Belinda Moore

When we began home based learning I wasn’t prepared for the barrage of questions. On the whole people have responded positively and are very interested in home education. I thought I’d share some of the more common questions and my answers to them.

HOW DO YOU FIND TIME TO DO THIS?
Home education doesn’t take extra time. For the first five years of their lives I’ve read to, provided craft activities for and played with my children. Now they can do a lot of that for themselves so I help them with learning things instead. Raising six kids born in nine years is what eats up my time, not teaching. Being involved in schools would be more time consuming and disruptive than home educating, for me. I am very organised, though, and I like lists, planning (meals, ’school’ work, housework, outings etc.) and other time-saving techniques. I also have a cleaner come into my house semi-regularly. She cleans windows, walls, fans, decks, cobwebs, skylights - all the extras. I imagine I could complete all the housework to keep this large house (which is on the market) sparkling, but the relief of having someone else do many of my least favourite tasks makes it so much easier to get on with the rest! My cleaner costs very little and I am happy to allocate money from our budget to this for now.

SO HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU PUT INTO HOME SCHOOLING?
We learn all day, every day… all of us! At the beginning of each year I spend time preparing for the months ahead. This preparation enables things to run fairly smoothly. I sit down to formal work with the children for maybe an hour each weekday and spend perhaps half an hour on record keeping, planning and gathering resources. I am on hand for any problems they have at other times, but a few minutes interruption to those endless loads of washing and cooking meals isn’t so bad! A lot of the children’s learning, like our own, is through voracious reading or the incidental lessons of life.

IS IT LEGAL?
This question can never be answered easily. Almost all the world over home schooling is legal, somehow. Regional requirements differ greatly and for full details I suggest you contact your local education authority and/or home schooling association.

ARE YOU A TEACHER?
I studied primary education with psychology at university but I am not a teacher and I’ve never worked as one. I also believe it makes little difference to a family’s home learning journey.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?
A plethora of websites and books spell it all out. There are companies that sell any resources you could wish for. Many teachers, ‘contact people’ and home education advisors will happily answer any questions. I plan a program which is our guide for the year. The children and my husband all know the goals I’ve set and how we’ll get there. When they are interested they join in on this planning process. The plans are tailored to each child’s individual needs. I don’t make them do anything that’s too hard or too easy.
Another option is to buy a curriculum package. I believe this may be one of the more popular ways of home educating. Then it is simply a matter of moving through the curriculum and taking advantage of any support the supplier has to offer.

DO OTHER PEOPLE DO THIS?
Yes, lots! There are home schooling associations, websites, mailing lists, companies and so on popping up everywhere around the world. The U.S. seems to be leading the way in this revolution, but home based learning is becoming popular here in Australia and in many other countries.

HOW LONG WILL YOU DO THIS FOR?
While it works, of course! As soon as it doesn’t we’ll explore other options.

EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL?
Home based learning seems particularly suitable for teenagers to me.

WHY CAN’T I DO THIS?
You can! If it’s right for your family, do it! Currently, school isn’t right for our family.

WHAT IS IT ACTUALLY LIKE?
We have six children aged between 2.5 years and 12 years, so day-to-day life is a lot of cleaning up, regular meals, morning activities, afternoon sports etc. It’s busy enough without school! Our school-aged children are at many levels in their learning - from beginner readers through to secondary studies. The children love it at home. They also like to visit friends and socialise. Home based learning is treating us well so far.

YOU CAN’T PROTECT YOUR KIDS FROM EVERYTHING!
No, but we needn’t expose them to everything, either. No need to give in to the mainstream ways just because they are there.

BUT WHAT ABOUT YOURSELF - HAVING THOSE KIDS AROUND ALL DAY?
We chose to have “those” kids and love them all. We find that life is getting easier as they get older and we’re not keen to give all that pleasure away to school. They are great company, and a lot of work. It’s tiring, exhausting, emotionally draining and sometimes very mundane. I accept this and rarely feel hemmed-in. I focus on the fun! We enjoy our reading/rest time some afternoons. My husband helps out before work which enables me to sleep-in a little, which was great when I was breastfeeding at night, and now when I stay up for too long on the Internet! Fairly regularly I have a couple of hours alone in town to do the shopping and other errands. Or I attend a local meditation group. The children are generally all in bed around 8pm, leaving us time together, or alone. So far we’ve prevented burn-out and parenting remains mostly a joy!

Answering all the questions people ask was my biggest hurdle in the beginning - after the decision to give home education a go! Finding answers that are brief and yet don’t sound secretive is difficult. I’m not out to sell home education to the masses, but I want people to know why we chose to homeschool and that it works for us.

A version of this article originally appeared in the print journal ‘Stepping Stones For Home Educators‘.