PART 2: Should You Pull Your Kid Out of School? Montessori, Steiner, Homeschool. Let’s Talk

Hey legend,

This week’s episode is a big one.

 If you’ve ever looked at your child and thought —

 “School is literally draining their soul,”

 You’re not crazy… you’re onto something.

In Part 2 of my deep dive into the Aussie education system, I’m answering listener questions about:

 🎒 The Year 7 crash landing (and why so many kids disengage)

 🌱 Montessori, Steiner, and the alternative models that actually make sense

 🏡 The homeschooling boom and what parents aren’t being told

 💻 Online learning - when it helps, when it harms, and how to tell the difference

It’s raw, real, and the kind of chat every parent wishes schools were having.

🎧 Listen to Part 2 now on The Mind School Podcast

Let’s raise kids who love to learn again — not just survive the system.

B x

As always, please don't forget to hit Subscribe! xxx

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Okay, we are back for part two. If you tuned in last week, you will know that this is a big conversation about the overall landscape of the Australian education system. For a long time, I have been an advocate for change, reform. I think it's broken. I think the lot, a lot of the research, data, studies, personal, anecdotal, professional experience that I have supports this. And in last week's episode, I really set the scene, set the landscape, and hopefully gave you a few pieces of or principles that will help you make decisions for your family in this episode, which I've broken into two parts. So part two today is listener questions. Most of these questions were centered around what kind of school, alternative school models, what I think of them, what they are. Montessori Steiner, home schooling, online schooling. There's a listener question about how to get a child re engaged in school, or if she should just do online learning because, quote, school is sucking the life out of her. So common. I heard this a lot, particularly in year seven, so I'm going to answer all of that. Welcome back to part two. If you were not listening last week, I highly recommend you go back and listen to last week's episode first, which is really going to set the scene for this conversation. And this conversation sparked a lot of questions, which I'm going to answer. Now I'm going to do this in the quickest, most rapid fire way that I can and make it really practical to you. And at the end, I'm also going to give you questions that I would ask as a family or as a couple or whatever your context is as an individual, to select the right approach for your specific child. So first question that I have, it says My daughter has just started year seven. She's refusing to go to school due to mental health, which is also causing physical symptoms on top of her actual medical conditions. We're still going down the road of assessments for ADHD and autism. A friend of mine is a teacher and suggested online learning. Do you know much about this? She loves learning. Is very intelligent, but school just sucks her soul. And this hurts. I hate to hear this. And honestly, in my experience, I will say this is not common, but not uncommon. Year seven, I would say, is the biggest leap and the biggest adjustment, and year seven is probably where there is the most teething issues, the most problems, the most kids that struggle with the change into high school. It is a huge academic up level. It is big in terms of just learning how to get to different classrooms. Like, there's so much to it and so on the one hand, I want to say, like, if they can get through year seven and this transitional year, because it really is if they can get through this transitional year and see how they go in the next few years, I would kind of recommend that. But then at the same time, if you say that her mental health is being impacted, I would really want to get to the root. There's got to be a route like, what is it about school? And they might say it's everything. I can't I don't know. I don't know it's everything. There's always a reason. And so I would really be, I'd be curious to know, and maybe you could either speak to and there will be, hopefully, one or two teachers that she really vibes with and resonates with. And it might not be her home school teacher or her coordinator, but maybe it's her English teacher, maybe it's her math teacher, if there is one that she just has taken, taken a like and liking to reach out to that teacher, because in my experience, they will help. They will go above and beyond. I did that quite a lot for a few different students over the years, and I would go and check on recess and lunch and just a bit of an extra eye on the ground and communication with the parent went a long way. So I'd find what, who that teacher is, have a conversation, reach out and figure out what's going on. I would potentially see if this student could see counselor or a coach, or whoever it might be, to help support and figure out what is the actual root cause. Is there some social issues going on? Is there some bullying? Is she not has she not found her friendship group? Is there one or two teachers that are making her anxious? Or perhaps she's feeling like she's not performing in that class and she's scared, like there's so many different reasons. I personally, and this is just a personal approach, would rather see students find ways to overcome than take the first I'm getting out of here route, and I'm going to just avoid it route. But also in saying that I understand that every situation is different, and in some cases, taking a step back, going to a different school, all of these different things trying online learning could be the right option. It's case by case. But again, if the root cause, and this is why we need to know, sort of what it is, if the root cause, let's say, is a social issue, and we go, okay, you can go to online learning, then my concern becomes, but what about nurturing social relations? Relationships. What about her peers? What about having a friendship group? So yes, online learning might get rid of that problem, but it also creates other problems, and so then we've got to go, Okay, so maybe online learning is a great idea, but how can we make sure that she's still invested in other communities? Is she still doing sports? Is she still going to social homeschooling communities, like all of those different things are really, really important. So I think without knowing or speaking to this student, my initial thought would be, a, can we figure out the root cause that's causing these mental health issues and concerns? B, can we treat this as and you could even say to her, we're just going to give this until the end of year eight, or halfway through year eight, because everyone, lots of people, struggle with year seven, and that's completely understandable. Let's just try until halfway through year eight and see if it resolves itself, because oftentimes it does. What I'll also say is that this was another thing that just absolutely broke my heart. I found that by the time they got to year eight, they were already over it. They were already burnt out. They were often already like, done with learning. Thought it was boring, had already switched off. Because in the traditional school system, it's like there's so much testing and over crowding of curriculum and standardized testing and all of this, that by the time they get to year seven, eight, and they've got a pretty like schools. By schools vary. They've got a pretty hectic exam timetable in some schools, homework timetable, and they're like 1213, and so I did find it really heartbreaking how many of them kind of switch off by the time they're in year eight. But it also was very common that year seven was a challenging year. So just have that conversation that would be my my first initial response, please reach out if there's anything else that I can help with, or if you've got more questions to this, but I would definitely be wanting to know root cause, okay. Second question, are there any public schools that are play based This is a huge question. There are, and they typically are more alternative style schools, which I'm going to get into, things like Montessori, Waldorf Steiner, those alternative pedagogies are very play based, but each state is so different, and that is something that you would definitely want to ask when you start doing your rounds about and look at their environment. Environment is so influential to learning to engagement. Engagement in the first few years is very highly dependent on the environment, and so have a look around. Look at their play area. Look at how much nature is around them. Look at what they actually have in term in terms of resources for play. I'm not going to do individual schools, because obviously we've got listeners from all over the place, but I will say, if play based learning is very important to you, and it really is, like all of the research suggests, play based learning for the first seven years is so powerful, I would suggest, like I said, look at the environment, ask the schools, and potentially even look at some of those alternative schooling pedagogies like Steiner, and that leads me to my next question. So the next question was, we go to a Steiner School? Any thoughts on alternative models like this? Personally adore them. Absolutely freaking adore them. In saying that I haven't actually worked in one I have just done a lot of reading, and I've spoken to a lot of parents, and I understand the differences in their approach. So when we say alternative models, we'd be thinking about things like Montessori. We'd be thinking things like Steiner or Waldorf, and I'm going to start really quickly with Montessori as an alternative model. So Montessori has the core philosophy that which is kind of different to the traditional model that children are naturally curious and capable and best learned through self directed activity and hands on exploration. So their approach is that education should actually nurture independence and intrinsic motivation. I believe that's very different to the traditional approach, which kind of sees children as these empty vessels for teachers to pour knowledge and information into, whereas Montessori is like they're already capable, they're already curious, they will learn, and they will learn through their own self directed activity. So with Montessori school, some of the difference is that they have multi age classrooms. So for example, the three year olds to six year olds might be together. I think it's in three years at a time. And that is has pros and cons. You can you know, the older kids get to step into that responsible archetype and look out for the younger ones. The younger ones get to learn from the older ones. They get a little bit of engagement with lots of different age groups. And then the other thing that's really different is that the teacher kind of acts more as an observer and a guide than a lecturer. And that's what I say, is like that main difference that I see the natural educate, sorry, the traditional education system. I. Almost sees kids as like, I said, empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, and the teacher is there to, like, give them information and knowledge, whereas Montessori is like, No, you're just there to guide them and observe them. There's also minimal external awards or punishment, because they really focus on intrinsic motivation. So that can be a really great thing depending on, again, your own values. So the strengths of Montessori, really, it's very much fostering independence and, like I said, self directed activity, intrinsic motivation also, like so important that we are intrinsically motivated, as opposed to validated from things outside of ourselves, the things to consider, and some of the arguments against this style would be that it's less structured, and some people thrive on structure. It. Some people, I've heard, say that isn't a reflection of the real workplace, that isn't a reflection of real life. You don't get to just choose and self direct and all of that. And so sometimes the other problem is Montessori often only goes to, like, year six or seven, and then sometimes the transition into a more traditional schooling system can be challenging, although I'm almost certain I'll have to find the actual research. But last time I checked, I believe that those who enter high school who have a alternative Montessori Steiner primary education typically actually perform better academically in later years and in academia or tertiary education. So I'm almost certain that if you have a primary education in an alternative model, and then you integrate into the traditional model, I believe they actually perform better. So Montessori love personally, I we and this will, I'll get to at the end. We're obviously having conversations. At the moment, my husband and I, because we're expecting, and we always talk about this stuff, like, what school and where do we want to live for the right school? And the answer is, it depends. We don't know our child yet, and so I'll get to that. Do I think Montessori is amazing? Yes. Is it amazing for everyone? Maybe not, like it depends. But ultimately, if you want to nurture their own curiosity, and you believe that they should be able to self direct rather than, for example, in traditional school, it's like, okay, get out your English. This is what we're doing. Okay. Get out your maths. This is what we're doing. Okay, put that away. This is what we're doing. Teacher stands, teacher lectures with child, directed to an to an extent with child, direction, directed, self directed activity. They go towards what they're naturally curious in, and they have hands on exploration. And that's amazing, like, I love personally, seeing where kids naturally gravitate towards. For me, I love the idea of fostering their natural curiosities, because, duh, we always perform better in the things that we actually love. Whoever went to class and snoozed for half the lessons because you weren't interested. Like, to me, that's just obvious. But again, I've heard people say that's not the real world, blah, blah, blah. So anyway, that's Montessori Steiner. Steiner should nurture the whole child. So Steiner is similar, but there is a very strong emphasis on head, heart, hands. So there is a lot of balancing the intellectual, artistic and creative learning. So for Steiner and Waldorf. Education, there is a real strong emphasis on creativity, imagination and the arts, so they really delay introduction to formal academia. Reading and writing, for example, is introduced around the age of seven, which is a little bit later than the traditional a lot later than the traditional schools. But like I said, with that research that I pointed out before, if they've got a lot of those foundational skills in self regulation and concentration and attention, they're probably going to do better when reading and writing and formal academic education is introduced. So I would say that as a positive, the other thing with Steiner is that one teacher or guide stays with the same group for several years, and that can be good or bad. If you've got a teacher that your child really vibes with, and they've got great rapport and that child, they get each other. That's amazing, that they get to nurture that for years. But if you've got a teacher or a guide that doesn't quite click with your child and it's not working, again, the opposite is true. They're together for a few years. Like I said, a lot of integration in the arts, movement, music, storytelling, craft, natural materials and lots of rituals. So I think that's beautiful. It's like a really holistic education, and it really fosters imagine, imagination, community and a real sense of social responsibility, which I also personally love, some things to consider or potential cons for your family, again, depends on you. Some of the aspects which are quite I suppose, spiritual may not suit some families, especially if you really highly prioritize academic. Academic pursuits, and you don't want that to be delayed. So that's kind of the Steiner, Waldorf Montessori approach. As you can probably tell, those alternative models very similar in the fact that they respect the child as an active and capable learner. There's a lot of emphasis on experienced learning, like hands on doing learning, as opposed to sitting at a desk and just being fed information, there is a really strong emphasis on their environment and the esthetic of their environment, rather than just like desks in a line, very minimal pressure academically, which again, is actually in line with countries like Finland, who is always in the top performers. Again, they also don't really prioritize academic performance until the later years, and that is shown to have really positive outcomes. So for me, overall, those alternative models are honestly frickin brilliant, like I would it would probably be one of my preferences, depending on my son and him. So again, it's all dependent. So the next question that I had, and this was a lot of different questions, in different ways, was about homeschooling, where to start any thoughts on whether we should do a mix of our own or other programs that are available, etc, etc. Again, I'm going to just pre frame this with I don't have experience with home schooling, but I have experience with the education system and student well being as a whole. So things that you need to know for home schooling, a it's getting way more popular, which is a great thing, because there are more programs, there are more people that have got support. There are more social groups for homeschoolers. There is a huge movement in this space, and given the context, I can understand why. I can fully understand why I'm going to have to give a really broad overview, because the legal and registration requirements really vary by state and territory. So homeschooling is legal in all Australian states, but the rules, registration, processes, reporting, all of that really differs. What I will say is that you've got to make a decision about whether you're going to go full DIY, like, Nah, I'm doing it all myself, or a bit of a mix with a hybrid, where it's like, I'm going to do some distance education, some using an external program provider, or a little bit of both. So you would have to do a bit of research about what kind of programs are out there for you, and again, talk about what is important to you as a family. Something else to consider is why you are doing it and whether your child is actually suited. So if you want to home school, we need to make sure that it's actually the best thing for the child. Like is that better for them? Does it support special needs? Is it about lifestyle flexibility? Is there health issues that you need to be on top of and you feel more comfortable with them being at home? Have you considered your child's personality, their motivation, their social and emotional needs, and how you'll support social and emotional needs outside of the homeschooling environment. So it's really important to me, and this is, again, I'm about to say something that is completely just my opinion. When I send my child to school, if they go to a regular, traditional school, for me, it's not, actually, I don't see it as fully preparing them academically, I just don't think that the curriculum is relevant these days, I will be doing that job at home myself. I see school as a great opportunity for my child to have social skills, to make friends, to learn how to get on with a wide variety of people, to exist in community. I'm seeing school as that, rather than actually preparing them from like an academic lens, because it's so fucking outdated, but that's that's a story for another day. So yes, I think that it's a great thing, but you just want to be sure that they're still getting socialization and that you're connecting to homeschooling, programs, social circles, and all of those things that exist. Homeschooling is a very big difference, a very big lifestyle change, and you've got to be prepared for that too. So when you send your kids to traditional school, you drop them off. They're gone for six or seven hours. You pick them up when they're homeschooling, they actually don't require seven hours. Six or seven hours they might require, and from what I've heard, two to three hours a day, or even a few times a week, is enough, and I fully understand how that can be true. If I'm honest, I'd say 60 to 70% of the school day is full of fluff. It's moving between classes. It's settling down between classes. It's recess, it's lunch, it's assembly. It's listening while the child is what, sorry, while the teacher is trying to manage other students, it's being distracted by other students. If I had one on one time with just a couple students, we would not need the whole day to get the things done. We would be able to do it a lot faster, and I think it would be a lot. More productive, so I can see how you don't need as much time. So that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your context. What I will say about that is that you then as the parent. If you're going to home school without an external program or facilitator or provider, you are the teacher, the parent, and I can see how that could be a lot. It could be taxing. It could be hard to be their parent and teacher, editor, homework, checker, all of those things. So you've just really got to check in with, like, your commitment, how much time you've got available, what subject expertise you have, and what you don't have, and what they would need potential extra support in and if you do it yourself, you probably will need to manage you know what you're going to teach them and how you're going to assess them, and and there's so many other little things that I think come up here. It's like, do I believe that everybody has to be qualified with a university degree to be an incredible teacher? No, I think it's a very innate skill set that is even further reinforced with practice. But not everyone is born to be a teacher and can get the best out of their kids. And also, one of the other issues that I would say could present itself to be aware of is that if they are only ever learning from one or two people, they may get an echo chamber, and they won't have as much experience with different teaching styles and different personalities. And that's one of the benefits of having a wide variety of different teachers that exist in a formal or an alternative classroom. But if you were joining all of those homeschooling communities, and they're surrounded by lots of different people, and you've got different people taking on different subjects and things like that, then 100% I think that it can work, especially if it suits your child and your family better, especially if you're like, you know, if your family goes, No, we're going to do a lap around Australia, and we're going to homeschool, and they're going to learn So much more by being in the environment. And learning about nature, and we're going to teach them that way. And if that's more important, do I think it can be done beautifully? Absolutely, I think it's such a cool such a cool option. Something else just to be conscious of is like record keeping assessments, most states will require you to maintain records and prove your child's learning progress, curriculum, plan, samples of work, all of those little bits and pieces. So you'll need to be just on top of that. And then, if you're using a program provider, whether that's online or not, you just want to ask them, like, how do they support this part? Do they help with all of the assessment, all of the record keeping and the getting your child's work recognized. So that's something else to check about cost, while homeschooling actually can be quite cost effective compared to private schooling. There's still costs. You need curriculum resources, maybe some tutoring, maybe some extracurricular maybe online subscriptions to online programs. So there are some costs, but if it's compared to like a private education, I'm sure you'd end up better off. It's very valuable. I would say, if you're going to go down the homeschooling route, to connect with the homeschooling communities, support groups, online forums, help with curriculum ideas, social meetups, sharing resources. Like honestly, half of the beauty of being a qualified teacher is that you've just got a fucking three or four bedrooms in your house full of teaching resources, and they are worth their weight in gold. So I would definitely recommend going online and being part of like a resources page, something like teachers help teachers, or something like that, where people are sharing resources. And then the other thing just to consider is that, is your child like, what is the options for after schooling? How are they going to transition if they want to go to high school? How are they going to transition if they want to go to university, if they do want to do any of that? What qualifications or portfolios are they going to need if you think they're going to want to go to workplace training or anything like that, just checking the credentials and making sure you're ticking that box, because that is something that the education system has to do. They have to provide evidence, they have to provide credentials, they have to provide learning samples, and that is something that you will have to do by yourself. So homeschooling, amazing, love. It just has to be right for you and your family. And then the other thing is, private versus public. I'm going to touch on this really fast, because it's turning into a long episode. Private versus public. I'm going to be sharing my personal opinions and views here, and like I said, this is based on the fact that most of my personal education and then professional education was in the private system, and then having that contrast when I walked into the public schools in a low socio economic area was startling to say the least. Least private schools obviously come with a price tag and just are not an option for everyone. And like I said at the beginning of this episode, Australia has a huge discrepancy and variation in quality of education based on how much money you've got, basically. And there are so many things at play here, and so many considerations to make as a family. Obviously, it is a financial decision and a big one. And I know lots of people who will have conversations and say, Okay, we could go to a great public school, because there are some really great public schools, but we would need to live in that area, and to live in that area, we would have to probably have a higher mortgage, but then we would get free education. So it's a lot of tossing up. If you live in a good area, usually the public schools do a little better. The lower socio economic areas typically have lower socio economic schools students. And like I said, there is a huge disparity in so many different things, and so there's a lot of things to consider here. For me, what I love about private schools, and there is a huge pricing difference even amongst private schools, some of them start at like 12 grand, 10 grand a year in junior school. Some of them go up to 2030, grand a year in high school, per student. So it's a huge investment, and there's pros and cons. What I will say is that what I love about private education is just how strong their values education is, things like respect, things like integrity, things like kindness, like every school has got like a motto, and they really, truly live and breathe it as a staff, as a community, and maybe sometimes that is influenced by religion. But whether or not you're a religious family and that matters to you or not, what I love about it is how that really instills high quality values in so many of the kids. And I really saw that, like I really could see the difference in lots of things, and this is, you know, a very nuanced conversation, because that obviously values comes from home, but it is really bolstered in the private system, even when I think about religion, I used to teach religion at one of the schools, and it's like, I don't really know much about the Bible, to be honest. I was raised at a Catholic school. Didn't pay much attention, but it was actually just a whole lesson dedicated every week to sitting and talking about a parable and what that meant about being kind to your neighbor and being honest. And, you know, those who have not sinned can cast the first stone. So it's about integrity and hypocrisy and some really cool conversations that I think were, if you value that, I think that was a really cool thing. There's obviously, like, different standards of certain things at some of the private schools too, like, just uniform standards. That was honestly most of the behavior management in those schools, which is laughable when I walked into some of the other public schools. Like the biggest behavior management issues were often like, tuck your shirt in, which is so funny because at other schools it was like, let's call police reinforcement. So, you know, huge diversity in the landscape, and it's so dependent on your area, your where you live, all of those things. One thing that I will say is that sometimes in private school, because the standards are so high, I have noticed quite a lot of extra pressure. I when I was mindset coaching teenage girls. When I first started my business, it was often the private education that came with a lot of extra pressure. There is a lot of extra academic pressure that seems to come, and that is kind of cultural, because there is a very high standard. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your student, depends on so many different things, but there can be a little bit of extra pressure, so that's something to consider too. I think that when it comes to choosing public or private, outside of whether the outside of the economics of the decision, you also really want to think about subject selection. And this isn't always a public versus private thing. This is a school by school decision. I know there is some public schools that have incredible sports programs or incredible music programs. I remember when I was a teacher. I mean, sorry, when I was a student at high school, I was begging my parents, begging, begging, begging for them to send me to the public school because I was obsessed with their musical arts and performance programs, and my small, little, tiny Catholic school had like, four fucking options, and I was just like, oh, this is so stupid. And so it depends. I would also think about, what does your child take an interest in? Where are their strengths? Where is that going to be supported in terms. Career Pathways in terms of high school options for subjects. I remember my school didn't have politics and law, and that really frustrated me. There were lots of subject selection issues with different schools. So if you know and you can start to see your child displaying a particular interest in something, that's something to consider. And then the other thing that I would consider, quite importantly, is the social setting. So some schools just are tiny and have and that can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your child. But there's some schools where it's like they might graduate with 30 people, and if you have a very if you have a very social child, or they've not really found their people within that cohort. Sometimes a bigger school, maybe a big public school, with lots of different social clicks and different options, could be a really good thing for that child, and with that comes class sizes, which I have a big B in my bonnet about. If I was looking at my child's education, I would definitely be asking about class sizes, especially because I know that most classrooms don't usually have an education assistant. They try their best, but it doesn't always happen. So if you've got your child in there with 33 kids, how much attention is he actually or she actually going to get that's another thing that I would definitely look at. So there is a lot to consider. And like I said at the beginning of this podcast, it is a personal decision. There is no right or wrong, there is no better or worse. There is only what is the right fit for you, for your family, for your child. And so what I would be asking yourself, and what conversations I would be having at home, and what Paul and I are doing is, like I said, first of all, educating yourself on the different philosophies, just so that you can see what aligns with your values individually, asking each school what are their high values, what are their priorities in terms of a school program and a school development plan? So many schools have got, like, huge development plans and intentions behind everything that they do, and they really live and breathe that, but ultimately, then you've just got to know your child. So where does your child naturally thrive? Where are they struggling? What subjects do they love? Do they perform exceptionally well under pressure? And it doesn't really matter where they go, they're going to thrive anywhere. That's another thing. If I had a child who struggled academically and was really finding school quite challenging, I would really struggle to put that child in a huge, big public school in a bad area, because, and I've had experience with this where I literally came home and cried it was a bad school in a bad area. When I say bad, I just mean like, low socio economic, some kids, honestly, like in and out of juvenile like juvie, very broken situations, just not nice. And in those schools, especially in high school, they get streamed based on ability. So you've got the top set and you walk into the top set classrooms. I remember one day I had year eight highest No, year nine top set English, and I was like, let's go. And they were brilliant. They were so well behaved, they were so engaged, they were so motivated, they were so brilliant, they were so bright. And I was like, Cool. Next class, I had the same year group, but the bottom class, and it was literally like, juvie. It was scary. It was crazy. And amongst all this, there's a couple kids who are beautiful little kids, but just really, really poor academically, and they're chucked in a classroom with that, with honestly, like criminal behavior. And I wouldn't want my child to be exposed to that. So again, it really depends on where you live, what kind of schools and streaming situations where they would sit within the streams, what they would be exposed to, and what your child is like in terms of peer pressure, like how easily influenced is your child? I mentioned before that I begged my parents to send me to a public school they knew me better than I knew myself. Yes, I would have loved all the different choices in terms of subjects, but I was also a very social person who socially liked to go toward the wrong crowd and to be exposed to more of that would have been probably a bad thing looking back, so my parents probably did the right thing, knowing that I would be very easily influenced and tempted into naughty, naughty, naughty things in high school and so again, you've got to also know, like, how strong is your child's sense of resolve of peer pressure? How easily influenced are they? How prone are they to sensitive like all of those things are things? Things to consider. So first things, first, know your child, then know your values. And I mean this from an economic perspective, what matters more to you? Would you rather save that money from private education, and with that extra money, you've got maybe one or two school, sorry, one or two family holidays every year where you get to nurture your relationship and do your your real role modeling and education at home, or with that extra money that you save, would you prefer to nurture extracurricular and sending them to piano lessons and to BJJ and to performance or whatever and like it could be an economic decision that you're choosing based on your values and what you value more. If it's an economic decision, and you go, actually, we're going to go public, and that means I don't have to work as much. So I actually can do a lot of that heavy lifting at home, in terms of values, in terms of homework, in terms of extracurricular. So thinking about like, all of that has to be taken into consideration. Then I would also be looking at subject selection, as I mentioned, what kind of subjects do they have later on, and does that align with where your child's natural zone of genius and interests and excitement lies? Class sizes? Big, big, big one for me, if I see junior school classrooms packed with 33 kids and no education support, that's a big no. For me, that's a huge, big red flag, because they're going to fall through the cracks either way. If they're bright and they need to be extended, the teacher is definitely struggling. If they're struggling and they need some support, the teacher is also struggling because it's one person with 33 kids, so class size is huge for me. The other thing I would be looking at to select the right scenario for you is teacher turnover. How much do like? How good is their turnover? That tells you a lot about a school, a lot, a lot, a lot. I've worked in schools where the same teachers just don't leave because it's so great, and they're obsessed, and they love the students, and even though they want to leave, they can't, because they love the kids so much, and they love their colleagues and all of that. When things go bad from like a top down approach, you can see it. You can see it in how quick the staff turnover starts to ramp up. So that is another thing I would be looking at and doing a little bit of research on. And I know that I've just said that this is such an individual, sort of personal conversation that you need to have at home. But a lot of the questions were just, what am I going to do? And what's my opinion? So my personal opinion, after all that is said and done, is that it would be my personal preference to start with Montessori or Steiner as those first few years, and then get to know my child and see how he goes. And then we would make a decision based on that. But I would probably start with a more alternative model that really prioritizes social, emotional connection, self regulation play, because that actually sets them up for better academic performance later. So that would be my again, that's a very significant financial investment. So not that is not available to everyone. But again, the overall thing I want parents to take from this, even though I've kind of been shitting on the Australian education system, I want to make it very clear it's also the best thing ever. It's also so special and so magical and so beautiful. And the beautiful thing for parents to know is that you are the most important thing, and you can help a child to thrive despite a system that is a little bit broken, and you are the one that instills values. You are the one who role models. You are the one who does the heavy lifting. And then school is, in my opinion, a great place for kids to go and make friends. So overall, I would personally, like I said, Go alternative and then get to know my child, and then see where we're at in terms of where we're living and what our financial landscape is like, and subject selection and all of those things based on the individual child. So huge conversation. I hope that this helped in some way. If you have more questions, please just DM me, because I'm so happy to do like a Q and A style episode on all of this. And yeah, it's a big conversation that obviously I'm very passionate about, but it has been over an hour, so I'm going to stop right there. Send me your DM. Send me your two cents. Share this if you think it will help someone. Put it on your stories. Tag me. I would love to see it, and I will be back. Actually. If you loved this episode, stay tuned for the episode that is coming in the next couple of weeks with Dr Justin Coulson, who is one of Australia's leading psychologists, and he blew my brain. It was absolutely amazing. So if you loved this conversation, you will froth the next few weeks. Keep your eyes out for that, and I will speak again next week. Bye. Thank you for tuning in to the mind school podcast. It is a massive intention of mine to continue to grow this show, because the more the show grows, the better the guests. It, and I know that is going to be so powerful for you listening. So if I could ask this massive favor, it would mean the world if you could please leave a review, hit the Follow button, or leave a rating on Spotify, so that we can continue to grow this show and bring you the juiciest, most thought provoking and expansive conversations through incredible guests. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll see you next week. You.