29 episodes

A celebration of homeschooling families living life according to their values in connection with the beautiful lands we are fortunate to call home.

Australian Homeschool Stories Australian Homeschool Stories

    • Kids & Family
    • 5.0 • 15 Ratings

A celebration of homeschooling families living life according to their values in connection with the beautiful lands we are fortunate to call home.

    Anna - Rockingham, WA - Whadjuk Country

    Anna - Rockingham, WA - Whadjuk Country

    “I hope at the end of all this I’ll have raised two kids who love learning.”

    If they are not home, chances are Anna and her kids (ages 9 & 4) can be found in their local library. So great is their love for this community haven of literature, living within walking distance of it strongly influenced where they chose to reside in Rockingham, Western Australia. Homeschoolers from day dot, this musical, book loving, nature appreciating family value time together and connection over curriculum. 

    SUMMARY:
    Anna was born in Kalgoorlie but has lived in Perth since she was 6 years old. She met her husband on a trip to South Africa and convinced him to move to WA where they are now raising their family together.Being the recipient of a high school music scholarship didn’t equate to Anna loving school. She would have loved to have been homeschooled herself.Seeing the best and worst of kids lives, working in school chaplaincy prior to having kids herself, was a contributing factor to choosing to homeschool.Homeschooling was always on her radar. It wasn’t a really ‘out there’ decision for them, which made the choice easy, and they also didn’t experience any negative reactions from friends, family or their larger community.Anna loves the efficiency of homeschooling - particularly the one-on-one learning aspect of homeschooling, which schools aren’t able to replicate.Theirs is a literature based homeschool - books are at the centre of everything they do. Literature is the spine.Letting the kids loose in the library can lead to tangents of learning they may follow for a week.Being a one income family, the library is an incredible resource that she utilises to the utmost. Nature Discovery is an Australian nature study curriculum she wrote because she couldn’t find a resource that addressed the things that her kids saw around them.Connection drives all that they undertake and she loves being able to learn through experiences together. All life is learning.Books are wonderful, but there is a big world to experience out there beyond the books too.Her favourite thing about this lifestyle is getting to hang out with her kids and learn alongside them. Learning does’t stop at the completion of grade 12. Homeschooling extends childhood and play, and you can keep playing as an adult too.Wanting her kids to have a tree climbing childhood, pottering about in the garden and being part of the natural world.
    CONNECT

    Instagram - @naturediscoveryau
    Facebook - Nature Discovery
    Website - Nature Discovery



    NOTE: This is an abridged version of the show notes.

    Follow the link below to find quotes, resources and inspiration Anna shares in this episode:

    FULL SHOW NOTES HERE


    Connect with us:
    Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 42 min
    Richa - Melbourne, VIC / Bunurong Country

    Richa - Melbourne, VIC / Bunurong Country

    “Don’t let fear guide you. You’ve chosen this path, lead it with love.”
    Richa and her husband, who were both born and educated in India, now live in Melbourne and home educate their two children, aged 7 and 2. We cover a variety of topics in this episode including Montessori, minimalism, community building, sibling dynamics and fostering a love of reading, nature and kindness.

    SUMMARY:
    When Richa and her husband were house hunting in Melbourne they were ironically drawn to Bayside for the schools, but it was the solace and peace of being next to water that solidified their choice to call this area home.Early on people would point out that her child had a lot of anxiety and that she was so attached, but isn’t that how humans are designed to be? We are supposed to be close to our caregivers. They migrated to Melbourne without any support system, all their family live in India. Finding other friends who homeschool has been an incredible help and given their family both mental and physical support.There is chaos in bringing a younger sibling into the mix of homeschooling but it is also enriching for the sibling connections and bonding - if her daughter were in school right now, her son would hardly see her.Open your house up to welcome friends in, share a meal together, do a craft together. It can be hard finding the people with whom you can connect with on a deeper level.Intentionally not over-scheduling their week. Letting them be, giving them free time to tinker around - she values that more.Homeschooling minimally means not having more things and more materials. Not overwhelming yourself with the multitude of curriculum choices out there. It’s very easy to bring overwhelm into your space. It’s about prioritising less. She is looking forward to seeing the beautiful people her children turn out to be and the joy they bring to othersRead more, talk to people who have been doing this for a long time. It’s easier and less daunting than it seems.

    INSPIRATION
    Simplicity Parenting - Kim John Payne (book)
    Unconditional Parenting - Alfie Kohn (book)
    The Secret of Childhood - Maria Montessori (book)
    Good Inside Podcast - Dr Becky Kennedy
    @bigmothering (instagram) 
    @mainly.montesorri.homeschool (instagram) 
    @wonderled.life (instagram)


    RESOURCES
    Blossom & Root - Nature based, secular homeschooling curriculum 


    CONNECT

    Instagram - @waliaricha



    NOTE: This is an abridged version of the show notes.

    Follow the link below to find quotes and read aloud recommendations Richa shares in this episode:

    FULL SHOW NOTES HERE


    Connect with us:
    Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 49 min
    Sara - Brisbane, QLD / Turrbal Country

    Sara - Brisbane, QLD / Turrbal Country

    I can think of no better spokesperson for unschooling in Australia than Sara, whose four daughters (aged 15, 13, 10 and 8) have never been to school. This inspiring family of six who call sunny Queensland home, have collaboratively and creatively designed their lives. As well as unschooling, she is a passionate advocate for respectful parenting and children's rights. 

    SUMMARY
    Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Sara went from being private schooled herself to zero percent school for her own children. Once she became a mother, admiring her curious, happy, carefree children, all she could think was that school would wreck this.If you had asked her as a child whether she enjoyed school herself she would have said she loved it, but looking back she can only remember the bad things, such as being overwhelmed and stressed by assessments and carrying everyday anxiety that she might get in trouble.The stereotype of teens being lazy is not her experience at all, they are on the go all the time, the have a million ideas and projects. They are not what people say. As a result of starting young and never sending her kids to school, they have grown up being in control of their own interests and learning for so long they are experts now.Sara defines adultism/childism and how this is perpetrated throughout modern day society. There is a way to do things better, where we can all be equal.We all have different responsibilities based on our age and our relationship to children but that doesn’t mean we have different rights.Unschooling is an extension of respectful parentingDeschooling never ends. There is always more that comes ups and every age your kid gets to there is something else. She and her husband got to a point where they had read too much and could not knowingly send their girls to school knowing what they knew. Once you’ve gone down the rabbit hole, there is no turning back.More people need to talk about homeschooling and unschooling, so more people know this in an option, because so many still don’t.The importance of having a community and feeling like you belongHow her community has evolved over the years from early years to teens - book club, project fairs, talent show, markets, monthly excursions and lots of hanging out and playing.Why we need to stop using the word sacrifice when it comes to choosing home education.There is no end date to learning. Her own teenage daughter’s perspective is that nothing’s really going to change when she turns 18, they’ll just keep living like they are now and life will carry on as it always has.You have a lot of time. You don’t need to know what you’re doing, you can just start and work it out as you go along. All of us are making it up as we go along.No one is an expert. You can literally do whatever works for your family.NOTE: This is an abridged version of the show notes.

    Follow the link below to find quotes and references to all resources, books and inspiration Sara shares in this episode:

    FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

    Connect with us:
    Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 1 hr 11 min
    Danika - Bunbury, WA / Wardandi Country

    Danika - Bunbury, WA / Wardandi Country

    Danika's homeschooling story takes place on opposing sides of the country, beginning on the Gold Coast in Queensland, where she and her children (aged 6 and 3) were born and raised, up to where her family are currently based in Bunbury, Western Australia. Danika is speaking up and sharing her short but intense journey in the hopes that someone listening will hear her story and feel seen. 

    SUMMARY
    As a loud, outgoing, social girl, Danika loved school, particularly the social side, and like most parents thought her own kids would follow in her footstepsWhen her eldest began school, she was looking forward to getting more time to herself, to be able to focus on her career, but a twisting, turning waterslide of a year lay ahead, one she could not have foreseenHer son's anxiety prompted her to undertake placement as a teachers aide and it was this experience which opened her eyes to what actually goes on in the classroomIt quickly became clear to her that teachers are under resourced and time poor. They are all not being seen and heard and it’s the same thing, day in, day out.It took a trauma for Danika to come to homeschooling and that trauma had a massive effect on everyone in their family, but she is proof you can come out the other side “I had to strip back what was expected of me from society, what was expected of me from our families, drown out all the noise and just listen to my child.”Deschooling meant recalibrating what she thought her life was going to look like and she believes they are all better versions of themselves having the time and space to beWhat lifeschooling looks like for their family of four nowNeurodiverse kids in school are often brushed to the side and sent elsewhere, but they are going through traumatic feelings, and we as adults rush them along, not giving them the space they need. They get told to be quiet and sit still, but they are  trying to regulate their bodies so they can listen.If you are on the fence about homeschooling, ask yourself “What’s important to you?” You’ve really got to sit with that. Are you doing something just because you are expected to?Losing one whole income doesn't mean you can't still travel and adventure, it’s just not on such a grand scale. Microadventures are just as important and homeschoolers have the freedom to go wherever they want, whenever they want.“School works for some, it doesn’t work for others, the beauty of life is that we have a choice. I feel like we made the best choice for our family.”
    INSPIRATION

    Stark Raving Dad podcast
    Her Homeschooling Era podcast
    A Different Way to Learn - Dr Naomi Fisher
    Changing Our Minds - Dr Naomi Fisher
    Mothering Our Boys - Maggie Dent
    Raising Boys - Steve Biddulph
    AdaptEd - Neurodiversity Handbook

    CONNECT
    @danikajain

    Connect with us:
    Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories
    australianhomeschoolstories@gmail.com

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 1 hr 13 min
    Micarlé - Anglesea, VIC / Wadawurrung Country

    Micarlé - Anglesea, VIC / Wadawurrung Country

    "These are amazing schools and amazing teachers, but the overarching curriculum that is forced upon them gives them no space to breathe or be creative"

    Kickstarting season three of the Australian Homeschool Stories podcast, is the owner of Fearless Homeschool, Micarlé. She homeschools her two children (aged 10 & 7) on the Surfcoast of Victoria where they are surrounded by national park, the beach and immersed in nature.

    SUMMARY
    How Micarlé and her husband came to be living in Anglesea, her long standing connection to this small seaside town and wanting for her kids what both she and her husband had growing up in small country town communitiesMicarlé's education saw her throwing herself into everything and anything and milking school for the all extracurriculars on offer, in contrast to her husband's experience feeling disengaged from learning and not being reached by his teachersAs a service orientated person she was drawn to the teaching profession and taught in a range of secondary schools before taking the leap into home educating her own childrenWe discuss applied learning pathways for teens in high school, a space she worked in for many years under the VCAL/VCEVM program and how different schools have differing stigmas around these streamsAfter 15 years teaching in the secondary space, she began questioning whether the mainstream school system would even work for her own childrenMicarlé recalls how the pandemic gave their family a glimpse into what homeschooling could be like and how they transitioned over the lock down years from remote learning and remote teaching to fully fledged homeschoolersBusting the myth “You're a teacher, it makes sense for you to homeschool" - deschooling for any parent is hard but deschooling for teachers is even harderHomeschooling has given their daughter time and space to rebuild her confidence and self-worth and for that reason alone it has been the best decision they ever madeHow Micarlé came to be the owner of Fearless Homeschool and what to expect from the 8th Australian Homeschooling Summit, that runs from the 4th-15th March 2024The summit includes 30+ online workshops such as how to afford homeschooling, curriculum comparisons, sustainable living, feeling empowered in unschooling, as well as teen, graduate, neurodiversity and tech panels. You can find out all the details and get your ticket here

    INSPIRATION


    Carol Dweck 
    Dr Dan Siegel
    Brené Brown


    CONNECT

    @fearlesshomeschool
    Australian Homeschooling Summit website
    Fearless Homeschool website

    ~

    Connect with us:
    Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories
    australianhomeschoolstories@gmail.com

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 1 hr 8 min
    Happy Not Back to School for 2024!

    Happy Not Back to School for 2024!

    This short and sweet episode is a preview to Season Three of the Australian Homeschool Stories podcast. Dropping in to say a quick hello is me, your host Stephanie, with happy not back to school wishes as well providing an update on the most recent statistics available about homeschooling in Australia today.

    To read more about the rising percentage trends and state by state breakdowns, take a look at this article here.

    All this means to highlight is that homeschooling numbers continues to rise, year on year, and that there has never been a better time to home educate than now.

    Homeschoolers now make up over 1% of the student population in Australia and we are a pretty rad bunch of people to hang with, if I do say so myself.

    Wherever you are in your own family's journey of homeschooling / unschooling / natural learning / wild schooling / road schooling / life schooling, it it my hope you will find inspiration, encouragement and camaraderie within the stories you will hear this season on the show.

    New episodes will be with you at the tail end of February.

    Happy Homeschooling in 2024!

    ~

    Connect with us:
    Instagram -  @australianhomeschoolstories
    Substack - https://aushomeschoolstories.substack.com/
    Email - australianhomeschoolstories@gmail.com

    This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

    Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
    Listen on Spotify here

    • 6 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
15 Ratings

15 Ratings

LisaMarie.F ,

Love it

Just started listening and I love it! Thank you for sharing these stories ❤️

AdeleTowns ,

Awesome show!

So lovely to hear the diverse stories of homeschooling here in Australia! I think this show does a fantastic job of showing other non-homeschooling families what it can look like to choose this path in life for our children and families and the benefits that can come from it.

Westsaway ,

Fabulous podcast

I’m really enjoying this podcast as a home educating grandparent. It’s really easy to listen to, friendly, calm and leads me to learn and / or investigate different ideas. Highly highly recommend !!!

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