What is homeschooling like? A real homeschooling family, that homeschooled from 6 – 18 years old, explains what a typical homeschooling day or lifestyle looks like, for their family, and for the homeschooling families they knew.
Homeschooling can look like this, a group activity in the woods with a leader, or it can look like family field trips, days at home, travel, or just following interests, creative or academic. I am not a crunchy mum, not all homeschool moms are.
We are a homeschooling family with years of experience and successful academic outcomes. Our family homeschooled in Australia and in the UK, we have also worldschooled, everywhere, in over 50 countries including the US. This included many elements that are considered to be unschooling.
This is what homeschooling looked like back in Queensland before we left to travel the world. We also have a post on our homeschooling schedule in London UK. But read this post first, it has important tips and information.
If you’ve ever wondered what is homeschooling like, this is, or was, our early version. These little boys are now grown teenagers with exam passes under their belts.
Homeschooling worked out just great and the kids never had a desire to lose their freedom to school. This post shows what homeschooling is like, or what it can be like, by looking at a typical homeschooling day for our family.
We have more posts on homeschooling (home education), worldschooling or unschooling on this site, you can see how homeschooling evolved over the years and what it was like in Romania, Egypt, or many other countries.
Homeschooling gave us freedom in life, in education and in our ability to travel.
We love homeschooling and it suits our family.
People wonder what we do all day.
Do the kids sit at desks between nine and three?
Do we just hang out in our PJs?
Are they plugged into computers and a virtual teacher? No, to all three.
So, what does a homeschool day look like?
A Typical Homeschooling Schedule
We use books, sometimes. The boys like to have a photo taken once a book is finished.
We aim for a couple of pages of written work a day, simple homeschooling workbooks as in the picture, or the books the children would be using in school.
Sometimes we substitute puzzle books or I persuade a child to write a letter or email to grandma.
Occasionally they just decide to write something for fun, but I do like them to have a pen or keyboard in their hands for half an hour most days.
But if we don’t, it doesn’t matter.
So that takes up half an hour, we can bang that out before breakfast.
We are not obliged to follow any particular schedule.
Then we might do some cooking, gardening or chores together, making every activity a learning opportunity. So for instance, while gardening I may talk about the structure of a flower or answer their questions about insects.
While doing laundry I may explain how soap breaks down surface tension. During cooking, I could touch on boiling points and melting points, the states of matter. This is how everyday things, become education.
Don’t even try to force your kids into doing things they hate. Try something else instead. You can introduce learning subtly without school-type methods.
You are mum (dad or guardian), not teacher. Continue to be mum and to shower them with love. This time together is precious and will make bonds even tighter.
Do something active every day. Jump up and down, do a yoga video together, do some press-ups or, like us, swim in the pool. Sorry, I know not everyone has a pool. A little exercise busts stress and releases feel-good hormones.
Let them play. Play is learning, always.
There is a thing called de-schooling. You probably need to read about it. Find out what is de-schooling here.
Tell them how glad you are to have them at home. Never tell them you wish they were back in school.
Incorporate favourite movies and TV shows, watch together. You can also slide in some educational videos, documentaries or fiction.
Gaming is not evil. If your kids are gamers show an interest, play alongside them. It’s proven to be good for everyone.
Homeschooled kids can have great outcomes, often better than their school peers. Don’t worry. Homeschooling is fantastic, your kids can still sit exams if they want to ( although they’re not compulsory)
Don’t have an hour by hour, day by day, schedule. Ignore weekends and weekdays, school days and holidays. Just do what works for you and your kids. Notice if they are tired, grumpy or sleepy. Take naps, sleep late or rise early. Do whatever fulfills bodily needs. Let the kids relax, unwind and learn naturally.
A Homeschool Day Is Just Like Your Family’s Day, Without School.
The truth is, we probably just do what your family does on holidays and weekends, only more of it.
They play a lot, inside, and outside, often with the neighbours’ children.
We go to playgrounds and we go to homeschool group to play some more.
If Dad is home at 10am on a Thursday, they’re free to play with him, too.
There are no weekly or termly timetables; we fit learning around our lives.
Play time with Dad fits with his work schedule. Sometimes our whole homeschool day looks like this.
I’m sure you take your children to places because they are educational, interesting or fun.
So do we, but we do it more often and without the crowds.
I’m sure you like it if your children watch documentaries, and so do we.
Maybe you buy science kits and games to enjoy with your children, we do that a lot, my kitchen looks like a science lab.
They read for pleasure and I read to them, fiction, poetry, factual books, whatever we need.
They make and create, as most children do. I get to do it with them. That’s a bonus.
Art is very therapeutic and a stress reliever for we over-busy adults.
Art and craft is easy and more fun when it’s not forced.
We have to do all the ordinary stuff too, cooking, cleaning, shopping. I think it’s good for them to watch, learn and help out.
I’m not one for giving them chores, not my style, but they do help.
Gardening has been a great way to introduce them to plant and soil biology.
This is what a trip to the supermarket usually looks like.
They make me laugh! Actually, Boo normally helps me shop, making me buy purple carrots and artichokes, he’s a budding Masterchef.
I expect your children like football or ballet or, whatever floats their boat.
We have hobbies, too, but you’re more likely to find my kids kayaking, tightrope walking or practising archery.
Kayaking, fishing and catching yabbies on Lake Tinaroo. Camping doesn’t have to restricted to school holidays if you homeschool.
It’s All Going On Behind The Scenes In A Homeschool Day
Once you have your homeschool head on you see things differently.
If the kids are playing Top Trumps, they are improving reading skills, numeracy and vocabulary.
There are some tricky words, and concepts, like decimal points and measurement to explore on Top Trump Cards.
I’m always thinking about what needs to be learned. I’ve read curriculums, learning plans and learning progressions. I grab those cards and get the kids playing as soon as I can.
Most games are educational: Monopoly (click through to read about Monopoly as “school”), Scrabble, Trivia games, even some computer games, they can play them as often as they like. I’m thrilled that my son now beats me at Bananagrams. Only sometimes, but he does. It’s a great word game, take a look here.
The same goes for subjects like science and geography.
I know what needs to go into their heads, so I find ways of introducing it, just through chatting, a DVD, some online resource or looking, experimenting and exploring.
How we love this circuits set! It’s more advanced than the circuits I built in school and I did physics to A level.
Maybe I’m not being 100% honest with you. I’m giving you just a typical day, a sample of the things we normally do at home with our kids. Sometimes we do this, too:
Yes, I’m a biologist by training. I dig cells. Science is fun if you do it right.
And this.
We started making science scrapbooks when the boys were very young. They hated writing, so I found a different way to do it.
But I haven’t stood at a desk with a whiteboard explaining cell or molecular structure, we’ve just talked about and explored those subjects over weeks and months, informally, the subjects crop up in the activities the boys do. They’ve played online games involving these subjects and completed the odd interactive activity, and they know most of it already, I’m just giving them a chance to reinforce that learning and create evidence on paper to keep the authorities happy.
Our Homeschool Room
Welcome to my dining room/kitchen. No desks, just our family table. Learning is just as likely to happen in the car, in the bath, in bed, or in a rainforest. Learning happens all day, every day.
Our homeschool room, my dining room. Sometimes it’s even tidy
Homeschool Field Trips
Homeschool field trips, outings, excursions, whatever you want to call them, they’re excellent!
Travel has to be the best homeschool field trip, not necessarily globe-trotting, any travel. Visiting neighboring towns and cities, local attractions and natural features, they are full of history, geography and science.
We will be doing some serious traveling soon as we set off round the world for a years long adventure. (UPDATE: we’ve now been on the road 5 years)
To get the most education out of trips and visits we do a lot of preparation. So, if we are going snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, I make sure they know a fair bit about the reef’s structure and its inhabitants before we go, that way they understand what they are seeing and are thrilled to see it for themselves.
I don’t mean the day before, in an intensive classroom type style, just over time, they will have learnt so much from TV, the internet and educational programs. All I need to do is a little topping up.
The same goes for visiting anywhere, from Cooktown to Thailand. You just have to go out of your front door to call it a field trip.
We can go on field trips whenever and wherever we like, from our local rainforest, to Kathmandu. You’ve got to love that.
I’m looking forward to writing about what our travelling homeschool day looks like.
The complete boxed set it’s absolutely superb and comes with full instructions and suggested projects. We had ours delivered to Australia from the US and it was well worth the shipping fee. It is available in the UK, try the link above.
If you’re going to homeschool you do need to invest some cash in having the right toys, tools and gadgets, plus it keeps the authorities happy and the kids busy. Also consider such things as microscopes, telescopes, globes, chemistry sets and more (more homeschool resources and playthings in this post)
And of course, you need art and craft supplies. Always have a cupboard full of stuff to keep them busy.
Is Homeschool OK By You?
Is that OK, do you think I’m doing a good enough job of educating my children? Or do you think I’m a screaming nutter and they’d be better off in school?
My version of homeschooling will be totally different to the next homeschooling parent, some people have timetables and schedules, we don’t.
We have a curriculum. I wrote it because I had to for the authorities, otherwise there would be none. We have all year to tick everything off that state-approved list. That’s the beauty of homeschooling, you can tailor it to your child’s needs and your family’s needs.
Eventually, we did put the kids into school. This came as a result of the current global situation and was never our plan. If you have a moment, come read the post on why we quit homeschooling (and worldschooling) to put the kids in an online school, and how that went. But read the comments on this one first! Know that my homeschool kids, fully home or un-schooled – absolutely nailed the final years of high school. We proved our point!
Homeschooling isn’t perceived as normal, is it? But, really, it is, our homeschool day is just a normal, family day, maybe with more of an educational focus thrown in. Learning happens all day, every day. What do you think? Any questions? Is this what you thought a homeschool day or schedule would be like? There is a mass exodus from school these days, well educated, affluent parents are taking their kids out of the system. You can be a part of the movement.
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
42 thoughts on “What Does A Homeschool Day Look Like?”
Hi Alyson,
I’m a Mum to 3 biological children and two step children. Our family schooling has mainly been in school education. My step son (turning 25) and step daughter (turning 19) are school educated. Step son passed school with flying colours and from the age of 21 became a manager in his job in Greggs bakery and is now manager in a Gym by the age of 24. He is still doing both jobs, lives with his lovely girlfriend and their dog and are looking to buy their first home. My step daughter left just before sitting her exams (GCSEs) but is working so not lazing around doing nothing. My biological daughter went to school, I did some homeschooling with her when she was 5 because her teacher kept marking her homework wrong when it was in fact all correct, except a couple of things but that’s natural in learning. I removed her from the school, homeschooling her until we moved out of my ex’s home and placed her in another primary school and the headteacher was very impressed with the work I had been doing with my daughter. The school was about to move her up a year as she was ahead of her same age peers and was being held back, but with problems with my ex we moved to England from Scotland to be with a guy I went to school with until he and his family moved to England when he was 15. My daughter is 16, passed her GCSEs and working. Looking for another job now. She’s very smart and despite going through bad education in mainstream school, she’s done really well. I’m disgusted in the education system of today, I’m amazed kids learn anything at all.
Then my Fiancé and I had two boys together, one has just turned 6 and the other will be one next month. Our 6 year old started mainstream school at the age of 5, in England they start in Reception then into year one, slightly different to how my daughter started in Scotland. Our son was bullied by his teacher and assistant teacher to the point he was in tears on and off all day on one of the times. He was bullied also by a few pupils, boys and a girl, school did nothing at all. Lying all the time and us catching them out every time. He hated school but we told him that maybe Year one will be better and maybe a nicer teacher. Yes, Teacher in Year one much nicer and the pupils who bullied him stopped and were nicer to him. Our son and ourselves were relieved but then it all changed drastically to the point he fell ill, having caught what seemed to be a cold from class mates, we had only kept him off two days, having kept the school informed in writing, then on the third morning, the school day had only just begun and the safeguarding lady from school and the council education lady were on our doorstep asking why he isn’t in school. We showed them the messages sent through the system they tell parents to use to say why a child isn’t in school and they demanded he be back on the Friday or following Monday despite them physically seeing how unwell he was (bearing in mind he was off Monday and Tuesday, they turned up on the Wednesday). Reluctantly, as he wasn’t fully well but heading in the right direction, we sent him back in on the Monday, as you can imagine by that night he was worse, we took him to the doctor, he recommended we take him to the hospital Pediatrics and he was admitted and was in for three days unable to wake up, just stirred a few times and had to have a Cannula in his hand, which as most people will know, especially women pregnant, that it’s painful getting one of them put in. Turned out he caught Pneumonia. We are still going through tests blood, etc and is ongoing for at least two to three months. Bearing in mind he’s been off school until further tests on his immune system were done, with permission in writing from our doctor that he remains off school. The same safeguarding lady and the one from the council kept coming to our door to the point it was harrassment and because, on recorded CCTV, we told them they’d be escorted legally off our property if they come back again, the council lady with the backing of the school phoned the police. W? 5 officers turned up, two female, 3 male and two of the male officers were armed and all with tasers demanding to see our son. We woke him up, remember he needs complete rest and we were forced to wake him up and brought him to the door. Our son who was 5 when all this started, now 6 saw the police and their weapons, hid behind his dad asking why they have tasers and x . NO child should be put through that kind of fear. His dad even asked the officers if a crime had been committed to which they replied “no crime has been committed” so as you can imagine, he told all of the officers to f off and shut the door and locked it. They went away but we’ve put official complaints in to the school, the education department of the council and to the head quarters of the police. Results still being awaited, so now we are going to be doing, as we always have done with our children, is safeguarding them better than the system safeguarding x and deregistering our son legally and we will be homeschooling him from now on and will continue this with our baby as he grows up. We are not having our children, ourselves too, living in fear of people coming to our house with x and any other weapons. So, yes, homeschooling is much better for children, certainly for ours then our children can be safe from the shoddy system that’s in place today. Oh, I forgot to mention, to his head teacher, we requested work to be either dropped off or us pick up so that our son would be up to date on his school work…. we’re still waiting which shows the school prefer bully tactics than education but hiding behind the “safeguarding” reason. Absolute joke. Sorry for the length of this message but parents out there deserve to know some of the lengths schools will go to, bullying parents and children. So, it’s a huge YES for us to homeschool our children from now on. Thank you for reading our unfortunate experience. Pam x
Oh my gosh Pam, how awful! I can’t believe things like this happern in the UK of today. I’m British, it’s really shocking. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you don’t mind, I had to take out a couple of words that Google doesn’t approve of. Good luck to you and I hope your family flourishes.
@Pamela M, I wish these types of stories were uncommon, but unfortunately they are pretty common, here in Australia, UK and the USA.
Wherever you have funding for education, you’ll have people motivated by their own opportunities to wield power rather than stay invested in the well-being of the child. This happens in the public and private school systems, and from programs outside of schools including online education providers, aka private businesses making money from fearful parents who assume it’s enough to put a child in front of a worksheet or computer. It’s not enough. Connection with their child and empowering them as learners, to be free to learn, is the point. How they learn is secondary to that, but you won’t know how they learn best if you shove the shiny product that promises everything in front of them.
Research overwhelmingly shows that educational outcomes in schools for the child are increased when schools have good relationships with the parents. That means communication flows between the teacher, parent and child positively, with mutual respect.
There are few parents who don’t want their children to do well. Expecting all parents are ‘not doing what is in the best interest of their child’ is the result of decades of bureaucratic-centric policies dictating how schools are run. Teachers who are fed up with this type of abuse of parents and children are over it and leaving the system. There are so many indications that the school system is not working as well as people expect it too, and that it’s getting worse, not better.
Sadly, this is how it was originally designed. Mass education was implemented to remove children from families for military and workforce opportunities, in ‘nation building’ government enterprises. We had protests by parents at the time to change the law from compulsory attendance at school to compulsory to educate the young, so parents had a choice to use a school or DIY. Schools don’t advertise this. Governments don’t either. Our freedom to choose is protected by law.
Teachers who are not well versed in the history of their profession are doomed to blindly follow the bad policies of the past, which persist today. The people in charge don’t want it to change. They see our children are their future human capital.
Gret input Tamara. Pam, my friend Tamara is a former high school teacher who chose to home educate her own kids, and is a homeschool advocate today. She’s a great person to connect with at Tutor Your Own Child.
Oh Rose, you are a gem. I took away 2 As for English and English Lit and I’m a published author. Take your bitterness, dreadful grammar, and total lack of capitalisation, and shove them honey. Have a fabulous day, we will.
UPDATE for you Rose sweety, so did my kids. Did you?
@rose jones, lookout people – Karen alert! Your comment was so unnecessary and bitchy, you either need to go for a walk in nature, have a drink or get sh***ed. Maybe all 3 😉
This is a great example of how I want to approach homeschooling.My children seem to get ill as soon as school begins and they miss many days.They are really smart and have strengths of their own that should be embraced. Being my first attempt at this with a 14 year old daughter and 10 year old son, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I’m also relieved to know that I have a way to help my children succeed in an environment that works best for them.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Paula-Jean (Pj) 😊
It’s refreshing to see a family choosing life over a ridgid outdated system (that may work for some), but many simply follow due to fear of being judged. It’s so important to teach our children to surge their own paths.
What an inspiring read, thank you!
We are planning to homeschool in the near future. I am more than a little terrified. This post helped a lot. I am overwhelmed by the idea of being responsible for the education my two daughters will receive. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi there
I read voraciously yet comment sparingly. I had to say however, I loved your article and also the way in which you respond to the comments people make. I am coming from the perspective of a single mother who co parents closely with a loving father, travels on a shoestring with two kids for medical needs (long story!) for long periods, and is soon to return to homeschooling. We have had a period of almost 4 years of traditional schooling which simply does not work for my son, further to that, it has been detrimental in many ways. Your post has reminded me of how life used to be, and how it can be again. Thank you. We are currently in Malaysia – and possibly elsewhere in the region – for two months… I am now feeling more inspired about creating the life changes that my child needs, and knowing I can meet those needs when I’m not tied up in guilt and outside judgements from those who could not get the job done. High five!! 😀 Now… Off to find some tasty dinner in Langkawi..
I’ve been so encouraged by blog posts like this one because I have been questioning myself a lot with regards to doing enough with my children, that is, enough assignments, tests, etc. I basically have little written proof of what my kids are learning but my time with them takes up all day! We are from Third World country Honduras, in which homeschool is very very new….but I am very much encouraged when I hear styles of schooling similar to mine and that actually work in the First World if that makes sense. 🙂 Wish we had all the opportunities you have for your children, maybe someday we will get to travel too and experience those kinds of things, in the meantime however, I spent much of our time teaching and dreaming with them of a great world out there we’ll someday experience! 😉
I love what you all get up to! We’re into our seventh year of home education in a beautiful part of Australia. I totally get where you’re coming from with learning happening all the time and you do see it, once you get that ‘home ed brain happening’. Thank you for sharing your travels and family with us!
Thanks Paige, would it help you even more if I told you that both boys are years ahead of their peers in maths, we are on high school science and the elder one is reading, enjoying and understanding, Hemingway? All this without teaching, mostly through conversation and giving them time. I try not to make these sorts of comparisons, I don’t think it’s healthy, after all, we don’t follow the school agenda, but, sometimes, just to show this is working, I pull out the big guns.
As a second generation, I’m far more comfortable with this than my mother would be. This post makes me feel even more relaxed. Although, for us, I know I will have to insist on a few minutes of the basics before they rush out the door to learn dad’s business. Although, I’ll probably let them chose method (flashcards, workbook, game, etc) 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you Renee, I really appreciate that. It’s interesting that you call me an unschooler unreservedly, many unschoolers wouldn’t. I never call myself an unschooler we are homeschoolers. We’re just not school at home hoeschoolers because that is in no way necessary nor required. I think we unschool a bit, maybe, mostly because we are very relaxed about everything and I don’t follow the school curriculum at all. But, who needs labels? We do what we do , it feels good and it works. I’m too much of an academic to be radical. I’m very happy to be part of your link ups, I don’t publish homeschool posts often, but they are my favourite, it makes me very happy to spread the word about what a great, viable, option it is.
I love your post because you really helped me understand what great “unschooling” looks like! Personally, I like structure and find that I do need some to keep me feeling at ease, but that’s just me and I know my girls would enjoy more play time and life learning in our days. This glimpse into your world gives me lots of ideas for that.
Thanks for joining the new “What’s Working” link-up today on our blog at NextGen Homeschool! Finding your post today is exactly why I wanted to host a link-up on this topic. 🙂 We look forward to reading about your unschooling adventures at our link-up in the future. Thanks for enriching us, and spread the word about our new link-up,
A friend of mine put me into this blog, she also home schools. A very interesting read. I have nothing but admiration for those of you dedicated enough and with the resources available to be able to home school your children. What an awesome experience it must be for the kids and parents alike. Given the opportunity I would do the same but trying to do this solo means I would be taking other things from my family to give me the time to dedicate to my kids. The reality for most of us is the requirement to work and given that this clashes with the time you need to put in it makes it an unrealistic dream. Maybe when I win lotto….. Have fun and learn, it’s what life is all about.
Thanks so much for reading Paddy. Of course, the reality is, not everyone can, or should, choose this path. We had to make it happen, we moved from the UK to Australia so that we could afford for me to be at home with the children, the homeschooling came a little further down the line. We can’t afford to go back to the UK, our home, although I would really like to. I would be back in work full time and that’s just not what I want for the kids. It is a financial sacrifice, I was the bigger earner in our marriage, but it’s so worth it. There are quite a few single parents out there homeschooling their children, doing a great job and managing to scrape by financially, I know I couldn’t do it without my husband’s income and support, but they find a way to make it work for them. In 6 months we will have no more income, the husband quits his job and we start travelling. Stick around to see how we get on, it could be interesting!
It is SO much fun Amber! But don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’d happily drop them at the school gates so I could have a day off, when they are playing up and generally doing my head in. Thankfully that doesn’t happen too often!
Hi Alyson,
As a primary school teacher in NZ, this is pretty much what I DREAM of my classroom and teaching should look like! I can imagine the learning that your boys do is so relevant to them and their interests, and their curiosity is naturally fostered. I really wish that I could cater my teaching as fluidly for my 22 6 year olds, but alas I’m just left to do the best I can with what I’ve got.
In the back of my mind, I think that when I have a family one day down the track, home schooling is definitely something I’ll be seriously considering. I can’t see myself being able to dedicate my time and attention to both a family and a classroom and do both the justice they deserve.
It’s absolutely incredible how many teachers pack in teaching to homeschool their own children, Kate. I’m in touch with dozens through Homeschool Australia, Beverley Paine’s site. I hope you get the chance, and thanks for commenting, it means a lot.
Our homeschool days look a lot like yours… except it’s in a small town in the USA. I got 4 children that love to play and learn all day. You can come by my blog and check out my monthly learning logs to see some of the things we do.
I wouldn’t change a thing about homeschooling… I just love it…it’s one adventure after another.
Thanks Rebecca, I’ve just had a quick look at your website to find out who Rebecca English is. You know your stuff! So an authoritative amazing means a lot. Thank you.
Great write up. This is what we do everyday with our pre-schooler. I’m not sure what route we’ll go down regarding school but if we did homeschool I can see it looking a lot like this.
Thanks Bethaney, you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head there! You are your child’s first teacher, you get them through all those milestones and then, one day, you have to hand them over to be ” educated” as the government sees fit. Well, you don’t have to! And there is no reason to not carry on being your child’s teacher. We are all brainwashed into believing that education can only happen in school, with teachers. Not so. Homeschooling is a great option and one that is becoming more and more popular every day.
Awesome write-up Alyson
Quirky, laid back, still covering so much and inspirational for those who wonder
I follow the same method of homeschooling as you but have never written a curriculum
And sadly, have not travelled the world (YET)
Love your blog, comments and posts and hope to not lose your input once you do actually start travelling.
Kym x
Ah, Kym, I can always rely on you! Thank you, I do my best, I’m no writer but I think I’m slowly improving. Thanks for the support, isn’t it about time you got a blog going and told us all what your homeschool day looks like?
Hi Alyson,
I’m a Mum to 3 biological children and two step children. Our family schooling has mainly been in school education. My step son (turning 25) and step daughter (turning 19) are school educated. Step son passed school with flying colours and from the age of 21 became a manager in his job in Greggs bakery and is now manager in a Gym by the age of 24. He is still doing both jobs, lives with his lovely girlfriend and their dog and are looking to buy their first home. My step daughter left just before sitting her exams (GCSEs) but is working so not lazing around doing nothing. My biological daughter went to school, I did some homeschooling with her when she was 5 because her teacher kept marking her homework wrong when it was in fact all correct, except a couple of things but that’s natural in learning. I removed her from the school, homeschooling her until we moved out of my ex’s home and placed her in another primary school and the headteacher was very impressed with the work I had been doing with my daughter. The school was about to move her up a year as she was ahead of her same age peers and was being held back, but with problems with my ex we moved to England from Scotland to be with a guy I went to school with until he and his family moved to England when he was 15. My daughter is 16, passed her GCSEs and working. Looking for another job now. She’s very smart and despite going through bad education in mainstream school, she’s done really well. I’m disgusted in the education system of today, I’m amazed kids learn anything at all.
Then my Fiancé and I had two boys together, one has just turned 6 and the other will be one next month. Our 6 year old started mainstream school at the age of 5, in England they start in Reception then into year one, slightly different to how my daughter started in Scotland. Our son was bullied by his teacher and assistant teacher to the point he was in tears on and off all day on one of the times. He was bullied also by a few pupils, boys and a girl, school did nothing at all. Lying all the time and us catching them out every time. He hated school but we told him that maybe Year one will be better and maybe a nicer teacher. Yes, Teacher in Year one much nicer and the pupils who bullied him stopped and were nicer to him. Our son and ourselves were relieved but then it all changed drastically to the point he fell ill, having caught what seemed to be a cold from class mates, we had only kept him off two days, having kept the school informed in writing, then on the third morning, the school day had only just begun and the safeguarding lady from school and the council education lady were on our doorstep asking why he isn’t in school. We showed them the messages sent through the system they tell parents to use to say why a child isn’t in school and they demanded he be back on the Friday or following Monday despite them physically seeing how unwell he was (bearing in mind he was off Monday and Tuesday, they turned up on the Wednesday). Reluctantly, as he wasn’t fully well but heading in the right direction, we sent him back in on the Monday, as you can imagine by that night he was worse, we took him to the doctor, he recommended we take him to the hospital Pediatrics and he was admitted and was in for three days unable to wake up, just stirred a few times and had to have a Cannula in his hand, which as most people will know, especially women pregnant, that it’s painful getting one of them put in. Turned out he caught Pneumonia. We are still going through tests blood, etc and is ongoing for at least two to three months. Bearing in mind he’s been off school until further tests on his immune system were done, with permission in writing from our doctor that he remains off school. The same safeguarding lady and the one from the council kept coming to our door to the point it was harrassment and because, on recorded CCTV, we told them they’d be escorted legally off our property if they come back again, the council lady with the backing of the school phoned the police. W? 5 officers turned up, two female, 3 male and two of the male officers were armed and all with tasers demanding to see our son. We woke him up, remember he needs complete rest and we were forced to wake him up and brought him to the door. Our son who was 5 when all this started, now 6 saw the police and their weapons, hid behind his dad asking why they have tasers and x . NO child should be put through that kind of fear. His dad even asked the officers if a crime had been committed to which they replied “no crime has been committed” so as you can imagine, he told all of the officers to f off and shut the door and locked it. They went away but we’ve put official complaints in to the school, the education department of the council and to the head quarters of the police. Results still being awaited, so now we are going to be doing, as we always have done with our children, is safeguarding them better than the system safeguarding x and deregistering our son legally and we will be homeschooling him from now on and will continue this with our baby as he grows up. We are not having our children, ourselves too, living in fear of people coming to our house with x and any other weapons. So, yes, homeschooling is much better for children, certainly for ours then our children can be safe from the shoddy system that’s in place today. Oh, I forgot to mention, to his head teacher, we requested work to be either dropped off or us pick up so that our son would be up to date on his school work…. we’re still waiting which shows the school prefer bully tactics than education but hiding behind the “safeguarding” reason. Absolute joke. Sorry for the length of this message but parents out there deserve to know some of the lengths schools will go to, bullying parents and children. So, it’s a huge YES for us to homeschool our children from now on. Thank you for reading our unfortunate experience. Pam x
Oh my gosh Pam, how awful! I can’t believe things like this happern in the UK of today. I’m British, it’s really shocking. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you don’t mind, I had to take out a couple of words that Google doesn’t approve of. Good luck to you and I hope your family flourishes.
@Pamela M, I wish these types of stories were uncommon, but unfortunately they are pretty common, here in Australia, UK and the USA.
Wherever you have funding for education, you’ll have people motivated by their own opportunities to wield power rather than stay invested in the well-being of the child. This happens in the public and private school systems, and from programs outside of schools including online education providers, aka private businesses making money from fearful parents who assume it’s enough to put a child in front of a worksheet or computer. It’s not enough. Connection with their child and empowering them as learners, to be free to learn, is the point. How they learn is secondary to that, but you won’t know how they learn best if you shove the shiny product that promises everything in front of them.
Research overwhelmingly shows that educational outcomes in schools for the child are increased when schools have good relationships with the parents. That means communication flows between the teacher, parent and child positively, with mutual respect.
There are few parents who don’t want their children to do well. Expecting all parents are ‘not doing what is in the best interest of their child’ is the result of decades of bureaucratic-centric policies dictating how schools are run. Teachers who are fed up with this type of abuse of parents and children are over it and leaving the system. There are so many indications that the school system is not working as well as people expect it too, and that it’s getting worse, not better.
Sadly, this is how it was originally designed. Mass education was implemented to remove children from families for military and workforce opportunities, in ‘nation building’ government enterprises. We had protests by parents at the time to change the law from compulsory attendance at school to compulsory to educate the young, so parents had a choice to use a school or DIY. Schools don’t advertise this. Governments don’t either. Our freedom to choose is protected by law.
Teachers who are not well versed in the history of their profession are doomed to blindly follow the bad policies of the past, which persist today. The people in charge don’t want it to change. They see our children are their future human capital.
Gret input Tamara. Pam, my friend Tamara is a former high school teacher who chose to home educate her own kids, and is a homeschool advocate today. She’s a great person to connect with at Tutor Your Own Child.
considering your grammar and punctuation is awful, maybe they should be in school.
Oh Rose, you are a gem. I took away 2 As for English and English Lit and I’m a published author. Take your bitterness, dreadful grammar, and total lack of capitalisation, and shove them honey. Have a fabulous day, we will.
UPDATE for you Rose sweety, so did my kids. Did you?
@rose jones, lookout people – Karen alert! Your comment was so unnecessary and bitchy, you either need to go for a walk in nature, have a drink or get sh***ed. Maybe all 3 😉
I had to take out the naughty word. Thanks for visiting and giving me a laugh.
This is a great example of how I want to approach homeschooling.My children seem to get ill as soon as school begins and they miss many days.They are really smart and have strengths of their own that should be embraced. Being my first attempt at this with a 14 year old daughter and 10 year old son, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I’m also relieved to know that I have a way to help my children succeed in an environment that works best for them.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Paula-Jean (Pj) 😊
Very happy to be helpful to new homeschoolers.
Great read!!! Thanks for sharing such a great blog, blog like these will surely help every homeschooler.
It’s refreshing to see a family choosing life over a ridgid outdated system (that may work for some), but many simply follow due to fear of being judged. It’s so important to teach our children to surge their own paths.
What an inspiring read, thank you!
These boys are grown now Rebecca, and it’s all worked out just perfectly.
We are planning to homeschool in the near future. I am more than a little terrified. This post helped a lot. I am overwhelmed by the idea of being responsible for the education my two daughters will receive. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi there
I read voraciously yet comment sparingly. I had to say however, I loved your article and also the way in which you respond to the comments people make. I am coming from the perspective of a single mother who co parents closely with a loving father, travels on a shoestring with two kids for medical needs (long story!) for long periods, and is soon to return to homeschooling. We have had a period of almost 4 years of traditional schooling which simply does not work for my son, further to that, it has been detrimental in many ways. Your post has reminded me of how life used to be, and how it can be again. Thank you. We are currently in Malaysia – and possibly elsewhere in the region – for two months… I am now feeling more inspired about creating the life changes that my child needs, and knowing I can meet those needs when I’m not tied up in guilt and outside judgements from those who could not get the job done. High five!! 😀 Now… Off to find some tasty dinner in Langkawi..
Thanks Kandice, my favourite sort of comment. Good luck!
I’ve been so encouraged by blog posts like this one because I have been questioning myself a lot with regards to doing enough with my children, that is, enough assignments, tests, etc. I basically have little written proof of what my kids are learning but my time with them takes up all day! We are from Third World country Honduras, in which homeschool is very very new….but I am very much encouraged when I hear styles of schooling similar to mine and that actually work in the First World if that makes sense. 🙂 Wish we had all the opportunities you have for your children, maybe someday we will get to travel too and experience those kinds of things, in the meantime however, I spent much of our time teaching and dreaming with them of a great world out there we’ll someday experience! 😉
I can tell you that it does work Linda, the boys are 11 and 8 now and everything is going just fine with their education. Best of luck!
I love what you all get up to! We’re into our seventh year of home education in a beautiful part of Australia. I totally get where you’re coming from with learning happening all the time and you do see it, once you get that ‘home ed brain happening’. Thank you for sharing your travels and family with us!
Thanks for sharing.. great post! I homeschool my two boys and I love reading about others experiences as well.
What a great write up! Thanks for sharing at the Culture Swapper!
Thanks Paige, would it help you even more if I told you that both boys are years ahead of their peers in maths, we are on high school science and the elder one is reading, enjoying and understanding, Hemingway? All this without teaching, mostly through conversation and giving them time. I try not to make these sorts of comparisons, I don’t think it’s healthy, after all, we don’t follow the school agenda, but, sometimes, just to show this is working, I pull out the big guns.
As a second generation, I’m far more comfortable with this than my mother would be. This post makes me feel even more relaxed. Although, for us, I know I will have to insist on a few minutes of the basics before they rush out the door to learn dad’s business. Although, I’ll probably let them chose method (flashcards, workbook, game, etc) 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you Renee, I really appreciate that. It’s interesting that you call me an unschooler unreservedly, many unschoolers wouldn’t. I never call myself an unschooler we are homeschoolers. We’re just not school at home hoeschoolers because that is in no way necessary nor required. I think we unschool a bit, maybe, mostly because we are very relaxed about everything and I don’t follow the school curriculum at all. But, who needs labels? We do what we do , it feels good and it works. I’m too much of an academic to be radical. I’m very happy to be part of your link ups, I don’t publish homeschool posts often, but they are my favourite, it makes me very happy to spread the word about what a great, viable, option it is.
I love your post because you really helped me understand what great “unschooling” looks like! Personally, I like structure and find that I do need some to keep me feeling at ease, but that’s just me and I know my girls would enjoy more play time and life learning in our days. This glimpse into your world gives me lots of ideas for that.
Thanks for joining the new “What’s Working” link-up today on our blog at NextGen Homeschool! Finding your post today is exactly why I wanted to host a link-up on this topic. 🙂 We look forward to reading about your unschooling adventures at our link-up in the future. Thanks for enriching us, and spread the word about our new link-up,
I loved your post 🙂 Your home school day looks much like ours 🙂
I posted a blog sharing also 🙂
Thanks so much Missy, I’ve added you in. Love the creative use of broccoli!
A friend of mine put me into this blog, she also home schools. A very interesting read. I have nothing but admiration for those of you dedicated enough and with the resources available to be able to home school your children. What an awesome experience it must be for the kids and parents alike. Given the opportunity I would do the same but trying to do this solo means I would be taking other things from my family to give me the time to dedicate to my kids. The reality for most of us is the requirement to work and given that this clashes with the time you need to put in it makes it an unrealistic dream. Maybe when I win lotto….. Have fun and learn, it’s what life is all about.
Thanks so much for reading Paddy. Of course, the reality is, not everyone can, or should, choose this path. We had to make it happen, we moved from the UK to Australia so that we could afford for me to be at home with the children, the homeschooling came a little further down the line. We can’t afford to go back to the UK, our home, although I would really like to. I would be back in work full time and that’s just not what I want for the kids. It is a financial sacrifice, I was the bigger earner in our marriage, but it’s so worth it. There are quite a few single parents out there homeschooling their children, doing a great job and managing to scrape by financially, I know I couldn’t do it without my husband’s income and support, but they find a way to make it work for them. In 6 months we will have no more income, the husband quits his job and we start travelling. Stick around to see how we get on, it could be interesting!
Love it. Looks like a LT of fun.
Especially that travel bug! We have that too 😉
It is SO much fun Amber! But don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’d happily drop them at the school gates so I could have a day off, when they are playing up and generally doing my head in. Thankfully that doesn’t happen too often!
Hi Alyson,
As a primary school teacher in NZ, this is pretty much what I DREAM of my classroom and teaching should look like! I can imagine the learning that your boys do is so relevant to them and their interests, and their curiosity is naturally fostered. I really wish that I could cater my teaching as fluidly for my 22 6 year olds, but alas I’m just left to do the best I can with what I’ve got.
In the back of my mind, I think that when I have a family one day down the track, home schooling is definitely something I’ll be seriously considering. I can’t see myself being able to dedicate my time and attention to both a family and a classroom and do both the justice they deserve.
It’s absolutely incredible how many teachers pack in teaching to homeschool their own children, Kate. I’m in touch with dozens through Homeschool Australia, Beverley Paine’s site. I hope you get the chance, and thanks for commenting, it means a lot.
Looks fantastic! What a great life for the boys.
hey Alyson,
Our homeschool days look a lot like yours… except it’s in a small town in the USA. I got 4 children that love to play and learn all day. You can come by my blog and check out my monthly learning logs to see some of the things we do.
I wouldn’t change a thing about homeschooling… I just love it…it’s one adventure after another.
That’s so great to hear Tereza Crump! Keep on homeschooling, I’ll be checking your blog out shortly ( cooking dinner right now)
That looks amazing. End. Of!
Thanks Rebecca, I’ve just had a quick look at your website to find out who Rebecca English is. You know your stuff! So an authoritative amazing means a lot. Thank you.
Great write up. This is what we do everyday with our pre-schooler. I’m not sure what route we’ll go down regarding school but if we did homeschool I can see it looking a lot like this.
Thanks Bethaney, you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head there! You are your child’s first teacher, you get them through all those milestones and then, one day, you have to hand them over to be ” educated” as the government sees fit. Well, you don’t have to! And there is no reason to not carry on being your child’s teacher. We are all brainwashed into believing that education can only happen in school, with teachers. Not so. Homeschooling is a great option and one that is becoming more and more popular every day.
Awesome write-up Alyson
Quirky, laid back, still covering so much and inspirational for those who wonder
I follow the same method of homeschooling as you but have never written a curriculum
And sadly, have not travelled the world (YET)
Love your blog, comments and posts and hope to not lose your input once you do actually start travelling.
Kym x
Ah, Kym, I can always rely on you! Thank you, I do my best, I’m no writer but I think I’m slowly improving. Thanks for the support, isn’t it about time you got a blog going and told us all what your homeschool day looks like?