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,
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
The Great Outdoors By Jacqui Rickard As part of our home ed lifestyle, I love to spend time at interesting outdoor places – the beach, the bush, going for a walk, finding a waterfall, exploring rock pools, playing in creeks – anything like that. It’s as good for the kids as it is for me. I don’t think about what our next meal is
By L Winter “Wait, you were homeschooled?! Seriously?! Surely not… but you’re…” I’m what, normal? Social? Working? Happy? This is usually how the conversation goes when someone discovers that I was home educated for most of my child and teen years. Yes, not only am I a joyful, well-adjusted young adult despite my alternative education, but I’d like to suggest perhaps it is because of it. I
Pamela Ueckerman A spine, as it’s referred to by home educators, is a book that acts as the backbone for a particular area of learning. A spine usually isn’t a full curriculum to be followed to the letter; some are read aloud to children while others provide education and examples to the parent but they are used as a central resource and supplemented from
What is a Home Ed Review Like? Both new and experienced home educators tend to find the idea of a review intimidating. The VRQA will be sending out letters soon, so it seems a good time to look at what to expect. First the facts: Every year 10% of registered home educators are selected for review. If your family is selected, you will receive
By Sara Giambruno Hello all, we are a quirky family of four (six if you include the pampered cats) who have pretty much followed an interest-led approach since we started home educating seven years ago. Currently, with all our classes/events/excursions temporarily out of the picture, most of our days consist of lots of reading, artwork, discussing anything of interest, daily Duolingo lessons (12-year-old Sofia
Changing Social Needs By Annie Regan As we’ve moved back into seeing our friends and doing activities this year, after the lockdown of 2020, I was feeling that things were different. At first, I thought it was just the weirdness of being able to go out and to see people again, then realised that it was more than that. We’ve moved into a new
By Pamela Ueckerman When my eldest son took the exciting step of learning to read using a phonics-based approach at his Montessori school, he dove in and picked it up quickly, which we expected because of his great love of books. What we didn’t expect was that his younger brother began showing an interest in learning phonics at the same time. He was already
A warm welcome to new home-schoolers 6 tips to help you as you begin your journey By Belinda Lee What an interesting year 2020 has become. If you have joined us this year, I would love to welcome you to our community and we hope that together, we can support you and make you feel part of our community. You may be thinking, ‘I’m
Cheryl Dedman My name is Cheryl and I’ve been home educating our son Jacob for over 9 years now. We have a family of four: my husband Pete and myself, our eldest son Nathaniel (26) and our younger son Jacob (15) and of course our black lab/golden retriever, Wade. Our elder son went through the mainstream school system, which never suited him, but it
By Sarah As educators, the age-old adage ‘reading, writing, arithmetic’ either strikes a pleasant chord or strikes fear into our hearts. We want to make sure our children are capable, that goes without saying, and results show home educated children are very capable. But sometimes we feel the pressure and expectations on us as home educators. We may not like how we learned, or
By Kirsty James A couple of years ago I organised for a small group of 7- to 12-year-olds to come to our house and learn about Africa with my daughter. I’m a huge fan of picture books, and I knew there were some wonderful books about the continent that we could enjoy together. We met for a few hours once a week. About two-thirds
By Mary Every now and then someone asks how other home educators manage home ed and household tasks such as cleaning and cooking because they’re struggling to get on top of everything. This is especially true of families with younger children who are new to home ed, families who do not have any support nearby or families with an older child where the parent
Nabeela Fathima Wahid It was a chaotic start to the morning, a frenzy of activity dotted with the clatter and noise of each family member trying to cram in a multitude of chores into a single moment. The announcement of an unexpected visitor threw a spanner into the works and despite the dejection and frustration, we knew it was a matter of just getting
The End of Home-Ed: Where Are The Parents Now? 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. Here are some personal accounts from former home educators. HEN would like to thank Jean, Carol, Dora and Jeanie for taking
By Kirsty James Learning to write is a broad theme, covering such diverse topics as forming letters, learning correct grammar and syntax, and essay writing. This article is just a starting point, and illustrates not only some of the ways in which different families have approached these tasks, but also the variety of possibilities. In general, home educated students do less physical writing than
By Sarah Botting Lola is eight years old and Elena is six years old, and we have been home educating for a year now. We follow a very play-based, self-led approach, along with some printed curriculum based on current interests and some textbooks. I find some weeks the girls are driven to learn from the books, and happily ask to do more or choose
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