January 7, 2025 • 36 mins
Cara talks about what it takes to homeschool their son, the benefits they see and how to do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "I've built community through homeschooling. I guess the great thing about meeting other homeschoolers is also learning different ways of teaching. If a child might be having difficulty with something, making suggestions of what maybe you've tried. The curriculum that I'm actually using at the moment was because another homeschooling mum recommended it to me. And then I recommended it to another homeschooling mum who said, this is great because I've been really struggling with my child and she's now really enjoying this curriculum. So in that sense, it's really great. I really appreciate the community that we've found because we don't just talk about homeschooling. We also share many similar values in regards to family and health and lifestyle. So just having those types of conversations with people who share the same values is also really beneficial. We've just met a whole new group of friends, which has been fantastic."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to Forrest.Chat,where we talk about individual
endeavour in Western Australia.
What it takes, what itmeans, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, andin today's episode, we're talking
with Cara Sackett about homeschooling.
Cara has just graduated from herthird year as a homeschooler.
(00:25):
She's been teaching her vibrant young son.
Everything he needs to know to begood at what he needs to be in life.
Welcome to Forrest.Chat, Cara.
Thank you, Paul, for having me.
It's a pleasure to have you here, Cara.
We've been working on this for sometime and it's great to actually be able
to, uh, to talk about homeschooling.
(00:47):
Really looking forward to it.
What is homeschooling?
Homeschooling.
So I have to think about this for alittle bit because I think The best way
to describe it is more home education,because the biggest misconception I think
with homeschooling is that you replicatemainstream school at home, which is,
(01:12):
which is what some, some people might do.
My personal experience, Idon't necessarily do that.
So homeschooling isn't going tobe the same for every family.
It's a very different experience foreach person based on your child's
needs, based on how you teach.
And I guess the analogy I can give,like I gave to you when we were
(01:33):
chatting before, is that you couldhave 30 people do the same art class.
And at the end of that art class,you're going to end up with 30 different
perspectives of the same subject.
It's, I do use the termhomeschooling myself, but I guess
it's more about home education.
It's such a broad subject.
(01:53):
Uh, I look at it as educating myson spiritually, holistically,
academically, emotionally.
It's, it's not just about teachinghim, uh, literacy and numeracy.
It's about educating him for life.
And I guess we as parentssometimes are made.
(02:17):
To believe that we have no agencyover our child's education, they
should be going to a teacher.
But really, we're ourchild's first educators.
And, um, I get asked quite a lot, Oh,do you have a teaching background?
I don't.
I have a corporate background, butI feel like, you know, we, for the
first five years before our childrendo attend any sort of institution
(02:41):
of learning, we are their teachers.
So why, why not?
Why, why can't we be there to teach themthe other or the bigger aspects of life?
Interesting that you actually have takenon Unknowingly understanding that you've
taken on the full breadth of what yourchild needs to know to get ahead in life.
(03:05):
Yes, I mean it's, don't get mewrong, it was extremely daunting at
the beginning because also I thinkthere are a lot of misconceptions
and stereotypes about homeschooling.
And I will fully own up to it.
I, I held those same stereotypesand misconceptions myself until
(03:27):
I jumped in and did it myself.
There's lots of different waysthat people choose to do it.
So some people will completelyunschool their children in the way
that they don't really want them tofunction within an education system.
So it might be something as simple as, youknow, they visit a museum or they go to,
(03:48):
uh, a shipwreck and do some snorkeling.
And then when they come home, they writeabout the environment that they've just
been in or what they've learned about.
And then they're developing their writingskills or literacy skills because they're.
recalling, comprehension, or theremight be people who choose a more
natural approach where they teacharound their child's interests.
(04:12):
And I actually read a storyabout a lady who, I thought
this was a very clever approach.
Her son was obsessed with Japan.
Yeah, interested in everything Japanese.
So what she did to try and coverLiteracy, numeracy, society, culture.
So, uh, she'd teach him about thepopulation when it came to maths, or
(04:33):
they'd learn Japanese as a language.
Basically where she could, shetried to fit in different ways to
teach him about Japan, but to fit itwithin, yeah, numeracy and literacy.
And society and culture, whichI thought was really clever.
There's a hybrid approach.
So my son actually did a hybrid approachfor a little while, where I sent
(04:53):
him to educator for two days a week.
And it was capped at 10 childrenwere taught by that same teacher.
And then for the other threedays, that teacher sent home
a curriculum for us to follow.
And that really benefited him.
And we met some good friendsthrough that, which is great.
And, you know, they'll, they'll learnall different things, like, uh, kids can
(05:15):
go and learn woodworking skills, they'lllearn outdoor skills, music, art, cooking.
It's, it's limitless whatyou can, what you can teach.
And then there's also co ops.
So a co op is where families, a group ofhomeschooling families will come together
and pool their time and resources.
And maybe they might.
(05:36):
Spend money on hiring tutors tocome in and teach their children
or they'll take turns at teaching.
the children throughout the term.
Or there's also curriculumsthat you can follow.
So that's, that's what I personally do.
So for my son, we do a mix of a curriculumand then natural learning with him.
(06:00):
You can learn all the time.
It doesn't need to be a sitdown structured learning.
There's always opportunities to learn.
If we're sitting in the car and heasks us a question, I don't know,
it could be something really randomand we don't know the answer.
We'll be like, okay, let'slook that up when we get home.
So I use a curriculum calledthe good and the beautiful.
It's a Christian based curriculum.
(06:21):
It encompasses a lot of art andcreativity, which I really love.
And my son enjoys art andcreativity and then anything that's.
natural learning.
So if he, I don't know, like perfectexample is he wants to build a robot.
Okay, build a robot.
You know, it's, it's developinghis fine motor skills, uh, teaching
(06:44):
him how to read instruction.
Um, he loves building Legos.
So there's days where, I don't know ifwe're coming towards school holidays
and where I'm just feeling a bitlike, yeah, I'm done for the year.
I just like go build something.
Go use your creativity, build something.
And he is actually very good at building.
(07:05):
So I'm trying to talk to him about,I guess, trying to give him ideas of,
you know, what would you want to do?
When you're older, job wise, you know, youseem to enjoy building things, or do you
like the planning stage of your creation?
Because then you couldthink about something like
architecture or engineering.
(07:26):
And then, yeah, then wego down, down that path.
Oh, mom, mama, what's thearchitecture of what's an architect?
What's an engineer?
Okay, well, this is what they do.
So then, you know, you're justgiving him some ideas of where he
can, And in all fairness, he couldget to high school and be like, I
don't want to do any of those things.
It's just trying to get him thinkingabout what, what he's good at and
(07:50):
what he can think about doing.
Some curiosity mixed with self reflection.
Yes.
Yeah.
So there's a number of differentways that you can actually go about.
Homeschooling, or home education,as you like to call it.
So Cara, do you have any examplesof how you might use natural
learning to teach something?
Yes, so maths can be found with cooking.
(08:13):
My son loves cooking.
He loves cooking with my husband andhe's learning fractions because you're
learning those measurements with cooking.
So fractions can be taught with cooking.
For all science, An environment issomething as simple as him being
in the garden because we grow ourown, our own fruit and veggies.
(08:34):
Just talking to him about theseasons, how the fruit grows, the
quality and the health of the soil.
It honestly couldn't be that simple.
Or even just going, he reallyloves going for wildflower walks.
So I might take him to Wireless Hill.
And we'll just go have a look at all thewildflowers, but I'll get him to read or
(08:57):
try and read the names of the flowers.
And then he'll take a sketchbook.
He can, he'll, he'll draw what hesees and then just, you know, label,
label the parts of the flower.
So the stem, the leaf, a thorn, youknow, that you're still learning, or it
could be going to the farmer's market.
(09:18):
So, Community engagement.
So when we go to the farmer's market,I will give him the money to pay
for what we're buying so that hejust, so he's learning some sort of
interaction with people, but thenit's also, again, that's maths.
Oh, if I'm giving them.
10 and it's this much.
How much change am I going to get?
(09:39):
So those are just a few examples ofnatural learning that it's not even
necessary, necessarily for homeschooling.
That's just stuff you do with yourkids, but they're still learning.
And it's not in a, I guess, uh,forced is the wrong word, uh,
like a sit down environment.
They're, they're stilllearning, not sitting at a desk.
(10:01):
And does he enjoy it?
Does he enjoy homeschooling?
Yeah.
I asked him that and he said,it depends on what day, I think,
what kind of day he's having.
But I guess the best feedback I getis because we have a mix of friends.
So some of our friends, their kids arehomeschooled and some of our friends,
their kids go to primary school.
(10:22):
So I asked him, I say, you know, If,would you want to go back to school?
And he's like, nah, no, no, Idon't want to go back to school.
So I guess that's my, the bestfeedback I can get is that
he's enjoying homeschooling.
And he's, I'm, I'm very lucky that he'sa very articulate and emotionally mature
kid in the sense that if he is feelingfrustrated, he will tell me, you know,
(10:47):
sometimes it's making sense in my head,but it's not making sense in his head.
And he said, he'll say.
Mama, I don't understand, uh, canyou explain it a different way?
Or, you know, like, obviouslywe spend a lot of time together,
so there are times where we doget frustrated with each other.
I'm not, as soon as I finish beinghis teacher, I'm still his mama.
(11:09):
So we're together a lot, sothere are times when he's sick.
He said to my husband when he gothome from work, Uh, and my husband
said, oh, how was school today?
Or I had, did you have a good day?
I think mama and I needa break from each other.
So he's very honest about that.
And I'll say, yep, I think, Ithink we do need a break from each
other because we've got a bit offrustrated with each other today.
(11:32):
Um, so yeah, we have a very honest,open, uh, relationship and I don't
think that's something we would havehad, had he been in mainstream school
because we wouldn't have as much timetogether to foster that closeness
and that, that open relationship.
Sounds like we'll have a bit totalk about when it, when we come
(11:53):
to talk about what it means.
Cara, what does it takeyou to home educate?
Your son.
It definitely takes a lot of patience,good budgeting skills, flexibility, and
preparation and commitment, I would say.
So definitely patience.
(12:16):
I feel like I've, I've definitelylearnt to be a lot more patient.
I used to be a bit of a, I wouldn'tsay a hothead, but my frustration used
to get the better of me, definitely.
But also I think that was the carryoverfrom working and also parenting.
This was back when I was working.
And my husband said to me the other day,he said, I've never seen you happier than
(12:43):
how you've been homeschooling Elijah.
So, um, that was a good, thatwas a nice compliment to receive.
And he's right.
I, it's the only job I've never beenpaid for, but I'm the happiest doing it.
And it's, it's a job with somereally Big commitment and takes a
lot from you to actually achieve it.
(13:06):
It is a, it is a big commitment becauseat the end of the day, you're, I
mean, obviously your child will also,also learn from other like teachers.
So my son does a lot ofextracurricular activities.
So basketball, he does flight squadat bounce and he's done soccer.
So he learns from other people,which I think is important.
(13:28):
But ultimately, my husbandand I are his main educators.
So it is a big commitment, but it'sworth it because you, you do see those.
I mean, eventually, I mean, I'm notgoing to know the value of it till I
guess he's finished his school years.
And he can tell me, Oh, wow,mom, you did a great job.
(13:50):
Or you did a terrible job.
I don't know.
Um, but I feel like withinsix months of choosing to do
homeschooling, we saw the benefits.
And I feel like that's a reasonablyshort time frame to see such a huge
benefit for something, for sucha big life, life choice to make.
(14:12):
And what else?
Oh, budgeting.
Definitely, it takesgood budgeting skills.
Obviously, we have to functionon one income, so I pretty
much budget every dollar.
But, you get used to it.
You learn, you, the other wonderfulthing about homeschooling is that
we've learned to live with less.
(14:33):
I think you just learn that a simplelife is the best life and you don't need
to be distracted by material things.
And when we, we stopped having myincome, we realized a lot of my
income was just being spent on usgoing out or Just, oh, like catch.
(14:54):
com's got a sale.
Let's just buy something.
You know, you, you stop thatmaterialistic way of thinking.
And now basically all we save for everyyear is for our camping trips up north.
And that's, that's thehighlight of our year.
It'd be great to hear about someof that a bit later on, because
I know that's on the schedule.
Preparation.
Yes.
(15:15):
You definitely need some form oforganizing, organization and preparation.
Uh, especially if you're choosing.
to follow a curriculum of some sort.
Yeah, it's basically you justjump in the deep end and you're
left to your own devices.
So you pretty much call the, call theDepartment of Education, express your
(15:36):
interest in homeschooling, and they,We'll ask you, you know, do you know
if you want to follow a curriculum oris there somewhere that you'd like to
send your child so that I had a, I had aconversation with, um, a representative
probably for about half an hour,45 minutes just to get some ideas.
And then once I'd filled in allmy paperwork, I was registered
(15:57):
as a home, homeschooler, homeeducator, and it's like, yep.
Now figure it out yourself.
So that was a bit dauntingfor the first six months.
Then you find your feet, you findyour style of teaching, you find
what works for your child or yourchildren, and yeah, go with what works.
(16:21):
works for you.
Tailor it to what worksfor, works for both of you.
Or all of you, I should say.
Sorry, I keep talking about peopleearlier who have, I'm talking
from a one child perspective.
I know people who've homeschooled sixkids and I'm like, you're my hero.
How'd you do it?
Yeah, that's a, that's a lot ofkids to homeschool to keep up with.
Yeah.
(16:41):
We'll be in different yearsand have different needs and
Exactly.
But, you know, they've found theformula that works for them and,
you know, some, some of those kidshave entered, uh, university early.
So it's, you know, they've found whatsuits their children, how, um, how
to help, whatever benefits them best.
(17:03):
And yeah, I think that's fantastic.
So I, I, I'm looking forward totalking to those parents when,
My son becomes high school age.
What did you do?
I'm just dealing withprimary school at the moment.
So much more to look forward to.
Yeah.
And what did you have after organisation?
Uh, oh, flexibility.
(17:25):
Definitely need some sort of flexibility.
As I touched on before, uh, sometimesyou get frustrated with each other
and not every day is, will go to plan.
We all have bad days.
I have bad days.
My son has bad days and we just.
On those days, there's no point forcingany sort of learning because you're just
(17:46):
going to get frustrated with each other.
So on those days where I cantell he's just He's just not
in the right frame of mind or Imight also be mentally exhausted.
I'll probably, I'll suggest, I'll,shall we go to the library and
then we'll just go read some booksbecause then he's, he loves reading.
It's still learning.
He's still, you know, engaging his brain.
(18:07):
But it gives us a bit of abreak from something structured.
So I think flexibility isdefinitely, definitely, uh, an
important thing to consider.
Because life doesn't always go to plan.
You could do a projectmanagement course after this one.
Isn't that what mums are?
We're just project managers.
In a lot of ways.
You go, you want to cook something?
(18:28):
It's a project.
You know, you want tounderwrite a project.
If you want to, you know, get readyto go to the beach, it's a project.
Do you know, I actually, I was, um,one of my friends was talking to
me saying that she read an articlesomewhere about how, uh, they,
(18:49):
they put out a job advertisement.
For a project manager, and they hadto be able, you know, to have, you
know, they needed budgeting skills,they needed paper skills, uh, project
management skills, just like the works.
And they had to be available and on call24 7, uh, no days off, you didn't get
any sick pay, didn't get any holiday,and you didn't get paid anything.
(19:14):
Would you apply for that job?
People were like, no.
And at the end they said, well,that's pretty much what a mum does.
Yes.
Mums have a super important role in thefamily, but also in society, because
if the mum doesn't do the nurturingthings, you don't have enough nurtured
people in society to keep it on track.
(19:36):
It's so true.
So true.
You know, and the father, themasculine role is so important too.
Like we.
Yeah, it's, oh my gosh, I'll endup on a different tangent if I go,
go, but it is, it's very importanthaving the nurturing, emotional parent
as the mother or maternal figure.
(19:58):
And then father who teaches,you know, the, uh, like a
boy to become a man, I guess.
Yeah.
Able to stand up for yourself.
Yeah.
My husband's actually reading abook at the moment called How To.
Teach your son to become a knight.
He's really good at self development,and he reads a lot of books to really,
(20:24):
I guess, help nurture and I mean, I justsaid the paternal role was nurturing,
but you know, just create, just becomethe best dad he can be to our son.
But yeah, I just, and I guess Elijahsees that Rob and I are always
trying to self improve and learn.
And hopefully that's whathe'll take on board as well.
(20:47):
Like we're always trying new things,always learning, reading, researching.
Hopefully that is passeddown through action as well,
or
observation.
It's a good example that you'resetting, and you're hoping that he can
follow.
Hopefully.
We've had a look at how much it takesto home educate your child or children.
(21:08):
Now, we'll have a break, andafter the break, we'll come
back and look at what it means.
We've had a look at what itmeans to home educate your child.
Now, let's have a look at what it means.
Thank you Cara, what does it mean toyou, your family or the community that
(21:33):
you're able to home educate your son?
Such a big question.
I feel that homeschoolingabsolutely changed my whole
perspective on life and family.
My two priorities aremy husband and my son.
They are the two most important people inmy world and it has brought us together.
(21:58):
So much closer as a family to havethat extra time together to spend.
When I reflect on how early I wentback to work after my son was born.
So I went back to work when he was11 months old and it used to upset me
because he wasn't very bonded to me.
(22:20):
And now he always wanted to be with myhusband or any male that was around.
He just wanted to be around boys.
And now when I reflect on that, it'sbecause I should have stayed at home
to build that extra bond with him.
He was watching me leave and wonderingwhere his mum was going probably,
you know, and then once I made thatdecision to stop working, because
(22:45):
I actually stopped working the yearbefore I, we made the decision to start
homeschooling, having that time backtogether created that bond that I didn't.
Or I unconsciously wasbreaking by going to work.
And again, this is nojudgment on anyone that works.
(23:05):
This is just my personal experienceand how it affected our family.
Because I completely understandthat everyone's different.
How has it changed for my son?
Oh, it's, well, again, yeah,it's, it's created a really good
close foundation for our family.
We, like I mentionedto you, we go camping.
(23:27):
Up north all the time.
And again, that's a really, that'sanother great education point for our son.
So he knows how to build acampfire safely and he knows how
to cast and reel in his own fish.
You see the size of the fish hecaught up in the Kimberley this year.
He caught a 96 centimeterKing threadfin salmon.
(23:49):
It was nearly the size of him.
It was incredible.
And the three of us were on the beach.
There was no one else around.
We were just like whoopingand like screaming with joy.
We were so happy because my husbandand I have spent six years trying
to catch a fish like that andour son went and beat us to it.
So he was thrilled.
But then, you know, he learns aboutthe wildlife up there, the seasons.
(24:13):
He catches frogs, he catches geckos,he, uh, we saw quite a few snakes
this year, so that was not fun for me.
Um, we've seen crocodiles.
Well, the poor little thing, he actuallyaccidentally rode over a tree snake.
So that was an interesting teachingpoint because I told him, I said,
(24:36):
don't ride your bike over the leaflitter because it's, it's dangerous.
Like, it's the hottestpart of the dry season.
They're probably hiding under, there'sprobably frogs and snakes hiding under
the leaves, under the leaf litter.
Anyway, he went to ride over the leaflitter and then rode over one of the tree
snakes and obviously it reared up to tryand bite him, but, and he got scared,
(24:57):
but I had to, we had to explain to him itwas, it wasn't trying to hurt you, it was
defending itself because he rode over it.
So yeah, he made sure not to rideon the leaf litter after that.
It's definitely changed.
Homeschooling for our familyhas changed us for the better
and as long as it benefits ourson, we will continue to do it.
(25:22):
Everyone's question is, oh, are you goingto do it all the way through high school?
I have no idea.
I didn't think I'd behomeschooling four years ago.
So, it's such an odd thing to ask.
I don't know, like life throws you a lotof curveballs as you and I both know.
You just gotta, you just have to gowith the flow and do the best you can.
(25:43):
So it's been an amazing bondingopportunity for the whole family.
Definitely, definitely.
And because of my husband's job, he gets alot of days off because of his shift work.
So that, that also helps withthe amount of family time that
we can spend together as well.
It's weird.
It's actually, so I'm sitting in myliving room by myself, and that is a
(26:09):
rarity because the reason I could do thispodcast with you this week is because my
son's at basketball camp for the week.
So I dropped him offyesterday and I came home.
My husband was at work and I came toan, came home to an empty house and
was like, what do I do with myself?
I'm not used to having allthis time and this quiet.
(26:29):
So it's all right.
I got used to it today.
It was just the first day.
It was a bit weird.
I'll be enjoying the rest of my week off.
How does what you're doingimpact on the community?
I've built communitythrough homeschooling.
I guess the great thing aboutmeeting other homeschoolers is also
learning Different ways of teaching.
(26:51):
You know, if a child might be havingdifficulty with something, making
suggestions of what maybe you've tried,the curriculum that I'm actually using
at the moment was because anotherhomeschooling mum recommended it to me.
And then I recommended it to anotherhomeschooling mum who said, this
is great because I've been reallystruggling with my child and she's
(27:11):
now really enjoying this curriculum.
So in that, that sense, it'sreally, it's really great.
I really appreciate the communitythat we've found because we don't
just talk about homeschooling.
We also share Many similarvalues in regards to family
and health and lifestyle.
So just having those types ofconversations with people who share the
(27:34):
same values is also really beneficial.
I've found we've just met awhole new group of friends,
which has been fantastic.
There's a lot of meaning inhomeschooling your child or children.
We'll have a break now, and after thebreak, we'll have a look at How you do it.
(27:58):
We've had a look at what it means now.
We'll have a look at how you do it,Cara, how do you start, at least the
process of homeschooling your child?
So first you have to, I guess itdepends on whether you are, all you
are going to do is homeschool or ifyou have a child who's already in
school and you make that decision.
(28:19):
So if you have a child that'salready in school, you.
I need to notify your schooland then contact the Department
of Education and let them knowthat you intend to homeschool.
And from my understanding,I could be wrong.
You need to do that withintwo weeks of taking your child
out of mainstream school.
Whereas for me, actually, my sonattended the local kindergarten,
(28:43):
the local primary kindergarten.
So he was only there fivedays a fortnight, but I had
enrolled him for pre primary.
So I just had to notifythem that I was no longer.
He would no longer be attending.
And then I called the Department ofEducation and expressed my interest.
So I think I said before, yeah,they'll have a conversation with you
(29:04):
about how you'd like to homeschool,what your thoughts are about whether
you want to go curriculum based orhybrid based or co op or whatever.
Yeah.
And then you just, you know, Jumpin the deep end and go for it,
but you are kept accountable.
So I have a moderator that comesout to visit me once a year, uh,
(29:26):
because she needs to track and makesure that my son is progressing.
The good thing about homeschoolingis that Like I said, you don't have
to replicate what happens in school.
So a perfect example would beif, so my son's eight years old,
if he went to mainstream school,he would have just finished year
(29:46):
two, because of he's a July born.
So he would have just finished year two.
And if he was behind or ahead,there's, I don't think there's
really, Any consideration forthat or allowances for that.
So with me home educating him, he'sactually doing some year three and
(30:07):
four maths because he's quite strongin maths, but then he's probably
doing a in between a year one.
year two level of English, butthen he's reading books that
maybe year fours would read.
So that's where homeschooling isreally great, where you can tailor
it to your child, to their strengths.
You know, if, if, if they're goingreally well in a particular subject,
(30:30):
you don't have to hold them back.
You can be like, okay, great.
Let's keep going with this.
Or if they are strugglingwith something, you can take
that little bit of extra time.
and work through it with them so theydon't feel like they're falling behind
as such like they would in, in school.
So we're really, really luckythat our moderator, she's very
(30:52):
aligned with our family values.
She understands how I like toteach my son, you know, what's
important to us with teaching him.
And she's just, she's, she'salmost like our part of our
extended homeschooling family.
I actually really look forward to myvisits with her because she used to
be, uh, primary school teacher herself.
(31:14):
So sometimes if she sees or if she likessomething I'm doing, she'll try and help
me extend on it to help with Elijah'slearning, which I really appreciate
because yeah, it's, it's always niceto hear different perspectives because
maybe someone might suggest somethingthat you've not thought of yourself.
So yes, so we are held accountableand I get a report or an email
(31:37):
after she's come to visit justto let me know that I'm on track.
I've not yet had anything to say.
That I'm not on track.
So I don't know what happens in that.
I'm not actually really surewhat happens in that scenario.
So again, can only speakfrom my personal experience.
So yeah, she, she's very happy withwhat I do and how I go about things.
(32:00):
So that's nice to have that,that feedback from her.
So that's a pretty clear way of keepingup to date and sounds like it's done in
a very positive way in your experience.
That's really good.
And if someone was new to this, andyou talked about all these different
styles of of educating a child.
(32:24):
Are there some good places peoplecan look to get ideas about the
scope of opportunities that mightbe out there for them to educate?
Definitely.
So Facebook is my main Source offinding out things about homeschooling.
I don't actually use it to post anything.
The only reason I'm actually even onFacebook is, is only for homeschooling
(32:46):
groups and community groups.
So there's a lot of great communitygroups that advertise different events
for homeschoolers throughout the year,different, um, days they can attend.
Cause the other great thingis places like SciTech or Aqua
will have special discount.
days for homeschoolers.
(33:07):
So people will notify eachother on their Facebook groups
of different things like that.
There's also, so I actually foundthat, so the hybrid version of the
homeschooling group that my son wentto, I found that teacher on Facebook.
She just happened to be advertising,saying, Oh, I'm looking for some more
(33:27):
students for my term three class.
If you're interested, just give me a call.
So Facebook is a, has been a great.
source of finding different communitiesand they won't always be based around
the education or activity part.
Sometimes they're just catch ups.
I just happened to go to a North north ofthe river homeschool catch up and after
(33:51):
that I've actually made some really goodfriends from that group and we introduced
all our husbands and we all try andcatch up because obviously because it's
a bit they're a bit further away we alltry and catch up at least once every
two to three months so it's nice tolike just yeah just just meeting other
families through through that as well.
(34:11):
So there's a very much a sense ofcommunity if you decide to go into that.
Definitely.
Yeah, well you need to find yourcommunity, otherwise you end up
quite, you can end up quite isolated.
Because I guess it is that extra bitof effort that you have to put in.
because your child isn'tgoing to school every day.
(34:33):
So when your child's going to schoolevery day, you're going to see parents
that drop off and pick up and youhave your conversations there, or
someone's got a birthday this week.
Whereas in the homeschoolingcommunity, you really have to make
that extra effort to to engage.
And me especially, so I'm veryconscious of that, having an only child.
(34:53):
Um, thank you very much, Cara,for being on Forrest.Chat.
And all Forrest.Chat listeners wishyou the best in your future endeavors.
Thank you very much,Paul, for having me on.
I really appreciate you allowing meto talk about my personal experience.
It's actually been really fun.
I was a bit nervous, butit's been really fun.
Thank you, Cara.
It's been fabulous havingyou on Forrest.Chat.
(35:16):
You've been listening to Forrest.Chat,where we talk about individual
endeavour in Western Australia.
What it takes, what itmeans, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey,and today we're talking with Cara
Sackett about home education.
Remember, there are four ways toget involved with Forrest.Chat.
Share the domain, Forrest.Chat, with yourfriends and family and people you meet.
(35:41):
Listen to the episodes atForrest.Chat slash episodes.
If you do something that's interestingthat other people might want to do,
then book an interview at Forrest.
Chat slash interview.
If you want to support a localbusiness, book an advert at
Forrest.Chat slash advert.
I'm looking forward to joiningyou with our next guest.
(36:04):
Until then, enjoy making it happen.
Welcome to Forrest.Chat,where we talk about individual
endeavour in Western Australia.
What it takes, what itmeans, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey, andin today's episode, we're talking
with Cara Sackett about homeschooling.
Cara has just graduated from herthird year as a homeschooler.
(00:25):
She's been teaching her vibrant young son.
Everything he needs to know to begood at what he needs to be in life.
Welcome to Forrest.Chat, Cara.
Thank you, Paul, for having me.
It's a pleasure to have you here, Cara.
We've been working on this for sometime and it's great to actually be able
to, uh, to talk about homeschooling.
(00:47):
Really looking forward to it.
What is homeschooling?
Homeschooling.
So I have to think about this for alittle bit because I think The best way
to describe it is more home education,because the biggest misconception I think
with homeschooling is that you replicatemainstream school at home, which is,
(01:12):
which is what some, some people might do.
My personal experience, Idon't necessarily do that.
So homeschooling isn't going tobe the same for every family.
It's a very different experience foreach person based on your child's
needs, based on how you teach.
And I guess the analogy I can give,like I gave to you when we were
(01:33):
chatting before, is that you couldhave 30 people do the same art class.
And at the end of that art class,you're going to end up with 30 different
perspectives of the same subject.
It's, I do use the termhomeschooling myself, but I guess
it's more about home education.
It's such a broad subject.
(01:53):
Uh, I look at it as educating myson spiritually, holistically,
academically, emotionally.
It's, it's not just about teachinghim, uh, literacy and numeracy.
It's about educating him for life.
And I guess we as parentssometimes are made.
(02:17):
To believe that we have no agencyover our child's education, they
should be going to a teacher.
But really, we're ourchild's first educators.
And, um, I get asked quite a lot, Oh,do you have a teaching background?
I don't.
I have a corporate background, butI feel like, you know, we, for the
first five years before our childrendo attend any sort of institution
(02:41):
of learning, we are their teachers.
So why, why not?
Why, why can't we be there to teach themthe other or the bigger aspects of life?
Interesting that you actually have takenon Unknowingly understanding that you've
taken on the full breadth of what yourchild needs to know to get ahead in life.
(03:05):
Yes, I mean it's, don't get mewrong, it was extremely daunting at
the beginning because also I thinkthere are a lot of misconceptions
and stereotypes about homeschooling.
And I will fully own up to it.
I, I held those same stereotypesand misconceptions myself until
(03:27):
I jumped in and did it myself.
There's lots of different waysthat people choose to do it.
So some people will completelyunschool their children in the way
that they don't really want them tofunction within an education system.
So it might be something as simple as, youknow, they visit a museum or they go to,
(03:48):
uh, a shipwreck and do some snorkeling.
And then when they come home, they writeabout the environment that they've just
been in or what they've learned about.
And then they're developing their writingskills or literacy skills because they're.
recalling, comprehension, or theremight be people who choose a more
natural approach where they teacharound their child's interests.
(04:12):
And I actually read a storyabout a lady who, I thought
this was a very clever approach.
Her son was obsessed with Japan.
Yeah, interested in everything Japanese.
So what she did to try and coverLiteracy, numeracy, society, culture.
So, uh, she'd teach him about thepopulation when it came to maths, or
(04:33):
they'd learn Japanese as a language.
Basically where she could, shetried to fit in different ways to
teach him about Japan, but to fit itwithin, yeah, numeracy and literacy.
And society and culture, whichI thought was really clever.
There's a hybrid approach.
So my son actually did a hybrid approachfor a little while, where I sent
(04:53):
him to educator for two days a week.
And it was capped at 10 childrenwere taught by that same teacher.
And then for the other threedays, that teacher sent home
a curriculum for us to follow.
And that really benefited him.
And we met some good friendsthrough that, which is great.
And, you know, they'll, they'll learnall different things, like, uh, kids can
(05:15):
go and learn woodworking skills, they'lllearn outdoor skills, music, art, cooking.
It's, it's limitless whatyou can, what you can teach.
And then there's also co ops.
So a co op is where families, a group ofhomeschooling families will come together
and pool their time and resources.
And maybe they might.
(05:36):
Spend money on hiring tutors tocome in and teach their children
or they'll take turns at teaching.
the children throughout the term.
Or there's also curriculumsthat you can follow.
So that's, that's what I personally do.
So for my son, we do a mix of a curriculumand then natural learning with him.
(06:00):
You can learn all the time.
It doesn't need to be a sitdown structured learning.
There's always opportunities to learn.
If we're sitting in the car and heasks us a question, I don't know,
it could be something really randomand we don't know the answer.
We'll be like, okay, let'slook that up when we get home.
So I use a curriculum calledthe good and the beautiful.
It's a Christian based curriculum.
(06:21):
It encompasses a lot of art andcreativity, which I really love.
And my son enjoys art andcreativity and then anything that's.
natural learning.
So if he, I don't know, like perfectexample is he wants to build a robot.
Okay, build a robot.
You know, it's, it's developinghis fine motor skills, uh, teaching
(06:44):
him how to read instruction.
Um, he loves building Legos.
So there's days where, I don't know ifwe're coming towards school holidays
and where I'm just feeling a bitlike, yeah, I'm done for the year.
I just like go build something.
Go use your creativity, build something.
And he is actually very good at building.
(07:05):
So I'm trying to talk to him about,I guess, trying to give him ideas of,
you know, what would you want to do?
When you're older, job wise, you know, youseem to enjoy building things, or do you
like the planning stage of your creation?
Because then you couldthink about something like
architecture or engineering.
(07:26):
And then, yeah, then wego down, down that path.
Oh, mom, mama, what's thearchitecture of what's an architect?
What's an engineer?
Okay, well, this is what they do.
So then, you know, you're justgiving him some ideas of where he
can, And in all fairness, he couldget to high school and be like, I
don't want to do any of those things.
It's just trying to get him thinkingabout what, what he's good at and
(07:50):
what he can think about doing.
Some curiosity mixed with self reflection.
Yes.
Yeah.
So there's a number of differentways that you can actually go about.
Homeschooling, or home education,as you like to call it.
So Cara, do you have any examplesof how you might use natural
learning to teach something?
Yes, so maths can be found with cooking.
(08:13):
My son loves cooking.
He loves cooking with my husband andhe's learning fractions because you're
learning those measurements with cooking.
So fractions can be taught with cooking.
For all science, An environment issomething as simple as him being
in the garden because we grow ourown, our own fruit and veggies.
(08:34):
Just talking to him about theseasons, how the fruit grows, the
quality and the health of the soil.
It honestly couldn't be that simple.
Or even just going, he reallyloves going for wildflower walks.
So I might take him to Wireless Hill.
And we'll just go have a look at all thewildflowers, but I'll get him to read or
(08:57):
try and read the names of the flowers.
And then he'll take a sketchbook.
He can, he'll, he'll draw what hesees and then just, you know, label,
label the parts of the flower.
So the stem, the leaf, a thorn, youknow, that you're still learning, or it
could be going to the farmer's market.
(09:18):
So, Community engagement.
So when we go to the farmer's market,I will give him the money to pay
for what we're buying so that hejust, so he's learning some sort of
interaction with people, but thenit's also, again, that's maths.
Oh, if I'm giving them.
10 and it's this much.
How much change am I going to get?
(09:39):
So those are just a few examples ofnatural learning that it's not even
necessary, necessarily for homeschooling.
That's just stuff you do with yourkids, but they're still learning.
And it's not in a, I guess, uh,forced is the wrong word, uh,
like a sit down environment.
They're, they're stilllearning, not sitting at a desk.
(10:01):
And does he enjoy it?
Does he enjoy homeschooling?
Yeah.
I asked him that and he said,it depends on what day, I think,
what kind of day he's having.
But I guess the best feedback I getis because we have a mix of friends.
So some of our friends, their kids arehomeschooled and some of our friends,
their kids go to primary school.
(10:22):
So I asked him, I say, you know, If,would you want to go back to school?
And he's like, nah, no, no, Idon't want to go back to school.
So I guess that's my, the bestfeedback I can get is that
he's enjoying homeschooling.
And he's, I'm, I'm very lucky that he'sa very articulate and emotionally mature
kid in the sense that if he is feelingfrustrated, he will tell me, you know,
(10:47):
sometimes it's making sense in my head,but it's not making sense in his head.
And he said, he'll say.
Mama, I don't understand, uh, canyou explain it a different way?
Or, you know, like, obviouslywe spend a lot of time together,
so there are times where we doget frustrated with each other.
I'm not, as soon as I finish beinghis teacher, I'm still his mama.
(11:09):
So we're together a lot, sothere are times when he's sick.
He said to my husband when he gothome from work, Uh, and my husband
said, oh, how was school today?
Or I had, did you have a good day?
I think mama and I needa break from each other.
So he's very honest about that.
And I'll say, yep, I think, Ithink we do need a break from each
other because we've got a bit offrustrated with each other today.
(11:32):
Um, so yeah, we have a very honest,open, uh, relationship and I don't
think that's something we would havehad, had he been in mainstream school
because we wouldn't have as much timetogether to foster that closeness
and that, that open relationship.
Sounds like we'll have a bit totalk about when it, when we come
(11:53):
to talk about what it means.
Cara, what does it takeyou to home educate?
Your son.
It definitely takes a lot of patience,good budgeting skills, flexibility, and
preparation and commitment, I would say.
So definitely patience.
(12:16):
I feel like I've, I've definitelylearnt to be a lot more patient.
I used to be a bit of a, I wouldn'tsay a hothead, but my frustration used
to get the better of me, definitely.
But also I think that was the carryoverfrom working and also parenting.
This was back when I was working.
And my husband said to me the other day,he said, I've never seen you happier than
(12:43):
how you've been homeschooling Elijah.
So, um, that was a good, thatwas a nice compliment to receive.
And he's right.
I, it's the only job I've never beenpaid for, but I'm the happiest doing it.
And it's, it's a job with somereally Big commitment and takes a
lot from you to actually achieve it.
(13:06):
It is a, it is a big commitment becauseat the end of the day, you're, I
mean, obviously your child will also,also learn from other like teachers.
So my son does a lot ofextracurricular activities.
So basketball, he does flight squadat bounce and he's done soccer.
So he learns from other people,which I think is important.
(13:28):
But ultimately, my husbandand I are his main educators.
So it is a big commitment, but it'sworth it because you, you do see those.
I mean, eventually, I mean, I'm notgoing to know the value of it till I
guess he's finished his school years.
And he can tell me, Oh, wow,mom, you did a great job.
(13:50):
Or you did a terrible job.
I don't know.
Um, but I feel like withinsix months of choosing to do
homeschooling, we saw the benefits.
And I feel like that's a reasonablyshort time frame to see such a huge
benefit for something, for sucha big life, life choice to make.
(14:12):
And what else?
Oh, budgeting.
Definitely, it takesgood budgeting skills.
Obviously, we have to functionon one income, so I pretty
much budget every dollar.
But, you get used to it.
You learn, you, the other wonderfulthing about homeschooling is that
we've learned to live with less.
(14:33):
I think you just learn that a simplelife is the best life and you don't need
to be distracted by material things.
And when we, we stopped having myincome, we realized a lot of my
income was just being spent on usgoing out or Just, oh, like catch.
(14:54):
com's got a sale.
Let's just buy something.
You know, you, you stop thatmaterialistic way of thinking.
And now basically all we save for everyyear is for our camping trips up north.
And that's, that's thehighlight of our year.
It'd be great to hear about someof that a bit later on, because
I know that's on the schedule.
Preparation.
Yes.
(15:15):
You definitely need some form oforganizing, organization and preparation.
Uh, especially if you're choosing.
to follow a curriculum of some sort.
Yeah, it's basically you justjump in the deep end and you're
left to your own devices.
So you pretty much call the, call theDepartment of Education, express your
(15:36):
interest in homeschooling, and they,We'll ask you, you know, do you know
if you want to follow a curriculum oris there somewhere that you'd like to
send your child so that I had a, I had aconversation with, um, a representative
probably for about half an hour,45 minutes just to get some ideas.
And then once I'd filled in allmy paperwork, I was registered
(15:57):
as a home, homeschooler, homeeducator, and it's like, yep.
Now figure it out yourself.
So that was a bit dauntingfor the first six months.
Then you find your feet, you findyour style of teaching, you find
what works for your child or yourchildren, and yeah, go with what works.
(16:21):
works for you.
Tailor it to what worksfor, works for both of you.
Or all of you, I should say.
Sorry, I keep talking about peopleearlier who have, I'm talking
from a one child perspective.
I know people who've homeschooled sixkids and I'm like, you're my hero.
How'd you do it?
Yeah, that's a, that's a lot ofkids to homeschool to keep up with.
Yeah.
(16:41):
We'll be in different yearsand have different needs and
Exactly.
But, you know, they've found theformula that works for them and,
you know, some, some of those kidshave entered, uh, university early.
So it's, you know, they've found whatsuits their children, how, um, how
to help, whatever benefits them best.
(17:03):
And yeah, I think that's fantastic.
So I, I, I'm looking forward totalking to those parents when,
My son becomes high school age.
What did you do?
I'm just dealing withprimary school at the moment.
So much more to look forward to.
Yeah.
And what did you have after organisation?
Uh, oh, flexibility.
(17:25):
Definitely need some sort of flexibility.
As I touched on before, uh, sometimesyou get frustrated with each other
and not every day is, will go to plan.
We all have bad days.
I have bad days.
My son has bad days and we just.
On those days, there's no point forcingany sort of learning because you're just
(17:46):
going to get frustrated with each other.
So on those days where I cantell he's just He's just not
in the right frame of mind or Imight also be mentally exhausted.
I'll probably, I'll suggest, I'll,shall we go to the library and
then we'll just go read some booksbecause then he's, he loves reading.
It's still learning.
He's still, you know, engaging his brain.
(18:07):
But it gives us a bit of abreak from something structured.
So I think flexibility isdefinitely, definitely, uh, an
important thing to consider.
Because life doesn't always go to plan.
You could do a projectmanagement course after this one.
Isn't that what mums are?
We're just project managers.
In a lot of ways.
You go, you want to cook something?
(18:28):
It's a project.
You know, you want tounderwrite a project.
If you want to, you know, get readyto go to the beach, it's a project.
Do you know, I actually, I was, um,one of my friends was talking to
me saying that she read an articlesomewhere about how, uh, they,
(18:49):
they put out a job advertisement.
For a project manager, and they hadto be able, you know, to have, you
know, they needed budgeting skills,they needed paper skills, uh, project
management skills, just like the works.
And they had to be available and on call24 7, uh, no days off, you didn't get
any sick pay, didn't get any holiday,and you didn't get paid anything.
(19:14):
Would you apply for that job?
People were like, no.
And at the end they said, well,that's pretty much what a mum does.
Yes.
Mums have a super important role in thefamily, but also in society, because
if the mum doesn't do the nurturingthings, you don't have enough nurtured
people in society to keep it on track.
(19:36):
It's so true.
So true.
You know, and the father, themasculine role is so important too.
Like we.
Yeah, it's, oh my gosh, I'll endup on a different tangent if I go,
go, but it is, it's very importanthaving the nurturing, emotional parent
as the mother or maternal figure.
(19:58):
And then father who teaches,you know, the, uh, like a
boy to become a man, I guess.
Yeah.
Able to stand up for yourself.
Yeah.
My husband's actually reading abook at the moment called How To.
Teach your son to become a knight.
He's really good at self development,and he reads a lot of books to really,
(20:24):
I guess, help nurture and I mean, I justsaid the paternal role was nurturing,
but you know, just create, just becomethe best dad he can be to our son.
But yeah, I just, and I guess Elijahsees that Rob and I are always
trying to self improve and learn.
And hopefully that's whathe'll take on board as well.
(20:47):
Like we're always trying new things,always learning, reading, researching.
Hopefully that is passeddown through action as well,
or
observation.
It's a good example that you'resetting, and you're hoping that he can
follow.
Hopefully.
We've had a look at how much it takesto home educate your child or children.
(21:08):
Now, we'll have a break, andafter the break, we'll come
back and look at what it means.
We've had a look at what itmeans to home educate your child.
Now, let's have a look at what it means.
Thank you Cara, what does it mean toyou, your family or the community that
(21:33):
you're able to home educate your son?
Such a big question.
I feel that homeschoolingabsolutely changed my whole
perspective on life and family.
My two priorities aremy husband and my son.
They are the two most important people inmy world and it has brought us together.
(21:58):
So much closer as a family to havethat extra time together to spend.
When I reflect on how early I wentback to work after my son was born.
So I went back to work when he was11 months old and it used to upset me
because he wasn't very bonded to me.
(22:20):
And now he always wanted to be with myhusband or any male that was around.
He just wanted to be around boys.
And now when I reflect on that, it'sbecause I should have stayed at home
to build that extra bond with him.
He was watching me leave and wonderingwhere his mum was going probably,
you know, and then once I made thatdecision to stop working, because
(22:45):
I actually stopped working the yearbefore I, we made the decision to start
homeschooling, having that time backtogether created that bond that I didn't.
Or I unconsciously wasbreaking by going to work.
And again, this is nojudgment on anyone that works.
(23:05):
This is just my personal experienceand how it affected our family.
Because I completely understandthat everyone's different.
How has it changed for my son?
Oh, it's, well, again, yeah,it's, it's created a really good
close foundation for our family.
We, like I mentionedto you, we go camping.
(23:27):
Up north all the time.
And again, that's a really, that'sanother great education point for our son.
So he knows how to build acampfire safely and he knows how
to cast and reel in his own fish.
You see the size of the fish hecaught up in the Kimberley this year.
He caught a 96 centimeterKing threadfin salmon.
(23:49):
It was nearly the size of him.
It was incredible.
And the three of us were on the beach.
There was no one else around.
We were just like whoopingand like screaming with joy.
We were so happy because my husbandand I have spent six years trying
to catch a fish like that andour son went and beat us to it.
So he was thrilled.
But then, you know, he learns aboutthe wildlife up there, the seasons.
(24:13):
He catches frogs, he catches geckos,he, uh, we saw quite a few snakes
this year, so that was not fun for me.
Um, we've seen crocodiles.
Well, the poor little thing, he actuallyaccidentally rode over a tree snake.
So that was an interesting teachingpoint because I told him, I said,
(24:36):
don't ride your bike over the leaflitter because it's, it's dangerous.
Like, it's the hottestpart of the dry season.
They're probably hiding under, there'sprobably frogs and snakes hiding under
the leaves, under the leaf litter.
Anyway, he went to ride over the leaflitter and then rode over one of the tree
snakes and obviously it reared up to tryand bite him, but, and he got scared,
(24:57):
but I had to, we had to explain to him itwas, it wasn't trying to hurt you, it was
defending itself because he rode over it.
So yeah, he made sure not to rideon the leaf litter after that.
It's definitely changed.
Homeschooling for our familyhas changed us for the better
and as long as it benefits ourson, we will continue to do it.
(25:22):
Everyone's question is, oh, are you goingto do it all the way through high school?
I have no idea.
I didn't think I'd behomeschooling four years ago.
So, it's such an odd thing to ask.
I don't know, like life throws you a lotof curveballs as you and I both know.
You just gotta, you just have to gowith the flow and do the best you can.
(25:43):
So it's been an amazing bondingopportunity for the whole family.
Definitely, definitely.
And because of my husband's job, he gets alot of days off because of his shift work.
So that, that also helps withthe amount of family time that
we can spend together as well.
It's weird.
It's actually, so I'm sitting in myliving room by myself, and that is a
(26:09):
rarity because the reason I could do thispodcast with you this week is because my
son's at basketball camp for the week.
So I dropped him offyesterday and I came home.
My husband was at work and I came toan, came home to an empty house and
was like, what do I do with myself?
I'm not used to having allthis time and this quiet.
(26:29):
So it's all right.
I got used to it today.
It was just the first day.
It was a bit weird.
I'll be enjoying the rest of my week off.
How does what you're doingimpact on the community?
I've built communitythrough homeschooling.
I guess the great thing aboutmeeting other homeschoolers is also
learning Different ways of teaching.
(26:51):
You know, if a child might be havingdifficulty with something, making
suggestions of what maybe you've tried,the curriculum that I'm actually using
at the moment was because anotherhomeschooling mum recommended it to me.
And then I recommended it to anotherhomeschooling mum who said, this
is great because I've been reallystruggling with my child and she's
(27:11):
now really enjoying this curriculum.
So in that, that sense, it'sreally, it's really great.
I really appreciate the communitythat we've found because we don't
just talk about homeschooling.
We also share Many similarvalues in regards to family
and health and lifestyle.
So just having those types ofconversations with people who share the
(27:34):
same values is also really beneficial.
I've found we've just met awhole new group of friends,
which has been fantastic.
There's a lot of meaning inhomeschooling your child or children.
We'll have a break now, and after thebreak, we'll have a look at How you do it.
(27:58):
We've had a look at what it means now.
We'll have a look at how you do it,Cara, how do you start, at least the
process of homeschooling your child?
So first you have to, I guess itdepends on whether you are, all you
are going to do is homeschool or ifyou have a child who's already in
school and you make that decision.
(28:19):
So if you have a child that'salready in school, you.
I need to notify your schooland then contact the Department
of Education and let them knowthat you intend to homeschool.
And from my understanding,I could be wrong.
You need to do that withintwo weeks of taking your child
out of mainstream school.
Whereas for me, actually, my sonattended the local kindergarten,
(28:43):
the local primary kindergarten.
So he was only there fivedays a fortnight, but I had
enrolled him for pre primary.
So I just had to notifythem that I was no longer.
He would no longer be attending.
And then I called the Department ofEducation and expressed my interest.
So I think I said before, yeah,they'll have a conversation with you
(29:04):
about how you'd like to homeschool,what your thoughts are about whether
you want to go curriculum based orhybrid based or co op or whatever.
Yeah.
And then you just, you know, Jumpin the deep end and go for it,
but you are kept accountable.
So I have a moderator that comesout to visit me once a year, uh,
(29:26):
because she needs to track and makesure that my son is progressing.
The good thing about homeschoolingis that Like I said, you don't have
to replicate what happens in school.
So a perfect example would beif, so my son's eight years old,
if he went to mainstream school,he would have just finished year
(29:46):
two, because of he's a July born.
So he would have just finished year two.
And if he was behind or ahead,there's, I don't think there's
really, Any consideration forthat or allowances for that.
So with me home educating him, he'sactually doing some year three and
(30:07):
four maths because he's quite strongin maths, but then he's probably
doing a in between a year one.
year two level of English, butthen he's reading books that
maybe year fours would read.
So that's where homeschooling isreally great, where you can tailor
it to your child, to their strengths.
You know, if, if, if they're goingreally well in a particular subject,
(30:30):
you don't have to hold them back.
You can be like, okay, great.
Let's keep going with this.
Or if they are strugglingwith something, you can take
that little bit of extra time.
and work through it with them so theydon't feel like they're falling behind
as such like they would in, in school.
So we're really, really luckythat our moderator, she's very
(30:52):
aligned with our family values.
She understands how I like toteach my son, you know, what's
important to us with teaching him.
And she's just, she's, she'salmost like our part of our
extended homeschooling family.
I actually really look forward to myvisits with her because she used to
be, uh, primary school teacher herself.
(31:14):
So sometimes if she sees or if she likessomething I'm doing, she'll try and help
me extend on it to help with Elijah'slearning, which I really appreciate
because yeah, it's, it's always niceto hear different perspectives because
maybe someone might suggest somethingthat you've not thought of yourself.
So yes, so we are held accountableand I get a report or an email
(31:37):
after she's come to visit justto let me know that I'm on track.
I've not yet had anything to say.
That I'm not on track.
So I don't know what happens in that.
I'm not actually really surewhat happens in that scenario.
So again, can only speakfrom my personal experience.
So yeah, she, she's very happy withwhat I do and how I go about things.
(32:00):
So that's nice to have that,that feedback from her.
So that's a pretty clear way of keepingup to date and sounds like it's done in
a very positive way in your experience.
That's really good.
And if someone was new to this, andyou talked about all these different
styles of of educating a child.
(32:24):
Are there some good places peoplecan look to get ideas about the
scope of opportunities that mightbe out there for them to educate?
Definitely.
So Facebook is my main Source offinding out things about homeschooling.
I don't actually use it to post anything.
The only reason I'm actually even onFacebook is, is only for homeschooling
(32:46):
groups and community groups.
So there's a lot of great communitygroups that advertise different events
for homeschoolers throughout the year,different, um, days they can attend.
Cause the other great thingis places like SciTech or Aqua
will have special discount.
days for homeschoolers.
(33:07):
So people will notify eachother on their Facebook groups
of different things like that.
There's also, so I actually foundthat, so the hybrid version of the
homeschooling group that my son wentto, I found that teacher on Facebook.
She just happened to be advertising,saying, Oh, I'm looking for some more
(33:27):
students for my term three class.
If you're interested, just give me a call.
So Facebook is a, has been a great.
source of finding different communitiesand they won't always be based around
the education or activity part.
Sometimes they're just catch ups.
I just happened to go to a North north ofthe river homeschool catch up and after
(33:51):
that I've actually made some really goodfriends from that group and we introduced
all our husbands and we all try andcatch up because obviously because it's
a bit they're a bit further away we alltry and catch up at least once every
two to three months so it's nice tolike just yeah just just meeting other
families through through that as well.
(34:11):
So there's a very much a sense ofcommunity if you decide to go into that.
Definitely.
Yeah, well you need to find yourcommunity, otherwise you end up
quite, you can end up quite isolated.
Because I guess it is that extra bitof effort that you have to put in.
because your child isn'tgoing to school every day.
(34:33):
So when your child's going to schoolevery day, you're going to see parents
that drop off and pick up and youhave your conversations there, or
someone's got a birthday this week.
Whereas in the homeschoolingcommunity, you really have to make
that extra effort to to engage.
And me especially, so I'm veryconscious of that, having an only child.
(34:53):
Um, thank you very much, Cara,for being on Forrest.Chat.
And all Forrest.Chat listeners wishyou the best in your future endeavors.
Thank you very much,Paul, for having me on.
I really appreciate you allowing meto talk about my personal experience.
It's actually been really fun.
I was a bit nervous, butit's been really fun.
Thank you, Cara.
It's been fabulous havingyou on Forrest.Chat.
(35:16):
You've been listening to Forrest.Chat,where we talk about individual
endeavour in Western Australia.
What it takes, what itmeans, and how you do it.
I'm your host, Paul van der Mey,and today we're talking with Cara
Sackett about home education.
Remember, there are four ways toget involved with Forrest.Chat.
Share the domain, Forrest.Chat, with yourfriends and family and people you meet.
(35:41):
Listen to the episodes atForrest.Chat slash episodes.
If you do something that's interestingthat other people might want to do,
then book an interview at Forrest.
Chat slash interview.
If you want to support a localbusiness, book an advert at
Forrest.Chat slash advert.
I'm looking forward to joiningyou with our next guest.
(36:04):
Until then, enjoy making it happen.
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