Blog - Home Education Network

VHEAC Communique Aug 2017

September 12, 2017

[gview file=”https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/VHEAC-Communique-31-August-2017.pdf”]

HEN has a long and proud history of standing up for home educators rights. With new Education Regulations developed, HEN’s lobbying resulted in a disallowance motion being put in the Legislative Council on 23/8. Unfortunately, the vote was 20:20 so the motion was lost by 1 cross-bench vote. You can read the actual debate in Hansard (see p4307) Be proud – there are many positives The government

Educating Claudia

August 16, 2017

By Kerstin Scheel Eighteen-year-old Claudia was in and out of school but the system never met her needs. We had several stints of home education which, although challenging, was the best option available for much of the time. Claudia has Down Syndrome and educating her has been a continual battle in terms of both appropriate provision and funding. During the prep transition process, we

Allergy Bullying led to Home Education

June 18, 2017

Anonymous What I love about home education is that there is room for each and every one of us, in all our glorious uniqueness. We have the freedom to work out what is the best educational fit for each individual and family, rather than trying to contort that individuality to fit into a normative system where one size is supposed to fit all. We

Jump, Fall, Fly

May 7, 2017

From schooling to homeschooling to unschooling by Lehla Eldridge and Anthony Eldridge-Rogers Available at http://unschoolingthekids.com/unschooling-the-kids-the-book/ ebook £7.99 Reviewed by Susan Wills, Lorinna, Tasmania in Otherways issue 152 I jumped at the chance to read this book. The title spoke to me as a parent who, over the past 3 years, has moved from schooling to homeschooling and now unschooling – a journey containing moments

Testimonial from Gold Prospecting Adventures

March 5, 2017

I first had dealings with the Home Education Network when Belinda Cowie booked a gold prospecting tour. This tour gave the students a hands on experience with gold panning, metal detecting and fossicking activities. The morning was a huge success and we received lots of positive feedback from the group. The group included adults, teens, children, preschoolers and toddlers and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Kryal Castle Testimonial

February 20, 2017

Following our hugely successful Medieval Camp in 2016, Kryal Castle had this to say: Testimonial from Kryal Castle

Handbook of Home Educated Alumni

February 18, 2017

Home education began in Victoria with half a dozen parents in the 1970s With the first generation of home educated students now adults, we set out to find out where they are and what they are doing. Some have entered school, some have gone straight to further education or careers. They have taken a variety of pathways and are living proof that home education

Missing the Milestones

December 12, 2016

By Susan Wight Towards the end of the year, I often catch up with old friends. Getting together always emphasises just how different our lives now are. They talk of meetings, workloads, changing policies, best-practice and so on. Their end-of-year display of cards and gifts from appreciative clients or students always takes me by surprise. Jealous? No, I’m happy with my life and don’t

Socialisation: The Hidden Agenda

October 9, 2016

By John Barratt-Peacock It is the most boring of all the objections to home education and seemingly the most stupid since, on all the evidence, home educated children are the best socialised. So why do they do it and why do we buy into it? Within 30 minutes of my taking my daughter out of school the usual ignorant bully from the education department,

Ending is Better than Mending

October 4, 2016

Schooling and Commercialism By Susan Wight Early Australian society needed, and indeed the land itself demanded, that people be frugal, self-sacriﬁcing and hard-working. This was a time when there was nothing to spare. Possessions were few and were conﬁned to absolute necessities. In order to survive people had to be resourceful and independent – they had to make and do for themselves. Even early

The Preschool Push

September 7, 2016

By Susan Wight Preschool attendance has always been optional in Australia but the issue of compulsory preschool continues to raise its ugly head with depressing regularity. Parents paying expensive daycare fees may be in favour of government funded preschool programs. In order for a compulsory national preschool year to gain popular approval, though, the public would have to be indoctrinated into believing that preschool

Quality Time – A Guilt Trap

August 10, 2016

By Dr John Peacock Anna Wintour, when she was editor of the British ‘Vogue” magazine, claimed to be able to spend quality time with her children at some un-godly hour in the morning and still be at the ofﬁce before anyone else. Quality time seems to be the buzz excuse these days for mothers harassed into the work force by cynical governments and social

Age Segregation is Unnatural

August 3, 2016

By Sue Wight In today’s society, age segregation is an accepted way of life. Children are separated off from adults daily into crèches, kindergartens and schools which in turn further segregate them by birth year. Elderly people are frequently consigned to nursing homes and, to further exacerbate the isolation of each age group, families are inclined to purchase new homes in subdivisions full of

Learning Maths Naturally

July 25, 2016

By Sue Wight Our family follow a natural learning style of home education and feel quite comfortable that the children are learning all the time but, like many home educators, we have the occasional doubts about maths. Recently these doubts led me to persuade one of my sons, Matthew, to do some maths on paper. As a small child he loved maths, in fact