Since we started we have used a variety of resources from different sources to help, but most have been in book format.

One of the resources we have just started using for homeschool Maths is www.mathsonline.com.au. We had heard about it before, but recently started using it to try it out for next year.

So far it looks pretty good. Here’s some info from the website…

“Maths Online is a high quality, independent online maths tutoring program based on Australian state curricula for Years 7 – 12.

Maths Online was developed by experienced Australian teachers. The program features hundreds of fully animated and narrated maths lessons with over 15,000 exam-style questions to test a student’s mastery of maths….

Benefits of Maths Online

• Gives student the freedom to study without stress, at home, in their own time, at their own pace.
• Students can catch up on lessons they missed or concepts they have not fully understood.
• Because maths concepts build upon each other, sometimes it’s necessary for students to go back and revise a particular concept before moving on to a new topic, this can be done as every student has access to the entire Year 7 to 12 program curriculum.
• Students can preview lessons at home before they take them at school.
• Students can gain understanding and confidence especially in areas where they struggled previously.
• Students can complete the worksheets to test their understanding. All of their results are recorded so that their progress can easily be seen.
• Maths Online is FREE, and it’s available whenever and wherever you need it.
• Above all, it works!”

So far it looks promising for us and our next years of homeschool Maths lessons. At this stage I think we will use it to supplement our book work.

If you are interested you can find a video demonstration here http://www.mathsonline.com.au/demo/

God Bless,

Dave

My eldest daughter Olivia is about to finish primary school. She has 24 days of work left and she is done.

My awesome wife Larissa has been homeschooling Olivia since grade one. Prior to that she attended kindergarten and pre-primary at Beechboro Christian School.

It is amazing to think that Olivia will be in “high school” next year. In some ways in 2004 seems so long ago and in other ways it seems like yesterday. It has been a great journey for us all.

Either way I am proud of my girls and the hard work they have put it this last seven years. They have all done really well.

Just for the those who are wondering. Olivia will continue to homeschool all the way through high school. We will have a summer break and then continue with the books next year.

If you are interested in our homeschool journey so far or some of the questions we are often asked, you can find our homeschool category here.

God Bless,

Dave

I can remember reading about homeschooling the first time and seeing how many different styles there are. Some just do their school books at home, some follow particular philosophy of schooling and others do what is called unschooling which is directed by the child’s interests.

From my reading house churches seem to have similar patterns. Some operate like a small church and do many of the same things “big” church does, some have a definate belief in what should happen in church (and what shouldn’t) and some basically turn up and meet with no structure.

For our homeschooling we do most of the books that the kids do at school, but we just do it at home with Mum or Dad as the “teacher”. That is what we feel comfortable with. I think the same thing would happen if we ever started a house church. We would probably have a worship time, share testimonies, have a mini sermon/Bible teaching and share communion.

Homeschooling, house churches and simple living are things that are becoming more appealing as I get older. I just really like the simplicity of it all and how all of these areas seem to fit together well.

God Bless,

Dave

In general it is a pretty straight forward process. But like most things when people come to check up on how you are going, there is a bit of stress involved. We have to get all the kids work together and arrange it in a way that showed we have covered all the learning areas required by WA law.

The main thing the Education Department needs to see is that the kids are progressing in the main learning areas. It doesn’t matter what books we are using or how kids compare to others in their age group, it is more about covering the things that need to be covered.

We are lucky in a sense as we use the curriculum from Australian Homeschooling Supplies. They have done all the research and know what all the states in Australia are required to do and they either write books or source books that cover those things.

So today we are getting out all the Maths, English, Phonics, Spelling, Science, Social Studies, LOTE and Health books to show the moderator. We also give an overview of the things the kids do outside of “school”. Things like athletics, netball, church youth group, community work and social interaction all to show your kids are moving forward.

Last year the moderator was with us for four hours. Hopefully this year we can cut that in half, especially since he drives two hours each way from Northam to get to us!

God Bless,

Dave

Another homeschool year is over! As it has been a while I thought I would give a quick update on our homeschooling journey for 2009.

About a week or so ago my wife, kids and I finished out sixth year of homeschooling. For those who are new to The PASSION Blog, our oldest daughter started in year one and our youngest daughter started in Kindy. So they have just completed Grade 4 and grade 6.

This year has been another good year of homeschooling. We have all learnt a lot and have grown closer as a family and our girls have also begun organised sport for PE. In winter they both started playing Netball in the local competition and in Summer they have started Little Athletics. They have both loved their new sports, have gotten way fitter and have made lots of new friends as a result.

Another big thing we did about half way through the year was purchased some books from Australian Homeschooling Supplies. Initially we used their books, but after a year or so we sourced our books from a number of sources. Now that our oldest daughter is 11 and will be going into high school the year after next, we decided to return to the Australian Homeshooling books as they have a great selection of books for high school students.

One of our big experiments we did this year was the growing of wheat from June to early December. We planted two patches of wheat that were two metres by two metres. One we watered every few weeks if there was no rain and the other we left to fend for itself. Our experiment showed that the wheat that was watered produced twice as many plants with many more heads. All up we got four times the grain from the six watering throughout the period.

All in all it was another good year of homeschooling. Of course like most things you have your moments where you wonder why you are doing it, but most of the time it was a great experience and we are committed to homeschooling for the long haul. We love the flexibility of it and we love the fact that we get to spend so much time with our kids as they grow up.

God Bless,

Dave

In todays post I thought I would share a few ways our kids are “socialised”.

1. Church – we go to church each week and the kids meet up with their Christian friends. Often some of the kids might come around afterwards to play.
2. Homeschoolers – we make sure our girls get together with other homeschoolers regularly. We might spend a whole afternoon at the park playing, go to someones house or go to the movies together.
3. Sports – our girls play Netball in Winter and do Athletics in Summer. At both of these sports they interact with kids of the same age, with coaches and other parents.
4. Neighbours – we have other kids who live in our street that the kids play with. Most of these kids go to traditional schools so they interact with them too.
5. Shopping – when we go out shopping our kids get to interact with all types of people. We have found this has helped them to relate to people of all ages in a natural way.

So as you can see in the course of a normal week, homeschooled kids have lots of time for socialising. The only difference is that when we do school, we focus 100% on that. And when school is finished it leaves time for hobbies, free time and socialising with family and friends.

As a family we generally spend $150 to $300 per year on each child. This is made up from a variety of books we have purchased online or from local book suppliers.

We have decided that next year we will be getting all of our books from Australian Homeschooling Supplies. Their website says it costs about $300 per year for a primary school child and about $350 per year for a high school aged child.

When you think about it that works out to be $5.76 per week per child in our case. When you compare that to a private school education that is very very cheap!

In our case most of the homeschooling books we buy have tests in them. For us, this is not so much about seeing how the kids are going compared to other kids, it is more about how they are going with their own work.

To help with this “testing” we have recently purchased some extra books from Australian Homeschooling Supplies. These books are a series, “Test your Maths…English…Spelling…”. As you can imagine is they have tests graded for the different years.

The great thing about these books is that they are written in a way to really test on the various areas of learning. After completing a book you might see that your child needs extra help in one area. The book then suggests another one to help your child improve in that area. It gives them targeted work.

For us though, homeschooling is about letting the kids progress at their own pace. Most kids are strong in some areas and weaker in other areas and that is ok! In homeschooling we just let them go ahead in their strengths and slowly work on the weaker areas to bring them up to speed.

The thing we try to remember with testing is that a test is a tool to see how they are going. It is not the be all and end all of life. If your child fails a test or is not doing well in one area, it just means they need a little extra help or it needs to be explained in a different way.

If you are interested in checking out these books you can find them at the Australian Homeschooling Supplies website – www.homeschooling.com.au.

God Bless,

Dave

My wife came across this website that has daily devotions for kids. It is called Kids4truth.com. We read through some of the devotions and they share Biblical and positive messages for kids of school age.

If you would like to check the website out you can visit this link here.

God Bless,

Dave

1. The WA Education Department

The WA Education Department has a homeschooling section on their website. It has information on registration, resources, educational programs and external links. It is not a bad place to start if you live in WA.

Link – http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/homeeducation/index.htm

2. PerthHomeschoolers.com

This is a forum based website with lots of information about homeschooling. It has several hundred members that interact with each other. They ask questions and share experiences about their homeschool journey. I have learnt a lot from this site.

Link – http://www.perthhomeschoolers.com/forum/

3. Wooldridges Bookstore

Wooldridges has a lot of books and resources for homeschoolers and schools in general. You can buy specific books or whole curriculums. They also stock things like maps, charts and other educational aids. Most of the things can be purchased through their website. Helpful for country people!

Link – http://www.wooldridges.com.au/

I hope these resources are helpful if you are thinking about homeschooling your kids.

God Bless,

Dave