As the final weeks of summer roll past, something big is coming for us: The beginning of home education. Now I am a firm believer in that there is no start to home education, because our children have been home educated since birth and will not set foot inside the education system. The formal beginning of home ed really means nothing more than a bit of a line in the sand.
My daughter, who is 4.5 years old would be due to start her reception year of school this coming September, just weeks away. We have always known since before she was born that we wanted to home educate her but as that official start date looms closer I wanted to put pen to paper to think about how I feel going into it. And if you have stumbled on this post because you are thinking about home educating your children I hope it provides you with everything you need to take the leap.
The beginning: Being home educated
Now like I said, our children are what we would term as home educated since birth and so there really won’t be any change to our normal life and routine, just a continuation of the learning and growing we do every day. But I suppose what I am marking is that this will be the school year my daughter will turn compulsory school age. And, if she were going to school, this September is when she would be starting.
It only seems right to mark it in some way, and while we feel like we’ve been home educating since birth this, I guess, is the true beginning.
Excitement? Nerves?
Something that crops up time and time again when I talk about home educating my children is people telling me I am mad, or that they could never do it. And sometimes that they don’t want to spend so much time with their children.
Home education is a big undertaking, it’s committing yourselves to providing that education to your children for the next fourteen years of their life. It’s day in day out, every month of every year until they turn 18. I can understand why it seems a lot for most people.
However, I can’t wait. We’ve known since before we had children that home education was on the cards and as time has gone on we have become more confident in our choices. I don’t doubt that there will be times where it is hard or difficult, but I know that its something we can learn and grow through together.
What might the year look like
At this point – I have no idea and I am really excited about that. I have some ideas in mind that generally ebb and flow around the idea of creating a firm basis in the way we live our life. I want to instill this idea into the children that their worth is not measured by being busy or productivity. I want them to understand the beauty of a slow and simple life, I want them to understand the importance of living a life that aligns with the seasons. I want them to understand the importance of yoga, mindfulness and meditation. I want them to feel at ease with who they are and rest when they feel they need to. I want to teach them about our health and wellbeing and why we eat seasonally, but organic and grow our own food on our allotment. This, along with so much more foundational learning I hope to be a part of our first year.
I don’t intend to give a blow by blow account of our learning here but I will update along the way I am sure. I might also share occasionally over on Instagram too.
Let me know in the comments if you currently home educate or if you are thinking about it.