Save time and simplify your homeschooling life...
Learn from experienced homeschoolers how to write your own curriculum. It really is that easy!

"I have most of your books Beverley... Thankyou for your unending support for homeschoolers ... by sharing your experiences,
we are into our third year of homeschooling and enjoying it thoroughly." Marina

"Thank you for your generosity in helping me to make a start in my homeschool adventure. The information you supply is real and generous -
fantastic reading. I am so inspired... Your honesty is so rare. Most books do not really explain "how" as well as you do." Tracy

© Beverley Paine 2006

So many of us fall into the trap of taking on too much as homeschooling parents and become overwhelmed. Our confidence in home education drops significantly and we begin to wonder if our children are disadvantaged. Well-meaning friends and relatives agree: "it's all too much for you" and "your children would be happier at school..."

it's time to take a good hard look at how many jobs you have and if you're being reasonable about what you can actually do each day!

I am a mother: that's my first job. It doesn't define me as a person, it's just my most important occupation at the moment. As a young mother I believed that there was such a thing as 'good parenting'. As an experienced mother I know that those 'L' plates never come off my forehead! I am still a learner mum: with children aged 25, 23 and 19 I am acutely aware of this truth. So get used the idea early - there is no such thing as 'good parenting': there is only 'parenting'. We do our best but like all other occupations it's largely on-the-job training and the training manuals don't cover all situations. Flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing conditions, together with a healthy dose of compromise, will see you through!

Second job: home maker. Why do I place this before home educator?

being a wife isn't a 'job', but I believe it is vital to family life for the parents to pay constant attention to the state of their relationship. The children won't always be underfoot. The guy I married is my best friend. He's the one I'm going to hang out with for the rest of my life. Few mums spend as much time with their children as home educating mothers: at times it can seem like our whole lives revolve around our children. We seem obsessed with parenting and education! It can definitely look that way to our partners, so it's important to remember that home education is but one stage in our lives. Our job is to prepare our children for that time when we finally let them go and they fly confidently from the family nest. We do this best by showing by example. That's how our children learn to survive: how to feed and clothe themselves; how to keep themselves clean and free from harm; how to keep the peace and get along with others while asserting our independence and individual rights. We teach our children how to live responsibly by being responsible homemakers.

Home is where life is happens. It's where life is nurtured and supported. Home is at the centre of human life. Let's celebrate the work we all do in maintaining healthy homelife, no matter what role, big or small, we each play.

What we do each day at home may not earn us a diploma or degree. We may not get a certificate at the end of each term. What we learn isn't tested by others, but by time. We judge our own performance and improve as need determines. It's not about education, it's about living and living well.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and are thinking like your friends that homeschooling is too hard, then perhaps it's time you stopped trying to be a teacher. You don't live in a school; your living room isn't a classroom and these aren't students before you. They are your children, this is a home, and you are a parent. Be a parent and a home maker first... You'll be amazed at how much of the school curriculum your children will learn without those carefully contrived lessons once you relax into a more natural learning lifestyle.

Want to Read More? Browse Our Library of Articles

Getting Started Manual
Unschooling Books
Educational Games
Natural Learning
Practical HS Booklet Series
Curriculum
Reports/Portfolios
Homeschool Diaries
Conference DVD

More questions?
JOIN the FORUM

Time to spare?
Browse our extensive
ARTICLE LIBRARY

Looking for Resources?
Australian
Home Education Resources Directory

Feedback is always welcome
on our websites!

Your help is needed to keep Homeschool Australia online!
Join the HEA in 2008
and receive
2 FREE Booklets
by Beverley Paine!

A percentage of sales
goes to Trees For Life
to replenish the resources the books take from the Earth during manufacturing.

Email


Thank you for visiting!

Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network. Beverley continues to write for homeschooling newsletters and magazines as well as hosting several websites dedicated to promoting and supporting home education in Australia. Her aim is to demystify the education process and make it accessible to all parents. Enjoy Beverley's wealth of practical knowledge, homeschooling and unschooling tips and ideas through articles and books and online at www.homeschoolaustralia.com. Since the late 1990s Robin and Beverley have been building their home education publishing business - Always Learning Books - from home with the help of their son Thomas.

Please note that the opinions and articles included in the suite of Homeschool Australia websites are not necessarily those of Beverley and Robin Paine, nor do we endorse or necessarily recommend products (other than our own) listed in contributed articles, pages, or advertisements.

Homeschool Australia : SAHEN : Australian HS Curriculum and Directory : About the Paine Family

Text & Images on this site Copyright © 1999-2008 Beverley Paine. All rights reserved.
Help | Disclaimer | Copyright | Privacy