based on how our children are engaging with material."

Unschooling: "We believe children are naturally motivated learners and that deep curiosity-led exploration produces more durable learning than structured instruction. Our approach is learner-directed, with parents serving as facilitators and resource providers rather than instructors."

Any of these is legally sufficient. The statement exists to give context to your goals and methods — not to prove your philosophy is "correct."

Saskatchewan regulations also permit parents to exclude concepts that conflict with conscientious beliefs. If there are specific curriculum areas you intend to teach differently for religious or other principled reasons, this statement is where you note that.

Writing Broad Annual Goals

This is where most families either under-build (goals so vague they're meaningless) or over-build (goals so specific they're impossible to meet without curriculum lock-in). The right level is in between: ambitious enough to demonstrate educational intent, flexible enough to survive the year.

The regulations require a minimum of three goals per subject in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. You can include more. You do not need goals for Health Education, The Arts, or Physical Education in the WEP — though you may choose to include them.

Language Arts Goals

Language Arts is the broadest subject, covering reading, writing, oral communication, and language development. Three strong goals might be:

• Student will read independently across multiple genres, demonstrating comprehension through narration, response writing, or discussion
• Student will produce writing in multiple forms (narrative, expository, creative) with increasing attention to organization and revision across the year
• Student will develop vocabulary and oral communication skills through discussion, presentations, or participation in group learning activities

These goals are achievable through nearly any methodology — whether you use a structured writing program, Charlotte Mason narrations, a reading-heavy eclectic approach, or interest-led projects. That flexibility is the point.

Mathematics Goals

• Student will develop operational fluency with [specific operations appropriate to age/level] through regular practice
• Student will apply mathematical reasoning to real-world problems and multi-step scenarios
• Student will build conceptual understanding of [relevant math strands] through manipulatives, visual models, and problem-solving

Tailor the specific content to your child's level — fractions and decimals for a Grade 5 student, algebraic reasoning for a Grade 8 student. But keep the language goal-oriented rather than curriculum-aligned.

Science Goals

• Student will develop habits of scientific inquiry through observation, hypothesis formation, and documentation of findings
• Student will build knowledge in [one or two science domains — life science, earth science, physical science] through reading, experimentation, and real-world investigation
• Student will connect scientific concepts to everyday experience and environmental contexts

Saskatchewan's home-based education philosophy explicitly supports "inherently less structured and more experiential" learning, and Science goals are where this shows up most clearly. Field-based, project-based, and interest-led approaches all satisfy these goals.

Social Studies Goals

• Student will develop understanding of Canadian history and geography, including Indigenous perspectives and regional contexts
• Student will explore civic concepts including community, government structures, rights, and responsibilities
• Student will connect local, national, and global events through discussion, reading, and inquiry-based projects

These goals support everything from formal Canadian history programs to project-based community studies to current events discussion.

Describing Activities, Methods, and Resources

The third required element — your expected activities, methods, and resources — does not need to be exhaustive. Two or three sentences per subject area is generally enough. What the division is looking for is evidence that you have a plan, not that the plan is comprehensive.

"For Language Arts, we will use [curriculum or self-designed program]. We plan to supplement with extensive independent reading, writing projects, and oral narrations. For Science, we will use a combination of [program or approach] and nature study, with quarterly projects tied to our child's current interests."

You can name resources generally ("a structured math curriculum," "library-based research," "online video courses") without committing to specific titles that may change. The WEP is submitted at registration — it doesn't bind you to exact materials for the full year.

Describing Your Assessment and Record-Keeping Approach

The fourth element is how you'll assess and record progress. Again, this can be brief. The assessment method you describe here determines what your Annual Progress Report will look like at year end.

Most Saskatchewan families choose the portfolio method:

"Progress will be assessed through a portfolio of work samples collected throughout the year, supplemented by a Periodic Log of educational activities. A Summative Record for each Broad Annual Goal will be prepared at year end, with supporting work samples demonstrating progress from September to June."

If you intend to use the optional standardized testing route (Canadian Achievement Test), note that here. If you're using a combination — portfolio for most subjects, test for math — state that.

One Common Division Overstep

Families occasionally submit a WEP and receive a response requesting revision — typically asking for more specificity, curriculum names, or something resembling scope and sequence. Before revising, confirm whether the request is based on a legal requirement or a divisional preference.

If a division staff member says your goals are "too broad" or "not specific enough," ask them to cite the regulatory provision that sets the required specificity threshold. The regulations do not specify a word count, a detail level, or a particular goal format — they specify the four categories above. Goals that name the subject, describe the expected learning direction, and imply a method of pursuit are legally sufficient.

This is an area where having a clear understanding of what the regulations do and don't require changes the conversation significantly. The Saskatchewan Legal Withdrawal Blueprint includes the full WEP framework with template language, example goals across all grade levels, and specific language for responding to common division pushback.

After the WEP Is Submitted

Once your WEP is on file, it becomes the reference document for the year. Your Periodic Log tracks what you actually did. Your Summative Records at year end document whether you met each goal. The connection between what you stated in the WEP and what you demonstrate in the Annual Progress Report is what makes the whole system coherent.

You can amend your WEP during the year if your program changes significantly — if you switch curriculum, change your approach, or your child's direction shifts. This is not a formal process; notifying the division of the change in writing is sufficient. The goal is transparency, not rigidity.

Write the WEP at the level of detail you actually plan to operate at. It is a working document, not a legal contract.

See more Canada homeschool guides →