Slow Down

I just want to say having homeschooled my son through to the end of year 12 he is now coming to the end of his degree in software engineering at the University of Queensland.  We got there without any homeschool support groups, nor extra curricular classes.  It was a time before facebook connection and it was a much slower pace, but we got there all the same.  I say this not to critique what we have now which is a vibrant and buzzy community that has on offer a multitude of classes, groups and experiences for us all but rather to ease the minds of some who may feel overwhelmed with it all and I know from messages I have received that many are.  I certainly feel that way at times when so much is coming at us at breakneck speed, that often we wonder how are we ever going to fit it all in let alone afford it all.  The thing is you don't need to.  If you worry that you cannot find the time, money or indeed mental and physical energy to keep up I know that having been through it before with my son that you really don't need to do it all and they will still get to where they want.  Life is a continuous journey of learning.  My son didn't do any formal science classes until he was in year 11 and he still coped fine.  He had massive gaps in his maths according to some but he learned it as he needed it and ended up completing both maths B and C in year 12 as well as physics and computer science (having never attended a formal class before year 11 but just teaching himself online and from books).  When it had a purpose for him it clicked.  We are so very lucky and blessed to have what we have these days but just know that if all you do is hang out with your kids and learn stuff together from online classes, books from the library, chatting to friends, playing at the park and just tapping into the community at large you will get a rich education.  Don't feel pressure from these groups to do it all.  Happy Homeschooling lovely people <3 Xx

We need to be who we are...

Every time I read this story I feel emotional. It resonates with me so much. I was that child and I too wish someone had intervened. I am so glad that I have been able to intervene for my children and let them fly with the things they want to fly with. Let them follow their passions and be in their "element". That for me is what school crushed. I am sorry if some people think that I go on about this too much but I feel so passionate about it! We all have our gifts, likes, passions, interests or whatever else you wish to call them. Maybe if schools focussed on allowing children to follow them we would have a lot less disaffected kids with low self esteems coming out of the education system. I do not make this stuff up. It is real for many, many children and I know lots of these kids and their families and hear their frustrations and hurt. I only have to read the huge number of stories in support groups to do with children diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, Gifted, Dyslexia (the list goes on!) to know that school for many is just not working. Diagnosis or not many of these children are struggling in the system and feeling like failures when maybe all they need is to be allowed to shine in whatever it is that lights their fire. Many of them would not need these lables either. They just are who they are and if allowed to be just that there often are no problems. My son was one of these kids. In so much trouble at school. Meeting after meeting, specialist after specialist to "fix him" when he was never broken. Just misunderstood and caged. Unschooling for him was a lifeline. He got to follow his passion which was computers and programming. At the age of 19 he is in his final year of a software engineering degree and happy. School did not get him there. He got himself there.....  

Gillian was only eight years old, but her future was already at risk.  Her schoolwork was a disaster, at least as far as her teachers were concerned.  She turned in assignments late, her handwriting was terrible, and she tested poorly.  Not only that, she was a disruption to the entire class, one minute fidgeting noisily, the next staring out of the window, forcing the teacher to stop the class to pull Gillian’s attention back, and the next doing something to disturb the other children around her.  Gillian wasn’t particularly concerned about any of this – she was used to being corrected by authority figures and didn’t really see herself as a difficult child – but the school was very concerned.  This came to a head when the school wrote to her parents.

The school thought Gillian had a learning disorder of some sort and that it might be more appropriate for her to be in a school for children with special needs.  All of this took place in the 1930’s.  I think now they’d say she had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and they’d put her on Ritalin or something similar.  But the ADHD epidemic hand’t been invented at the time.  It wasn’t an available condition.  People didn’t know they could have that and had to get by without it.

Gillian’s parents received the letter from the school with great concern and sprang to action.  Gillian’s mother put her daughter in her best dress and shoes, tied her hair in ponytails, and took her to a psychologist for assessment, fearing the worst.

Gillian told me that she remembers being invited into a large oak-panelled room with leather-bound books on the shelves.  Standing in the room next to a large desk was an imposing man in a tweed jacket.  He took Gillian to the far end of the room and sat her down on a huge leather sofa.  Gillian’s feet didn’t quite touch the floor, and the setting made her wary.  Nervous about the impression she would make, she sat on her hands so that she wouldn’t fidget.

The psychologist went back to this desk, and for the next twenty minutes, he asked Gillian’s mother about the difficulties Gillian was having at school and the problems the school said she was causing.  While he didn’t direct any of his questions at Gillian, he watched her carefully the entire time.  This made Gillian extremely uneasy and confused.  Even at this tender age, she knew that this man would have a significant role in her life.  She knew what it meant to attend a “special school”, and she didn’t want anything to do with that.  She genuinely didn’t feel that she had any real problems, but everyone else seemed to believe that she did.  Given the way her mother answered the questions, it was possible that even she felt this way.

Maybe, Gillian thought, they were right.

Eventually, Gillian’s mother and the psychologist stopped talking.  The man rose from his desk, walked to the sofa, and sat next to the little girl.

“Gillian, you’ve been very patient, and I thank you for that”, he said.  “But I’m afraid you’ll have to be patient for a little longer.  I need to speak to your mother privately now.  We’re going to go out of the room for a few minutes.  Don’t worry; we won’t be very long”.

Gillian nodded apprehensively, and the two adults left her sitting there on her own.  But as he was leaving the room, the psychologist leaned across his desk and turned on the radio.

As soon as they were in the corridor outside the room, the doctor said to Gillian’s mother, “Just stand here for a moment, and watch what she does”.  There was a window into the room, and they stood to one side of it, where Gillian couldn’t see them.  Nearly immediately, Gillian was on her feet, moving around the room to the music.  The two adults stood watching quietly for a few minutes, transfixed by the girl’s grace.  Anyone would have noticed there was something natural – even primal – about Gillian’s movements.  Just as they would have surely caught the expression of utter pleasure on her face.

At last, the psychologist turned to Gillian’s mother and said, “You know, Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick.  She’s a dancer.  Take her to a dance school”.

I asked Gillian what happened then.  She said her mother did exactly what the psychologist suggested.  “I can’t tell you how wonderful it was”, she told me.  “I walked into this room, and it was full of people like me.  People who couldn’t sit still.  People who had to move to think“.

She started going to the dance school every week, and she practiced at home every day.  Eventually, she auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in London, and they accepted her.  She went on to join the Royal Ballet Company itself, becoming a soloist and performing all over the world.  When that part of her career ended, she formed her own musical theatre company and produced a series of highly successful shows in London and New York.  Eventually, she met Andrew Lloyd Webber and created with him some of the most successful musical theatre productions in history, including Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.

Little Gillian, the girl with the high-risk future, became known to the world as Gillian Lynne, one of the most accomplished choreographers of our time, someone who has brought pleasure to millions and earned millions of dollars.  This happened because someone looked deep into her eyes – someone who had seen children like her before and knew how to read the signs.

Someone else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down.  But Gillian wasn’t a problem child.  She didn’t need to go away to a special school.

She just needed to be who she really was.

From the book “The Element – How finding your passion changes everything” by Ken Robinson

Frenzy, worry and stress

Over time I have noticed that many of us get into a frenzy of worry and stress about things. It seems to be rife in homeschooling circles! We all worry about whether we are doing the right thing. We see that others are using different curriculum, doing more or less classes than us, doing more hours of school work, doing less. We feel that we (or more importantly our children) are missing out and life turns into a frenzy. Frenzy is the word too!! Sometimes for me I have learned to step back, breath and do nothing. It helps bring clarity and let's me work out what is really right for my family and I - stepping back and sometimes doing nothing and just letting things calm down has stood me in stead over the past 10 years of homeschooling. Things really do work out whether you join 101 different homeschool groups, classes, events or not and your children will be fine - just saying lovely people wink emoticon xoxo

Peace and Love

Tis a fact that some people dislike school and it is also a fact that some may love it. I am someone who for a whole host of reasons do not find school fits with me nor my ideals at all. It did not serve me well as a child and it has not served my children well. I respect the opinons of others if they are pro school but my page SunnyHomeschool/Unschool is a reflection of where I am on this life journey. I post things that resonate with me. I may not agree with everything I post but it has touched me in some way for a reason hence my sharing with a view to it maybe touching another. If you do not like what I post or if it does not resonate with you then I respect that and suggest that either you scroll on past or unlike my page. Thank you to all my likers and those who support me in what I do. If my page helps just one family see that there are other options outside of school then I have achieved what I set out to do. Most people know about school, many do not know about homeschooling and especially unschooling. My family were in a place of darkness with my eldest child when he was at school and coming home saved him and me. That is a huge part of my life journey and the reason behind some of my views. Home worked and still works for us. School may work for you and that is great but I continue to follow the path that we have found ourselves on and we are now far from the gates of a school but I sincerely wish everyone peace and love wherever you are in your own journey and I hope that you wish the same for me - yours in gratitude, Heather xox

High School Years

After my post yesterday about worrying.  A few people have messaged me asking about my son and high school and university entrance.  Samuel was unschooling when he went to the University of the Sunshine Coast Open Day and checked out the ICT Department as his interest has always been in computing and most particularly programming.  They were really lovely there, although a little unused to homeschooling and particularly the fact that Samuel was not enrolled with any type of school and nor was he registered with HEU.  They spoke to him about the Headstart program that is available to Year 11 and 12 students but said that he needed to be enrolled with a school.  http://www.usc.edu.au/study/courses-and-programs/headstart-program-year-11-and-12-students The Headstart program gives teens a chance to try out a couple of Uni papers and go to lectures with the full time students and get a real feel for University and whether it might be something for them later.  If you pass the papers you are guaranteed a place on the full time degree whether you get OPs or complete Year 11 and 12 or not.  Since Samuel did the course they have changed the rules and now you just need to be registered with HEU - so no school enrolment is necessary.  He loved his time there and after having such a bad experience of school it gave him back his confidence and he was able to hang out with others who were as interested in programming as he was!

Unfortunately the degree that Samuel wanted to do was being discontinued so he looked to Brisbane and found a course that really excited him at the University of Queensland.  He decided to stay with Brisbane School of Distance Ed and complete his year 11 and 12 (but you really don't need to do that).  He was enjoying his time with them though and it was his choice completely what he wanted to do.  He had made some friends (which previously he had never had) so for him it was a great experience and although some say that BSDE are inflexible, we managed to muddle along in a way that suited Samuel - he really did kind of just do it his way - but then he always does!  He did not do the full quota of OP's and nor did he get the pre-requisite OP in English that it stipulated for his course but we just put his case forward about his learning difficulty in written English (having been diagnosed with Dysgraphia) but also showing that he had not only a great ability in programming but also a huge passion for the subject - sometimes you just have to speak up for what you want in life and if it has never happened before be the pioneer that makes sure it does!  His results from the Headstart course were a big help on his University application.  He was also able to show other things too that he had done such as gaining first aid certificates when he was in the surf life saving club etc.  You can gain points from things like this and they all go towards what is known as a 'ranking'.  So basically Samuel was offered a place at Uni going in on a ranking rather than an OP score.

There is also another option for those who wish to continue staying out of the system for as long as possible and that is to complete a TPP (Tertiary Preparation Pathway) course http://www.usc.edu.au/study/courses-and-programs/tertiary-preparation-pathway-tpp which if you pass will enable you direct entry onto a degree at the University of Sunshine Coast (and I am sure at other Universities across the country).  There really are so many options that I feel the best thing to do is just let your child follow their interests and see where it lead's them.   Well that has been our experience so far and it seems to have worked.  

For a child who was suspended from every school he went to (except his little primary school in the UK) and was seen as a big problem by many (having been diagnosed with ADHD/ASD/Gifted but with a learning difficulty - Dysgraphia - yep lots of labels that in no way define him!) - he has excelled at home, has kept his self esteem in tact and I have been privileged to spend the years that I have with him on a day to day basis before he flew the nest to go to University.  I am sure others will have different stories but this is a snippet of ours through the high school years - hope it helps lovely people who wanted to know! :D

A passion for knitting...

My 7 year old daughter's latest passion is knitting  She has been knitting all day (it was funny to watch her walking along with her friends today whilst knitting!) and is still knitting whilst in bed (even when I kissed her goodnight and switched of the light at 8pm - when I went past later the light was on and as I peeked in sure enough she was knitting!) It highlighted for me yet again the motivation to keep going a child can have when it is something they want to learn rather than what we want them to learn  (incidentally she tried to teach me and I was not interested at all and so just could not pick it up - lesson learned again - what is of interest to one may not be to another and that is ok!