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...

Wondering how you'll afford to homeschool? I have a simple worksheet you might like - something to start conversations and get you thinking about the real costs of homeschooling, and the alternatives. Head here! 

Using Instagram to record homeschooling can be a creative and effective way to document your homeschooling journey and share it with others. Here are some steps and tips for using Instagram for homeschooling.  Some of them are only relevant if you want to build a following.  It's also fine to have a private Instagram account and just use it for your personal record-keeping and/or share it with family members.

Create a Homeschooling Instagram Account: If you don't already have an Instagram account, create one specifically for your homeschooling content. Choose a username that reflects your homeschooling focus.  Ours is instagram.com/homeschoolconfidently.

Set Up Your Profile: Write a brief bio that explains your homeschooling approach, goals, and any other relevant information. Add a profile picture, and if comfortable, use a family photo or an image that represents your homeschool. You could make a little logo for your homeschool, if you like!  Canva is a great tool to do this.

Co...

Nature walks for homeschooled children can be a valuable and enriching educational experience.  They are one of our favourite things to do as a family!  These walks can serve as a hands-on, outdoor extension of their curriculum and offer a wide range of benefits for their learning and development. Here are some considerations for nature walks specifically designed for homeschooled children...

Learning Opportunities: Nature walks can be integrated into various subjects, such as biology, ecology, botany, geology, and environmental science. Parents or educators can use these walks to teach children about the natural world, including identifying plants, animals, rocks, and more.

Hands-On Science: Nature walks provide an excellent opportunity for children to engage in hands-on scientific exploration. They can collect specimens, observe wildlife behavior, and conduct simple experiments related to their surroundings.

Nature Journals: Encourage children to keep nature journals during thei...

Originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of What's On Magazine

As the world becomes more aware of the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, a new phenomenon is emerging: eco-anxiety. This term describes the feeling of anxiety, fear, and despair that can arise in response to any environmental crisis. Unfortunately, it's not just adults who are experiencing it - children are also feeling the effects of eco-anxiety.

It's understandable why children might be feeling anxious about the state of the environment. They see images of natural disasters, hear stories about species going extinct, and are told that the planet is in trouble. It's a lot for them to take in, and it can be overwhelming.

So, what can parents, carers, and educators do to help children cope with eco-anxiety?

Listen: Listen to children’s’ concerns. Let them express their feelings, and then validate their emotions. Don't dismiss their worries or tell them that they're overreacting. Instead, ackno...

The 2023 round of the Australian Homeschool Grants is now ready to take your application!  I'm one of the many sponsors again this year.

This is not a homeschooling post, but if you are a local to the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia, or you ever visit - here's an educational history tour of this area!  And if you live elsewhere, maybe this article, originally published in What's On Tablelands magazine in April 2022, will give you some ideas for exploring the history of your local area?

The natural and geological history of the Atherton Tablelands and surrounding areas is fascinating! It includes giant trees and ancient forests, craters and crater lakes, lava tubes, gems, and gorges. Between four million and 10,000 years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions occurred over the Atherton Tablelands. Learn more about local volcanic history from the interactive displays at Malanda Falls Visitor Centre, where you can also explore the adjacent rainforest walking trails. Mt Hypipamee Crater, Bromfield Swamp, Lake Eacham, Lake Barrine, and Hallorans Hill, as well as the Seven Sisters and Lake Euramoo, all form part of a...

Did you know that 1 in 5 people experience symptoms of mental illness each year?

In fact, every day in Australia, 9 people will die by suicide.

Mental illness can be debilitating and can have a devastating impact on not only those living with it, but those around them.

This October, I’ll be taking part in One Foot Forward to help reduce the impact of mental illness and suicide.  It's the first time I've ever done a fundraising challenge like this!  My goal is to walk 100km and raise $350.

I'm walking to raise funds for Black Dog Institute, so that they can put ground-breaking new mental health treatment, education, and digital services into the hands of the people who need them most.  It would mean so much to me if you donated to support my walk.  In my 'day job', I refer clients to resources like the Black Dog Institute every week.  It's important to me that free mental health care services are available to assist those in need 24/7.

Together, we can create better mental health...

Following on from my last blog post about hands-on Maths and Numbers, here are some tips for busy, bouncy kids to get them involved in reading and writing activities...

play – games, letter dice, story dice, magnetic letters & words, board games, matching games, wordsearch

create – get them to tell you stories & poems and record these, make books, cards for loved ones, get a penpal, collage letters, paint letters (sprinkle sand on wet paint), use chalk on paths, tracing in sand or paint

label – your favourite things around the house, label your body parts, label your garden - label everything!  If you use sticky labels, it's most fun.

worksheet creator – use your favourite words to create worksheets: names, address, pets, places.  Wordsearches are worksheets in disguise.

read – audio books, read aloud (while they use playdough or eat is good), go to the library, read to yourself and aloud to other adults while children are around, and just normalise reading as a fun thing to do!

Tip for ki...

Something that comes up a lot in my sessions and conversations with other parents is - how do we 'teach' kids who just want to touch, squash, bang, run, jump, yell and are basically very IN their own bodies a lot of the time?

There are so many ways to learn the same concepts.  That we expect busy little bodies to sit, hold a pencil, and listen for great lengths of time is plain crazy.  It's the worst part of our modern education system, I think.  (And there's loads of research behind that opinion, but I don't think I need to convince you!)

Here are some of the ways we've discovered numbers in the early learning years with tactile learners:

manipulatives – buttons, coins, counters, Cuisenaire rods, MAB (Multibase Arithmetic Blocks), rocks, abacus, dominoes, sticker spots & stars, anything they have multiple of (favourite toys), lego, blocks

play – games, building, count as you hop, jump & skip, collect, bounce, measure, run, using timers, shops, sorting, ball games, mazes, scavenger hun...