Mama's Musings

Here's a great opportunity...

A free video workshop - 7 Simple Steps to Create Your Own Homeschooling Curriculum

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO LEARN
– How to create a curriculum based on real life
– How to meet the needs of homeschool registration while remaining flexible and family-centred
– How to easily integrate skills for adult life in your curriculum

The Educating Parent Home Education Resource Directory is distributed through Beverley Paine’s website  and is freely shared among home educating families and support groups. 

Download your FREE 45 page copy from www.theeducatingparent.com

The directory is edited and published by Beverley Paine and April Jermey (Beverley's daughter).  They are also the family behind very popular Australian homeschooling book company Always Learning Books.

Home educating on a budget may seem like a challenge at first, especially if you are attempting to gather as many resources as your average classroom. There is no need to rush out and buy a lot of equipment that you may not need. First, sit down and write a “wish list”, then highlight the items you feel are most necessary to begin.

There are many alternatives to expensive educational resources. Here are some ideas to help you save money in setting up your home learning space.

- Buy furniture which has multiple uses. Consider a large, second-hand dining table over individual desks, for example - or just use your dining table! Use open shelving rather than cupboards for storing supplies and books. This allows the children to see what is available for their use and is less expensive.  We've used bolt-together galvanised steel five-shelf units to hold games, puzzles, and construction kits.  The children can see everything on the shelves and they remain...

My friend Kelly George from Fearless Homeschool who organises the Australian Homeschooling Summits has a fantastic FREE masterclass outlining the main points of the 8 most popular homeschooling styles. 

She explains what eclectic home education looks like, and how you can use multiple styles to create an interesting, varied, and effective education for your children.  This is how we've home educated for over two decades, and we're confident that it works!

Head over to Fearless Homeschool to access this Homeschool Styles Masterclass HERE.

I heard about All About Learning Press during the recent Australian Homeschooling Summit because they were one of the sponsors.  I went to their site to check out what they offered, and found a TON of free resources.  They have ebooks, checklists, activities, articles, posters, quick guides and apps.  

I'm embarking on a phonics journey with Zeah right now, and found a few really useful tools on this site - but it's not just for smalls!  The game sheets, for example, look like an excellent tool I'll use in future.

Here's another daily planner tool!  A good use for this one would be to print once and laminate, and use with a whiteboard marker.

The Head Heart Hands holistic approach to organising our days is one we have used throughout our whole parenting and home education journey.  It gives rhythm to the day and helps remind us to strive for balance.  It is also flows with the natural energy for most of us.  Here are some examples:

Head tasks in the morning - academics, budgeting/bills, phone calls
Heart tasks to recuperate - music, reading, or reading aloud together, cuddling, resting
Hands tasks to engage our bodies - craft, gardening, long walks, sport, cooking

Download your copy here.

Something simple is often the best tool for the task!

Here's a free printable - day to a page for those busy, busy weeks!

This is a fantastic, free pdf of a book designed for educators to share gardening with children.  It contains a wealth of info on planning, building, planting, maintaining, harvesting, eating and saving seeds - with relevant activity suggestions and resources.

Click on the book image to access the free download.

I've just come to the end of a free yearlong Permaculture course.  It was delivered to me in weekly modules containing excellent videos with Heather Jo Flores and other inspirational teachers, beautiful artwork by Kt Shepherd and SO MUCH content relevant to people living a variety of lifestyles.

This course is suitable for older students and adults, with elements of it worthwhile sharing with younger children too (like Kt's weekly drawings).

The HEA are offering the Autumn issue of Stepping Stones for FREE to inspire families during the current situation due to Covid-19.  It's available to read here.