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Showing posts from January, 2023

What are we? Freelearners!

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There's a very - very - wide spectrum of home education in this country because we have so much freedom here. Because our children are entitled to a full-time education that suits their age, ability and aptitude, as home educators we can tailor this precisely to our own individual children. I have only two, so I can meet their needs and interests very specifically, which of course in a classroom with 25+ children would be impossible. The picture many people have of home education is home schooling : a school-at-home approach. And indeed there are some people who do that. You can use a full, prescribed curriculum, buy all the books and follow a prescribed timetable - there's even foreign curricula available (many people use American ones because homeschooling is very prevalent there, so lots of choices)... but, that's not us. This prescriptive approach is in fact one of the things I'm consciously avoiding: the idea of drilling information into kids whether or not they&

Into 2023

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We started a new year yesterday. No, we didn't stay up till midnight - there were plenty of fireworks, but the kids slept right through them. Cody, however, needed the toilet right as the worst of it went off and ended up hiding under the trampoline in the garden! 2022 was a good year for us. It feels like the kids are firmly in middle childhood now, we can do fun things and discover the world together. Golden years! So last year we made the most of exactly that: travel, both abroad and around home, along with doing life together. It's a joy to watch them and be part of it, and I wouldn't miss it for the world - home education truly is the best choice we've made. Learning is everywhere - measuring the dog! At the home ed co-op which we all love Travel In 2023, some travels are already planned: a beach holiday in Spain together with the grandparents in February (some much needed winter sun!), Spring Harvest in April (where I'll be working, but the kids will have so m