I’m Emma, married to Paul and mum to Chloe (18) , Ethan (14) and Tabitha (8).
I started home educating when Chloe was 5. She wasn’t enjoying her reception year at school, so we decided to home educate. My other two have never been to school.
We don’t really have a typical week other than our regular activities (swimming, basketball, piano lesson, Sea cadets, Brownies, dance classes are some of those!). We have just moved, so our routine has been all over the place for the last few months. My oldest is now at university, so I just have my younger two at home. My 14 year old is pretty much unschooled, whereas my 8 year old prefers much more structure to her learning. Home ed has allowed me to educate my children according to their needs and abilities. Even within our little family I haven’t been able to use a one size fits all approach.
Home education has given us so much freedom. We are able to plan our days. Be it a holiday, museum trip, theatre visit, or simple spending the whole day in the garden or absorbed in a book or craft project. There are no bells, and no rush to move on to the next thing.
I am also grateful for the time home ed has given me. To be with my children for their younger years. It goes so fast. My advice to new home ed parents would be to slow down and enjoy it. There’s no need to sign up for everything or spend time rushing from one activity to another. Just being together is enough.