Belinda Moore

While it is still very fresh in my mind, I thought I’d share some of what I experienced at the NHED Conference in Brisbane this past weekend.

The keynote speakers were fantastic - passionate John Taylor Gatto with his anti-establishment pearls of wisdom, Dr Alan Thomas who is so encouraging with his wealth of knowledge, research and observation, and Eleanor Sparks, the editor of Education Choices and respected Queensland homeschool advocate. There were dozens of workshops, tens of trade fair displays, snippets of time to connect with others…

As a volunteer I was very impressed with the willingness of other attendees to help out. A call over the microphone for some extra hands was met with enthusastic helpers and lightened the load incredibly. Thank you all!

At the Trade Fair I did a little shopping! I bought Nuri Mass’ The Wonderland of Nature from Downunder Literature, some Magnetic Poetry products from Abacus Teaching Aids and some Wacky But True magazines. I was rapt to meet up with Ilja Grawert, who had a lot to share and some fantastic ideas for future events. I learned a lot about (and joined) the HEA. I have a pile of brochures here so I can follow up on some other resources which caught my eye.

I will be attending this conference. For those of you also attending the Brisbane one, I look forward to meeting you!

Rollingstone Beach Camp

We’re planning our third Beach Camp for 17-20 May 2007.

Where: Rollingstone Beach Caravan Resort, Hencamp Creek Road Rollingstone (07)47707277 – 60km north of Townsville, 50km south of Ingham. See: Rollingstone Caravan Resort Website

We’ve booked, have you?

Here are some blogs and websites of other Aussie homeschooling families…

Aussie Coffee Shop

Aussie Home Education

Aussie Mum of 3

Baker Brats

Blog, Blog, Blog

Bruggie Tales

Come Learn With Us

Enya - a most abnormal child

Ganeida’s Nest

Home is Where the Heart Is

Jocelyn’s Blog

Joyful Home

Liam & Ewan’s World and Our Learning Life

Lifestyle Homeschool

Living In A Desert

Living Without School

Living The Dream

majikfaerie

Meri Mania

Pine Villa

Quadrapop Tree

Seven Little Australians

The Genial Hearth

The Parenting Pit

The Wonderful Place

The Wright Way

Three Boys and a Little Bit of Grace

Always Learning Books

Environment Australia (free)

Homeschool Favourites

Languages Online

Spiral Garden

The Mastery Club

Projects:

Amazing Handwriting Worksheet Making Tool

Flat Stanley Project

Homeschool Shoebox Swap

The Children and Nature Network

Altlearn Map Network

ATHENS (Atherton Tablelands, Qld)

HBLN (Western Australia)

HEN (Victoria)

Home Education Association (Australia)

South Australian Home Education

Online Support

Joyous Learning

Liberated Learning

Home of Learning 

Would you like to receive a free sample copy of Education Choices?

Just telephone, fax, email or write with your postal address and they will send you a free copy. Australian addresses only. You can request a particular issue.*

If you live overseas and would like to view a sample copy of the magazine please send them an email for local distribution information. (more…)

Awhile ago I stumbled across this article. It’s from the US media, but it stood out to me. I like the simplicity of her comments. Particularly in the final paragraph:

“The homeschoolers I know are some of the happiest, most well-educated and well-adjusted kids I’ve ever met. Perhaps until we, as a village, can raise better, it’s time to get off the homeschool-bashing bandwagon.”

For homeschooling in the media in Australia, keep an eye on this page of the Education Choices website.

Check this out. If you register soon, you will receive a discount and a free Conference Package — containing a DVD of the keynote presentations and a bound copy of the Conference Papers.

Today a friend asked me what I like to write about these days. I explained that I don’t feel in touch enough with the basics of homeschooling to write for others about starting out, even though I edit the Getting Started section for Education Choices magazine. When pressed for ideas and my experiences, I’m never lost for words, but I’m not aware of many of the latest resources and I sometimes forget the struggles and difficulties of those early days of home based learning… I have two children yet to reach school age, so I’m still covering the basics of learning to read and all the fun stuff, but after playing phonics games, counting buttons and talking about colours and shapes continually for several years, it’s become an ingrained part of home life rather than a specific activity to slot into my days. (more…)