Home Ed

  • Unschooling

    How we create our morning basket

    Creating and using a morning basket is something I only started at the beginning of this year and already I have fallen in love with the idea and concept. It isn’t a new idea and something that is used a lot in the home education community, I found many resources on Instagram and Pinterest, before jumping in. Actually though, despite there being a lot of information out there what I found best (as I do with most things) is to just decide what I thought would work for our family and just dived in from there. You know your family best and I think this is probably going to be my top recommendation – do what works best for you.

    What is a morning basket?

    A morning basket is, quite simply, a basket of items designed for the morning time, when your child has just got out of bed. Something they can immerse themselves in to begin a slow start to your days. It can include books, toys, flashcards…in fact whatever you think will work for your family. It can be something to start the day slow and easy, something you can go through together or something to keep your child engaged while you sort out your morning coffee or even their breakfast. The most important thing is that it works for you and it’s something that suits your child and your family.

    What do I put in ours?

    We started doing a morning basket when our daughter was 1 and she has recently turned 2, so definitely keep this in mind when looking at what we put in ours. We enjoy a slow start to our days, I enjoy drinking my coffee and sitting with her while she looks through it. At the moment, at her current age, I add items which I think will be engaging for her and that she will be excited to see first thing in the morning.

    You can see this fun Instagram reel I created as an example of putting my daughters morning basket together.

    Overall, does it work?

    You can be as fun or as educational as you wish. Sometimes I do a theme and sometimes I don’t, but I foresee as her and her sibling get a little older I might tie it more into their current interests in our home education journey too. I definitely expect it to change over the years as they grow as well as applying it to seasonal rhythms too.

  • Unschooling

    Why we decided on Home education

    There is so much joy in following your own path and seeking wonder to fill your child’s precious early years. My wants for my daughter and her brother (who at the time of writing I am in my second trimester of pregnancy with) is that they are surrounded by the freedom to explore their world, to express their love for what matters to them, to be guided by their own self belief and to experience a childhood full of wonder and beauty.

    Time moves fast and my dream to give them a long and slow childhood, with no rush to grow up, no early interludes into academics and a childhood filled with their passions, loves and interests. The biggest and most radical contribution I can make to this world is not in who I am or what I do, it’s in the little people I have the honour of raising.

    Home educating by choice

    Let me be honest here, it’s early 2021 and on and off for the past year families have been crisis schooling (or emergency schooling) their children from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not the easiest of times to be standing up and saying “Hey, I am going to home educate my child by choice”, because the current pushed agenda is that what is currently happening is home schooling, when in fact the current situation is so far from what true home education really looks like. Right now we’re all trying to just get through these times of crisis in the best ways we can and I do hope that soon our world can return to some normality again.

    In fact, standing up at anytime and talking about taking the home education route is kind of scary and a little bit nerve-wracking. It’s something that can really be open to a lot of judgment when it’s something that maybe people don’t know too much about.

    It’s always been in the plans

    Funnily enough the current Covid situation has played no part in our decisions to home educate our children, it is something that has been in the works since before we had children, became a serious conversation throughout my first pregnancy and has become something we’re both even more passionate about in the years since.

    Our daughter is just 2 so it might seem a little odd to you (if you aren’t from the home education world) that I am already talking about educating, but the way home educating looks is so different from school that we’ve been putting our rhythms and ideas for homeschooling really since birth. It’s a conscious thought in our brains and it’s not even a blip on the radar to our daughter, and it’s something I feel passionate about continuing throughout our home education journey.

    Sharing as we go

    Both my husband and I have some very strong ideas, plans and feelings about education in general and also what we would like our own home education journey to look like. However I am certain this will grow and evolve as we move through life with our children. We’re passionate about the unschooling philosophy as well as being inspired by Montessori and even a little Waldorf, all of which I plan to go into along the way, as we grow and evolve together. As well as covering so many subjects throughout their home education, being a historian means I am passionate about sharing so many aspects of history with them. Looking back at family history is a great reference point when it comes to delving into history, along with the personal connections we make as we connect to our own past.

    One thing is for certain, I know in my heart of hearts that this is a wonderful decision for our family, I know that we’re so excited to embark on this adventure and also I can’t wait to share this journey here and on my Instagram page too.

    Do you home educate, or plan to, with your children? I would love to connect with you as we move through this journey together.

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