Modern Homeschool Today

At the beginning of this year I sensed the need to relax in my homeschooling approach. I felt that less structure and more freedom would result in a more positive experience for us all.  I can hear the more experienced homeschoolers saying, "I told you so!". The two areas that are important to us as a homeschooling family are: Freedom to explore interests, be creative and LOVE learning To develop self-discipline and ability to persist with difficult, unpleasant tasks to prepare them for life Initially, we trialled a very relaxed approach. But I found that although they were abounding in creativity they weren't being persistent and were giving up on tasks easily. It made me realise that in order to prepare them for the future e.g possible University life and work that they needed to learn self-discipline.  In order to be successful the ability to be both consistent and persistent are important. So persisting through difficult maths questions or getti...

    Lego is a huge part of my boy's lives and their love for it continues to change and grow in complexity as they get older. My kids loves the free play of the normal Lego blocks but are also developing an interest in the assemble kits. "Mum, Can I please get the Lego star wars deathstar? It's only $400...."   I've always known that Lego is 'good' for kids, for their developing creativity, problem solving and more. These reasons are more than enough motivation to encourage the use of Lego in our homeschool.   Why Use Lego In Home Education?     1. Kids love Lego, it's fun and motivating!   As delight-directed homeschoolers, I love using my children's interests and passions to impart different skills and knowledge. Lego is something I have used many a time to teach mathematical concepts, physics, engineering and even literacy. When a child is interested in a topic they have a motivation, a desire to learn a...

My 7yo has always been fascinated with rocks. So when he spied the national geographic rocks and minerals collection at our local newsagent his eyes lit up! I saw it as a great opportunity to foster his keen interest in geology and for me to learn something new along the way too. There is something exciting about waiting for the next rock in the collection to arrive, going to pick it up and learning about something new.  And move over Justin Bieber (or whatever the female equivalent is these days) there's a rocks and minerals poster next to my son's bed!   I must admit that rocks and minerals don't intrigue me the way they do my son so I've had to be proactive in finding motivating and exciting ideas for exploring this topic. To get some ideas on how I could expand on this interest I visited some of my favourite homeschooling blogs and sites. I discovered this idea on teaching the layers of the earth. I followed the links and printed and laminated our o...

We had an awesome holiday recently on the Gold Coast. One of the highlights was two days at Seaworld. This was our first trip to Seaworld since our eldest was 3 so it was a different experience with the kids old enough to sit and enjoy the shows such as fish detectives. We scored a seat right at the front and were so close to the seals that the boys could almost reach out and touch them! One of the newer attractions at Seaworld is dinosaur island and the dinosaur discovery centre. The dinosaurs are life sized which is truly amazing to see and the discovery centre is fantastic. I was explaining some of the exhibits to the boys and how they learn what dinosaurs used to eat by their poo. At the end, I asked the boys what they learnt about dinosaurs and DS3 piped up, "I learnt that dinosaurs eat poo". Not quite son, but good try! This has inspired  the boys to learn more about dinosaurs so we are re-visiting some books and studies on dinosaurs.  The dolphin show ...

We don't watch TV much these days but we did happen to see this segment on unschooling on the project where it was described as "stupid" and "irresponsible" by panel members. I don't identify as an unschooler but I respect the diversity that exists in the homeschooling community and embrace many natural learning approaches in the way we home educate. I've seen the merits of unschooling in my own boys through what they create in their 'free' time. I see their passion and enthusiasm when they pursue something that interests them rather than something I've told them to learn and it takes learning to a whole new level - a much higher level. In defence of unschooling is "stupid".......... To be fair, an unschooler saying they let their children do what ever they want does at first, sound crazy. However, what others imagine this to look like is usually incorrect. Unschooling doesn't mean letting kids do whatever they want ...

When I first looked into homeschooling I was confused by 'styles'. What did they mean style? Wasn't homeschooling just well, homeschooling? When we were considering home education as an option, mentally I found the fact there wasn't a "This is exactly how you do this" guide to be a challenge. It was difficult to know where to start and easy to be anxious that I was going to get it wrong! Now, I realise this is one of the benefits of homeschooling. We don't have to teach our children the same way and we certainly don't have to replicate the mainstream school environment at home. Most homeschoolers teach children essentially the same things but in a way that flows from individual value systems, family life and children's learning styles.  We often follow our children's lead. What difference does it make if a child learns about the butterfly life cycle when they are 4 or 10? As long as they learn this at some point in their education ...

When planning our Northern Territory adventure we were told that Desert Park was the the must-see destination for homeschoolers. Upon arrival each child is given a set of headphones with a device so that they can find out more about each area by entering the corresponding number. This is a bit of fun for the older kids who can figure out how to use it and are willing to listen to the explanations. Get your walking shoes on..... You need your walking shoes on as there's a lot of walking through beautiful natural bush land. The path leads you around to different habitats unique to the Northern Territory including dessert rivers, ranges and gorges, sand country and woodlands along with information about how Aboriginal people lived off the land. I found that the most interesting realising just how intimately Aboriginal people knew the land and survived for centuries in such a dry climate. Go see the live show.....   It also has a center where you ...

While travelling in the Northern Territory we visited the Alice Springs Reptile Center. DS1 told me we HAD to see a crocodile while we were in the Northern Territory because otherwise the trip would be pointless! So, off we went. It was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to see and learn more about reptiles. It inspired many questions and opportunities for discussion as they were able to not only see snakes and lizards but also touch them. The reptile show was a good introduction to the world of reptiles and the kids were given the opportunity to hold a snake. It's not a large center so we took our time reading the information provided then finished our morning by visiting what we had all been waiting for - Terry the crocodile. The reptile center has an underground viewing area so you can see the crocodile up close and personal. It was fascinating. We stood for quite a while as he (she?) slowly moved through the water watching us very intentl...

I don't really know how you teach compassion. I believe some children in their little personalities and temperaments are more compassionate than others. Toddlers who are highly sensitive seem to grow into more compassionate children and adults. However, it is such an important character trait that it can't be something we just leave us to 'nature' to build (or not) in our children. Children learn from us The other day I found out that one of my friends had cancer. I heard the news and in complete devastation burst in to tears. The kids were in the room. My eldest became concerned and asked me why I was crying. I told him that I felt sad that my friend was sick because it would mean life would be really hard for her for a while. He looked at me and said "It's nice you're crying for your friend". I love my kids!  Similarly, my boys have seen me stop to help someone or talk to someone who might be perceived as a bit um, weird. One of my so...

Today DS6 decided he wanted to make a snakes and ladders game after being inspired by our morning maths activity. It was completely his idea. We didn't have any large cardboard so he improvised by sticky taping A4 bits of paper together. He spent nearly 2 hours making this game and his goal was to make it to 1000. He made it to 740 before running out of room. God forbid anyone land on that snake at 739! I loved watching his spontaneous creativity. I love that he thought of the idea himself. I love that when presented with an obstacle (no cardboard) that he had to think of a solution. I also love that he gathered his siblings once he had finished to join together to play his creation. As I watched I found it interesting that he persisted for nearly 2 hours until he finished his project. There is no way in the world we could do 'formal schoolwork' for 2 hours without a meltdown. It was like he had the motivation and desire to see his task to completion because...

  We love lego in our homeschooling household! This creation took two of my boys over an hour to construct. I'm not entirely sure what it is but hey, it looks great! Lego is a brilliant teaching tool whether it be megabloks (as pictured), duplo, lego or any other imitation lego brand. It teaches skills that overlap every curriculum area and can be used in hundreds of different ways. Here are some of the ways we use lego with our kids aged 0 - 6. Lego for maths Sorting & classifying (e.g colour, shape, size) Measurement (e.g line up or stack different sized blocks, measure & record results) Words such as length, width, tall, short, wide,  Patterning Counting and ordering (e.g groups to find the largest group) Addition and Subtraction I also discovered these lego worksheets for simple addition and subtraction.   Lego for creativity & art With normal lego bricks the creative possibilities are endless Creativity and allowing crea...

I'm not entirely sure how my boys ended up collecting AFL football cards.  I think my husband had something to do with it. Surprisingly it has proven a valuable (albeit expensive) learning opportunity. So, here is our experience with football cards and how we've used them. Football cards as motivation & reward In order to receive a packet of cards my boys had to earn them. This was either through extra challenging chores around the home or by displaying consistent good behavior in a particular area. Because the boys were really excited about their collections it wasn't hard to motivate them to work hard to receive their reward! Of course these tasks were additional to their normal chores and household responsibilities. Football cards for organisation Any type of card collection is good for teaching organisation. The cards can be grouped into categories, teams, themes, type of cards and organised and re-organised in different ways. I can't count ...

DS6 has a excellent visual memory. He went from phonics to chapter books within six months in his kindy year. Once he sees a word - he can re-call it. He doesn't need repetition which is why mainstream school was often boring for him. I felt that learning to spell may happen just as quickly as learning to read and didn't want to waste time with explanations and excercises that were unnecessary. I also didn't want to spend a lot of money if they were only going to be used for a short time. Learning to spell........... I thought his ability to read would mean that spelling would also be a breeze. I was wrong. Ever since DS6 could hold a crayon he has been writing stories. I never had the heart to discourage his eagerness by correcting his handwriting or spelling. Unfortunately, this is where he developed some bad habits. He continues to spell some words phonetically like he did when he was ...

It was a rainy day so there was no playing outside. My boys got together and spent hours (yes, hours) making trains out of cardboard boxes. At first they cut them to make room for the passengers. Then they decorated them, ate afternoon tea in them (as above) and finally, played with them. Even the baby got involved. I'm not sure how much she enjoyed being in a box though. I love watching my boys work together learning to share, negotiate, plan and create as a team. Who would've thought some old cardboard boxes could provide such a positive learning experience and literally hours of entertainment on a rainy day!

  One of the things I love about homeschooling is seeing the bond develop between my kids. There are fights of course, but there are also tender moments that happen between them that I missed seeing when they were at school. DS6 is incredibly caring and nurturing and adores his baby sister who is currently 4 months old. In fact, I sometimes joke that he's the third parent. He can't get enough of her to the point where he has withdrawals if a friend or visitor is holding her! He is also very protective which I hope continues well into her teenage and young adult years! So, this morning he decided to teach her to play the piano. As you can see she's a natural! She loves it! Although there are always going to be bonds between siblings, I can see that we are creating memories by giving them more time together through homeschooling. We are sharing life together - not leading individual lives. There is something beautiful about growing and learning together. I kno...

Believe it or not there were three children missing from that photo. Last week my friend popped around with her six children to see how our homeschooling was going. While we enjoyed a cuppa and a chat, the kids got busy! We sat and watched as all nine kids worked together to build a volcano. This involved building and collecting water from the rainwater tank to make the sand nice and wet. It also gave the appearance of a volcano for a few short seconds while they squealed with delight. Why is sand good for kids?  Sand play promotes physical development. Large muscle skills develop as children dig, pour, sift, scoop and pat as well as small muscle skills. Sand play is good for eye-hand coordination and small muscle control which improves as children learn to manipulate sand accessories. Maths concepts can be developed during sand play through the use of measuring cups and spoons and different sized containers. Kids learn concepts such as heavy/light and empty/fu...