Mama's Musings

This month I'm walking 100km to raise money for a Mental Health service provider I refer to regularly at work.  The Black Dog Institute has wonderful free information, self-tests, apps, webinars and more.  They can help guide people to access the support they need, when they need it, and that includes ongoing support for better mental wellbeing long-term.  My fundraiser is here.  I'm also helping my colleagues with mental health events for Queensland Mental Health Week at work, which is an interesting process as I'm learning what services are available.  During my Mental Health First Aid training, and my current Diploma of Community Services I've been alarmed by the statistics around mental health and suicide.  I'm also aware that mental health issues affect a large proportion of the service users where I work, and that a person's mental health can affect employment, economic security, social connection, physical wellbeing, and almost all aspects of their lives.

I've been homeschoolin...

For those who follow us on social media, you'll have heard a bit about my consult services.  Over the past few months I've increased my availability and I've been seeing more families face-to-face as well as over the phone and via video calls.  You can book sessions here.

Before these sessions I like to know a little about your family, homeschool, and challenges and I'll usually collate some info and resources to bring to face to face sessions or email to online clients.  Each session normally lasts around an hour and I'll email most clients some follow up information or resources, or answer further questions afterwards.

I've had great feedback on this process and receive a lot of satisfaction through helping home educators feel more confident about the journey ahead.  Some families I meet with are at the very beginning - either with little ones or just leaving the school system, and some are in transition into the teen years, preparing for university, or facing other changes or ch...

I've just finished preparing my workshop for the 2021 Australian Homeschooling Summit! And today Kelly has released the list of over 35 workshops available this year! AND tickets are available too! Check it out here.

Just $29 for access to 30+ hours of content, a whole bunch of downloads including workbooks and other freebies and discounts, downloadable mp3s and video files, and access to a private group to get advice directly from the experts, share with other attendees, and to get bonus live sessions and resources. It's on soon - 15-26 February!



My workshop on homeschool planning & organising (with your kids) is on the 24th at 11am Queensland time, and includes a mega-bundle of free printable resources!

Don't forget there's also an AHS2021 ticket giveaway happening until the 29th here.

See you at the Summit! 

Please note that these are affiliate links because I am a presenter.  From tickets purchased through my links I receive a percentage which pays me for my time invested in presentin...

I've just completed a workbook I started this time last year!  I sense a theme...  I'm thinking about the overwhelm as our year comes to an end (and oh my - what a year)!

Without proper support it can feel almost impossible to nurture your family relationships and maintain a home based learning journey long-term.  

To access this FREE 20 page printable workbook, click on the cover, below, and enjoy!

I'm SO excited to have feedback from my first participants of my first online mini-course - 7 Days to a More Organised Homeschool!  This course has been tested over the past few weeks by a small group of homeschooling parents and it's NOW READY FOR YOU!

Here are some of their comments:

"I liked the handouts/printables and the way you organise them so people can print what they need/want."

"I thought your structure was great - the way the course went from the big picture down, macro to micro - yearly, monthly, weekly, then daily."

"It was great how you encouraged parents to include their children in planning."

"My favourite printout was the Order in the House tools list."

"Are you sure about the price?  You've included a LOT of content in this course!"

"I like how you made it clear at the start what we'd need to proceed through the sessions.  I decided to create the whole workbook and go through each step.  Thank you."

"I'm glad it didn't need to be done in 7 consecutive days, so I could ...

“Children are being freed to learn as nature intended” – just one comment I will always remember from my 2002 research into why Australian parents were home educating their children.  I was curious as to why so many were taking the plunge into home based learning in Australia.  Recently, isolation-schooling during the pandemic has exposed the option to all families as a possibility.  Here, I explain why  a steadily-increasing number of families been home educating in Australia over the past few decades.

Some parents actively choose to home educate.  They make the decision sometime – whether when their children are infants (and even unborn), or when they feel dissatisfied with their children’s schooling for any reason.  Some parents feel that there was no other choice.  Perhaps they have exceptional or neurodiverse children, their children are sick or injured, they may be simply unable to cope with the stress of school, or they are geographically isolated.  In most of these cases, scho...

Many articles have been written before on the socialisation of home educated children. Still, the question arises more often than most others. To many home educators it’s the most ironic question of all. I mean – what about it? Socialisation is the main reason some families choose home based learning. They don’t see school as an opportunity to learn positive social skills, but more as a place to experience negative socialisation. It seems surprising that those in the school community bother to ask about the home educated’s socialisation – can’t they see what is going on in their classrooms and playgrounds?

“This depends on the kind of sociability you prefer – positive and altruistic or negative and self-centred. Many parents confuse peer orientation and dependence with sociability when instead true sociality thrives on secure, independent thought.” Raymond and Dorothy Moore

Many parents of previously schooled children have noticed an increased ability in their now home educated c...