March 31, 2025

Western Port Co-op

Western Port Co-op Stephanie Garrood We live, learn and play on the Mornington Peninsula, Bunurong Country. It is the most biodiverse region in all of Victoria with 60+ Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs). Beauty abounds in a multitude of terrains where 70% of land is green wedge protected and includes national and state parks, Ramsar wetlands and beaches a-plenty. Home educating here, we are spoilt […]
March 31, 2025

Gameschooling – Dungeons and Dragons A world of Adventure! 

Dungeons and Dragons A world of Adventure!  Gameschooling is the practice of using games to learn. When you have fun while learning, you often retain information better! So why not take advantage of the many card, board and video games available—to absorb new information; practice life-skills like reasoning, team-work and losing with grace; and to keep the joy of learning alive?  By Aleisha Hobson  […]
March 31, 2025

Alexis the Welder – Home Ed Alumni

Alexis the Welder By Helena Van Soest Alexis is a very friendly girl, but shy. Working in a retail store or restaurant did not suit her. She did not like to ask people ‘How’s your day?’ and engage in idle chit chat.  Alexis tried Child Care too. She is very good with children and always thought that would be her calling. However, the underlying […]
March 31, 2025

World Schooling – 6 months in Canada

World Schooling – 6 months in Canada Christine Cole Last June my husband and I took our children to my family home in Canada for six months. At the time they were 3, nearly 5 and nearly 7 and we hadn’t seen my family for three years! So we decided to take an extended trip to spend some quality time and do some adventuring. […]
March 31, 2025

Spotlight on Home Ed Alumni – Jemima

Spotlight on Home Ed Alumni  Find Your Own Way It might not be what you think  By Jemima Please introduce yourself, tell us how old you are and what you are doing now.  My name is Jemima, I am 36 and I spend my days home educating my three children, who are between 5 and 10 years old.  What did your home education look […]
March 31, 2025

A week in the Life – Heidi R

We are a neurodivergent, single-parent household with one remaining teen of school age (L, 15 years old). Two older siblings (C, 19 and A, 23) sometimes join our activities out and about and often join in home-based learning. However, our learning no longer looks anything like traditional schooling: L is a self-directed learner and prefers periods of deep dives / hyperfocus. Our home education […]
March 31, 2025

How Conversations Can Lead Learning Naturally

How Conversations Can Lead Learning Naturally Bella We are in our second year of home educating and it’s been a journey of ups and downs, but the improvements have definitely made it all worth it. My son is 9 years old and has a lot of learning trauma amongst other issues which has made learning interesting for us but this hasn’t stopped him from […]
September 16, 2024

Local Learning

Faye C Have you ever thought of using your local neighbourhood house or community centre to complement your home education?  Neighbourhood houses and community centres offer many activities that cover numerous learning areas. Classes and workshops for children are typically offered during after school hours or on weekends. Some houses and centres are very flexible with age too and are happy to allow a […]
May 21, 2024

Special Moments and Creating Alongside – The birth of The Silly Flamingo

By Sonja Otto My husband is a novelist. It was his dream to be a writer from when he was around seven years old and wrote a series of stories titled The Detective Known as Brad (hardly surprising with a childhood of reading The Famous Five and The Three Investigators). His stories (and titles) have come a long way since then, but writing is […]
May 13, 2024

Learning Through Play and the theory of loose parts.

By Nicole Xerri  As a kindergarten teacher, I have lost track of how many times families have asked when we will start ‘teaching’ children instead of just ‘letting them play’, while similarly in home education, families can ask about a kindergarten curriculum or the best way to start teaching their child to read and write.  So many families are surprised when they find out […]
April 29, 2024

Unexpected Adventures

By Clare Dunstan This year I thought I had it all together… Yes I know, how foolish of me! In my mind the kids could just continue on with the work they were doing from last year, it had been going well, nothing needed changing. How wonderful not to start the year with the typical scramble for new books. Or so I thought. The […]
April 9, 2024

Homeschooling socialisation—building a diverse community for your child

By Shweta S Every new home educator (and non-home educator) is always concerned about the social life of the home educated child. I think the concern is valid, especially from those adults who had an active social life at school and still enjoy life-long close friendships with their childhood friends. For many families, a school gives an out-of-the-box community that you can plug into. […]
March 25, 2024

Week in a life: 13 year old unschooling

Nicole B Sunday: Used jack hammer, crow bars and cement saw to smash up concrete with dad and friends—part of our home renovation project. Watched anime series in between. Swam at the beach. Watched Labyrinth film with the whole family. Monday: Guitar practice Prepared breakfast and lunch to take out for the day. Went to the hairdresser and got pink highlights as a celebration […]
March 18, 2024

Homeschool Camps – Camps are possibly my favourite thing about home education

Annie Regan I love the deep, lasting friendships that my kids make, the sense of community and inclusivity, getting to know other parents and kids, having lots of time to relax, exploring new places with friends, eating ice cream, going back to the same places and developing traditions, or going to new places and discovering new things – every camp we’ve been on has […]
March 11, 2024

Homeschool…Highschool?

By Pamela Ueckerman One of the most frequent questions I get about our journey through home education now that my boys are a tween and a teen—aside, of course, from the inevitable and soul-wearying question about socialisation—is, “Will you home school through high school?” It’s a valid question and my answer is always, “If that’s what they want,” which is usually met with more […]
February 17, 2024

Thinking of buying an all in one curriculum? What you need to know.

After ‘How do I register’, ‘Should I use (insert the name of any well advertised homeschool product here)’, is the question I see most in different Facebook groups these days.  It’s most commonly asked by parents who are moving to home education from school because of a precipitating event, School Can’t or because their child is disengaged. When compared to home education, schools are […]
February 12, 2024

Am I a Bad Dad?

Am I a Bad Dad? By Ash B I’m a pretty simple, average dad, no expert, but like so many of you, I want the best for my family. The hassles of school had caused me to consider home educating on many occasions prior to beginning our family’s journey. One of my main objections to home educating was personal, it suited me too much […]
February 6, 2024

School Can’t – HEN and the Senate Inquiry

This article is a summary of the two surveys conducted in 2023 for the senate inquiry into school can’t. Our two submissions that include comprehensive results from the surveys can be read here:  HEN Survey for the Senate Inquiry into The National Trend of School Refusal and Related Matters.  HEN conducted a second survey into ‘educational attainment’ in children with School Can’t who had […]