Home Ed Groups – The Co-op of my dreams By Bridget Muhrer When my family started our first year of home education, I thought we had our co-op set up for the long term. We had a group of seven friends that were all starting at the same time, and we had had lots of meetings and made lots of plans. We knew what
Math with Manipulatives Open-ended investigation has allowed my children to make a number of observations for themselves over the years. For example they learnt (and showed their siblings) that 1 litre of water has a mass of 1kg, so water can be used in a balance to establish the mass of other items, and discovered the commutative property of multiplication by playing with Cuisenaire
Games are a great way to learn through fun. What are some of your families favourite board or card games? Monopoly Junior was a great first game for us to practice counting skills Uno is the favourite at the moment. 7 & 5 year old. Ticket to Ride for geography fun. Sleeping Queens & Kingdomino. Ludo My son is 5 and loves Guess Who
What advice would you give to someone who is facing opposition from friends and/or family because they home educate? I couldn’t actually tell you which of my friends and family approve or disapprove because I wouldn’t ever ask for their approval or opinion on something that is a decision for me, my husband and our daughter to make. I answer questions that come my
What advice do you have to get through the ‘bad ‘ days? A Bad Day At Home Is Still Better Than A Good Day At School. This Too Shall Pass. Go Gently – that’s what my 13yo told me 2 weeks ago!!!! Make a cuppa, put on Netflix and relax. Have a bath. Tomorrow is a new day Take the day off and have
What documentaries would you recommend to other families? Maddie’s do you know on iview. Someone on FB suggested My Octopus Teacher & it was amazing. It’s on Netflix. Also Youth v Gov, The Social Dilemma but it depends on age, mine are older & watch lots of educational documentaries that I wouldn’t say are for younger children. I like My Octopus Teacher too. It’s
What was the main reason you decided to start home educating? We had our 3 boys in an amazing Montessori school just out of Boston, MA. USA. They built confidence, skills and found drive to progress. We have not been able to find a school in Australia to provide the same environment for our kids. So they were each losing who they were, losing confidence
What advice would you give to someone home educating children under 12? Coffee. If anyone is looking for a fantastic program, we used the coach house. This program is Tailor made to suit your child. Teach them to make coffee. Homeschooled our kids taught my daughter to make cappuccino at the age of eight. Golden years. Get outside and explore as much as possible.
If your child has School Can’t, and you are looking at other options, then you are in the right place. HEN is here to support parents, to help you meet the needs of your individual child, and to help you find community. Nobody would suggest that home education alone will magically make everything better, but recent HEN surveys of School Can’t families showed that
Using Your Local Library By Saba Hakim Yesterday at our local library, Eassa, along with a group of other primary aged children, was writing instructions for a robot to make a jam sandwich. The robot was our library events presenter in disguise— wearing a cardboard costume. The session started with an explanation of the task, and direction to write instructions. Some children chose to
By Jess D My homeschooling journey started in 1987 when we were living in the UK for 18 months. I was seven years old at the time, and my parents were considering taking a position in Africa. They didn’t like the idea of boarding school for us kids (I had two younger siblings at the time), but my dad was quite unsure/against homeschooling. After
I’m not a teacher, so how can I teach my children? This answer to an often asked question by newbie home educators was kindly shared with us by an anonymous member Home Educators often get asked how we, as parents, can be effective academic teachers of our children compared to a trained teacher. Prospective home-ed parents often worry about how they could possibly teach
Deschooling, A work in Progress, Bridget Muhrer I loved school. I was that super cool kid who refused to skip classes with her friends, unless it was PE, or the last day of term. I enjoyed studying, I enjoyed writing essays, I enjoyed highlighting lines in books that might come in handy for a debate about the text. Without putting too fine a point
Tracey G ‘I will only do it if I know I won’t be hindering them from becoming an astronaut, orthopaedic surgeon or anything in between.’ These were my ‘famous last words’ words as my husband and I discussed the option of ‘trialling’ home education. Having had a private school education, tertiary opportunities, and a wonderful job in the medical-health profession, I was adamant this
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
By Kirsty James Unless the family situation is unusual, the HEN support team usually suggests interest based learning, which some people interpret to mean natural learning or unschooling (which is by definition interest based). However, interest based learning is relevant to every philosophy, and also to those who are new to home education and have not identified any particular style that appeals to them.
Normalise Reading By Pamela Euckerman When I was ten years old, we lived with my grandfather for seven months. He lived in an old stone house surrounded by lush farmland in Cornwall, in the south of England. The house had once been a butter factory and in his younger days my grandfather ran a nursery—he had a shop room, greenhouses and what he called
Unschooling Neurodivergent Kids Carla Clark Our family consists of mum, dad and two boys now six and three. We are unschoolers with our oldest going into ‘grade 1’ this year. Because we live in Victoria, we are lucky to have the flexibility and freedom to educate our children in a relaxed way that meets their needs. My husband and I are both at home
What is a co-op and is it for you? A home education co-op (co-operative) can be a fantastic way for your kids to make connections and be exposed to a range of group activities. What is a co-op? An Australian co-op is quite different to an American one. Co-ops in the US are often parent-run schools where parents teach classes – complete with projects,
Joanna Bindon Over the 10 years of home-educating my three youngest children, my family has been almost continually involved in some type of homeschool group, which are now more commonly termed “co-ops”, short for “co-operatives”. Some have simply been groups meeting for a social play with an activity or two thrown in; others have been family groups where we shared in a regular activity
