Each week I meet with a group of homeschooling mothers. In theory, it is so our children have opportunities to play with other children, and enjoy the park equipment and the outdoors. The reality is a far greater blessing. I am able to meet with lovely Christian women and share our mothering journeys, encourage each other, motivate each other, and laugh together over coffee and snacks. What a joy!
One of the very precious benefits is to be able to present any uncertainties, or tough patches, or hard questions, to the other mothers, and learn from the collective experience present. It was a dear young mother from our group who suggested that Beyondbluestockings needed a space for young mothers to bring questions. Here it is! If you have something you would like to ask another mother, please be my guest, and ask away. If I can’t answer from personal experience, I will endeavour to point you to a resource I think will help, and I can agree to pray with you for God’s wisdom in your situation.
Don’t be shy. Just pretend we’re sitting in the park over afternoon tea, watching the children play…
August 15, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Well, beyond bluestockings, I’d love to have afternoon tea with you! I will be sure to visit here if I have any questions!!
August 15, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Fivepeasinapod, you’re so welcome to visit. My mothering credentials are a little shaky, as we only have four, and are only part way through the journey; but I’m always up for a chat, and love how encouraging it can be just to share what’s on your mind, and find that perhaps some things are common to all families, even when you are sure it’s just yours…
Thanks for stopping by!
January 19, 2009 at 11:10 am
I’m a newby to this whole thing (homeschool).. I’m feeling a little daunted by it all. I’m a mum of 2, (Only 2 and 5 months) so i’ve still got time.
I’m not the most patient person in the world. What if i hindered my children’s chances in the future?
Does the vic uni’s have those test like nsw do?
I’m a christian lookiing for direction in this area.
January 19, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Hello Emily,
Homeschooling is a lot of fun – once you get over being nervous
While living in Victoria, your children will be able to participate in the NSW testing/comp., as it is Australia wide. They will also be included in the standard 3,5,7,9, testing run by state schools, if you desire (there may not be a choice by the time you are formally educating your children, they have already{in Qld, don’t know about other states} changed it from opt in, to opt out)
There is very little chance of you hindering the development of your children. ~smile~
There are fabulous resources written for homeschool use, and more information than you could possibly ever need to help you find your way in homeschooling.
You will develop patience.
You will also find it easier when your little ones develop a bit more independence.
The Aussie Homeschool site has many links, discussions, etc, that you may find helpful. Some of the forum is open to the public, other parts you must join the forum, though this is not difficult.
It is also worth having a look at the old forum. While it is now closed for discussion because the new site is up and running, it is a treasure trove of information. The new board has members from all over Australia, and many friendly ladies are more than willing to answer any questions about just about anything to do with homeschooling.
You may also find contacts there who will meet up with you in real life, and this is wonderful! It is so helpful to find someone already homeschooling who can show you resources, chat about reactions from family, etc.
I am happy to answer any questions you have, though I can’t emphasize enough the encouragement it is to meet up with real people who live nearby. (you don’t have to be homeschooling already or have school age children to be involved in most HS groups).
Have you looked into what style of education would suit your family? That alone can absorb quite a bit of time – so it’s good that you are looking ahead to educating your precious children now.
There are many factors which come into play in such a decision, and my forewarning is that it can be easy to be influenced by what others are doing that sounds great – but you need to chose what suits your family best.
My comment is turning into a fully fledged ramble, so I’ll leave it there, but if you have any questions, or would like to share the direction of your thoughts so far, please do
April 1, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Well…I did it!
This isn’t really a question, but a request that you go and have a look at…
http://aussiehomeschool.com
…and tell me what you think of my ad!
(I am “clr” on Aussie Homeschool.)
Are you proud of me? Are you? Are you?
April 1, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Ha!
You’re amazing
But you know, I’d be proud of you and think you’re amazing even if you hadn’t mastered the intimidating task of listing the books. The fact that you’re a sweet, funny, courageous, Godly woman is enough for me – your technical skill with the hs site is just a bonus
April 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm
You are too kind BB.
June 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Once you had an article and may still but I cannot find it concerning being approached by someone about healthy eating and I seem to recall something about chocolate…. Anyway I value your opinion and you are the only one that has talked with me at my motherathome blog. I was hoping you would read this http://essentialsuperstitions.wordpress.com/ because it seems we are of like mind. Thanks for your time. By the way you have a great site! Your photos,recipes etc. really enjoyed looking around but still could not find that article ;o)
June 26, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Homeforjoy, I’m not sure I would be able to tell you which part of my blog the chocolate information was on. The problem is that chocolate can be a part of so many conversations, and it is not uncommon for the comment section here to veer wildly from the original topic, meaning it could be anywhere!
I’ll have a read of the article you have linked to, and let you know my thoughts. They are all of turkeys at present (I’ve been to see some delightful ones today!) but tomorrow I will no doubt be feeling sensible again
Thanks for your kind words
June 27, 2009 at 7:49 am
Oh! Now (after reading your post) I think I know what you were meaning;
http://beyondbluestockings.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/food-as-an-idol/
What did I think of your link?
EXCELLENT!
November 2, 2009 at 4:11 pm
okay, posting a question in this section of your blog…. What do you give your children to eat for lunch! I know homeschooling is different because you can prepare at lunch time and it can be refrigerated… but I need some ideas, remember I’m a “school schooler”. I generally follow the Failsafe diet for my children, and don’t buy sweets or convenience foods, so any ideas? Just thinking you may have some new takes that I hadn’t thought of.
November 2, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Hmmm. Lunches…
Without refrigeration, I would go for;
Corn thins and Rice cakes with toppings – we like them with cottage cheese (which would be tough at school, but Philly cheese works) Peanut butter and honey is just as popular for these.
Savoury muffins, frozen to defrost for lunch time;
http://beyondbluestockings.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/country-corn-bake/
Breaky muffins; (not for the faint hearted, but quite customizable)
http://beyondbluestockings.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/breakfast-muffins/
While both of those take some time to prepare, you can make a lot in one go and leave plenty for the freezer. That would be one thing I wouldn’t enjoy about the school routine – having to get the lunches ready early. I can absolutely see how you may lose inspiration when there is the time constraint involved in the preparation.
I’m not sure of the ages of your children, or what sorts of things they like to eat, but at our house they love to eat left over, cold, rissoles (home made meat patties, in case they call them something different where you’re from) ; cold, roasted, sweet potato; salads are popular, though we don’t necessarily put everything salady in each salad.
There will be days where we eat a bowl of lettuce and tomato with olive oil and salt and lemon juice with grated parmesan. Other days we may add fetta and olives; some days have a single salad vegetable (cucumber or tomato or capsicum) and then have crunchy bread dipped in garlic flavoured olive oil.
I think most of those thing would be school do-able, but it may be a little fiddly for you to pack in the different containers?
Are children funny about eating different things to others at school?
Another thing mine love to have for breakfast or lunch, is left over rice. They like to add milk and honey, and just eat it cold. If it’s hot where you live, you could send a little milk bottle frozen and already add the honey to the rice, but I don’t know if they would feel odd eating something like that if no one else is eating it?
I’m not sure if any of that conforms to the failsafe diet?
I hope there is something in there that is helpful to you.