I love nature. I live it and I breathe it. It calms me, inspires me and reaches deep into my soul. Outdoors is my happy place. With the grass under my feet and the sky overhead. With the sounds of my children's laughter and shrieks of delight when they stumble upon a minibeast they haven't seen before. 'Mum, come and look at this', they cry. Their excitement is catching and soon I am enthralled by a tiny moving creature and wonder at the beauty of nature. I didn't grow up an observer of nature, although I knew I loved it. Being stuck in a classroom five days a week didn't leave much time f ..read more

My children love watching birds. There is something so satisfying about being able to name a bird you spot out on a walk or in your garden. I didn't know much about birds when I was growing up so I wasn't very good at identifying them at first, but I'm getting increasingly better as time goes on. There is nothing better than seeing the excitement on your child's face as they spot a bird in the garden and call you to come and take a look. Birdwatching is something both adults and children can enjoy together so it's great fun for the whole family! For the last few years, we have enjoyed taki ..read more

A new year always gets people thinking about goals and resolutions. One thing that I hope to improve on this year is being more eco-friendly. I feel like I was doing well pre-Covid and then the pandemic came along and I started to question things. There seemed to be little point in trying to be plastic free when millions of single-use plastics were being used every single day in the form of Covid tests and face masks. It made it all seem like an impossible task to me. On the other hand, perhaps this just means we need to be more environmentally conscious than ever.  Afterall, no matter w ..read more

Time management is a common issue for busy mums. There always seems to be something to do whether it be running around after the children, cooking the dinner or ironing your husband's shirts. There is so much to do that sometimes it can become overwhelming. More tasks creep onto the never-ending pile of jobs and you wonder how any of them will ever get done. Do you sit there at the end of the day thinking about where the day has gone? It went by a in a flash and you have not got half the things done that you wanted to. Furthermore, you may find that your to do list is so jam-packed, it bec ..read more

Language is arguably the most important skill your child must acquire. Language is the basis of everything. It is not only our means of communicating with others, but also, it is due to language that we are able to think, learn and remember. Without it we would not be the intelligent beings we are, for language and intelligence go hand in hand.  Language is often something that we take for granted. After all, the majority of people learn to speak and most never think about the process in which speech is acquired. Late talkers usually catch up eventually but research is now suggesting ..read more

We narrate all the time. When you tell someone something that happened to you yesterday; that's narration. When you talk about something you saw at the park; that's narration. When you tell a story your father used to tell you when you were a child; that's narration. We do it as part of our everyday conversations, without even thinking about it. So, why not use this skill for learning as well? I first came across the use of narration as a learning technique while I was at university training to be a Speech and Language Therapist. I often work with children with language difficulties who st ..read more

Making the decision to homeschool is not always easy. One thing that people often have to consider is whether they will be able to homeschool children of different ages at the same time. When you are homeschooling one child, it is all about them. However, if you have more than one child you will have to think about how you can meet all of their different needs. I have four children aged 3-10 and homeschooling the different age groups can be a challenge. Until recently, I was able to prepare and deliver lessons for my older two while setting up activities for the little ones, but as the youn ..read more

I am a very creative person so I love to do arts and crafts with my children but one thing that was missing from my own education was an appreciation and knowledge of great works of art. I know of a few artists, but not many, and I don't know much about their lives and inspiration. Because of my lack of knowledge, I wasn't sure how to start teaching my own children about this subject. Therefore, I was delighted to be sent a copy of this brand new art curriculum, Meet the Artists, to review. Meet the Artists is a 20 week curriculum that teaches children about a wide variety of art and artists ..read more

The start of a new homeschool year normally causes me to reflect. I reflect on the last year and I also reflect on the year to come, thinking about how I want it to be. I ponder our homeschool environment and what I want learning to look like. One thing I always come back to is play. I am truly grateful that homeschooling allows my children to play, both indoor and out, and learn as they go. Play is such an important part of early childhood that Sue Palmer, states in her latest book, 'Upstart', "Love and play are the greatest gifts any generation can hand on to the next". Furthermore, she c ..read more

Morning Time is a concept developed by homeschool mum of 9, Cindy Rollins over the last 30 years. It is a time for the family to come together and connect while reading, singing, learning and worshipping. It is the gentle way to start the day before moving on to more structured lessons or learning activities. Morning Time is practised by different families in different ways, and we have been doing it in some form or other for the past year. However, I always seem to be looking for the best formula to suit our family and the recent pandemic has caused us to change our daily rhythm multiple ..read more