Life skills

You may notice that I think life skills are vital to homeschooling. Not that I think actual schoolwork is not important but I think teach children life skills are equally important. Now if you have never heard of life skills, its just teaching the skills that are needed in everyday life from cooking to clean and how to bank money.

This chart has some ideas about different life skills you could teach your child, these include helping to clean the car and vacuuming. It also lists so ideas that I would never of thought of such as cutting and arranging flowers in a vase or teaching how to oil a squeaky door.

I remember when I moved out I knew how to cook and wash my clothes, but I had no clue when it came to budgeting and bill paying. I was also very clueless about how to clean and run a home. Now not that my parents did a bad job, they did an awesome job but I was very clueless about many of things.

Taking the time to make a list of some of the life skills that you think is important and then training your children in them, and having the vision that one day your children will be an adult makes you want to prepare them to the best of your ability. Children also learn by imitating what you do, take them with you when you pay bills or shopping. Explain to them the steps you take, show them your bills and explain what the numbers all mean.

You can affect future generations by your actions today.

Best Friends

My daughter has friends, she even has a best friend who lives next door to us, true friends are harder to find, one that you can pour your heart out to and you will never be judged or criticized. Miss E being an only child, i used to worry about her being lonely, so I decided to buy her a dog.  I found the perfect dog at the pound, meet Milly.

They are never far from each other

Owning pets teaches children about taking responsibility, not only about providing for their basic needs but also for their emotional needs and social needs. Animals can be great company for children too, it doesn't just have to be a dog. Growing up I had a horse that if ever life felt to hard i would pour my heart out and I cried many times.

Cuddle Time with Pepsi

Miss E has a real love for animals, I really wouldn't be surprised if she someday has a job working with animals, from a young age we have had varies animals ranging from a goat to rabbits. Gaining valuable life skills working with them all and learning their needs will aid her in the future if she decides that what she wants to do.

Knitting

As I mentioned yesterday, the last few days have been cold and windy, so what better weather than to do some knitting.
My daughter wanted a hooded scarf done a while ago and I did start it, but as life got a bit busy I didn't have time to sit and complete it.
The last few days though have reminded me that I haven't been doing it and winter will be over in another week so I had better get cracking.
Over yesterday and today I have managed to complete just over half, so I am hopeful that by Monday or Tuesday it will be finished.
This is my progress so far:

The wool is black and has some gold string in it.
Once it is complete I will take another photo.
This scarf is so easy to do and to finish it off and to make the hood. Just fold the finished scarf in half and sew down one size, until it is big enough to fit on her head.
Now I have been knitting again, I am surprised how much I enjoy it, which brings me to the next problem.
What to make next, I am only a beginner knitter, so I want to make something more challenging than a scarf but I only know how to knit and purl.
One day I would love to be able to make a jumper or a cardigan, something I could wear.
So if anyone has any patterns or simple ideas, let me know in the comments below.
Thank-you in advance.

The World is our Classroom

I once had a sticker on my old car that said the world is our classroom. It was always a great reminder as I got into the car to look for opportunities for learning. Learning experiences are everywhere from shopping to just simply helping someone in need. We have the responsibility to prepare our children for when they become adults. Teaching children life skills I think are more important than many subjects, like teaching children about banking and saving money.

Most of our learning happens out in the wider world, beginning first from our families and extended families. Taking the time to pass on skills that we have learned is important, but also for ourselves it causes us to learn even greater skills so that we are constantly learning and we can show our children that we never stop learn even though we have finished school.

At the botanical Gardens

If we can see the opportunity for learning just through simple everyday conversations and interactions, we realise we have been homeschooling before our children ever step into a classroom. My favourite place to connect with my daughter and have interesting conversations is in the car. Many discussions have taken place as we have been driving that have helped me learn more about Miss E.

I used to volunteer at an op-shop which was a great experience not only for my daughter but it was also a learning experience for myself as well. Learning how to operate a business can be translated in many areas of our life's especially for running a household which benefits everyone.

Beautiful 

 So today I am challenged, what do I want to learn so that Miss E sees me learning a new skill? I have been thinking of learning to dance, what a great way to lose weight and get fit while having fun.

Single Mum Homeschooling

I am no supermum, there I said it, I have many days when I feel overwhelmed by all that I have to achieve.

Housework,washing, cooking but then you add schoolwork and it dominates your day.

Clearing out our main cupboard of clutter

Some days I feel that nothing else gets done except schoolwork and cooking because we have to eat right?

Many days I find myself at the end of the day as I am laying bed thinking have I used this day to the best, what things could I have done differently and how could I improve tomorrow.

Then I remember that I chose to live on a path that is different, there are going to be many bumps along the way and I'm not going to get it right all the time.

There are many things I would like to change on this path but would I step off the path that I'm on for maybe an easier one and that answer is

No!!!

Loving my life and smiling while I'm doing it, is the answer.

Work in progress, starting to put items back

Also clearing out the clutter that fills not only our homes but
also our minds is key to having peace in our lives, also
helps that we can clean our homes faster without all
the stuff blocking and slowing us down, it is a constant process,
but the results are worth all the hard work and effort that is needed to deal with it all. Plus once we have conquered the clutter mountain we have more time to enjoy the things we love with the people we love.

Home is where my heart is

Who says schoolwork has to be serious 

I feel very blessed to be able to spend most of my time at home. Don't get me wrong, its not easy.

Especially as a single mother who decided that I could not stand by and watch my daughter struggle at school. I looked at some other schools but I still came up with the same problems.

I decided to look out side of the box, which would mean that I had to rock the boat and step outside of my comfort zone.

Just being home-schooling mum is weird, I have been told that I don't look like a hippy but most people are curious and the common thought is that they could never do that. Then they find out I'm a single mother and it changes to how do I do it.

I have an amazing family who has supported me no matter what, that is the key. It almost seems to be unconditional love that I feel from them and if I didn't have their support it would be so much harder but not impossible.

Learning to live with less is vital, I cant afford everything that school could offer my daughter, no one possibly could, but I have come to realise I have many things I can offer my daughter that schools could never offer her.

Shopping lessons in how to get the best buy, how to stretch each dollar by looking for bargains on eBay and other second-hand websites, learning how to cook her favourite meals and teaching her life skills that will assist her later in life.

I think that is one of the biggest revelations that I have come to recognise is that I will be one of my daughters biggest influences in her life, good or bad. Not her teachers or friends because I get to spend a great deal of the day just hanging out with my daughter loving and learning together.

I love to teach my Miss E about life as well as helping her learn about Maths and English, I think I have learned more in my life in the last 4 years than at any other time, but it also seems that all that I learnt as I was growing up I am now able to pass onto my daughter, all my wisdom so that she does not have to learn it like I did but that she is able to stand on what I have taught her, so she is able to aim higher and go further.

I suppose that is one of the reasons that I love home-schooling but the biggest is that I get to hang out everyday with the coolest person I have ever met, my daughter.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day in Australia, this day is hard each year because it reminds my daughter that she has never met her father. This year was especially hard because the one person who is a father figure in her life is on holidays on the other side of the world.

 Now my daughter knows that her father is in Heaven because God is a Father to the Fatherless, but I wanted to have fun adventure we could go on.

 So we jumped into the car at 12:30pm and I asked her where she would like to go for lunch, so off to McDonald's we headed. I had no plan so I just asked her where she would like to go next and off we would go. Next we headed to the animal shelter to look at all the animals, then she asked if we could go shopping at Kmart. After Kmart she wanted to look at the Reject Shop and Target so off we went, had a look around and brought a few items. 

It was getting close to dinner so I suggested to have fish and chips down at the beach, but we decided to get a BBQ chicken and chips. We dropped everything at home and headed to the beach. It was lovely at home but when we arrived at the beach, there was a cold wind blowing.

We still sat down and enjoyed our dinner, thankful that I remembered our jumpers, we enjoyed watching the sunset, watching the sun as it hit the windows behind us, turning them into a bronze glow.

On the way home, we decided that ice-cream would be needed so I stopped at Aldi and picked up our favourite, cookies and cream, also they had a Dutch pancake maker so I splurged and brought one. We came home and I made pancakes with strawberries and ice cream, they topped what was a great day and my daughter said "Happy Father's Day, Mum" 

My daughter and her best friend, Milly 

Taken by Miss because I said that the colours are beautiful 

We had friends who wanted some of our dinner

As you can see there were waves on the Bay!