Image: Charles Lock Eastlake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Homeschooling Mum Helen Alexander talks about her homeschooling journey.

Why did you decide to homeschool?

Our decision to home school came slowly. As a family, we had been moving quite regularly, and needing to settle kids into new schools had made us consider homeschooling at different times. My sister had been homeschooling her children, so it wasn’t a totally new concept. I am a trained primary teacher, so that also meant that I had confidence that I could lead the homeschooling. Some of my concerns were: could I do it with babies/toddlers around? Would my kids get sick of me (and vice versa)?

In 2018, we were living in Pukekohe. We had seven kids, aged 16 down to 4 years old. Our kids were at the local a High School, the local Catholic primary school and one of the local pre-schools. Life was busy (as with all families!)

Nick (my husband) and I were trying to figure out how best to live a life with Christ at the centre, how to keep the Faith alive in our family/kids, and how Nick could be around more to support the family in this endeavour. After discernment – which took a while, lots of discussions together and with others, reading books, prayer etc. – we felt motivated to change our circumstances in a big way. We decided that we needed to downsize our debt, live more simply, and spend more time together as a family, and make new routines that put Christ at the centre of our home.

All of this accumulated into a move from Pukekohe to Picton in early 2019. That’s when we started homeschooling – at the beginning of 2019 before we moved down to the South Island.

In your family, what does a typical homeschooling day look like?

The typical day has changed a number of times over the years, depending on the age and stage of the kids, and myself too!

We generally have a timetable that is visible to all. Each kid has their own schedule. As they get older and more independent, there is some flexibility about timing and order of subjects. I like to keep to a routine because otherwise it’s too easy to get to the end of the day and realize you haven’t got much work done.

Do you use any curricula? Any resource recommendations?

I started with the NZ Curriculum, because that’s what I was familiar with as a teacher. Over the years we have tried and tested a number of different curriculum, based on our own research and recommendations from other people.

At this stage we use mix and match for each of the kids. We use different resources depending on their needs. We do use Angelicum Academy’s Great Books course for our High School kids and Oxrose for some classical courses. We also use IEW, CTC Math online, The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts, Learn Maths Fast, and I pick up different maths, spelling and writing workbooks to supplement where needed.

Did homeschooling help form your children in the Faith?

From 2019-2021 we lived in Picton. At the end of 2021, we moved to Leithfield, North Canterbury.

The big bonus of living where we do now is that we are close to the Beatitudes community. That means our daily life is connected more directly with the life of the Church. We are walking distance to daily Mass and the sacraments, liturgical celebrations and events, retreats, and Faith groups for our girls and boys supported by the Sisters and Priest/Brothers of the Beatitudes Community.

We would miss much of these things if we were not as flexible as we are with our home schooling lifestyle. It also fulfils our desire to have Christ at the core of our lives.

What is your favourite thing about homeschooling?

The thing I most appreciate about home schooling is the privilege of being connected to your kids in a way that is more than an academic education. When we started home schooling, I thought that if by the first holiday break I hadn’t killed anyone, and the kids didn’t want to kill me, then we were probably doing okay!

But what I found is that, although not every day was easy, it just felt like the right thing for all of us.

Initially our kids were reluctant to be ‘different’ as homeschool kids. Now they say they will homeschool their kids…I think that means we are doing okay.

What is the hardest thing about homeschooling?

The hardest thing about homeschooling is being confident that you are giving your kids what they need and that you, as the teacher, are doing a good job.

I think too, we need to be careful about comparing ourselves – what we are doing, learning, teaching – with other families. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can meet the needs of our kids in our own way.

What is one piece of advice you would give to every homeschooling mum?

Try different approaches/curriculum – but borrow them if you can. It can be very costly to buy your own resources and then find out it doesn’t work well for you or your kids.

And also, remember, on your ‘not so great’ days, that it’s okay to get in the car and go to the playground, or watch a documentary if needed.

Do you have any other insights to share about homeschooling?

Even though I am a trained primary teacher, I have learnt much more about education and learning through being a home school Mum. I think that homeschooling parents should take confidence in the fact that they want the best for their kids and will find a way to provide what they need. They don’t need to be a trained teacher to provide their kids a decent education.

Since the beginning of our home schooling journey we have moved more towards a liberal arts focused education for our kids. We are not providing a strictly traditional liberal arts education. We incorporate what we can, when we can. Nick has been involved with ‘The Thomas More Society‘ which is helping to bring liberal arts learning experiences to Canterbury. They have run a number of intensive courses for different age groups. They have included experienced liberal arts teachers/lecturers including Ben and Eliza McCabe from the Augustine Academy in Australia, and Dr Paul Morrissey the President of Campion College in Sydney.

These experiences have opened our family up to the richness and depth of our Catholic teaching traditions. It has been one of the more important aspects of our homeschooling life because it helps to bring Christ into every part of our lives. It means we don’t put our Faith into a compartment in our life – of Sunday Mass or morning prayer – but rather, it can permeate throughout our lives in all we do – well, our best effort to do so, as imperfect as we are.