“He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” Saint Francis of Assisi Have you ever wondered how some parents seem to effortlessly raise such...

Unlike their school-going peers, being out in nature for extended periods is arguably one of the hidden privileges of home educated children. Most Home Ed children spend considerable amounts of time outdoors daily playing freely or meaningfully observing nature, a...

RITUALS AND PRACTICES TO CULTIVATE THE LOVE OF MUSIC AT HOME Cultivating Music as a family cultural legacy Growing up, my taste in music was greatly influenced by my parent’s preferences. Motown classics, 70s and 80s disco funk, African hi-life, Zairean/Congolese...

How do you teach, encourage or inspire your children to appreciate or engage with music at home? This question was the subject of my discussion with Afia Bayayi, an ex-secondary school teacher turned full time home educator, on the podcast this week. In the opening...

Reflections from Podcast Episode 4  For most parents, any talk of summer holiday conjures up images of planning that much needed holiday in the sun, organising summer camp activities or catching up on much overdue socials with friends and families. The thought of...

Lent for me, like Advent, is one of those very important events in the Christian calendar that never fully came alive until I began home educating. I’ve always been big on Easter as I am on Christmas. However, the quiet periods leading up to these much-celebrated...

Last Wednesday, I had a rather unusual day. It was the first day of Lent. I had plans of having a quiet and contemplative day, with time for some deep, focused work interspersed with moments for my son and I to observe our various Lenten rituals. What we got instead,...

The word diversity is so loaded these days. To some, it could mean diversity of faith, of gender, of race/culture, geographical boundaries, social class or function. I am pretty sure this is not an exhaustive list. To avoid the weight of this nuanced word, I often...

Podcast Lovers Assemble I have been long term fan of podcasts since 2011. Before that it was talk radio, particularly BBC Radio 4. In fact, it was nostalgia for community through radio 4 programs that pulled me into podcasts once I got my first smart phone. Living in...

Last weekend was quite memorable, it snowed for the first this winter in most parts of England! My little man was giddy with excitement as his cousins were around briefly, so he had someone to frolic in the snow with. Me? All I wanted was to curl up in bed with a warm...

Yesterday, we ventured into a territory I’ve been holding back on for a while. Physics and Chemistry are foreign languages to me. As soon as I could help it, age 13 to be precise, I streamed into Liberal Arts so I’d never have to study them again.

You would not believe it if I told you but Sonshine and I are now time-travellers. In the last four months we’ve travelled 5,000 years from Ancient Sumer to Medieval Britain.

We’ve been raising caterpillars and butterflies for the past three weeks. We’ve become experts on Painted Lady Butterflies, and have read about, drawn, modelled and recently watched a fantastic @curiositysteam documentary on their migration from Morocco to Europe.

My teeny iPhone camera does not even begin to capture the imposing magnificence of this 14th century moated masterpiece.

May has flown by so quickly, along with our fascinating study of the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh. His story is not the easiest or most inspiring to share with a young child. However, thanks to Home Ed, I have the freedom to coach such sensitive life lessons...