photos of home educating children learning in groups situations

Homeschool Australia!

Teach your children at home!

Have a homeschooling question?
Join our free support group

	Home educate the easy way... simplify and save time... Learn from experienced homeschoolers how to write your own curriculum.
	"Thank you... The information you supply is real and generous - fantastic reading. I am so inspired... Your honesty is rare. Most books do not really explain 'how' as well as you do." Tracy "I cannot seem to get enough of your writings on the whole home ed subject! You portray a lot of wisdom, knowledge and experience..." Marie "A fabulous source of information and inspiration. I am very pleased to have some of your titles on my bookshelf... providing me with wonderful, detailed information and resources." Faye		"Every time I read your writing it feels like a pat on the shoulder, and that feels really good...Thanks!" Maaike BONUS OFFER! FREE membership 'Getting Started Club' when you buy Beverley's manual on how to write your own homeschool curriculum! Still only $25... Getting Started with Home Schooling: Practical Considerations

Limited places available at National Homeschool CampFest 13-18 March Bowna (Albury) NSW - book now!

Recording Example: Homeschooling Calendar from January to June 1996

© Beverley Paine

Recording outings, field trips and social activities on a wall calendar is a very easy and quick way to keep homeschooling records. The following except from my book Getting Started with Homeschooling, Practical Considerations, Australia's first homeschool manual, shows records from six months taken from one our calendars (1996). There are many more examples of different ways in which to record learning at home in my book, all taken from our personal homeschooling archives.

JANUARY

Victor Cinema - Babe
Bushwalk - Springmount Conservation Park
Begonia Farm visit
Roger experimenting with making robotic arms, two and three fingers, from lego.
Thomas discovering and playing with the concept of spin on objects.
April selling jewellery on her stall at craft market, swimming at Wirrina, staying Amanda's.
Visit to friend's house at Willunga
Thomas visit Dental Hosp., Adelaide, broken tooth
Organised card collections
Down loading games from PCSIG, using Paintbrush
Walk around Granite Island
Read James and the Giant Peach aloud

FEBRUARY

Jimmy's Birthday - overnight, party with friends
9th pm: FOSAM -Bats, slides, touch, made mobile
Woodwork - clinometer, geoboards, distance wheel
Fleurieu HBL Network Willunga picnic, ball games
April resumes school: Art, Computing, English
Read The Mona Lisa Mystery aloud
April holiday Stansbury with her friend's family
Kids sleepover at friends
Investigator Science Centre - Sportsworks/Mitey Sc.
HBL excursion to Vili's Bakery factory
Visited Austcare office - talk about refugees and information on poster competition
Lego building - designing Star Wars Tie Fighters
Roger - technical drawing of his Tower House, beginning to excavate site and level
Thomas - visit to Dentist to fix tooth, filling
Roger made a siren with the Dick Smith Kit
Swimming and practicing diving into rock pool
Roger visit to Optometrist, glasses
Continued to write in journals
Helped with renovating cabin - painting, grouting, carpentry and tidying up
Capacity measuring device, joystick; made from Lego - Roger

MARCH

16th p.m.: FOSAM - Desert Fish
Visit to Festival & Fringe - Visual Arts Exhibitions, Scientriffic and Aboriginal Day, Opening and
Symphony Concerts, Cyberfringe, Art Gallery, Narabundah Theatre Co "The Wave"
6th: FHBLN Rose Gardens Picnic & Ball Games
Stayed at friend's place for weekend; tried Internet
Roger got a bantam rooster; built roost, feed tray
Collecting compost material for gardening
Helped with transplanting seedlings, thinning out
Reading Dinotopia the World Beneath
Lego building - spaceships, town with shuttle
Journal writing and maths pages
Visit homeschool group - social, played computer and cricket, rode bikes
Visit to libraries to research environmental projects
Learn and play new games on computer - Tie Fighter, Lands of Lore
Thumbprint ink caricatures
Helping with the gardening - planting, constructing new garden, mulching pruning
Thomas started Worm Farm for Food Foresters
Beach walk - Sellicks, drawing with ochre pebbles, found gummy shark intact
April and friends slept down shed; Roger and his friends played board games.
Helped build new compost heap
Connected intercom cabin/house with Robin's help
Visited Debra and Gary (first time in 8 years)

APRIL

FHBLN Lego games day, problem solving games, paired and individual
April excursion to Yr 12 Art Exhibition and Art Gallery in Adelaide with Yr10 group
Roger and Thomas visit friend, played on new pentium computer
Went to Carol and Phil's and helped to demolish stone wall for door using jackhammer
Levelled soil in front of shed in preparation for paving
Help transplant seedlings
Discussed environmental benefits of ants
13 - 28th: Holiday on Kangaroo Island:
Bushwalking, cave exploration, swimming, fishing, national parks, wildlife, visit to historic sites, lighthouses, seals and sealions, Remarkable Rocks (geology), Admirals Arch, witnessed small bushfire, visited replica of The Endeavour, played pirates, built elaborate villages and landscapes with natural materials for games (four times), honey production, eucalyptus oil distillery, visit to bird and animal park, beach walk collecting rubbish - Roger's journal eaten by a kangaroo
Read aloud Devil's Hill on holiday
Thomas, April kept up Journals

MAY

FHBLN day - played chess games, computer games, children played in creek (Jill and her children were there too)
Children's friends stayed over one night - Roger and friend came over late and played computer all day.
L.E.T.S. BBQ at our place - lots of people turned up, kids went for walk to swamp and played together. April traded B$198 of beads.
FOSAM - Taxidermist demonstrated how to prepare a tawny frogmouth for storage, walked around stuffed animal cages and completed worksheet. Saw couple of homeschooling families.
April helped Robin make her a new desk. April helping with painting spare room ready for her to move into. Bought divan and painted it and the mirror frame.
Roger and Thomas spent several days rebuilding and making bigger Roger's treehouse.
Thomas repaired hatchet with Robin's guidance.
Roger and Thomas lit fire for BBQ lunch, cutting wood with hatchets. Played by fire all afternoon.
New game on computer - Pirates, strategy game a bit like chess
FHBLN at Willunga - Robin demonstrated battery by making an organic potato battery and measuring current using meter. The everyone got busy for two or more hours building lighthouses and decorating them - use of electronics, soldering iron, power circuits and switches.
Gave Roger new journal
Olive picking and processing over two days with two other families; BBQ lunch
Eastern spinebill flew into window and we kept it warm and April identified it using bird book
Friends 6th birthday party - boys stayed all day, played computer and other games
Watched Cutthroat Island - Thomas and Roger built lego pirate ships (ties in nicely with Endeavour excursion)
Stayed with friends, cruised the Net, played Hero Quest
Attended Learning Styles Workshop (Beverley, Robin, April)- boys played with other HBL kids all day with little adult supervision - indoor and outside games
Moved April into Lego room. Spent a lot of time re-organising space and going through stuff.
Made paper helicopters and experimented with size and shape to determine speed and drag factor.
Collected pine needles from forest floor for guinea pig cage.
Roger and Thomas replacing motors in slot cars from racing car set with higher power motors

JUNE

Made one million using 2mm graph paper pad. Used 69 sheets and covered just over 4 square metres
Buried Benjamin bunny.
Began tree planting.
FHBLN at Willunga. Investigated the properties of electromagnets and made some using simple materials. Played with magnets. Played computers. Jill and her children were there.
15th p.m.: FOSAM -
Bushwalk - Kyeema Conservation Park, Willunga

Click here for a full list of articles and pages on this website.

SEARCH this site:

Site Map

If you like what you
read here, you can
order Beverley's books!

	Choosing Homeschool Curriculum
	Getting Started - how to write your own learning programs
	Natural Learning Answers
	Beverley's E-books
	Learning Without School - how 30 families homeschool
	The Homeschooling Trail - Christian unschooling life
	Learning in the Absence of Education - how we did it
	Practical Homeschooling Booklet Series - your questions answered!
	Educational Games Booklet Series - make learning fun!
	Practical Homeschooling Language Development Series
	Natural Learning Series
	Homeschool Diaries
	Ready to use Portfolios / Report Cards
	Sample Learning Programs
	Stock Clearance

Be the first to find out about new
books, ebooks and booklets
by Beverley!

Beverley's LATEST book
was LAUNCHED at the
Unschooling Conference!

Please note:
the information
on this website is of a
general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice.

Need More Help?
Sign up for an exclusive
Skype Conference Call
with Beverley

Conference/Workshops

Spend a WEEK!
with
Beverley and Robin Paine
at the
Annual National Home Education CampFest
Workshops for parents, activities for children, time to relax and chat to us about our homeschooling experiences.
March 13th-18th 2012

animated Australian flag

The Homeschool Australia suite of websites is paid for by the revenue from Google Ads. Without this we could not continue to provide over 700 pages of information and articles to home educators.


Camp With Wings for Teens 15th-Sun 22nd Jan 2012 printable colour flyer		Please join one of our yahoo groups if you want to know more about home education or have a question. Homeschool Australia Facebook Group Homeschool Australia Newsletter Homeschool Australia Frequently Asked Questions Yahoo Support Group Natural Learning Yahoo Support Group Australian Homeschool Campers Yahoo Group

Home education is a legal alternative to school education in Australia. State and Territory governments are responsible for regulating home education. Different states have different requirements, however home educating families are able to develop curriculum and learning programs to suit the individual needs of their children. For more information visit the
Home Education Association

Questions about homeschooling or wondering
what to teach? See the Site Map for our
full list of articles.

Interested in homeschooling, but still not sure?
Read All You Need Is...'

Looking for educational resources?
Home Education Directory

Thank you for visiting!

Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network. Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home. In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and was a committee member for three years during which time she edited and produced the HEA Newsletter, Stepping Stones for Home Educators magazine, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications. If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Homeschool Australia Facebook page.

The opinions and articles included in the suite of Homeschool Australia websites are not necessarily those of Beverley and Robin Paine,
nor do they endorse or recommend products (other than their own) listed in contributed articles, pages, or advertisements.