This episode is inspired by a couple of radio and news interviews I gave recently and I realised that when people find out that I am homeschooling my children, their response is often "Oh, you homeschool?" followed by some questions that can be quite hard to answer. In this episode, I will share with you how I answered these questions, the real thoughts that were in my head at the same time, and how I would flip those questions around if I had the time and opportunity to. I hope the episode's deep dive into some of these topics will also open your mind and strengthen your view about home education.

So in this episode, I will share my thoughts and responses to:

"Oh, you homeschool?"

1) What about socialisation and their social skills?

2) How do you know they are keeping up?

3) If your children tells you that they want to go back to school, will you let them?

4) How do you prefer them for life / work / success? What if they want to go to university? They won't be able to if they are homeschooled.

I hope by sharing my thoughts, you will find the confidence to reply to this comment of "Oh, you homeschool? I can never do that." with "Yes, I do, thank you for the compliment, I am very glad I am doing so."

This journey of Home Education is similar to swimming uphill against the current in a river. It is full of adventures, challenges and there will be days that feel like this journey is a complete struggle.

Perhaps you are struggling with one of those days when your kids are not doing whatever you would like them to. Perhaps your child is a stubborn one not just today but every day. Perhaps you have one of those struggling kids, and they have you worried because they are not where they are supposed to be with their academic skills. Or perhaps today is just one of those days you felt you haven't accomplish anything for yourself or your children in you are starting to wonder whether it is time for you to consider mainstream schooling.

We have all been there.

In this episode, I share four strategies that I have found useful in helping me get through those days when things feel overwhelming for me, and I hope they will help you too.

And in listening to this, I hope you also see "struggles" in a new light and know that while they can be frustrating and painful, they are also what gives a story a beautiful ending.

This is the other Big Question that many home educators have on their minds and are asked by people around them (the #1 question is about Socialisation - that is in Episode 3!)

The question: "How can I homeschool my kids when I am not a teacher / trained as a teacher?"

In this episode, I share why you don't have to be one and why you shouldn't be one. This episode will help you:

- examine your role as a home educator, and how we are in fact we should act as facilitators and coaches for our children to bridge them with the contents / information and instructional teaching that is already out there.

- reaffirm your decision to homeschool your children and why traditional ideas of education and school does not suit our children

- introduce the idea of facilitation and problem-based learning as an approach to education

- why traditional instructional teaching methods in schools will not prepare our children adequately for jobs that are in fact not yet in existence

- what we should be doing as a coach and facilitator in their educational journey

The #1 question about homeschooling - What about socialisation?

Whether you are homeschooling, thinking about homeschooling or have decided to inform others that you are homeschooling, you will be faced with this question about "socialisation".

In this episode, we will try to understand the many layers of the word "socialisation" and what it really means. Socialisation does and really should start at home and it is not the school's responsibilty to teach our children the skills they need to navigate relationships in life. Some ideas to think about:

1) Social life - what does this mean for children and is school designed for this? (hands-up if you have had a teacher tell you "You are here to learn, not socialise!")

2) Social skills - why homeschool settings are different from a school setting in helping kids build social skills.

3) Social connections and social capital - what relationships are they forming that will serve them (or not)? Here, we discuss the ideas of peer pressure and the power of family connections.

And in its truest sense of the word - if you haven't been able to find your tribe, build one! Socialisation is about finding the inner strength and confidence to put ourselves out there in the world and connect with our people.

In this episode, I am going to try to provide the top 3 points to consider if you are thinking about these big questions:

"Is homeschooling better than mainstream schooling for my children? Should I homeschool my kids?"

Interestingly, I haven't had many people ask me in person about this, but I know there are many people out there trying to seek information to try to decide if they should homeschool, and here I discuss the top 3 things that a parent should consider before they come to a decision.

1) Why they are thinking about homeschooling?

2) Are they willing to accept the trade-offs that come with homeschooling including - time, effort and money.

3) Are their life partners on board with this idea?

The truth is, there is no right or wrong answer - homeschooling is not always a better option. Every family has different circumstances, and what's most important is finding the right option that works for them as a family.

I hope you find this episode useful and if you did, please pass on the information to anyone else who needs it, so that they can make an informed decision too.

In this episode, I share our family's personal story about how we got started with homeschooling.

- How I had mistakenly thought that we were "accidental homeschoolers" and with some thought, I realised that there were so many past experiences that led us to this point.

- The emotional roller-coaster we went through during this process

- Why we chose to homeschool and how the reasons become clearer as we came on this journey