Outside my window… it’s early morning, the dew is still wet on the grass, the sun is shining, the horse and foal graze in the paddock nearby, it’s going to be a beautiful day I am thankful… that our adult children have had seasonal work for these past couple of months. The work is physically demanding and the hours long, and with an hour travel both ways some days they leave before 6am and don’t return until 7pm. In only three more weeks all the ponds will be empty and the prawns all boxed and gone I am thinking… it’s time I wrote a fresh A Day in Our House…

The Australian Homeschooling Summit begins tomorrow 4th May through to the 15th. If you haven’t yet got your ticket now is the time!! Quick Recaps I will be talking about Creating your own Booklists for a Literature Based Education. Excited to be sharing my passion and knowledge about this topic and stepping you through on just how to create your own booklists for your topic choice of interest. I can’t wait.  That presentation will be on Friday May 8th at 1pm.   I will also be facilitating a second presentation Home Ed Graduates – What Do They Think? wherein my five home educated children and daughter-in-law will chat about some common questions…

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day. This year ANZAC Day will be observed in an entirely different way around the Nation than usual due to COVID19.  We will still commemorate our fallen, returned, and current Service men and women, remembering their sacrifices past and present. Included in their number are thousands of our First Peoples. Did you know that: Our First Peoples: At least 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in the Boer War (1899-1902) Over 1000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in World War I (1914-1918) and around 70 fought at Gallipoli At least 3000 Aboriginal and 850 Torres Strait Islander people served in World War II…

Outside my window… the sky is lightening, the paddocks are covered in a faint mist, signs of colder Autumn mornings, I see a mob of kangaroos grazing I am thankful… for the swift calls that the Australian leadership has made to suppress Covid 19, that the curve is flattening, and mostly I’m thankful for my fellow Australians, they have on the whole responded well to the call for physical isolation, truthfully I’m also pleasantly surprised I am thinking…‘ about my little sister, today was to have been her Wedding Day and instead it’s indefinitely postponed. First she lost her job (beauty salon) then she had to postpone her Wedding until…

Outside my window…  as I begin writing this post it is dark outside, I’m the first up and all is quiet, though I can hear the horses breathing outside the window, I’m an early morning person so I’m most productive now I am thankful… for my new, super fast internet! Doing cartwheels here as it is an incredible difference. We were on an upload speed of 0.25mbps! 🙁 it truly was impossible, I reached a breaking point and we have ditched the Telstra ADSL1 after 27 years! and have now gone to the Optus 4G Tower and we are receiving on average upload speed around the 12mbps mark. That’s still…

The annual Australian Homeschool Summit begins soon! A roundup of 30 presentations on a variety of Home Education topics. Most exciting is the speakers are Aussies focusing on Home Education in Australia! It’s all online, so watchable from the comfort of your home.   I’ll be speaking once again this year and I have some special guests joining me. All shall be revealed shortly.   Dates are: Giveaway of 3 tickets: March 3 – March 13th Tickets go on sale from March 6th (tomorrow) Showtime: March 23- April 3   Related Summits: I’ve spoken before at the previous Aussie Summits. Nurturing a Love of Literature 2017 Centering Your Education Around…

A Tradition begun way back in 2013 is still beating strong. As with every 4th Term for the past six years we enjoyed reading our way through piles of picture books, a tradition we look forward to each year. Our Leaping into Literature immersion as per usual was accompanied by the children giving their opinions and star ratings. This year’s participating children shrunk to only four; 13, 11, 8 & 5 years.  Due to the growing ages of the children we also included short chapter books, as the interest of some in picture books is beginning to wane just a little, my heart begins to break. Short Chapter Mr Pettigrew’s…

Outside my window… it’s a dark night, all is still. The benefits of living in the country, no city lights nor noises I am thankful… for good health, for my own and a beloved family member. Mine was a scare, all good but concerning at the time. Our dear family member’s condition is still unknown but the worse case scenario has at least been ruled out. Good health is never something I take for granted, I grew up with an invalid parent and know first hand the far reaching implications for all involved, for the patient and their family I am thinking… about family. My youngest brother, his wife and two…