Month: February 2018

Why It’s Now Hip To Be A Homeschooler.

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Outside having a rest and snack after exploring the SA Museum. 

I’m here to spread the word about homeschool.

I’m not sure how many people in Australia realise what homeschooling is exactly and why you would want to homeschool.

I’m here to share with you that not only is homeschooling a legal and ingenious way to educate children it also has many benefits and can be a real joy.

I have for you some of the benefits (there are MANY!) of homeschooling your children. As well as sharing my own experience of being homeschooled for a year as a child.

Children can learn about what interests them.

As a homeschooling parent you can arrange your child’s curriculum to suit their interests. And it need not be complicated. With the foundations of English (reading and writing) and maths in place, the rest of their time can be spent learning about what they enjoy. Perhaps you have a child who loves to play piano – when they learn at home they can get a little English and Maths out of the way (EVERYONE needs to know how to read, write and do basic sums) and then spend several hours practicing piano. Or reading, sewing, painting, dancing, or writing or designing computer graphics. Other subjects which are compulsory in regular school settings such as social studies, science, history, etc  are learned along the way through real life learning. If this is not for you then go with a boxed curriculum such as ACE which has all lessons and subjects all planned out for you.

However, remember, there are other means to an education besides being force-fed facts and information that is of little interest of the child and is likely to go in one ear and out the other. 

Children are more likely to retain information when they are learning about something that excites them, in a way that they find interesting, and gives them a flutter of thrill when they think of it.

There is a new wave of homeschooling parents who see flaws in the education system and can clearly see that their unique child is not suited to fitting into the ‘system.’ They have taken it upon themselves to see their unique child gets the best education they can and doesn’t get lost in a sea of faces.

Imagine if you yourself were given several hours a day to dive deep into a subject or skill that interests you. Imagine you were given all the supplies you need and tutoring you require how good you would be become at the skill (painting nature for example) or how knowledgeable you would become at the certain topic. (World war 1 for example). The learning part of your brain would become very engaged and the facts and information would infiltrate deep into your mind.

I may sound dreamy and idealistic, however, this is the exciting reality that home education can be with a little planning and enthusiasm.

I was home-schooled for a year. It was grade five. My parents were fed up with school. They were fed up with, what they described as the, ‘rubbish’ that goes on at school. Bullying, worldly agenda government-based curriculum, social status among the students and peer pressure, teachers who swore and yelled. They were fed up with getting me there. We lived 30km from town on a sheep and cattle farm and they were tired of the drive to the bus stop and all the traveling back and forth.

So began my year of adventure, my most cherished school year I ever had. My mum taught me using the ACE curriculum. I could wake and eat breakfast when I pleased but had to be dressed by 9am when we would sit down at a table in the lounge room. I would complete around three pages each of my five subjects. English, Word Building (spelling), Maths, Science and Social Studies. This sit down book work took me anywhere from between 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the tasks and amount of writing involved.

I whizzed through this work. The pages of my workbooks were colourful and interesting and filled with Bible verses to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed this curriculum – all except maths! The maths books were pages and pages of sums – something I wasn’t used to in regular school.

The year I was home schooled I was different. It is hard to describe but it was like my brain had been switched on for the first time to all the possibilities of life and learning. It was very freeing.

Yes, home-schooling is freedom!

Suddenly I was free to be me. I became so excited for life and was fascinated by everything around me. And because my book work only took me two hours I had the rest of my day free to live, learn and explore. I showed interest in Art so mum let me switch on the Telly when Art Attack came on in the morning and we would watch it together. Mum would often go and purchase the supplies I needed and we would make our own versions of all the interesting art works we watched on the show.

That year I spent so much time outdoors! It was very fortunate that we lived on a farm in a beautiful setting. On my parents 3000 acre farm we had native scrub lands, hill country as well as swamp lands. There was so much land to explore. I love the outdoors and I spent many many hours exploring nature while I walked the farm. I learned the names and can still identify today, many native birds, wildlife and native trees.

I lived in a positive environment with no peer pressure.

One huge thing I noticed in my year of being homeschooled is that I stopped caring about what other people thought of me. Without the pressure of my peers pushing fashions and worldly ideas into my face I became me again. The me I was before I began public school at age 5. I had only positive people around me. My mum, dad and big sister (My older sister left school early because she was interested in being a farmer. My other 3 older sisters had left home and were at uni or working at this point – I am the youngest child in my family)  treated me with respect, no one teased me or told me something I was doing was not cool. I had a strong support system and felt very safe. I really thrived.

I also noticed that my learning level was more advanced for my grade level when I returned to school the next year. I knew what matter was and all the names of every type of cloud. The kids in my class hadn’t heard of such things.

This is why I believe homeschoolers can have such freedom to be themselves and learn at their own pace. It is freedom and it feels wonderful!

I wish I was able to continue to be home schooled for all the rest of my schooling, however my mum is a quiet lady and was used to having her thoughts to herself during the day and home schooling became a bit too much so I returned to school the next year for grade 6.

My mind goes wild with imagination as I think of what subjects I could have dove deep into if I had continued to be home-schooled. I began guitar lessons when I was twelve. And I remember being much too tired and having way to much homework required of me, so I wasn’t able to practice as much as I wanted to. In the summer school holidays I practiced everyday and in those six weeks, myself, and my teacher saw a huge improvement in my skills and ability on the guitar. I would like to think that if I still had been homeschooling when I took up guitar than I would be twice as good as I am on the guitar right now. And what exciting paths that could have led me down.

I understand that everyone’s experience with homeschooling will be different than mine, just as every family and individual is different. The only negative thing I have to say about my ‘year of adventure’ is that I missed my friends a bit during the week. However, I believe this is unique to me, as I lived out on a farm and didn’t attend other extra curricular activities at the time. My parents did make an effort to drive me into town and have me visit or sleep over at my best friends house most weekends which I really looked forward to.

Homeschooling in a town or city would be much different than my experience out on the farm as there are all sorts of things homeschoolers can attend. Nearby where we are living now is a weekly home schooling meet up group that do all kinds of interesting activities together. There is also a scouts club, a children’s choir, dance studios, music teachers, sports clubs of every kind you can imagine, churches, art classes, cooking classes and much more!

Homeschoolers can have the opportunity to meet with many different people and make friends their own age as well as all other ages. In real life as an adult we must socialise with people young and old, not just our peer group of same age people, this is something homeschoolers learn because they are not forced to spend the majority of their time in a room filled with children the same age as them. You gain greater wisdom from people who are your elders than from peers the same age, at the same level as you. This dampens the ‘socialisation argument’ most people begin if you tell them you are home schooling/being homeschooled/thinking about homeschooling.

And remember…

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 13:20

The Bible states it very clearly that we become like the people we hang around. This is one of the huge deciding factors for my husband and I when we decided to home school our own children. We want them to be raised around people who show respect for others like their parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles and other members of our church and community.

Unfortunately due to my own health problems we sent our two oldest sons to our local public school last year. This may be temporary, we would like to homeschool again but are waiting for when the time is right. Homeschooling has always been myself and my husbands ‘ideal’, however it hasn’t always been easy nor a smooth road.

That doesn’t change how strongly we both feel about what we have learnt about homeschooling and I would encourage you to consider it for your own family.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have if you are new to the idea of homeschooling – especially if you live in Australia, I know a lot about the legal process to begin. It really is not all that complicated. You can begin in your own time and don’t need to be registered as a homeschooler until your child turns six.

Thanks for reading!

Leave a comment if you have something to add to this or have a question.

Don’t forget to look up ‘2 punks had a bunch of kids’ on YouTube. click here to go to our YouTube channel

You might also like to read:

When Home Schooling Doesn’t Work Out – Dealing With The Disappointment Part 1.

 

Blessings, Peta xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Day In The Life Of A Mum With Five Children Ages 8, 6, 5, 3 and 21 months. – Video!

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Hi lovely readers!

I hope you are enjoying our new YouTube channel! After blogging for five years now, it’s been fun creating something a little different. (Originally I blogged at The Heart Of Our Home. ) 

You can click back on my old website if you would like to read some old posts, though, unfortunately I removed many articles when I was creating this website because I was going to put them all on here but it never happened.

Anyhow,

Click on the video below to watch a day in the life of us!

Blessings, Peta xo

 

How I Handle One On One Time With Each Of My Five Children.

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My children are not a pack. I need reminding of this daily. When you have lots of little children all in a row it can be easy to think of them as a group. But really they are individual people all with different, unique, and complex personalities. They have different individual needs as well as the same basic needs of food, love, care, shelter and clean clothing.

Spending one one one time with my children is a constant struggle. I need to work hard at this and be intentional about how I handle it. They all talk to me at the same time and I turn this way and that trying to work out who to give attention to first. The children love their siblings though. Never have I thought things would be better if we didn’t have any one of our children. They each play a special part in our family and in our lives. They all love their brothers and sisters and it brings me joy to see them playing with and enjoying each others company. None of my children hold any resentment to each other. They are happy playmates. Sure they fight too – but that is just life!

It is my hearts desire that my children have a happy childhood where they look back and cherished the way their mum showed them love and attention. I have a few traditions and ways that I have set in place in our home to ensure they get the attention they need.

Firstly prayer.

I spend time everyday in prayer pouring out my heart to the Lord for him to reveal to me any of my children’s needs that have been overlooked.

Reading times.

This has been something that I haven’t always been consistent at but when all the children were very little I would do a reading time where I told everyone to choose a storybook. I would read a book to them one at a time. All the children would gather around close to listen, however, I made a point to let only the person who’s turn it was to sit in my lap. I included the baby in this too and it was lots of fun!

Bed time tuck ins.

This has been something that I have started this year. I am so tired and drained in the evening (sometimes I am just plain in a stinky mood and really need some space!) and the last thing I feel like doing is just one more thing with the children. Luke usually gets all the children’s teeth brushed and PJs on and does a Bible story app on his phone with them at bedtime. I used to just say good night to them from my comfy chair in the lounge but we noticed that the children often didn’t settle well and got out of their beds way too many times. I knew I had to change this habit and go into their rooms for one last time with mum. They just needed their mum and I had to push myself.

I now go in and spend a few minutes with each child snuggling with them on their beds. I try to open up conversation to see if there is anything on their hearts. I ask questions like “what was the best thing that happened today?” and “is there anything bad that happened today?” I make sure I end our little time with a prayer of blessing.

I make sure I speak positive words over them at this time of day and thank the Lord out loud for how smart, kind, and wonderful each child is. It gives us a chance to right any wrongs that have happened during the day. Sometimes I have even apologised for snapping at them or being in a grumpy mood. We end our time with lots of snuggles and kisses. All my children have responded so well to this special time. I’m sorry I didn’t begin it sooner! It took the Lord to give me a bit of a kick up the be-hind to get me out of my comfy chair! 🙂

The days with my children can seem so busy as we rush from one activity to the next and I don’t want anyone to get lost in the rush. Spending a few minutes with each child at the end of the day is a great way to catch up on any feelings that have been pushed aside and need expressing. My eldest child is eight so we only talk for a few minutes but I’ve been warned by mothers of teenagers that these nightly conversations may go until past midnight! I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it!

Mum and son/daughter dates.

Over the years I made made a point of allowing one of the children to come with me on my big fortnightly grocery shopping trip. The special ‘star of the day’ got to help me choose lots of grocery items that they like the best and during our time away we would have a special lunch out together and I would spoil them with treats like a doughnut and juice maybe even a book or a small toy. Even a big Wendy’s ice cream all to themselves! I would treat them to all the things that I would usually say no to when we have all the children together because it’s just too expensive to buy five of everything all the time. I let them do the coin spinner and have a go on the ride outside the shop. We have a blast together!

In the last year or so I have been more intentional about these dates and they have become a tradition. Once a week, when Luke is home to care of the other children I take one of the children out at a time. Often instead of taking them grocery shopping we go out for about an hour to where ever they choose. My six year old son loves this one cafe we have in our town that has a little play area. I buy him anything off the menu he likes and he smiles from ear to ear eating his big ice cream and sitting just with mum. It makes me smile right now as I write this just thinking about the delight in his face!

I’m sure the ways I spend one on one time with my children will change and adapt over the years as my children grow older but these traditions are working well right now.

How do other parents spend one on one time with their children?

I’m open to more ideas!

Blessings, Peta 

Why I found having 2 kids harder than 5.

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It was a cold winter morning. Luke had been up early preparing for work in the crisp dawn air while I slept on, exhausted from yet another big night of feeding and changing my newborn. Luke was greeted by our smiley 19 month old son with his head full of bouncy blonde curls. He graciously let me sleep while he made our toddler some warm toast with my mum’s homemade jam, changed his nappy and wiped his face and fingers. I was awoken by my husband with a kiss good-bye and groggily focused on little sons sweet eyes sitting on the end of my bed.

Just like that my husband Luke was gone. And I was alone. Well technically I wasn’t alone, but it sure did feel very lonely. My eyes glanced from my curly haired toddler to the bassinet beside my bed with my precious little new born son. His head covered with think black hair that spiked up in a tuft. How on earth was I supposed to care for two babies? There was only one of me, I was outnumbered and they both wanted me. It was overwhelming and I worried a lot about whether I could meet the needs of both a baby and a toddler. With a squirm my 3 week old opened his lungs and gave a familiar shriek that meant he was hungry. Right now! While I sat up in bed and breast fed him my toddler was trying to get off the bed and was stuck half way. With my baby still well attached I shimmied around the bed and used one arm to hold him up and the other arm to help my toddler to the ground.

I was starving from all the night time feedings and decided to make myself porridge. I carefully put my little son in his bouncy chair on the kitchen floor. As soon as I started stirring the pot he began to cry. I began to cry also. I was tired, overwhelmed, lonely, probably hormonal and had no idea what it was going to take to care for two babies. I just wanted a bowl of porridge.

I remember it well. A little while later a midwife came to our door for my littlest sons check up. She opened the door and asked me if I was okay because it looked as though I’d been crying. I replied that I was fine, but then burst out crying on the midwifes shoulder (almost a complete stranger to me) (also not like me – I never let people see me cry and don’t cry a lot) and said..

“I didn’t know having two kids would be this hard.” 

Things did get a little better as my baby grew, though I did go through several months of postpartum depression after my second baby was born. I wasn’t on a ‘baby high’ like I was after my first baby. I unfortunately didn’t fully feel close to or really bond with him until he was six months old.

Looking back at this time brings back memories of how hard it was for me back then. Twenty two years old with two children under the age of two. Most of my friends didn’t have any children yet. I struggled with my self image, loneliness and I was stressed a lot from two little ones needing me constantly.

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So how are things ‘easier’ now I have five children? My little newborn second born son is now almost seven years old and is a real delight.

Firstly I would say that I’ve learned a lot about children since then. Each child’s personality and needs are different though, and present to me new sets of challenges. However, overall I don’t worry as much any more about many things because usually the problem is just a passing phase.

When you have all little children and no older ones it can be physically harder because of all the lifting and changing you need to do. I would say that life became smoother and less intense once our children could physically dress themselves and go to the toilet. Even get themselves some water and a snack. Little things really do make a difference to the flow of the household. Right now I have five children yet four of them can dress themselves and use the toilet on their own. I only have one still fully dependent on us for nappy changes and getting dressed.

By the time I had my fifth baby I was well and truly used to splitting my attention between lots of people who all need me at once. When I only had two children I was so worried about whether I could give two children the attention they need. But I’ve learned now that our older children adjust well to a new sibling  and over time their new sibling becomes a cherished play mate and companion. Giving multiple children the attention they require is still challenging but I have gotten used to it and learned some strategies along the way for making sure every individual’s needs are met. Getting ready for school this morning I had one child wanting me to tie their shoe and two wanting me to do their hair. Instead of freaking out I just said okay hop in the ‘need mummy line’ and they lined up waiting to get their turn with me. They learn about patience and that other people have needs as well as themselves.

Perhaps that would be a good topic for another post – how I spend individual time with all five of my children?

I pray more now, than I used to. I used to send up quick prayers for help. But in the last year or so I have been relying on the Lord more for his wisdom. My prayers have become more focused, intentional, detailed and consistent. If I don’t know how to deal with a particular parenting challenge I spend some time with the Lord and his Holy Spirit gives me an answer. The answer comes as a thought, through reading his word or at times through advise from others or reading a book or article.

Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you have something to add to this from your own experience.

Please like my Facebook page on the top right corner of my blog if you would like to hear recent updates from myself and my family.

I also have an Instagram where I mostly post pictures of my healthy food creations.

I am new to Youtube and have a few vlogs up there for you to watch also. Find it here.

Blessings, Peta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video: Catching the tram into the city.

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Hi all my lovely readers. Wow it’s been a busy couple of months for me. End of school year craziness, Christmas, and 6 weeks of summer school holidays. I don’t actually like business. I know many who thrive off it. My personality type screams for peace, quiet and slow. Otherwise my head gets cluttered and I have a tendency to get overwhelmed, brain fog and shut down a little. However I am slowly learning how to cope when life gets busy – I just keep rolling and don’t give into the stress and hope that a quieter time is around the corner when I can think…and write. Daily rituals that I have embedded into my life in recent years have helped me to cope better with stress too such as cups of tea, walking in nature, talking regularly and deeply with my husband, lists, daily prayer and journaling.

We got back from a lovely holiday 6 days ago. We were very blessed to have the opportunity to stay in my uncle and auntie’s holiday house which happens to be right at the most popular sea side location in the city! Luke and I vlogged one day of our holiday where we caught the tram which goes from the coast all the way into the city. We had a great family day out while we walked to the museum, mall and a guitar shop. Luke edits and does all the graphic design for our Youtube channel, he is very talented in this area!

I hope you enjoy! Blessings, Peta xo