Otherways needs you!

Otherways is Australia’s longest running alternative education magazine, produced quarterly by a team of HEN volunteers. Otherways supports you by bringing together an amazing collection of stories and advice from home educating families willing to share their experiences with others. This makes Otherways truly a community effort! 

Putting together a 50 page+ magazine is no small feat and takes at least two months to get it ready for delivery to your mailbox and available for downloading on our website. Our wonderful team of volunteers works on editing, proof-reading, page-layout, organising printing, Otherways website section, organising contributor ‘thank you’ gifts, enveloping and posting it to you. You can read more about the process in Otherways from Us to You in issue 157, available on our website. 

However, there is an aspect of Otherways that every single one of our members can be involved in and without it we cannot even start on the next issue. Yes – contributing content! Last issue has only just arrived in your mailboxes because in late March and early April when the production of the May issue should have been well underway, we were still facing a rather empty editor inbox!

Have you been following our Otherways History series this year? Have you read about how during the 1990s each issue of Otherways was created (literally cut and pasted!) in turn by various local groups? More recently we have included mini magazines created by local groups – this is such a fabulous creative project for a home ed group (children, teens and adults) or even could be done by several families pooling their time and resources.

We would love to receive contributions from all of our members – imagine if we received a contribution from every member even once every few years. Regardless of how long you have been home educating, or even if you have hung up your home-educator hat, you have a unique experience and story to offer. We believe that everyone in our community has the ability to meet the needs of their children in their own unique way. Sharing our stories both inspires and supports others in our community. 

In each issue we endeavour to include a variety of stories from members sharing their own experience, thoughts and ideas, a few regular columns and some new ones, such as:

• A week in the life of our home educating family – here we like to showcase someone’s week of their home ed life. This requires 6 photos of your week and 500-600 words is ample!
• Activities, Excursions & Events – have you recently attended a great activity or an event – a short write up about it, and even some photos, help others to find and organise more activities, further supporting our community. If your kids or teens particularly loved it, ask them to write a short article about it. 
• Additional needs – there are many families that choose to home educate because of their children’s unique needs, and sharing your story can offer support and show other families they are not alone in their own challenges
• Age of Reason – contributions from home educated teens aged 13 or over and
  Home Ed Kids – contributions from home educated children (please include child’s age)

Both of these can include photos of what they have made or activities they have attended, art, drawings, writing about their hobbies or things they enjoy doing – anything that they would like to share with their home ed friends. If you are struggling to find a real purpose for writing for your kids or teens, then this is your perfect opportunity.

• Book Reviews – a short review of a home educating book OR teens and kids can send in a review of their favourite books
• HE Group News – are you involved in a group – a short write up with several photos can let other members know about your regular group or co-op
• Home Ed on the Road – stories of those travelling and home educating
• Home Ed Our Way / My Home Ed Style – what does home education look like for you and your family; do you have a particular ‘style’ and how does that work for you?
• How I Started – share with us why and how you started your home education journey and what you have discovered along the way
• Junior Artist (or maker, creator, engineer, builder, tinkerer, dancer or whatever they are passionate about) – an interview with or a story written by a junior artist – please send these with photos as they are inspiring to other kids or teenagers
• Photos – In each issue we also need high quality photos for our cover pages, as well as photos from events and activities. So don’t be shy!
• Resource Chat – do you have a favourite home ed resource that you and your child(ren) love? 
• Spotlight on HE Alumni – a story or an interview with a home educated alumni – we can help you with interview questions if you prefer this format

Hopefully the above will give you some ideas and inspiration to share a little bit of your home ed life with others. This list is not exhaustive and you can write on any home education related topic! 

We are now sourcing articles for our next issue due out in August. Submissions received by 15 June will go into a draw to win a Periodic Table Poster from Stile Education.

Information on submissions: https://home-ed.vic.edu.au/otherways/ 

Any questions? Where and when to send your submission?  editor@home-ed.vic.edu.au