“I hope at the end of all this I’ll have raised two kids who love learning.”
If they are not home, chances are Anna and her kids (ages 9 & 4) can be found in their local library. So great is their love for this community haven of literature, living within walking distance of it strongly influenced where they chose to reside in Rockingham, Western Australia. Homeschoolers from day dot, this musical, book loving, nature appreciating family value time together and connection over curriculum.
SUMMARY:
- Anna was born in Kalgoorlie but has lived in Perth since she was 6 years old. She met her husband on a trip to South Africa and convinced him to move to WA where they are now raising their family together.
- Being the recipient of a high school music scholarship didn’t equate to Anna loving school. She would have loved to have been homeschooled herself.
- Seeing the best and worst of kids lives, working in school chaplaincy prior to having kids herself, was a contributing factor to choosing to homeschool.
- Homeschooling was always on her radar. It wasn’t a really ‘out there’ decision for them, which made the choice easy, and they also didn’t experience any negative reactions from friends, family or their larger community.
- Anna loves the efficiency of homeschooling - particularly the one-on-one learning aspect of homeschooling, which schools aren’t able to replicate.
- Theirs is a literature based homeschool - books are at the centre of everything they do. Literature is the spine.
- Letting the kids loose in the library can lead to tangents of learning they may follow for a week.
- Being a one income family, the library is an incredible resource that she utilises to the utmost.
- Nature Discovery is an Australian nature study curriculum she wrote because she couldn’t find a resource that addressed the things that her kids saw around them.
- Connection drives all that they undertake and she loves being able to learn through experiences together. All life is learning.
- Books are wonderful, but there is a big world to experience out there beyond the books too.
- Her favourite thing about this lifestyle is getting to hang out with her kids and learn alongside them.
- Learning does’t stop at the completion of grade 12. Homeschooling extends childhood and play, and you can keep playing as an adult too.
- Wanting her kids to have a tree climbing childhood, pottering about in the garden and being part of the natural world.
CONNECT
Instagram - @naturediscoveryau
Facebook - Nature Discovery
Website - Nature Discovery
NOTE: This is an abridged version of the show notes.
Follow the link below to find quotes, resources and inspiration Anna shares in this episode:
FULL SHOW NOTES HERE
Connect with us:
Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories
Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories
This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.
Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
Listen on Spotify here