Welcome back to unschooling/ homeschooling in 2020 - here are our nominations for our King and Queen of 2019... Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell 

Of course, unschoolers are too busy doing cool things, to vote in such matters, so let's just say - we are super psyched to see these two doing what they love, living the dream and inspiring the world to think outside the box! 

​Read more

Homeschoolers are notoriously money-savvy and environmentally conscious - and this year we are no exception. Our young people are particularly concerned about the state of the environment, in the wake of the most recent international climate report, which concluded that we have just 12 years to completely overhaul the way that we do everything in life - how is that for Christmas cheer? So we put our heads together and this year (and every year from now) we are starting a new tradition. An environmentally sustainable Christmas.

We have found that the oldest and the youngest people in our family LOVE things that they can eat and grow! Last year we propagated plants from our vegetable garden and gave family and friends lovely pots of herbs, and vegetables. We have also given fresh produce before - mangoes from our tree, or dehydrated mangoes, and our friends make a killer plum jam that they pot up for us as a gift. Think 1950's, growing things with your own hands and leaving the planet healthier for it. 

There was a time when certain members of our family were obsessed with the idea of the 5 love languages - which is the idea that people express their love for each other in 5 different ways. 2 popular ways are Gifts of Time and Gifts of Service. Do you have friends who would die for a dinner out alone, but don't have a babysitter? How about a free babysitting voucher? Or (teens) would your Mum or Dad love a shoulder or foot massage but would never spend the money to go and get one? Maybe you could give the gift of some foot massages! 

I know we already had a bit of a rave about Groupon and movie tickets, but if you are really looking for something special, then concert and event tickets are about as exciting as you can get! A few years ago, we bought our kids concert tickets that they had to wait a whole 6 months for (an exercise in learning patience  - which is also valuable). The anticipation made the night something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. And there was no wrapping paper in sight. Have you got any more ideas for sustainable gifts for Christmas? we  would love to hear them, Merry Christmas! 

I couldn't resist adding this - the anthem for every thrift shop loving homeschooler!

I am not worried anymore because what we did worked.

Our kids are happy, healthy, well educated, well-rounded, kind individuals and human beings. The kind of people that I love to be around. The kind of people who know themselves and know each other. Who fit in anywhere because they are genuinely interested in other people. The kind of people who will make a positive contribution to the world. And that is all that a parent can ask for. 

The de-schooling. The unschooling. The full-time homeschooling. And the big holidays in between. The structured periods. Unstructured periods. All of the messy parts and experimental parts. 

It all worked. ​

And the take-home from this is that spending time at home, with people that loved them, was ultimately the most important thing. Not what we did with them. Not the programs that we bought or didn't buy. But being there and present for them. Seeing their needs and making sure that they were met. Encouraging and supporting them every step of the way to be the people that they wanted to be. That was what we did right. And everything else was background noise. ​

The nuts and bolts - what did we do? 

Everything. Depending on our needs at the time. We were flexible and did what worked for the season that we were in. 

Interest-led study: 

There were years where we did purely interest-led study, and watched a million documentaries (and did very little else). We climbed trees, took photographs of birds and wildlife. Studied skating, and surfing. Lived in libraries and became friends with librarians! We had long days at the beach with friends. Sometimes from 5am until 5pm. Long glorious days of swimming, and running along sand-dunes, talking in the park, going for coffee and hot chips. Meeting new friends. The years where our teenage son made friends with a 40 year old surf instructor, random primary school teachers that surfed with him at 5am before their school day, and a 50-something year old body-boarding single Mum, who I happened to meet when she performed a surf rescue of a man having a heart attack on the beach... ​

Learning from other people: 

There were years where so much of our learning was through other people. First our family and our friends, and then expanding outwards in to anyone interesting who crossed our path. We moved town and encouraged our children to talk to anyone and everyone that they found interesting. A friend who worked in an airplane hangar and showed our children behind-the-scenes of rare airplanes and helicopters, another friend who ran a multi-million dollar business and explained how everything ran, and how they could do the same. Friends who had returned from service overseas, or had been travelling the world. Others who were protesting refugees on Manus Island, and a wonderful group of people who were starting an eco-community nearby. We hosted many international students and got cultural experience that transcended language, and extended in to a true and deep appreciation for other human beings, regardless of their gender, religion or culture. And that itself has been absolutely priceless. 

The breadth of experiences that our kids had over 6 - 7 years of homeschooling could never have been anticipated or planned for. And could never be replicated in a classroom. The world is such a big place, and homeschooling allowed us the time and space to really learn about it through people who had lived and travelled in all parts of it. 
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Classes, groups and more classes and groups

There were years where we were run off our feet with classes and homeschool groups, unschool camp and sports groups, youth groups and socialising. It often felt like we did 'nothing' because the things we did were always interest-led, but looking back, when we were in our seasons of high-productivity and high-energy, we took so many classes and went to so many groups! We did: italian choir, karate, singing lessons, a children's choir, football, basketball, board games, art classes, drama classes, circus classes, ballet, gymnastics, shakespeare classes...  We went to Seaworld and listened to talks on fish, mantaray's and penguins. We visited goat and chicken farms. Science labs at universities, museums and art galleries and war memorials. 

There were seasons where we needed to rest. Seasons where we had family problems, marital problems, teenage problems, newborn babies, bereavements, health problems... 

Life doesn't stop and wait for you just because you are homeschooling. 

We had months where I had postpartum depression and our kids were documentary-schooling and you-tube schooling while I pulled myself out of it. The warm summer months where we spent all of our time at the beach, swimming, and hanging out with friends, taking surfing lessons, and lifesaving. The too-hot months in Far North QLD where we were bunkered down inside, in air conditioning, doing endless research projects, and waiting for better weather, to be able to get outside. The months where we did nothing but go out, and see things, look at new places, visit new museums and art galleries and never touched a book. Times when we unplugged the tv and did little else but read books. 
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And yet it worked. 

Our children learned through all of the seasons. Surrounded by people that they loved. Just like we anticipated. They learned out of books. And they learned more just from life. They learned that you go through things, and you come out of things. That people are good and helpful, and that you can learn so much from relationships with others. They learned that they were capable and useful, and that they have a place in the world. 

So for all of the families just starting your homeschooling journey. Bookmark this if it helps. Read it on days when you feel like you are not enough or not doing good enough. 

You are enough. ​

It is working. 

Your children will one day thank you for the childhood that you are giving them right now .

Nothing is better for a child than the love and dedication of their family.

And one day you will look back on this, give yourself a pat on the back, and wish that you could go back and do it all over again.

Want help getting started? We're here to help <3 

There are seemingly infinite articles on parenting and self-care with very young children, with the consensus being that 1) when we become parents, we put our needs second, and  2) that it is important to keep time for yourself (and your marriage) when your children are very young, to keep from losing your sense of self. I think that this is triple-fold when you are home educating. 

Most people send their children to school. Therefore, self-care advice is often aimed at parents with very young children, who are at home with them full time. And the assumption is that eventually, around 4 or 5 if you are a 'stay at home parent' until school age, or even earlier, at 4 months - 2 years old if you go back to work straight after having children, you will go back to some semblance of a 'normal adult life' at the point that children go in to daycare or school.  I have had many years of this 'normal, adult life' when our children went to school, and I went to full time university and then to work, and it is a very different life to living full time at home with your children. 

Life as a parent with children in school held several big differences to life with all of our children studying at home. 

It included time for a coffee run, and uninterrupted conversation with my husband, on the commute to university or work.

Regular visits to the gym, before or after work, or during lunch break.

Lunch breaks with friends or work colleagues - often a whole hour of adult conversation! Where I could think about myself and talk about adult things! 

Regular uninterrupted time in my work or study day to think about myself and cater to my own needs (going to the bathroom without little people knocking on the door, taking snack breaks or working on my own projects, with enough quiet to think clearly and miss being at home!) 

A quick 30 minute shopping trip for groceries on the way home from work, where no little hands (or teenage hands) were grabbing loads of things and throwing them in to the cart. No debates about what I would buy and why I didn't think that was a good idea for dinner... 

Weekend trips to the movies or out to listen to music with my husband or friends 

There was a lot more time and space to just be me

Looking back, I am not sure if the extra space and time for self-care came from physical distance from the demands of family life, for up to 8 hours a day. Or the emotional distance that comes from being separated from your family for most of the week, and not feeling joined to them at every moment (which was always something that I had been uncomfortable about - and a big reason why I started thinking seriously about home education). 

In reality, most of us could go to the gym every day for an hour and have our children/ teenagers stay at home, or enrol them in the gym creche. But most of us don't. 

Most of us could go out on the weekend, or slip away at lunch to meet partners or friends, for child-free time, but we don't. My theory is that living each day alongside our children takes away much of the 'us and them' thinking that can develop when you spend most of your time away from your children. I don't have 'my life' and 'their life' anymore. We have our life together. And that can mean that when I go out to do something that is fun for me, I like to have them with me! 

If I am going to exercise, chances are that I will find something child-friendly so that we can all go together. 

If we are going to the movies, most often, it will be all of us. 

And I know that I am not alone. 

When we first started homeschooling, I had one friend who had just started home educating too, and we tried with little success to organise Mum's 'coffee dates' which were an opportunity to get away from our kids, and have some adult time.

​ Nobody came! 

We were still in a mindset that our veteran home educating families had long surpassed. 

    We wanted some time apart from our children, but they seemed to have little need for it! 

What did they know that we didn't know? What did they do to keep their sense of self while being with their children 24/7? 

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Today marked the end of the incredible first Australian Homeschool Summit, online, and despite being 8 months pregnant, with fluid retention, and chubby little feet jammed up in my ribs, we had a really fun day with Kelly from Fearless Homeschool, talking about Motivating yourself and your teenager (without going crazy!). This summit was the second that I have ever been to (I wrote about my first over here) and the very first online homeschooling summit.  I really loved watching all of the other presenters from my bedroom laptop, in my pyjama's, with the kids asleep! and everyone knows how much homeschoolers love doing things in their pj's! 

Today we talked from the perspective of maintaining good mental health while homeschooling or unschooling your teenager, so that you are better able to weather the changes of hormones, increased physical and psychological demands on your teens, and the sometimes uncomfortable process that can be growing up! We looked at Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs, and how to do a needs assessment of yourself, as well as your teens, to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as it can through this period of intense growth. 

We also touched on the often heated unschooling topic of internet restrictions (do you restrict your teen's internet access? and do you have their internet passwords?) and being brave enough to admit that you don't advocate unlimited internet, if you are in radical unschooling circles! 

I also spoke about why it is important to let your child be bored! to encourage minimalism and self-sufficiency, and to practice loving deprivation. Which gave me an excuse to showcase my (very rare) art project (above) - a restored chest, with chalkboard paint and chic chalkboard-label pasta sauce bottles (reduce, reuse and recycle). 

You can read more about our chic chalkboard restoration project over here, and take a small tour through our creative tv-free spaces in our new home, over here. 

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I will also write a separate blog on the highlights of the first Australian Homeschool Summit over here, for anyone that missed it! And if you would like to watch all of the highlights, and keep the re-runs of the entire summit, you can purchase a membership here. This includes hours and hours of talks from homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning families, and professionals, bonus downloads, discounts and extra talks on everything from unschooling children 0-5 years old, to gaining university entry for homeschooling teenagers. I loved being a part of this summit and look forward to next year! 

xo Allira 

Oh no! I forgot to socialise the kids! That's right - I remembered. All good. 

But seriously, how do you properly socialise someone? Do you know the difference between socialising and socialisation? Do we really get that in school? 

Just some thoughts for today. Do you ever worry about socialising your kids? 

Come join the conversation on our most popular blog post on socialisation vs socialising!

When big kids are happy teaching little kids all on their own *gives self big pats on the back*
When we first started considering home education, our story was very similar to one you will hear from most people - a lot of discouragement and 'why would you want to do that?' "how will you cope?" "all day every day with your kids? that is CRAZY!". So I took my time making a decision. I spoke to my husband in a million theoretical conversations that never seemed to go anywhere. We had no reference point for what I was dreaming of doing. Nobody else that homeschooled had anything good to say about it (I have since learned that they were schooling at home through distance education - not my favourite kind of home education... and not theirs either). But I knew in my heart that there was something there that we weren't seeing yet. 

So I took a lone trip to a local homeschool group and almost fell over with shock and excitement to see one very tall 15 year old boy running around with children of all different ages. Could this be something that happened in the 21st century? weren't all teenagers too cool nowadays to play with little children? 

No. No they are not!