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...

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...

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...

Over the years we've used a few different online learning resources but I'm particularly excited about trying something NEW for 2015. Skwirk has had a make-over and quite frankly, it's awesome. There is nothing quite like it around at the moment and it has some great functions that work well with homeschooling. It provides animation based lessons for younger ones as well as great options for independent learning for older kids all the way up to year 10. As an educational tool it is aligned with the Australian curriculum so if that's important to you, or you just like to occasionally see where your kids sit in relation to their peers (like I do) this is a good thing. The subjects it includes are maths, English, science, geography and history. My plan was to use this for my 5 year old who is 'technically' in his first year of school next year. However, once I learnt all the features of the program I'm thinking it will be a great resource for encour...

I first heard about C amp Kidpreneur from a fellow homeschooler. It sounded like the perfect experience for my 8yo who has always been interested in shops and sales and has been running a store out of his bedroom for the past 6 months. Admittedly, running a business is in his genes, but certainly not from me! 2 years ago we held a garage sale so the kids could earn some money toward our Gold Coast holiday. DS8 organised can's of cool drinks and chocolates for the people browsing our stuff. Clearly, they couldn't resist his charm and he made more money from selling the drinks and chocolates than from his toys! It was the first time I'd observed a keen interest in the 'idea' of business. He took great joy in adding up his earnings and subtracting his expenses. I began to see that his interest came from within and since we had recently taken the plunge into homeschooling we were now blessed with the time and freedom to support this developing passion and watch it...

When we have homeschool days we use a flexible routine. So, here is an example of what mornings look like in our family. Our morning routine My children are early risers, often before 6am, so I do allow an hour or so of TV in the morning. I am not a morning person and find that without the TV I wake up to fighting, destruction and mess which sets a terrible tone for the rest of the day. Once I am up the TV goes off and my children eat breakfast and I make myself a coffee. My children know that NOTHING happens before mummy has had her morning coffee and some quiet time. If the kids are playing something that looks productive then I allow them to continue respecting that children of all ages learn through play and I don't want to interrupt this process! This means that although we aim to start homeschool at 8:00am we are flexible and often won't begin until 9:00am (but generally no later). I give my kids the 'warning' that it is 10 minutes until homeschool t...

It's a new year! If you're thinking, wow it's only January 8th - are you crazy? let me fill you in. We homeschool all year round. This doesn't mean we homeschool every day of the year. It simply means we don't take long breaks so we can afford to take little breaks during the year for holidays, special occasions, my work commitments or even just a mental health day (week). I have a full on work schedule for term 1 so the next few weeks are a homeschooling intensive to account for the fact life will be a little hectic for 11 weeks or so. The good news however, is that I have made a big decision about my work / homeschool / life balance or lack thereof and will be working MUCH less from term 2 onwards. It is such a relief just writing that! So here are my little cherubs (?). I can't believe he's in year 3 this year! This boy is an absolute JOY to homeschool! DS4 will actually be going to 2 days of sessional kindergarten this year. The ol...