Like anything in life there are different ways to approach something and educating our children is no different. For a family at the beginning of their homeschooling journey it can seem a bit overwhelming and daunting as to know where to start. For us it started with me researching extensively, that’s ok, it was a privilege to do this for my family. Knowledge is power.

Some questions I initially started with and often returned to.

How did we want our days to look?

What curriculum did we want to follow?

What philosophies resonated with us?

How did we want to create our own family story.

With the traditional schooling system and hours out of the way there was a blank slate and it was marvellous, freeing.

A daily mantra I have held close throughout our homeschooling life. Enjoy creating your day.

The TED Talk.

Do schools kill creativity. (69,611,036 views to date).

The TED talk that changed our families life. Listening to it felt like it gave us permission to embrace creativity, here was someone in the know saying creativity matters, creativity is just as important as any other facet of your child’s education.

Sir Kenneth Robinson’s TED talks are a must to watch. He was an author, speaker and international advisor on education to governments and schools all around the world.

Dance, he said, is just as important as math. He was knighted for his work, and his TED Talk on schools and the arts was the most viewed of all time.

Source: ‘Ken Robinson, Who Preached Creativity in Teaching, Dies at 70’, The New Yorker, September 11, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/world/europe/ken-robinson-who-preached-creativity-in-teaching-dies-at-70.html

I have also read You, your child and school  by Sir Kenneth Robinson and Lou Aronica, it is also very informative and gives such insights. I found it reassuring that my perspective about different aspects of traditional schooling wasn’t unfounded.

Take precious care,

Jude x