I am very honored to announce that Nicola from The World is Their classroom has nominated me for the 2019 Sunshine Blogger Award!
What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?
The Sunshine Blogger Award is given by blogging peers to bloggers who are bringing positivity and creative content to the blogging world. For us, simply being nominated tells us that we are on the right path!
Rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award:
* Thank the blogger who nominated you in your blog post and link back to his/her blog.
* Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
* Nominate 11 new bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 questions.
* List these rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post and on your blog.
Here are the questions and answers:
1) Why did you decide to home Educate?
We knew before we had children that we would be home educating. I had honestly, never heard of children not attending the usual schooling system, and it was only through my partners friends (who had been home educating for a while) did I discover a whole new world. I was confident that was the best way for our future children. When the children came along, we knew exactly what we wanted, and here we are!
2) What kind of approach do you take?
When little person was 4, that was when I got a little nervous about 'school at home', I became wary of 5 year olds reading and writing, so felt I needed to up my game. We started a structured method of working, everyday we had a set number of hours, set number of pages from certain workbooks. Even though little person wasn't happy, even though there were tears and tantrums, I was fixated on the fully structured method for a little child. I believe the arrival of number 2, a break and lots of hindsight enabled me to appreciate what home educating was about. We dropped the structure and decided to go with the flow, and honestly home educating has been a happy journey ever since. We have days where we've worked through 3 books and a worksheet, and days we haven't picked up a book or pencil. This is the method that works for us, we take long weeks off, some weeks we might complete a single worksheet and others we might whizz through workbooks. I am more than happy to have found what works, it means we have a child who loves home education as much as us! I like to call our approach somewhat semi structured!
3) What do you find most difficult and why?
For me personally, I think it's the urge to keep buying whatever I see other home educating families using. I have to remind myself, what works for one won't work for all! Books and educational games have taken over the office space, and it's still a little bit of a struggle for me! If there's a discount, I'm buying!!
The other thing I believe we find difficult is when we over plan. There are times little person has a list of experiments he would like to do, and as well as that there are games he would like to tackle, so usually by the end of the week we haven't conquered all, and that can feel a little disappointing. We've been working on expectations, and trying to lower these for myself and little person. There will always be weeks where we haven't completed the tasks we thought we would be able to; but we need to brush it off and move onto the next week! I believe we have a timeframe in our minds for each task, and we need to remove these barriers, and know that as a home educating family we aren't restricted by time or date!
4) How do you react to people asking about socialisation?
Initially, lots of people made comments about socialisation. Socialisation and confidence were linked, confidence and self esteem and then self esteem and work ability were linked. I struggled in the school environment during my younger years, had zero confidence and the so called socialisation that occurs in schools did not help at all. It takes a while for people to remember that children aren't given much time to socialise in schools, and teachers constantly remind children they aren't there to socialise.
I knew from the onset little person was going to come out of his shell once he was given the opportunity, snd home educating has given him the space and encouragement, enabling him to feel confident and ready! Now that little person is 8, and he doesn't hold back holding conversations with adults or children, those closer to us have noticed and comment on his confidence. 'Socialisation' in a school would have very possibly have had the opposite affect on little person.
For those considering home education, socialisation has never been a problem. There are so many local home ed activities we attend, we don't feel like we are missing out. What I absolutely love about home educating, if there is an area or activity we would like to see, I simply organise it myself, and that's the beauty of it all....parents working together creating a fab community with lots going on!
5) Have family supported your decision?
In all honesty, it took both sides of extended family a little while to understand what we were doing! It went against the grain, people don't keep children at home and so on and so forth. I've learnt that in order to truly show people the way home education works, is to just allow them to watch the children grow and flourish, and with that they will definitely appreciate it.
At the beginning there were comments about little person won't learn anything, will have zero confidence and basically won't know how to deal with the world. As he's getting older, and with each day learning and flourishing, we've had less negative comments. I wouldn't hold my breath though, I know as he reaches secondary school age, there will be more 'ifs and buts'.
6) How do you incorporate Physical Education into your Home ed days?
Physical education was the least of my worries when we started this journey. That was only because there is an established sports group, organised by another home educator. We, therefore had the opportunity of joining those sessions, and as the community grows so do the options. More recently we made the switch to gymnastics, again organised by another home ed parent. The 'exercise' options are there for us to take, and I am extremely happy we have these to attend. If it was a case of nothing else available, I believe we would have held our own 'P.E.' lessons!
7) Do you plan and how far in advance?
At the beginning I was a 'staunch' planner, planning at least 3 weeks in advance. It was a huge learning curve for us, and trying to be structured with advance planning was definitely the wrong way to do things for us. Answer to question (2) gives a little bit more information on our changing style, but for us structured was not the way, and we like to believe we are somewhat semi structured. I do have a planner, but nothing goes into the planner in advance, it is more for me to fill in at the end of the day if we've used books etc.
8) What's a typical Home ed day like for you?
I cannot outline what each day is like as they're so different. One day might entail workbooks, one day might be more screen based, so watching videos on 'Mystery Science', and another day might mean zero schooling in the sense of sit down. Children are learning all the time, so even a day filled with a supermarket trip, quick stop at a clothes store, lunch at a cafe and a walk home feels like a success. The important thing is to remain tuned into all the questions presented, children have some very intellectual questions, they absorb like sponges!
9) Do you spend a lot of money on resources?
This is one of my greatest downfalls. If I see something, be it a book, subscription box or an online resource, I find it difficult to not try it out!! At the beginning we overwhelmed ourselves with magazines ('Whizz, Pop, Bang,' 'Nat Geo kids', 'Eco kids' and so on) as well as subscription boxes and far too many books. I have learnt that children don't need an abundance of resources, all they need is someone to facilitate their learning. Part of the reason I started instagram (and then my blog) was to review the products I was buying, so that others had an idea of what they were like to make a decision.
10) How do you make time for yourself?
Alone time, or me time can be difficult to come by. I tend to sleep much later on, and don't worry if it's 1am, I like the quiet and the chance to do what I want. I'd love for my children to sleep much earlier so I could tuck in earlier, but that won't be happening anytime soon!
11) What advice would you give to someone just starting their home ed journey?
First and foremost don't rush into home ed. Take your time, allow yourself to spend time reading blogs, reading up on all the methods of schooling out there, be it Charlotte Mason or Montessori. Get to know your child/children first. Some children are visual learner, some are kinaesthetic learners, you have to know which one before trying to 'teach'. My advice would be, enjoy outdoors, lots of play, get to know how your child processes information, how they remember information, attend as many local home ed groups to build that support network. Once you're ready and your child is, start your home ed journey.
I would also like to point out, children learn at a very different pace, don't compare your child with anyone else, as well as the added pressure you'll push too hard and that causes far more damage than good. I have always regretted our start, it was too difficult for little person, far too much rigid structure and definitely not how he worked. The first year was not a great year, and it is saddening to think my only aim was to have school at home - home education is not simply replacing school at home!
My nominees for the 2019 Sunshine blogger award are
1) Brandy from thebarefoothomeschoolingmom
2) Nelly from nellyali
3) Marnesha from marneshaaugustin
4) Nic from He3smalls
5) Kayla from choosejoyhomeschool
6) Alicia from brickcityhomeschool
7) Kirsty from theschoolhousefamily
8) Sarah from letthembesmall
9) Roxy from littlemamahomemaker
10) Bronwyn from hustleandhomeschool
11) Umm from happymuslimhomeschool
My questions for the nominees are as follows:
!) How long have you been home educating/home schooling?
2) What is your favourite part of home educating?
3) How many children do you home educate? What are their ages?
4) How do you incorporate arts and crafts?
5) Do you spend time reading other home educators / home schoolers blogs?
6) Do you use outside help with home educating?
7) How do you keep on top of housework?
8) How do you feel about screen time and children?
9) What is your favourite subject and do any of your children enjoy it as much as you?
10) Which books have you and your children read recently?
11) If there was one piece of advise you could give to a new home educator what would it be?
A huge thank you to Nicola from The world is their Classroom for nominating Home educator online for the Sunshine blogger award 2019...it means the world to us!!
What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?
The Sunshine Blogger Award is given by blogging peers to bloggers who are bringing positivity and creative content to the blogging world. For us, simply being nominated tells us that we are on the right path!
Rules for the Sunshine Blogger Award:
* Thank the blogger who nominated you in your blog post and link back to his/her blog.
* Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
* Nominate 11 new bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 questions.
* List these rules and display the sunshine blogger award logo in your post and on your blog.
1) Why did you decide to home Educate?
We knew before we had children that we would be home educating. I had honestly, never heard of children not attending the usual schooling system, and it was only through my partners friends (who had been home educating for a while) did I discover a whole new world. I was confident that was the best way for our future children. When the children came along, we knew exactly what we wanted, and here we are!
2) What kind of approach do you take?
When little person was 4, that was when I got a little nervous about 'school at home', I became wary of 5 year olds reading and writing, so felt I needed to up my game. We started a structured method of working, everyday we had a set number of hours, set number of pages from certain workbooks. Even though little person wasn't happy, even though there were tears and tantrums, I was fixated on the fully structured method for a little child. I believe the arrival of number 2, a break and lots of hindsight enabled me to appreciate what home educating was about. We dropped the structure and decided to go with the flow, and honestly home educating has been a happy journey ever since. We have days where we've worked through 3 books and a worksheet, and days we haven't picked up a book or pencil. This is the method that works for us, we take long weeks off, some weeks we might complete a single worksheet and others we might whizz through workbooks. I am more than happy to have found what works, it means we have a child who loves home education as much as us! I like to call our approach somewhat semi structured!
3) What do you find most difficult and why?
For me personally, I think it's the urge to keep buying whatever I see other home educating families using. I have to remind myself, what works for one won't work for all! Books and educational games have taken over the office space, and it's still a little bit of a struggle for me! If there's a discount, I'm buying!!
The other thing I believe we find difficult is when we over plan. There are times little person has a list of experiments he would like to do, and as well as that there are games he would like to tackle, so usually by the end of the week we haven't conquered all, and that can feel a little disappointing. We've been working on expectations, and trying to lower these for myself and little person. There will always be weeks where we haven't completed the tasks we thought we would be able to; but we need to brush it off and move onto the next week! I believe we have a timeframe in our minds for each task, and we need to remove these barriers, and know that as a home educating family we aren't restricted by time or date!
4) How do you react to people asking about socialisation?
Initially, lots of people made comments about socialisation. Socialisation and confidence were linked, confidence and self esteem and then self esteem and work ability were linked. I struggled in the school environment during my younger years, had zero confidence and the so called socialisation that occurs in schools did not help at all. It takes a while for people to remember that children aren't given much time to socialise in schools, and teachers constantly remind children they aren't there to socialise.
I knew from the onset little person was going to come out of his shell once he was given the opportunity, snd home educating has given him the space and encouragement, enabling him to feel confident and ready! Now that little person is 8, and he doesn't hold back holding conversations with adults or children, those closer to us have noticed and comment on his confidence. 'Socialisation' in a school would have very possibly have had the opposite affect on little person.
For those considering home education, socialisation has never been a problem. There are so many local home ed activities we attend, we don't feel like we are missing out. What I absolutely love about home educating, if there is an area or activity we would like to see, I simply organise it myself, and that's the beauty of it all....parents working together creating a fab community with lots going on!
5) Have family supported your decision?
In all honesty, it took both sides of extended family a little while to understand what we were doing! It went against the grain, people don't keep children at home and so on and so forth. I've learnt that in order to truly show people the way home education works, is to just allow them to watch the children grow and flourish, and with that they will definitely appreciate it.
At the beginning there were comments about little person won't learn anything, will have zero confidence and basically won't know how to deal with the world. As he's getting older, and with each day learning and flourishing, we've had less negative comments. I wouldn't hold my breath though, I know as he reaches secondary school age, there will be more 'ifs and buts'.
6) How do you incorporate Physical Education into your Home ed days?
Physical education was the least of my worries when we started this journey. That was only because there is an established sports group, organised by another home educator. We, therefore had the opportunity of joining those sessions, and as the community grows so do the options. More recently we made the switch to gymnastics, again organised by another home ed parent. The 'exercise' options are there for us to take, and I am extremely happy we have these to attend. If it was a case of nothing else available, I believe we would have held our own 'P.E.' lessons!
7) Do you plan and how far in advance?
At the beginning I was a 'staunch' planner, planning at least 3 weeks in advance. It was a huge learning curve for us, and trying to be structured with advance planning was definitely the wrong way to do things for us. Answer to question (2) gives a little bit more information on our changing style, but for us structured was not the way, and we like to believe we are somewhat semi structured. I do have a planner, but nothing goes into the planner in advance, it is more for me to fill in at the end of the day if we've used books etc.
8) What's a typical Home ed day like for you?
I cannot outline what each day is like as they're so different. One day might entail workbooks, one day might be more screen based, so watching videos on 'Mystery Science', and another day might mean zero schooling in the sense of sit down. Children are learning all the time, so even a day filled with a supermarket trip, quick stop at a clothes store, lunch at a cafe and a walk home feels like a success. The important thing is to remain tuned into all the questions presented, children have some very intellectual questions, they absorb like sponges!
9) Do you spend a lot of money on resources?
This is one of my greatest downfalls. If I see something, be it a book, subscription box or an online resource, I find it difficult to not try it out!! At the beginning we overwhelmed ourselves with magazines ('Whizz, Pop, Bang,' 'Nat Geo kids', 'Eco kids' and so on) as well as subscription boxes and far too many books. I have learnt that children don't need an abundance of resources, all they need is someone to facilitate their learning. Part of the reason I started instagram (and then my blog) was to review the products I was buying, so that others had an idea of what they were like to make a decision.
10) How do you make time for yourself?
Alone time, or me time can be difficult to come by. I tend to sleep much later on, and don't worry if it's 1am, I like the quiet and the chance to do what I want. I'd love for my children to sleep much earlier so I could tuck in earlier, but that won't be happening anytime soon!
11) What advice would you give to someone just starting their home ed journey?
First and foremost don't rush into home ed. Take your time, allow yourself to spend time reading blogs, reading up on all the methods of schooling out there, be it Charlotte Mason or Montessori. Get to know your child/children first. Some children are visual learner, some are kinaesthetic learners, you have to know which one before trying to 'teach'. My advice would be, enjoy outdoors, lots of play, get to know how your child processes information, how they remember information, attend as many local home ed groups to build that support network. Once you're ready and your child is, start your home ed journey.
I would also like to point out, children learn at a very different pace, don't compare your child with anyone else, as well as the added pressure you'll push too hard and that causes far more damage than good. I have always regretted our start, it was too difficult for little person, far too much rigid structure and definitely not how he worked. The first year was not a great year, and it is saddening to think my only aim was to have school at home - home education is not simply replacing school at home!
My nominees for the 2019 Sunshine blogger award are
1) Brandy from thebarefoothomeschoolingmom
2) Nelly from nellyali
3) Marnesha from marneshaaugustin
4) Nic from He3smalls
5) Kayla from choosejoyhomeschool
6) Alicia from brickcityhomeschool
7) Kirsty from theschoolhousefamily
8) Sarah from letthembesmall
9) Roxy from littlemamahomemaker
10) Bronwyn from hustleandhomeschool
11) Umm from happymuslimhomeschool
My questions for the nominees are as follows:
!) How long have you been home educating/home schooling?
2) What is your favourite part of home educating?
3) How many children do you home educate? What are their ages?
4) How do you incorporate arts and crafts?
5) Do you spend time reading other home educators / home schoolers blogs?
6) Do you use outside help with home educating?
7) How do you keep on top of housework?
8) How do you feel about screen time and children?
9) What is your favourite subject and do any of your children enjoy it as much as you?
10) Which books have you and your children read recently?
11) If there was one piece of advise you could give to a new home educator what would it be?
A huge thank you to Nicola from The world is their Classroom for nominating Home educator online for the Sunshine blogger award 2019...it means the world to us!!
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