Mama's Musings

I heard about All About Learning Press during the recent Australian Homeschooling Summit because they were one of the sponsors.  I went to their site to check out what they offered, and found a TON of free resources.  They have ebooks, checklists, activities, articles, posters, quick guides and apps.  

I'm embarking on a phonics journey with Zeah right now, and found a few really useful tools on this site - but it's not just for smalls!  The game sheets, for example, look like an excellent tool I'll use in future.

Following on from last Tuesday's post, here are another three reasons I'm glad we're a home educating family...

TALKING

Homeschooling has allowed our children the time to talk to us - their parents, each other, neighbours, friends, other parents in the home ed group, their various tutors and coaches, team mates,employers and fellow staff at their jobs, professionals and more.  As with many home educated children, most of ours are very happy to have a conversation with anyone,and have gained a great deal of knowledge and confidence by doing so.

AVOIDING PEER PRESSURE

Not altogether, but for the most part, home educated children and teens are more free to be themselves, and to ponder the possibilities in life and learning.  They are able to make choices without too much influence of their age peers.  

FREEDOM

This can be scary, but also so empowering.  I feel blessed to allow our children so much freedom during their childhoods.  Freedom to choose,...

Time in the garden need not be only about planting, feeding, watering and harvesting. Another way to enjoy your garden is through art.

The garden itself is often seen as a form of art. Using plants’ colour, texture, shape and size the gardener creates a landscape of beauty. By adding accessories, either natural (such as stones) or man-made, we enhance and individualise our growing spaces. By looking at others’ gardens, parklands, nature, books and magazines from the library, and online, we can collate ideas of what appeals to us and from there gradually shape our garden through the addition of new plants or other items.

_{Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas. Elizabeth Murray.}

Throughout history gardens have also influenced artists’ paintings, photographs and words. Famous garden artists include Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet and Georgia O’Keefe. Of course for many children, their first artworks include...

Here's another daily planner tool!  A good use for this one would be to print once and laminate, and use with a whiteboard marker.

The Head Heart Hands holistic approach to organising our days is one we have used throughout our whole parenting and home education journey.  It gives rhythm to the day and helps remind us to strive for balance.  It is also flows with the natural energy for most of us.  Here are some examples:

Head tasks in the morning - academics, budgeting/bills, phone calls
Heart tasks to recuperate - music, reading, or reading aloud together, cuddling, resting
Hands tasks to engage our bodies - craft, gardening, long walks, sport, cooking

Download your copy here.

Some of the reasons I'm glad we're a home educating family include...

READING

As an avid reader myself, I'm so happy to be able to give our family the opportunity to read and read and read.  Homeschooling has allowed our children a lot of time to read.  They can read to suit their interests and abilities. 

Our children learned to read when they were ready.  They were aged 3 to 8 when they read independently.

Oh, and books.  Homeschooling = books...  So many books!  Being homeschoolers means guilt-free home library building!

SPONTANEOUS LEARNING

We have had so many occasions when we've come across wildlife, for one example, and had the time to photograph it, research it, draw it, write about it, talk about it to others...  Time is such a precious commodity, and without it, spontaneous learning is difficult. 

A lot of our most memorable learning situations were spontaneous ones.  No one remembers my handmade phonics readers, doing...

It is vitally important that our children have access to fresh, wholesome, affordable and tasty food.  The freshest food is local food.  Food from the earth, not wrapped in plastic from a store.  The most local is our own backyard, balcony, or a school or community garden.

Potted gardens are quick to establish.  They are ideal for those renting, living in small spaces, with changeable weather or anyone just starting out. This is possibly the perfect ‘garden’ for small children because they are so defined and more easily controlled than a traditional vegetable plot. You may have some space on your rooftop, balcony or steps to begin or add to your garden right away with pots.

On our family’s farm with hectares of arable land we grow a lot of our food plants in containers because they are easy to manage.  I can move them around to suit the weather, the drainage is excellent, they are more easily protected from free-ranging chickens and...

Something simple is often the best tool for the task!

Here's a free printable - day to a page for those busy, busy weeks!