This reflection I wrote for a family blog in 2017 when we stepped out of school. I rediscovered it again this week and thought I would share it here. It very much captures that sense of freedom that you feel when you step out of the system. It is a decision made five...
Three years ago, our daughter entered secondary school and, initially, seemed to thrive. It is a well respected school, the same one our boys had gone to with positive experiences. However, as time went on, we noticed her getting more insular and less excited about...
I'm usually the first one awake and this morning was no exception. I walked out to my spot in the living room, Moreton Bay glimmering on the horizon, a thin strand of silver under an overcast sky. We were blessed early last year to find a secluded rental property with...
In the middle of studying for my English language IGCSE exam, at age 14, I could never have fathomed pursuing any kind of writing as a career. I didn’t like formulating ideas, didn’t like having to be creative and struggled when having to. This dislike, or even...
If you had told me when my son started school in 2011 that we would become home educators, I honestly would have laughed out loud. Coming from a family of teachers, the thought of home educating did not even come onto my radar. I will also confess the term ‘home...
"What are you doing to enable your children to flourish?” asked the school inspector of me - a newly appointed and very young headteacher. Since that wonderful and significant day I have spent a privileged lifetime with, and alongside, children and teachers from whom...
"Do you remember when we learned all about the Sumerians when you were younger?" I asked my 18 year old daughter. "We dressed up, made different foods, and even did a puppet show?" Looking at me blankly, she responded "No, I don't remember doing that!" We used to get...
The photo is such a special one to me, the happiness and laughter on my daughter’s face is one thing - but there is something that you can not see in this photo… Minutes before this was taken on Saturday night, my daughter had just watched herself on a cinema screen...
It is a rare family indeed that isn’t hit by the financial impact of home education. Let’s be honest about that. Whether tag-teaming shift work, paying for books and resources, covering examination fees, or stretching your food budget to incorporate weekday family...
Surprising as it may sound, I consider socialising one of the great unsung strengths of home education. Children learn social skills from others around them. In a home education scenario, where the ratio of children to adults rarely exceeds 6:1, adults are able to...
I started home educating before I had any idea that my daughter might have any learning difficulties. She was clearly a bright child, making her milestones, curious and interested, and extremely conversational. I am not British and was not impressed with what I saw...
We’ve been on this crazy home educating journey now for four years and let me tell you it’s a rabbit hole! What looks to be a simple premise on the outside; you educate your kids, at home, suddenly opens up into a whole new world of possibilities and choices and I’ll...
My story began over 20 years ago when our 1st child was born. As new parents, we were full of idealism and wanting the best for our daughter and we both thought home educating would offer a wonderful way to educate our child. My husband encouraged me to home...
When we first started two years ago, we bought a big expensive boxed curriculum, which worked well for us initially but as I found my feet, I discovered that it didn’t entirely meet our needs. So, now we’re into our third year and I’m beginning to “pick and mix” to...
We joined the world of home education over two years ago with our two girls who are now 13 and 10 years old. They are very different from each other and, therefore, need a different approach to learning, as was the case in school but they were unable to provide that...
One of our dreams all through our homeschool journey was that one day we would be able to take a year out and go travelling with our family - early on we had met another family who had spent some time going around the States in an RV and the idea of taking a family...
I was homeschooled until I was 17 and one of the biggest benefits has been being with my family a lot of the time. My memories of early homeschooling include sitting around the kitchen table with my siblings to do school work, going on trips together with friends to...
Oliver, our eldest son, was born on the 26th August, a summer-born baby boy. Oliver was a bright, inquisitive baby and toddler - always asking questions at every opportunity and eager to learn new things. He enjoyed pre-school for a time, but then became frustrated...
There aren’t many whole days that I could describe as ‘glorious’, but they come as moments, sometimes hours if we’re lucky. They’re the moments our kids are rolling around laughing and making up funny rhymes or working together on building a den. With my oldest child,...
The start of my learning journey actually began in school. We lived in Leeds when I was little and I started school age four. I don’t remember too much other than I had one special friend at school and her name was H. We were really good friends, we played a lot. I...
When my 9 year old daughter innocently explained that she was using disassociation and self-harm strategies to get through maths lessons, we knew we’d never walk her over the threshold of the school again. As ex educators, both my wife and I had already experienced...