In recent years, the landscape of education has been evolving rapidly, with more families opting for non-traditional approaches to learning. Homeschooling has gained popularity for its flexibility and personalised learning experience. In Australia, a growing number of homeschooling families are finding community and support through learning co-ops, creating collaborative environments that enrich the educational journey for both home educators and students.

What is a Learning Co-op?
A learning co-op, short for cooperative, is a collaborative effort among homeschooling families to share resources, knowledge, and expertise. These co-ops provide a supportive community for parents/carers and students alike, fostering a sense of belonging and shared responsibility for education.

Structure of Learning Co-ops:
Learning co-ops vary in structure, but they generally involve a group of families coming together to pool their time, resources, and talents. These co-ops can be formal or...

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...

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,...

I've written about socialisation several times in the past, including this blog post.  I think it's fair to say that the homeschool socialisation myth has been debunked by now!  Siblings, cousins, neighbours, family friends, homeschool groups and co-ops, faith meetings, and after-school activities are the most obvious ways we can socialise, but what else is there for homeschoolers?  Here are a few ideas you may not have considered...

Volunteering - kids can often volunteer alongside their parents or another carer and do meaningful work in the community.  This helps encourage an attitude of service, an awareness of other people's lives, connection with plants or animals, and/or a feeling of belonging.  From a young age my own children were involved in the same community activities and events I participated in - a bartering system, various gardening groups, washing an older neighbour's dog regularly, pet sitting, house sitting, and running activities and camps...

“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...

Childcare is a matter that greatly affects parents and employers – the main cogs in our societal moneymaking machine.  Childcare benefits and tax deductions are offered as enticements but rarely are the needs of children considered by policymakers.  A focus on numbers, timeframes and dollars motivate the big decisions. Childcare is big business and is currently influencing almost all childhoods in Australia.  The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that 90 percent of children under five currently use some form of childcare.  Tens of thousands of Australian children are in formal childcare for more than 45 hours a week.

Natural parenting is an ideology, not a dogma.  It is about instinctively raising our young, and making informed decisions.  Does childcare compromise or compliment our conscious parenting ideals?  Are those who perceive theirs to be a natural parenting style more protective than most other parents? ...

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...

Home educating on a budget may seem like a challenge at first, especially if you are attempting to gather as many resources as your average classroom. There is no need to rush out and buy a lot of equipment that you may not need. First, sit down and write a “wish list”, then highlight the items you feel are most necessary to begin.

There are many alternatives to expensive educational resources. Here are some ideas to help you save money in setting up your home learning space.

- Buy furniture which has multiple uses. Consider a large, second-hand dining table over individual desks, for example - or just use your dining table! Use open shelving rather than cupboards for storing supplies and books. This allows the children to see what is available for their use and is less expensive.  We've used bolt-together galvanised steel five-shelf units to hold games, puzzles, and construction kits.  The children can see everything on the shelves and they remain...

Homeschooling mum of seven, Belinda Moore, describes what a homeschooling lifestyle is really like.

Over twenty years ago I first heard about homeschooling. It was in the days before home internet connection, so all I had at first was a phone number of a Christian curriculum supplier in another state. From there I found the nearest contact person, who lived about 250km away from me.  From there I made another phone call and we received a newsletter in the mail full of personal stories, drawings, articles and inspiration. All the while I was thinking that this wasn’t the path for us, but as a parent and educator, I was intrigued.

Time passed and more snippets of homeschooling information and serendipitous contacts came into our lives. We managed to visit with the homeschoolers 250km away - and that sealed it! Theirs was a lifestyle we longed for; time with our children, free of the constraints of an education system we weren’t confident in, learning from...