Homeschooling Downunder
Home Education Resources
for Australia and New Zealand
that save you time, money and stress.
Ten Tips to Get You Started with Homeschooling
1. Determine your motives for homeschooling. This will affect so many of your choices.
2. Read, read and read some more. You have hundreds of options available with home schooling. Look for good overviews and try not to get bogged down in the curriculum, just yet.
3. Network with other homeschoolers. Get to know real life homeschoolers. Go to advertised events, if you're Australian join aussiehomeschool.com. Try inviting another homeschool family over you might connect with and find out what they do.
4. Make a simple start. Follow a basic scope and sequence at first. As you get a feel for homeschooling you will become more comfortable with what you are doing and you can make changes along the way.
5. Get to know your children’s learning style. This will help you choose a curriculum.
6. Don't worry about socialisation. Your children will be well socialized without the negative aspect of peer pressure and group think.
7. Don’t rush off and buy everything recommend. Get samples when possible. Resist the temptation to purchase your curriculum from the newsagent or book store. There are many homeschooling resources that will suit your needs better.
8. Be prepared to make some sacrifices. Homeschooling takes a considerable commitment for it to work, especially in the early days.
9. Try to take your focus off academics and on to establishing good habits and close family relationships. Academics will fall into place. Homeschooling is not school at home -it is a lifestyle.
10. Pray for wisdom.
Homeschool Curriculum Choices|
When I first started homeschooling I wanted a Christian homeschooling curriculum to tell me what I was supposed to teach and when I was to teach it.
The American homeschool curriculums were somewhat helpful but they taught things differently to Australians and I wasn’t confident to follow their programme.
No one could really help me unless I slotted into a pre packaged workbook programme.
I wanted specific details.
I felt there must be a way to do this, just give me the plan and I'll follow it!
The Department of Education’s 'Key Learning Areas' was not much help either—it was so general.
Who would tell me when should I teach the solar system, times tables or Australian Parliament?
I looked at the prepackaged options and they looked pretty dull. I wasn't willing to just go with the flow and work with an ad hoc arrangement.
I read a lot and that helped but what pointed me in the right direction was the advice from seasoned homeschool mothers, especially the ones with lots of children who had been doing it for a while.
I finally worked out that I didn’t need to follow a rigid plan
but rather use a guideline and gather a few good resources.
Over time I chipped out my own Australian homeschool scope and sequence for the primary years.
Match your curriculum to your homeschool style
As you search the internet you will see—or have already seen—a plethora of different ways that you can homeschool; many of these styles come with a firm philosophy behind them. If your like me you will probably find that one style seems to gel with you, but you can see the merits of other styles.
Here is a quick list of styles that you might commonly find.
• The Charlotte Mason (I definitely have strong leaning towards this style)
• Natural learning (or unschooling)
• Steiner
• Montessori
• Distance education such as ACE.
• Workbooks and textbooks
• Classical
• Unit Study
• Eclectic homeschooling (a bit of everything--that's my style.)
Eclectic Homeschool Philosophy with a Charlotte Mason Slant
The essence of eclectic homeschooling is to borrow freely from a range of different styles of homeschool philosophies and combine them to find your own personal taste and convictions, and hopefully your children’s learning style. Of course, ‘how to homeschool’, then becomes more of a challenge because our philosophy seems a bit ‘wishy-washy’, as we each determine what works well and what we want to achieve. We all like to know where we are going, and eclectic homeschooling seems to have no real anchor to hang its foundations on. For some finding an anchor is easy, as they have thought long and hard about what their educational goals are, whilst for others, it is a journey of trial and error.
In truth, I think most eclectic homeschoolers lean towards a particular philosophy, such as; Classical education, Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, Montessori, Steiner, or Natural Learning. They glean from other philosophies to strengthen and individualise their own foundations and firm them up as they go. This does require some thought, and reading through different authors who have pondered this can help the home educator determine how to find their way. Our style also changes to incorporate different circumstances and flow with the fluctuations of life.
Over the years I have read many books on homeschooling philosophy. I LOVE some of the suggestions and often their core ideas and values overlap in places. Some authors that I would recommend who have searched out this matter and helped me to shape up my style are:
Recommended homeschooling style books
• Ruth Beechick. The Three R’s,You Can Teach Your Child Successfully and Biblical Home Education.
• Sally Clarkson. Seasons of a Mother's Heart and The Ministry of Motherhood
• Catherine Levinson. A Charlotte Mason Education and More Charlotte Mason Education.
• Ray and Dorothy Moore. Homeschool Burnout
• Mary Pride. The complete guide to getting started in homeschooling
• John Gatto. Dumbing us down.
• Chris and Ellyn Davis. I saw an Angel in the Marble
• Diana Waring. 50 Veteran homeschoolers share....Things we wish we'd known.
Our English Curriculum
Our Science and Nature Curriculum
Our History and Geography Curriculum
Australian Unit Study
Other Curriculum Websites
Free online resources http://homeeducatorshelper.googlepages.com/American curriculum workbook scope and sequence http://www.aophomeschooling.com/lifepac/overview.php
View a free Charlotte Mason curriculum http://amblesideonline.org/