Interview With An Australian Home Educator

My husband Greg and I have been home educating for the last eleven years. We have eight children aged sixteen years to fifteen months. At the moment five of them are doing formal lessons, and I’m also teaching my five year old basic reading skills etc.

As a young mum, what made you choose home education for your first son?

Neither Greg or I had very good school experiences. Greg had an especially bad time with one of his teachers in particular. The man enjoyed cuddling the little girls in his class, and being very cruel to the little boys. So we decided that we would rather no send our children to school. Also, at the time that our first son started school we were living in the outback, so sending him to school wasn’t an option anyway.

Describe a typical day…

A typical day for me is very hectic, since I have so many children to teach and a home to run as well. I hop up at 6am, so I can do a few things before lessons start, such as washing. We do lessons from 9am to 3pm, with an hour break for lunch. After lessons we go for a walk, and play a bit of sport in the park. For the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening, I’m busy cooking, cleaning, marking the day’s lessons, and preparing for the next day. In the evening, we usually do some sort of craft as well.

Does your husband help with the children’s schooling?

I do all the supervising of our children’s written lessons, however Greg teaches them quite a lot as well. He teaches them music, mechanics, crafts (such as woodwork and leatherwork), bush skills, Australian history (which is important, since our lessons are American), and other general knowledge.

Can you combine lessons for children of different ages or does each child have a strict curriculum?

Our children learn quite a few things together, however they also have their own individual lessons.

Have any of your children ever expressed a strong desire to attend regular school?

My children tell me that they’re happy not to have to go to a regular school, and that they’re sure they wouldn’t have as nice a teacher as me if they did. Their desire not to go to regular school is reinforced by their friends (who are schooled) telling them how lucky they are.

Do you live far from regular schools?

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