Join Craigy, Cheryl and Elen as we have another round of answering questions from the HEFA community!

This week we discuss surviving the summer holidays, dealing with judgement from others, teaching subjects we arent comfortable with, core subjects and much more!

This week Elen, Cheryl and Craigy answer more questions from our HEFA members.

00:00 Introduction and Lego Version of Craig

02:44 Taking Time Out for Yourself When Children Are Around 24/7

13:44 Involving Children in Activities While Having Personal Time

20:26 The Role of Exposure, Motivation, and Play

26:48 The Benefits of Handwriting and Cursive Writing

31:38 Seeking Support for Struggling Readers and Writers

39:28 Understanding Homeschooling Education Standards

44:56 Navigating the Dynamics Between Home Educators and Local Authorities

45:26 Asserting Your Rights as a Home Educator

53:05 The Importance of Community Support in Home Education

01:09 Education Starts from Birth: Debunking the Ideal Age Myth

This week we are back with more of your questions! Join us as we discuss child-led learning and the challenges of adapting to a child-led approach, the importance of understanding education as a continuous process, concerns of one parent regarding their child's education and the pursuit of specific career paths such as becoming a vet, the challenges and strategies for imaginative play in children, as well as the topic of socialisation for home-educated children and more!

Takeaways

• Understanding education as a continuous and holistic process
• Balancing structured learning with child-led exploration
• The importance of adapting to a child-led approach
• Exploring career paths and educational choices for children
• The role of play and silliness in child development.
• Parents can support imaginative play by asking children to teach them and engaging in child-led play.
• Socialistion for home-educated children can involve informal meetups, community activities, and everyday interactions.
• Parental involvement and support are crucial for facilitating socialisation and providing opportunities for children to interact with others.
• Understanding the child's preferences and comfort level with socialisation is important, and parents should be open to communication and feedback from their children.

This week, I am interviewing Fred, a home-educating parent in England, about their experience with unschooling their three children, two of whom are teenagers. We discuss the reasons for choosing home ed, the challenges faced, and the different educational approaches.

Takeaways

• Unschooling can be a viable option for children who are not thriving in traditional school settings.

• Flexibility and individualised learning are key components of successful home ed.

• Community support and connections with other families can provide valuable resources and social opportunities.

• Societal expectations and pressure can negatively impact unschooling families, but it's important to prioritise the child's well-being and individual needs.

• Advocating for accommodations and support in higher education settings is possible for home ed children. Trust and believe in your children's abilities and give them the autonomy to direct their own learning.

• Provide support and resources, but allow your children to make mistakes and problem-solve on their own too.

• Find a supportive community of home edders who understand and share your approach.

• Recognise the developmental changes and challenges that teenagers go through and adjust your approach accordingly.

• Embrace the ups and downs of unschooling and appreciate the unique learning opportunities it provides.

In this week's episode, we discuss various topics related to home education as we answer questions from listeners!

We have a range of questions this week from changing a child's behaviour regarding social interactions, tackling math when the parent is not good at it, to dealing with concerned family members.

Takeaways

• Respect a child's boundaries and allow them to interact in their own way, as long as they are not being dangerous or intentionally rude.

• Model the behaviour you want to see and offer choices to encourage social interactions.

• Focus on numeracy rather than traditional maths, and make it relevant to everyday life.

• Address concerns from family members by asking specific questions and responding confidently.

• Remember that home ed allows for personalised learning and the development of essential skills beyond academic subjects. Be confident in your choice to home ed and don't feel the need to justify yourself to others

• Find a community of like-minded home edders for support and connection

• Avoid comparing yourself to other families and focus on what works best for your child

• Adjust your approach to accommodate your child's special educational needs

• Prioritise your child's mental and physical health in your home ed journey

00:00 Introduction

02:45 Navigating Social Interactions in Home ed

30:08 Dealing with Concerned Family Members

38:53 Navigating Family Concerns and Building Confidence

40:55 The Value of Finding a Home ed Community

51:50 Overcoming Guilt and Comparison in Home ed

57:20 Home Edding a Child with Special Educational Needs

01:01:59 Prioritising Mental and Physical Health

In this week's episode, we enjoy our first question time with my new co-hosts, Craig and Cheryl!

We discuss how to gauge a child's learning and progress, explore setting boundaries in the first few months of home education, the experience of being an admin on a home education group, how to avoid imposing beliefs on children, starting the home education journey and more!

00:00 Introduction and New Format

02:33 How to gauge how much your child is learning and progressing

16:28 Setting boundaries in the first few months of home education

30:57 The Parent's Perspective

32:43 The Experience of Being an Admin on a Home Education Group

37:03 Avoiding Imposing Beliefs on Children

48:57 Starting the Home Education Journey

54:52 The Philosophy of Home Education If you are looking for a transcript of the podcast, these can now be found in the HEFA group guides under this week's podcast.

This week I am joined by the lovely Adam from Manchester who joins me to chat about home ed and how that works for his family. Adam chats more about what led to him changing employment and shares his top tips for other home ed dads out there!

For this season we are focusing on home-ed dads! Join me as I chat with Luke, a home-ed dad who shares his excellent perspective and thoughts on what it is like to go from a reluctant home-edder to a strong advocate of home ed, who won't be sending his youngest child to school!