Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #503 Home Schooling 101

Transcript

#503 Home Schooling 101 · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

0:03
Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families Podcast. It's the podcast for the
0:07
Speaker 1: time poor parent who just wants answers.
0:10
Speaker 2: Now, you are the most shapable person to see and
0:14
Speaker 2: understand your children and what they need in terms of
0:17
Speaker 2: their education. Parents would be surprised once you get a
0:20
Speaker 2: good rhythm how well it comes together with your kids.
0:23
Speaker 1: And now here's the stars of our show, my mom
0:26
Speaker 1: and dad.
0:27
Speaker 3: Hello, this is doctor Justin Coulson, the podcast host of
0:30
Speaker 3: the Doctor Justin Colson's Happy Families podcast, the number one
0:33
Speaker 3: podcast for parents and family in Australia. Recording the Australian
0:37
Speaker 3: podcast Branker.
0:39
Speaker 4: I like a lot of podcasts.
0:40
Speaker 3: I like it when the news comes out like that.
0:42
Speaker 3: And can I just make a comment.
0:44
Speaker 5: I don't know if you can hear it in the background.
0:46
Speaker 3: But with our new living arrangement, we're in an airbnb
0:50
Speaker 3: rather than our usual office studio.
0:53
Speaker 5: And we're moving into a tiny little house. We're getting
0:55
Speaker 5: used to it.
0:55
Speaker 3: So we used to live on four thy five hundred
0:57
Speaker 3: square meters of land and our neighbors were a long
0:59
Speaker 3: while away from us, and we had all this space.
1:01
Speaker 3: And now we've moved into suburbia on the coast and
1:04
Speaker 3: we have to put up with dogs barking and cars
1:06
Speaker 3: going past, and life has changed. It's just not the
1:09
Speaker 3: same anymore, Kylie. Another dog's gone quiet, But we've got
1:12
Speaker 3: the beach. Yeah, that's true and it's worth it. So
1:16
Speaker 3: if you hear any funny noises in the background of
1:18
Speaker 3: our number one podcast in Australia for parenting and family,
1:21
Speaker 3: can I say that one more time? That would be
1:23
Speaker 3: Why wouldn't it be terrible if we stopped being the
1:25
Speaker 3: number one podcast because all of a sudden people could
1:27
Speaker 3: hear the neighbors, or the dogs or the cars.
1:31
Speaker 4: Real life, honey, real life.
1:32
Speaker 3: We have an important conversation to have today and we're
1:35
Speaker 3: going to break it into two parts, as we always do.
1:37
Speaker 3: First part of the conversation is you and I having
1:39
Speaker 3: a discussion about a listener question. But then we're actually
1:42
Speaker 3: going to bring in somebody with lived experience. I was
1:45
Speaker 3: going to say an expertes lived experience qualify you as
1:48
Speaker 3: an expert. I'm not sure, but we're going to bring
1:50
Speaker 3: somebody in who knows more than we do about it.
1:53
Speaker 5: So here's the question.
1:54
Speaker 3: It comes from Brie, who says, Hi, Justin and Kylie,
1:57
Speaker 3: I am a mum of three kids, therefore two and
1:59
Speaker 3: six months, so young family.
2:01
Speaker 5: I love it when they at that age, so much fun,
2:03
Speaker 5: so much energy, so much exhaustion.
2:05
Speaker 3: With my eldest Judas start school next year, Brie says,
2:09
Speaker 3: I'm currently discerning the education or direction of our family,
2:13
Speaker 3: and I'm very seriously considering homeschooling. I'm a primary school
2:17
Speaker 3: teacher myself, so it's a mammoth shift in mindset for
2:20
Speaker 3: me to opt out of the mainstream school setting and
2:22
Speaker 3: home educate our kids. We have our reasons for considering
2:25
Speaker 3: this direction to ensure the flourishing of our children. However,
2:28
Speaker 3: there are some very strong opinions out there about homeschooling
2:31
Speaker 3: and stigma's.
2:32
Speaker 5: Attached to it.
2:33
Speaker 3: I would greatly appreciate an open, honest discussion of the pros, cons, benefits,
2:38
Speaker 3: and deficits of homeschooling versus mainstream schooling. So, Kylie, the
2:43
Speaker 3: first thing I'm going to highlight is that we're going
2:45
Speaker 3: to put this on our Facebook page, and Brie and
2:48
Speaker 3: anyone else who is really interested in this homeschooling conversation,
2:51
Speaker 3: if you've ever thought about it, We're going to open
2:53
Speaker 3: it up and get people to talk about the pros,
2:55
Speaker 3: the cons, the benefits, the deficits, and the stigma associated
2:59
Speaker 3: with homeschooling. Make sure that that appears on our Facebook
3:01
Speaker 3: page today so you can join the conversation there. But
3:05
Speaker 3: we've been through this conversation ourselves, Kyle, we haven't we like,
3:08
Speaker 3: how many times do you think?
3:10
Speaker 4: I think with each child, with each addition to our family,
3:15
Speaker 4: it has definitely come up in conversation. And as our
3:19
Speaker 4: children have had different challenges within the school system, we've
3:23
Speaker 4: thought about what it would mean to actually bring them
3:25
Speaker 4: home and you know, kind of support their learning from home.
3:28
Speaker 3: And I've been the one who's pushed it, and you've
3:30
Speaker 3: been the one who's pushed against.
3:31
Speaker 5: It like I've been.
3:32
Speaker 3: Really, there's been a couple of times where we've almost
3:35
Speaker 3: pulled the trigger on it. There's been a couple of
3:36
Speaker 3: times where we've sat down with friends who have homeschooled
3:38
Speaker 3: their kids and we've said, we can't stand it anymore.
3:41
Speaker 3: We don't like the school environment, or the kids are
3:43
Speaker 3: having this problem or that problem, and it would be
3:44
Speaker 3: so much better if we could just have the freedom
3:47
Speaker 3: that homeschool would allow. And they've looked at us funnily
3:50
Speaker 3: and said, freedom is one word you could use it
3:53
Speaker 3: might not be the best word. So let's just talk
3:57
Speaker 3: about the issues with the school system generally as a
4:01
Speaker 3: starting point. When I think about schools, and I want
4:05
Speaker 3: to do this with great respect and tenderness and compassion
4:09
Speaker 3: and gentleness for the school teachers who are working in
4:11
Speaker 3: a system that is sometimes so challenging for them and
4:15
Speaker 3: for the kids. But what I see generally, and this
4:18
Speaker 3: is partly on the parents, and it's partly on the curriculum,
4:20
Speaker 3: there's so many different ways that we can look at
4:23
Speaker 3: this school is so hyper competitive for so many there's
4:27
Speaker 3: such enormous expectation.
4:28
Speaker 5: The workload is massive.
4:31
Speaker 3: You always learn at the rate of the slowest child.
4:36
Speaker 3: There are different ways that schools can teachers can get
4:38
Speaker 3: around this. But there's a curriculum, there's stuff that has
4:41
Speaker 3: to be covered off. There are all these expectations. But
4:44
Speaker 3: there's also the cultural stuff, the values things. I speak
4:49
Speaker 3: to so many parents to say, it's just the values
4:50
Speaker 3: clash our kids being exposed to some other kids who
4:54
Speaker 3: see the world.
4:55
Speaker 5: Very very differently. There's bullying, there's the desire to keep
5:00
Speaker 5: kids innocent, and.
5:02
Speaker 3: I think there's also that reality that sometimes school just
5:04
Speaker 3: feels like there is no joy for some children in school.
5:08
Speaker 4: I think that's a really good point, and it's the
5:10
Speaker 4: one thing that stands out to me when I talked
5:12
Speaker 4: to parents who are homeschooling. There's a return to the
5:16
Speaker 4: inquisitive nature of children to want to learn.
5:20
Speaker 5: And let's talk about why we haven't done it.
5:22
Speaker 3: I mean, with all of those things that we might say,
5:25
Speaker 3: this is not ideal, this is not what we want
5:27
Speaker 3: for our kids when it comes to school. All of
5:29
Speaker 3: our kids have had a traditional schooling experience, none of
5:31
Speaker 3: them have been homeschooled or anything even close to it.
5:34
Speaker 5: And the reasons that we've kept our kids in.
5:37
Speaker 3: School, in spite of all the conversations we've had Kylie,
5:39
Speaker 3: have been number.
5:40
Speaker 4: One, hands down for me, was just a feeling of inadequacy. Right,
5:45
Speaker 4: I'm a parent, I'm not a teacher. Yeah yeah, and
5:47
Speaker 4: I felt so ill equipped to deal with them as
5:50
Speaker 4: the children obviously got older. That would have been my
5:54
Speaker 4: number one reason for not doing it.
5:56
Speaker 5: Yeah, lack of knowledge. And the second one.
5:58
Speaker 4: The second one, I think it would just be the
6:00
Speaker 4: fact that there are already so many moving parts in
6:05
Speaker 4: our life, and homeschooling is a complete shift in lifestyle,
6:10
Speaker 4: and I just couldn't see how we could do it
6:13
Speaker 4: and do it effectively. I don't feel like I have
6:16
Speaker 4: the capacity to be my children's all right. And I
6:20
Speaker 4: know with homeschooling, you did be part of a homeschool
6:23
Speaker 4: community and there are other people that come in. But
6:26
Speaker 4: for all intents and purposes, I'm with my children twenty
6:28
Speaker 4: four to seven, and I don't want to have to
6:32
Speaker 4: be their teacher and their mom. I want to be
6:36
Speaker 4: able to be their mum. And I feel like when
6:38
Speaker 4: I have my time, I'm able to be a better mum.
6:41
Speaker 4: I show up as a better person as a result.
6:44
Speaker 4: And so yeah, I just I kind of I couldn't
6:47
Speaker 4: physically work out how to come up, part mentalize things
6:51
Speaker 4: and be able to make that massive shift of being everything.
6:56
Speaker 3: For me when we had the conversation. Is the main
6:59
Speaker 3: reason that I stopped pushing, even though I keep bringing
7:02
Speaker 3: it up and I've said so many times, let's just
7:04
Speaker 3: do it, let's just do it. Is I knew that
7:05
Speaker 3: ultimately it would fall to you. I'm running two businesses,
7:09
Speaker 3: there are so many moving parts in my life. I
7:12
Speaker 3: simply I can't be there for you while your homeschool
7:15
Speaker 3: and the kids, and also expect you to run the
7:16
Speaker 3: family and do everything else it has to be done.
7:18
Speaker 5: And as we've looked at it from that lifestyle point.
7:20
Speaker 3: Of view, as much as there's lots of opportunity and
7:23
Speaker 3: some great experiences, we've decided that for our family it
7:26
Speaker 3: would simply be too much. It would be beyond our
7:28
Speaker 3: capacity to actually make it happen.
7:31
Speaker 4: I think in briefe situation, she's at a beautiful stage
7:34
Speaker 4: of family life where she actually can move into this
7:37
Speaker 4: very gently. She's got a five year old starting school,
7:41
Speaker 4: and I know when we did schooling from home. When
7:44
Speaker 4: COVID began working with my five year old at home
7:47
Speaker 4: was a delight. I absolutely loved doing that with her,
7:51
Speaker 4: and I would have kept doing that with her. But
7:54
Speaker 4: as the children continue to grow and their maths and
7:57
Speaker 4: science get a little bit more complicated than making volcanoes
8:01
Speaker 4: in the sand, that kind of is very intimidating.
8:04
Speaker 5: That's a really interesting point.
8:05
Speaker 3: Had we started early with number one, or just with
8:08
Speaker 3: two kids in the early days, probably would have been
8:11
Speaker 3: a much more achievable task. But the last time we
8:13
Speaker 3: had the conversation was only a couple of years ago,
8:15
Speaker 3: maybe three years ago, and high school, like, how are
8:19
Speaker 3: we going to do this with four or five or
8:20
Speaker 3: six kids across the entire educational spectrum, and that was
8:23
Speaker 3: the other reason that we pulled them. Or maybe we'll
8:24
Speaker 3: just do it with the baby. Well, how come she
8:26
Speaker 3: gets the special treatment? So in the end we've opted out.
8:29
Speaker 3: But right after the break, we're going to have a
8:30
Speaker 3: conversation with a mum who has taken the plunge and
8:34
Speaker 3: find out what her real life experience has been.
8:41
Speaker 5: Dads are pretty awesome, just ask me.
8:43
Speaker 3: Today, more dads are more involved with their children's lives
8:45
Speaker 3: than ever before, and research shows that their children are
8:49
Speaker 3: really benefiting from it. But too often dads don't realize
8:53
Speaker 3: just how vible they really are. In the Dadding Done
8:56
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8:58
Speaker 3: be a fantastic support, the ideal role model and an
9:02
Speaker 3: excellent all round best dad ever. Check out Dadding Done
9:06
Speaker 3: Right at the Happy Family's webshop.
9:08
Speaker 4: It's the Happy Families podcast, the podcast for the time
9:10
Speaker 4: poor parent who just wants answers now and Bree wants
9:13
Speaker 4: the pros and cons to homeschooling.
9:15
Speaker 5: So we've given it our best shot.
9:17
Speaker 3: We don't really know what we're talking about though, so
9:19
Speaker 3: we decided to call in an expert, a friend of
9:21
Speaker 3: ours from the Illawarra area.
9:23
Speaker 5: Jody, mum to five kids. It is so great to
9:25
Speaker 5: have you with us.
9:27
Speaker 6: Thank you for having me on.
9:29
Speaker 3: I just wanted to give you the round of a pause,
9:31
Speaker 3: the roaring approval, because we know that you're going to
9:33
Speaker 3: help Bree and make the most important decision about her
9:36
Speaker 3: children's education that she's ever made.
9:38
Speaker 4: No pressure, Jody, Yeah, it.
9:40
Speaker 6: Is a big decision.
9:41
Speaker 2: That's definitely something that we didn't jump into overnight. We
9:44
Speaker 2: had a big think about it for probably almost two years.
9:47
Speaker 5: Well, that is a big thing for us.
9:48
Speaker 2: It was a huge decision because our children's education is
9:51
Speaker 2: probably of, you know, one of the most important things
9:54
Speaker 2: to us, and obviously if we get it wrong, that's
9:56
Speaker 2: going to hit a huge impact on their future and
9:59
Speaker 2: their capacity as you know, even their adulthood and what
10:03
Speaker 2: their potential income or future might look like down the track.
10:07
Speaker 3: Was guardful off if you get this wrong, Joe's garred. No,
10:10
Speaker 3: I'm just kidding, Brie. If you're listening, I'm just kidding.
10:13
Speaker 3: It's important, but it's not that important, all right.
10:15
Speaker 4: So we're curious, Joey, what was the actual catalyst, what
10:18
Speaker 4: made you decide that homeschooling was what you wanted to
10:21
Speaker 4: do for the family.
10:22
Speaker 5: Two years of thinking, yeah, I think.
10:25
Speaker 2: Look, when I started schooling my children about ten going
10:30
Speaker 2: into eleven years now, it was something that was floating
10:33
Speaker 2: around in the back of my head, but I kind
10:35
Speaker 2: of thought, look, I don't really know anything about it.
10:37
Speaker 2: I have no idea if I have the capacity to
10:39
Speaker 2: do it. And we had three businesses and three kids
10:42
Speaker 2: under three, which sort of made it not really a doable,
10:46
Speaker 2: doable thing for us at that point in our lives.
10:48
Speaker 5: So it just just pause, just pause. I just want
10:51
Speaker 5: everyone to hear what you said. Three kids under three
10:54
Speaker 5: and three businesses, and I know, I know you didn't
10:58
Speaker 5: get bored.
10:59
Speaker 3: Those businesses that you and your husband have run have
11:01
Speaker 3: been successful businesses. It's not like you were yeah yeah,
11:05
Speaker 3: saying that you're running a business because you've just made
11:07
Speaker 3: up some thing like you were.
11:09
Speaker 5: Really this was legit, So yeah, beyond your capacity.
11:13
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Look, I think at that point it would
11:15
Speaker 2: have been all but impossible for us to jump into
11:18
Speaker 2: that unless we made some big changes in the way
11:20
Speaker 2: that I participated in the businesses. And look, you know,
11:24
Speaker 2: over the ten years that we've had the girls in school,
11:27
Speaker 2: that was something that we decided was necessary me being
11:30
Speaker 2: home a bit more than I was, especially with the
11:32
Speaker 2: travel to Sydney from the Yellawarra and things like that.
11:35
Speaker 2: So it was important for me to be present for
11:38
Speaker 2: the girls, and as I started to press into that
11:42
Speaker 2: a little bit more, I guess that was probably one
11:45
Speaker 2: of the major decisions.
11:47
Speaker 6: When we had the whole lockdown period.
11:49
Speaker 2: It was very obvious to me that the girls really
11:53
Speaker 2: thrived when we spent more time together, so and also
11:57
Speaker 2: more time together as a family, like with their SIMP.
12:00
Speaker 2: They got on even like better than I could have imagined, actually,
12:04
Speaker 2: even in a really stressful and hard situation with all
12:06
Speaker 2: the lockdowns and all the things that went with that.
12:08
Speaker 6: So for me, it was just an observation that.
12:13
Speaker 2: They thrived in an environment where they work together, learned
12:16
Speaker 2: from each other, and spent more time together. So I
12:19
Speaker 2: think that was probably the number one thing that sort
12:21
Speaker 2: of tipped it to me.
12:22
Speaker 4: That's awesome. I'm wondering, Jody, obviously you've suggested that you've
12:27
Speaker 4: thought about this for some time. What were you worried
12:29
Speaker 4: about You touched on a little bit to the fact
12:31
Speaker 4: that you weren't sure about your capacity, but were there
12:33
Speaker 4: other things that you were worried about?
12:35
Speaker 6: There absolutely was.
12:36
Speaker 2: I have sort of been waiting for my youngest to
12:39
Speaker 2: go into kindergarten so that I can get back into
12:41
Speaker 2: the business in a full time capacity, and that will
12:45
Speaker 2: that's actually this year for us, So I and I
12:50
Speaker 2: was like, look, I don't think that I can do
12:53
Speaker 2: full time work and full time the.
12:56
Speaker 3: Things some people will do to get out of work,
12:58
Speaker 3: That's all I'm saying, because because looking after five kids
13:01
Speaker 3: at home and home schooling is not work at all.
13:03
Speaker 2: Yeah. So something that was really interesting to me is
13:06
Speaker 2: that the lockdown schooling was very, very different from what
13:10
Speaker 2: homeschool looks like for us this year. I wouldn't claim
13:13
Speaker 2: that I'm an expert in any regard, with very much
13:15
Speaker 2: newbies only having started at the beginning of this year
13:18
Speaker 2: formerly after our registration, but it's a very different thing
13:23
Speaker 2: to school being administered at home by by a department
13:27
Speaker 2: or buy a teacher.
13:29
Speaker 6: And can you tell I found that very stressful. Had
13:33
Speaker 6: an extra.
13:35
Speaker 2: We had an extra as well, which was my nephew
13:37
Speaker 2: in kindergarten living with us at the time, So we
13:39
Speaker 2: had six children at home on devices and they all
13:43
Speaker 2: had zoom calls at certain times, and I was like
13:45
Speaker 2: tech support for six children trying to do something different
13:50
Speaker 2: and new and quite difficult, and it wasn't that enjoyable.
13:54
Speaker 6: If I'm completely honest with me.
13:56
Speaker 2: There were definitely parts of it that I enjoyed, but
13:59
Speaker 2: that whole approach to their education was not my idea
14:05
Speaker 2: of the best for them. So what if?
14:08
Speaker 6: I don't know other parents found.
14:09
Speaker 2: Home home like school at home difficult, but I certainly
14:12
Speaker 2: found that that was a lot of challenge to that.
14:15
Speaker 2: That was definitely a theme that we heard time and
14:17
Speaker 2: time again throughout the lockdowns and pandemic in general.
14:22
Speaker 4: I'm wondering, Jodie, what have you what have been the
14:25
Speaker 4: pros You've obviously just you've done your first term now
14:28
Speaker 4: and the kids have been at home, they're all learning
14:29
Speaker 4: with you in your home space. What have been the
14:33
Speaker 4: positives that you have seen come out of this?
14:36
Speaker 2: One of the main things was I noticed when I
14:38
Speaker 2: could actually organize the girl's curriculum so that they were
14:41
Speaker 2: working on the same subject areas at the same time
14:45
Speaker 2: wherever possible, it all started to come together and start
14:47
Speaker 2: working for us as a family. So because a few
14:51
Speaker 2: of our children are quite close in age, their subject
14:53
Speaker 2: matter was quite similar.
14:55
Speaker 6: So I could maybe start one with.
14:56
Speaker 2: Junior school and one with middle school, and they could
14:59
Speaker 2: both be doing similar things at the same time and
15:01
Speaker 2: we could do it together instead of six different kids
15:04
Speaker 2: doing six different programming all at the same time, which
15:07
Speaker 2: was just insane. So when I started doing that and
15:11
Speaker 2: they started really responding to me, personalizing it for them
15:15
Speaker 2: and having the flexibility to work with each individual personality,
15:19
Speaker 2: it really started to work. And that was probably the
15:22
Speaker 2: biggest thing that was like, oh, okay, we could actually
15:25
Speaker 2: do this. There was a good two hours in our
15:28
Speaker 2: day of travel and just sort of multiple drop off
15:31
Speaker 2: pickup times, so we sort of saved that time. So
15:35
Speaker 2: it's definitely a lot more flexibility to be able to
15:38
Speaker 2: extend their curriculum and their after school activities that maybe
15:43
Speaker 2: we could get to know one per child through the
15:46
Speaker 2: week before, now we can do several per childs, so
15:49
Speaker 2: they're really interacting with other kids in different areas and
15:53
Speaker 2: sort of pursuing things their interest areas with a lot
15:56
Speaker 2: more time and financial capacity too, because they were in
16:00
Speaker 2: private school.
16:02
Speaker 6: So you're Richard, be wonderful.
16:04
Speaker 5: You can afford takeout Richard because.
16:06
Speaker 6: I get to spend time.
16:07
Speaker 2: With them so good.
16:09
Speaker 5: How much time does it take per day to homeschool
16:12
Speaker 5: five kids? Six kids?
16:14
Speaker 2: Look, I think that was one of the main things
16:16
Speaker 2: I thought to myself. I can't do six hours times
16:19
Speaker 2: five children in one day.
16:20
Speaker 6: That's not even humanly possible. But for me, it's.
16:23
Speaker 2: Not quite like that because I've really expanded what it
16:26
Speaker 2: means to homeschool. So when our children do horse riding
16:30
Speaker 2: for two hours, that's actually part of their curriculum. We
16:32
Speaker 2: actually have curriculum based around that. That's a lot of
16:36
Speaker 2: a lot of different parts of their subject areas get
16:38
Speaker 2: covered in activities that we wouldn't typically call school. So
16:43
Speaker 2: for example, they're if they're doing drama classes, if they're
16:47
Speaker 2: doing art classes, if they're doing crochet online with classes,
16:51
Speaker 2: or if they're doing science experiments that they participate in
16:54
Speaker 2: online with groups or classes or co ops that are available.
16:58
Speaker 2: That's all part of their schooling. But for them fun
17:00
Speaker 2: and they're really thriving.
17:01
Speaker 3: I mean, there's a lot of people who say, oh,
17:03
Speaker 3: but the kids aren't kind of learn as well at
17:04
Speaker 3: home as they do at school. I know, you're only
17:07
Speaker 3: just getting started on this, but what have you seen
17:09
Speaker 3: into and the evidence is mixed on this. There's no
17:12
Speaker 3: really great evidence, it seems from what I've read, and
17:14
Speaker 3: I have looked into this a couple of times, it
17:16
Speaker 3: seems that the research evidence suggests that kids that are
17:18
Speaker 3: homeschooled tend to do just as well as kids that
17:20
Speaker 3: go to school on average, But it really depends on
17:22
Speaker 3: the homeschooling that happens, and it really depends on the
17:25
Speaker 3: schooling that they experience if they're in traditional schooling.
17:27
Speaker 5: So what have you found that the kids learning?
17:29
Speaker 3: Are they keeping up with their peers if you can
17:32
Speaker 3: even consider that?
17:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one thing that I noticed right from
17:37
Speaker 2: the get go was there were holes in their education
17:40
Speaker 2: that I was aware of because I was sitting with
17:44
Speaker 2: them and going through certain areas. So maybe one kid
17:47
Speaker 2: was struggling with algebra, but another kid was having trouble
17:49
Speaker 2: with this certain times table or whatever it might be.
17:52
Speaker 2: But we could really press into those areas and give
17:56
Speaker 2: that more time, and they might have gotten in a
17:58
Speaker 2: classroom situation where they're moving on with the class. So
18:02
Speaker 2: I think for me that made me feel more confident
18:04
Speaker 2: as we went along that I was like, oh, good.
18:06
Speaker 2: They've gotten this concept that otherwise they would have missed
18:09
Speaker 2: out on. So I guess everybody would have a different
18:12
Speaker 2: approach with their homeschooling. But we like to sort of
18:14
Speaker 2: have a meeting at the beginning of the week outline
18:17
Speaker 2: which subject areas we're going to work on on which days,
18:19
Speaker 2: and then the older kids just pissy their own learning
18:22
Speaker 2: in their own They're very diligent and they really just
18:26
Speaker 2: sort of get it done earlier in the mornings, and
18:27
Speaker 2: sometimes we'll all be done by lunchtime, and often we'll
18:30
Speaker 2: have activities that we work around, and so they have
18:33
Speaker 2: to have their learning done by say one o'clock, because
18:35
Speaker 2: that's when we'll be leaving for whatever it is that
18:37
Speaker 2: we're off to do. And they're quite diligent to just
18:40
Speaker 2: get through the work that's been set out for them.
18:42
Speaker 6: So I guess that's a great class.
18:44
Speaker 2: We do have some that are less enthusiastic to do
18:46
Speaker 2: it without encouragement, I'll be honest.
18:49
Speaker 6: But yeah, it's been it's been a really interesting and
18:53
Speaker 6: just that it's been a fabulous journey. Actually, I really
18:55
Speaker 6: have found it a lot easier than I thought I would.
18:58
Speaker 4: That's amazing. Jodie there's so many questions I've got, and
19:01
Speaker 4: I know that people would love to hear more of
19:04
Speaker 4: your story. Maybe we'll be able to have you back
19:07
Speaker 4: as you go on throughout the journey a little bit further.
19:10
Speaker 5: Let us know what it's awful as well.
19:14
Speaker 4: But I'm wondering before before we finish up, I'm wondering
19:17
Speaker 4: if you could just share maybe one or two bits
19:20
Speaker 4: of advice that you would give for anyone, including Brie,
19:23
Speaker 4: who is thinking about jumping in and homeschooling their children.
19:28
Speaker 6: Sure.
19:28
Speaker 2: I think one of the things someone said to me
19:30
Speaker 2: that really hit home was you are the most capable
19:35
Speaker 2: person to see and understand your children and what they
19:38
Speaker 2: need in terms of their education. So I guess when
19:41
Speaker 2: you drop your kids off at school, you may or
19:43
Speaker 2: may not know what happens in their school day. Often
19:47
Speaker 2: for my children, they were quite tired by the time
19:48
Speaker 2: they got home and I'd say, how was school, hadn't
19:50
Speaker 2: seen them for six seven hours?
19:52
Speaker 6: They'd say good. So I guess in that regard now
19:57
Speaker 6: it's very different.
19:58
Speaker 2: I get to see what they're struggling with, I get
20:00
Speaker 2: to see what they're succeeding in. I get to encourage
20:02
Speaker 2: them in ways that they need it, And for me,
20:06
Speaker 2: being in relationship with my kids is very important and
20:09
Speaker 2: knowing that they're thriving is very important. And I am
20:12
Speaker 2: fully aware of whatever areas they need help with and
20:15
Speaker 2: I can be present for that. So that's really encouraging
20:19
Speaker 2: to me that I can have a really hands on
20:22
Speaker 2: approach to their education and I can also I mean, look,
20:27
Speaker 2: in this day and age, there is so much available
20:29
Speaker 2: online offline that everything that they could ever want to
20:33
Speaker 2: learn about, we can learn about.
20:35
Speaker 6: It's incredible.
20:36
Speaker 2: So especially for Bree being a school teacher, she obviously
20:40
Speaker 2: has the capacity to teach and is doing that already.
20:44
Speaker 2: And two better to teach on your own children. I mean,
20:46
Speaker 2: obviously it's very different in a home environment, but yeah,
20:50
Speaker 2: I think that parents would be surprised once you get
20:53
Speaker 2: a good rhythm, and that does take a little bit
20:55
Speaker 2: of time, how well it comes together with your kids.
20:58
Speaker 5: What a great conversation.
20:59
Speaker 3: Jody five from the Illawara, who has just taken up
21:02
Speaker 3: homeschooling with her kids at the start of this year
21:04
Speaker 3: after seeing how much the kids seem to thrive being
21:07
Speaker 3: at home during COVID lockdown.
21:08
Speaker 5: So thanks for joining us, Jody.
21:10
Speaker 6: Yeah, most welcome. Thanks for having you chat Kylie.
21:12
Speaker 3: I think that the solution for us is that we
21:15
Speaker 3: need to do it as well. I know everything we
21:19
Speaker 3: talked about in the first half of the podcast, I
21:21
Speaker 3: get it, but doesn't it sound great?
21:24
Speaker 5: It does.
21:25
Speaker 4: She definitely makes it sound like it would be achievable.
21:28
Speaker 3: So here's what I think needs to happen. You and
21:29
Speaker 3: Jody have another couple of hours on the phone. We'll
21:31
Speaker 3: wrap up the podcast now you can talk more about it,
21:33
Speaker 3: and then we'll fill in the paperwork. The Happy Families
21:37
Speaker 3: podcast is produced by Justin Rulan from Bridge Media. Craig
21:40
Speaker 3: Bruce is our executive producer and we appreciate so much
21:44
Speaker 3: of the work that they do. If you would like
21:46
Speaker 3: to know more about how you can raise your kids
21:48
Speaker 3: happy without using carrots and sticks to discipline them, this
21:51
Speaker 3: coming Monday night, the sixteenth of May, we're going to
21:54
Speaker 3: be talking about carrots and sticks in a Happy Family's
21:58
Speaker 3: special webinar. Please join us for that and tomorrow on
22:00
Speaker 3: the podcast, Kira Pendergast from Safe on Social talking about
22:06
Speaker 3: the new issue that so many of our tweens and
22:09
Speaker 3: teens are dealing with, cyber flashing and air drop plus Instagram, sextortion.
22:14
Speaker 5: That's all coming up on the Happy Families podcast.