Home Ed Stories – Home Education Network

May 29, 2023

A week in the life of our home educating family (Sara)

A week in the life of our home educating family (Sara) Sara I’ve been a home educating parent for almost nine years. We’ve always had a bit of an eclectic style, I prompt and strew a few activities, but the kids (now 12 and 14) have always been mostly self- directed learners as they have many interests to keep them engaged. The best thing […]

May 23, 2023

Home Educating 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 […]

April 17, 2023

Unschooling Neurodivergent Kids

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 […]

March 27, 2023

Navigating Technology

Alicia Hoppit I stood in the hallway, just before the door. I steeled myself, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew what would come. “Why are you on your iPod?” “I’m not. I’m listening to music.” “It’s not good to have headphones in all the time.” “I need the music to help me concentrate on my work.” “Were you playing games?” […]

March 6, 2023

Our Journey

Our Journey Prema Saraswatil Our journey should have started when our only child was four. But looking back on it, my ingrained schooling experience, friends, and family persuasion allowed me to brush it off for another six years. I was working fulltime and our three-year-old was in full-time day care/kinder. He loved every day of it. There was constant play, games, and creative outlet […]

February 27, 2023

Why Running a business while Home Educating is Madness

Megan Blair Running a small business from home can be challenging at the best of times. Running a small business from home while you’re home educating your children adds a whole different level of challenge. Running a small business from home while you’re home educating your children and you’re a single parent is beyond just challenging. It’s absolute madness! For many years writer, Anaïs […]

February 22, 2023

Your Guide to Co-ops

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, […]

February 21, 2023

The C’s of Co-ops

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 […]

February 21, 2023

Lunch with … my mother (and my father comes along for the ride too)- Spotlight on Home Ed Alumni

Lunch with … my mother (and my father comes along for the ride too) By Yi-Shuen Chan My seven-year-old son, not known for mincing his words, hits her with a doozy the moment Mum sits down, ‘Which is better, home education or school, and why?’ ‘Sammy,’ I tell him gently, ‘you know she’s basically preaching to the converted, right? Everybody who’s going to […]

February 13, 2023

Nothing Accidental

Nothing Accidental Karen Glauser-Edwards Our son is neuro-divergent … he is high-IQ. Not twice-exceptional, just high-IQ. And whilst many might ask, ‘So what?’, those parents sharing a space with those kiddo’s living their lives to the right side of the bell-curve will undoubtedly be able to provide an answer… or two! Too many years of mainstream schooling saw us trying to advocate and fill […]

February 6, 2023

Following their Interests

Following their Interests Annie Regan In a recent conversation with a schooling family, I was asked the usual question about how I know what to teach the kids, and I gave my usual answer along the lines of, ‘We just follow their interests and all the learning is covered as part of that’. While this is definitely true, I realised that the picture that […]

February 6, 2023

Mother and Son Podcast

Mother and Son Podcast By Rachel O’Brien Home educating was something I originally thought I could never do. With so much stigma attached to it, it seemed like a task meant for the wonder women (and men) of the world, something well out of my scope of ability as a mother. Add to that a neurodiverse teenager and it seemed like an impossibility that […]

January 29, 2023

Home Education and Mum’s Chronic Illness

Home Education and Mum’s Chronic Illness Kylie Anderson Let me introduce myself. I am a home educating mother of five. We have been home educating for 13 years and my children are now 17, 15, 9, 7 and 4. I first had symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in my late teens while doing VCE. I’d have periods of fatigue so severe […]

January 29, 2023

A week in the life of our home educating family… (BM)

A week in the life of our home educating family… By Bridget Muhrer We’ve just completed our very first year of home educating, and my six-year-old son K is excited to be starting Grade 1 (many home educating families don’t talk about school grades with their kids, but it feels right for us). When we first planned to start, K had no siblings, and […]

January 23, 2023

Home Education Style ‘Whatever works’

By Martina McNeill We are newly registered home educators. Again! Our youngest son has had a stint at school for almost six years, but 2022 finds us home educating. Again. If you’ve ever spoken to a home educator who has been at it for more than five minutes, you might have heard them say, ‘It’s a lifestyle, not just an education’. Well, that describes […]

January 23, 2023

A week in the life of our home educating family (KJ)

A week in the life of our home educating family Kirsty James Three of my children are now at university, so home ed looks very different for my remaining teen, Rosa (15). There’s no more traipsing around after her siblings, the whole week is planned around her activities. Our style is eclectic, and ranges from academic classes to days of nothing much. We discuss […]

January 23, 2023

The End of Home-Ed: Where Are the Parents Now? (RT)

The End of Home-Ed: Where Are the Parents Now? By Rosemarie Tipping Home educators sometimes wonder what life will hold after the home-ed journey is over. Some feel lost, even down, particularly when the ending is unexpected. Others feel excited, having made plans for new adventures. We hope Rosemarie’s words offer some inspiration and also comfort to those who may be feeling blue about […]

December 12, 2022

Changing Learning Needs

By Annie Regan As an unschooling family, our learning method hasn’t really changed over the years. They learn from the environment around them, making connections to things they already know, following their interests and using things they discover to branch out into new topics and activities to pursue, and not distinguishing life from learning. They have always learnt from playing games, reading books, watching […]

November 21, 2022

One Year On

By Nabeela Wahid ‘I can do this, Mama! I just need to try harder.’ ‘I can’t believe I did this!’ ‘I love this challenge!’ These are not positive affirmations from a TikTok video, rehearsed and performed for an audience to amass followers and likes. These are the utterances of a child no older than ten. Behind these words lies a gargantuan shift of mindset, […]

October 24, 2022

BUSINESS STUDIES Home Ed Style!

By Sarah My seven-year-old began making beaded bracelets for kids with their parent’s phone number on them. We learn maths, art, writing, geography, marketing and much more through this along with budgeting and finance. He was really enjoying making beads so we put our heads together to come up with a way he could turn it into a business. We created a spreadsheet where […]

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