Modern Homeschool Today

So, how do you incorporate overseas travel into your homeschool with a large family (and a budget).  It's not overly complicated but are you ready to know the secret? Wait for it. How do you do it? You don't take them all at once! Yep, that's right - you take one at a time. 1 . Take one child at a time!  Can it become a logistical nightmare to work out what happens with the rest of the family while you (or your husband) are away? Yep - but it's worth it!  In 2015 my eldest son had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines with his dad on a church missions trip. Not only did this provide an opportunity to see poverty and understand the needs of others - it was also valuable father / son bonding time that he will remember for a lifetime. In 2017 my second-born (pictured) had the same opportunity to travel to Philippines but with me included! I took great joy in watching him be-friend local children and learn some of the language. Havi...

We recently ventured to Canberra on a family holiday (a.k.a homeschool trip).  I had never been to Canberra and knew very little about it except that it would be a great experience to visit the war memorial. I was surprised to learn that Canberra was actually a hub of museums, cultural centres and educational experiences.   I recently blogged about how we made a Canberra Homeschool Trip on a budget and how you can too!  The best time of the year to travel, in my opinion, is February. The weather is still great for outdoor activities...and the best bit...school kids have only just gone back to school so popular places are less likely to be full of school groups. However, if you want to avoid school groups altogether then I recommend calling ahead and asking when the groups are coming in so you can work around it.  1. QUESTACON This place is the best for ALL ages.  We've been to Scienceworks in Melbourne a few times and it doesn't e...

Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT Me: What's the capital of Australia?  8yo: Sydney? Me: Don't tell anyone you said that. No, it's actually Canberra.  8yo: Canberra? I didn't even know that was a place..... This was the moment I decided that it was time for a trip to our Nation's capital!  Canberra is not only home to Parliament house and the Australian war memorial but is an educational hub of museums, cultural centres and activities. It's definitely a must-do trip for homeschoolers with middle to high school aged kids. But, how do you afford it if the budget is tight?  1. Get your days activities for FREE Here's the best part.  If you are a registered homeschooler -  almost ALL museums and activities are FREE.  Yes, FREE.  You apply for a Canberra Teachers Pass here , flash your card and entry is FREE. We visited 9 different places and museums and didn't pay a cent. The best value is Questacon (the nat...

  I once asked a seasoned homeschooler how she managed to fit so many activities and events around 'schoolwork'. She told me she had mastered the art of car-schooling! Plenty of learning takes place in the car: Organic discussion of topics, answering questions, reading and the odd math quiz...and then she mentioned audio books.  We had only ever attempted an audio book in the car, once, and then a little person shoved chips into the CD player and that was the end to audio books. But recently I got a new car - one from the 2000's - that has bluetooth capability and all of a sudden, audio books were back! The problem? Finding ones engaging enough that kids actually want to listen, that doesn't make me fall asleep while driving and is relevant for 3 boys aged 8 - 12. Enter: Jonathon Park audio adventures. These. Are. Brilliant.  These are highly engaging stories based around a family of creation scientists who go on all sorts of adventures wh...

2018 marks our 6th year of learning, laughing (and crying) together at home. When we first began homeschooling the most common question after, "But, how will you stay sane?" was "But what on earth will you do for highschool????". I had no idea - my son was 6 and secondary education seemed a million years away.... Then... just like that we have an almost 12 year old ready for highschool. ME: Did you realise year 7 is the beginning of highschool? HIM: Nope. So am I going to go to a highschool? ME: Oh...um, do you want to go to a highschool? HIM: No - not really. And so begins those 'highschool' years - at home. After initially freaking out about what I needed to change to get more 'serious' about schoolwork and put a stop to all this 'fun' we were having,  I received some wise advice. If what you are doing is working - why do you need to change anything just because he's in highschool? So I cancelled the book...

One of the first trips we took when we began homeschooling 5 years ago was to the Northern Territory. We spent time with good friends and immersed ourselves in Aboriginal culture. We learnt so much about the beauty of one of the oldest cultures in the world.  But I was ashamed to admit that most of what I learnt was new to me.  I don't remember learning about the stolen generation in school or that the Aboriginal people killed / massacred by the colonists numbered in the hundreds of thousands wiping out entire languages and tribes. I don't remember learning about how colonists actively infected the Aboriginal people with disease in an attempt to wipe them out. I didn't know that almost 100% of Tasmanian Aboriginal people were murdered. I didn't know that white people introduced alcohol into Aboriginal communities as a way to manipulate and control the Aboriginal people.  This new knowledge seemed to cast a shadow on the idea that the first settlers were her...

I must say I'm much more relaxed about my third child officially beginning homeschooling than I was with the others. I've observed in my other kids an amazing ability to learn through play and in the freedom of exploration that homeschooling offers. Therefore, I trust that he will continue to learn in the same way so no need for a formal curriculum just yet. Reading DS5 showed readiness to read when he was 3 when he learnt the alphabet while we were doing an alphabet puzzle together and knew all his letters from that day forward! I then set him up with a reading eggs account and purchased some simple readers and we were off. I advocate watching for signs of  children's readiness to read before introducing reading. I was in no rush to teach my children to read but found that my firstborn actually taught himself to read with very little prompting - I just provided some books and alphabet games! It made me realise that some kids WANT to learn to read when they are ...

DS7 will be in year 2 this year. He has always been advanced so this may not look like your average year 2 curriculum. This is why homeschooling is awesome for him as he gets to work at his own pace and no one teases him because he can do freaky things with numbers in his head! When homeschooling gifted children they become less defined by academic ability and more by character which is so important. We knew the day he got offered a scholarship to a prestigious school  that if he grew up in that environment that he would learn to define himself by his academic ability not who he was as a person. We chose homeschooling because we want more for our kids than just academic achievement - we want them to grow up to be people of integrity, compassion and empathy for others and with a strong sense of who they are and why they are here on this planet! Literacy DS7's reading list. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series  Zac Power series Abeka books Pilgrims progress The chron...

Because I like a sticky beak into what other homeschoolers are doing with kids who are a similar age to my own, I thought I'd do this post for any other sticky beaks out there! My nearly 9 year old will be in year 4 in 2015. His strong-willed, independent and highly innovative nature means he isn't the 'sit compliantly and complete your worksheet' kinda kid. This is exactly why homeschooling is such a great fit for him. He still has tasks to complete and persistence to develop but has plenty of time to explore his own interests and express his creativity.  Literacy DS9 is an avid reader. At the end of last year he decided he wanted to read The Hobbit. We managed to find a copy in two parts to make it less of an ordeal. As a follow on he wants to read the Lord of the rings trilogy. Certainly not my cup of tea but if he can read it and comprehend it, then hats off to him!  In 2014 we read the chronicles of Narnia as a family read-aloud. We LOVED it. I want...