2 Years Later…

Wow, has it really been that long?

I sat down recently, to edit this blog and was surprised to see how little the kids look, in all the pictures!

They’re so much bigger now.

At this age, they are almost the same height and everywhere we go, people ask if they’re twins.

They say yes, of course. How could they resist!

Reading thought the pages, made me realise how different we are.

Especially me.

I really struggled to fully let go and trust the process of homeschooling. It’s a massive letting go, of old programming.

And, what was I thinking undertaking such an enormous writing project, while beginning a whole new way of life! 🙄

No wonder, I was so exhausted all the time.

Ok, so where are we now?

Well, we did go to Bali. Not for 2 years, like we had planned. That time had very sadly, passed. The children did get to attend the school in Ubud that we’d planned for them, before Covid.

It was wonderful!

All four of us motorbiked to school each morning. All on one motorbike! 😆 The school itself is a registered homeschool, so not your typical, pen and paper type of thing.

It’s a day of bare foot, jungle learning.

They ran wild through rice fields. They even harvested rice with a ‘sickle’.

They started each morning with water yoga, in the pool.

They played with the school pets: dogs, pigs & goats.

Art went for hours.

They designed and constructed things with tools, had crafty afternoons, danced and gave a performance.

They sat down to delicious, organic snacks and lunches, lovingly prepared, from the kitchen team. They met lots and lots of friends from all over the world, and met lots of Indonesian friends too.

The kids absolutely loved it.

We went to hot springs, and the night markets.

We had breakfast with Orangutans and snuggled with elephants.

It was the most beautiful holiday together and you know what? The flights were cheap, and there were no crowds!

The rest of the world were at school and work. 👌

Pepe

There were sad times too.

Pepe died. 😞

We moved house and he couldn’t handle the change. He became extremely withdrawn and aggressive. He no longer wanted to go for walks and would snarl and growl, when we came close.

He was even biting in the end, and we were all frightened of him. After trying anti-depressants with no change, the vet put him down.

We were all devastated.

Months went by, and then Lincoln wanted a cat and Mila a puppy.

Meet Mochi, the ragdoll and Poppy, the Cavoodle.

They are sooooooo cute!

We took sailing over the summer and both kids had fun learning to sail.

Mila has just started her own party hosting business. Catering for children aged 2-7yrs.

Linc completed his first ever resume and has begun applying for part time work. He’s very excited to get that first pay check!

Liam’s retraining as a councilor, and I’m working on a new writing project.

With regards to learning, we don’t do any core work anymore.

They beat me down! Haha!

We are officially, those ‘radical unschoolers’ I was so fearful of, in the beginning.

We don’t use workbooks, or pen and paper.

We read from books, we have science boxes delivered, we watch YouTube videos & then get busy creating what we saw. We have discussions, listen to audible and attend workshops.

We play sports and meet up with friends.

We still like to cook. (Mostly, sweet things 😆)

The kids follow their own interests and for the first time since we stared homeschooling, they don’t need me to plant seeds for them. They just come up with things on their own.

Our Day

It’s taken a long time, but they’re finally choosing their learning, all the way.

Our days are always different, but a typical morning might look like this.

During breakfast, they have their diaries open, (unschoolers need to document their learning, as there are no tangible books) and we discuss what they would like to learn.

We then move to the loungeroom and get cosy while I read, The History of The World, volume 2. Their choice.

From our history chapter, we always find something of interest and we search together, on YouTube.

For example, recently we were reading about the first Chinese Emperor and how he united North and Southern China by building the Grand Canal, to join the north and south rivers. It spoke of locks in the canal and the children asked what a lock was.

This led us to an engineering lesson. We looked at the long boats in London passing through the locks. We looked at how locks worked, and other aqua engineering inventions.

Lincoln immediately jumps up and says, I have a better design, and begins drawing his own lock system. We might discuss this for 15 minutes and now Mila is up and explaining her idea and more drawing is happening.

After this, I suggest a break and they head outside to play. At the moment, its a netball game called one bounce, as Mila is mad about netball. She trains twice a week and plays games on Saturdays.

While this is happening, I tidy up the kitchen and make them a snack.

When I call them in, they fill in their diary about the Chinese Emperor and the locks.

Next, they break apart.

Lincoln is really into coding at the moment, so he gets going with that. He’s building a video game with 2 of his mates and his dedication is ferocious.

Mila is really into her 3D pen and so she gets to work creating earrings and little gifts for her friends. She usually stops after a while, to get something started in the kitchen: cakes, rockyroad or sushi and then returns to her craft.

She’s always at the Thermomix, that one.

After an hour or so, I make them take another break. Sometimes we take the dog for a walk and we usually enter a discussion that can tick off many subjects.

Our kids are great thinkers and very curious. I’m always surprised at how deep, our conversations go.

After the break, we usually head back to the sofa and I read a page from our kids philosophy book and we can debate this thought for another 45 minutes! They love to talk and express their ideas.

After this they break apart again, Linc back to coding or touching typing, he’s loving that too at the moment.

Mila will be back in the kitchen or, I can’t believe I’m saying it but yes, she’s back on the slime train again!

Some days we go to the library and swap our books over.

Sometimes they’ll read their books for an hour.

Sometimes, I read to them from a book I’ve chosen. The book this week was on anxiety. It’s a word they’ve heard loads, but today we went into detail on what it looks like, what it feels like and how & when it can creep in.

They had so much to say on anxiety and about how they work. They have so much self reflection!

Some days, we’ll just work on art projects.

The back of the toilet door is still mama’s prime realestate, for learning. 😆

I put all the ‘hard’ stuff on there. Basically, anything that doesn’t hold their interest. Like maths,

or just things I want them to know.

I’ll explain one concept at a time, in large, coloured texters.

I also put up large glossy posters, and pics of space, maps, the Greek alphabet, photographs, empowering quotes etc and swap them out every couple of months.

The bathroom, is a good read! 😆

I put up spelling words and then maybe, at breakfast one day I’ll simply ask, how do you spell such and such? They both blurt out the letters. Sometimes they’re wrong and they run to check the list.

We have a bi-weekly park hang, with a heap of other homeschool families and they love that.

We have a homeschool camp coming up.

Friday nights, they go to kids club and youth group: another favourite.

Saturday’s are for sports, then home for 2nd breakfast and family time.

Saturday night has become the unofficial sleepover night.

I think that’s about it.

That’s our life.

Now, when people ask me if I’m worried about them falling behind, or their ‘socialisation’, I just shrug it off. It doesn’t hold the same power over me, as it once did.

Sure, some days, those old thoughts are there. For the most part, my feelings are crystal clear.

Our children are wonderful people.

They’re curious, and brave and full of ideas. They’re clever and interesting and have deep friendships.

It’s hard to worry, when you can see all of that.

And so, thus ends a transitional chapter in our lives.

I hope our story has given you something real.

Diary of a Wimpy Mum! 😆

If you’re family is struggling with the school system, and it’s your time to make decisions for your family, I hope this little corner of the internet has helped you figure out what home schooling can look like.

It’s different for everyone.

Every family is different, and every child is different.

We all deserve to belong, and I hope you find your space.

With much kindness,

Lisa xx