Patient Homeschooling

Recently I was discussing the notion that a lot of parents have regarding homeschooling; “I don’t have the patience to home school”. Whilst it’s a nice thought that they feel we must have amazing patience, it’s not entirely accurate. I don’t know of a single family who chose to homeschool because they’re patient. What a lot of us have found is that through choosing this path we don’t need as much patience as we did with traditional schooling! Our children are no longer stressed or anxious, they’re in their safe space with Mum and Dad, there’s no bullying or unattainable goals, and the expectations are generally achievable and well known. This means they don’t require as much co-regulation, and therefore, we don’t need to stretch our patience too!

Another common misconception relates to socialisation. I had a well-meaning family member advise me that I would need to watch my kids because they won’t know how to socialise if I homeschool them. They really did care, but they missed the opportunities that we would have to socialise in positive environments. By choosing to homeschool, our children would be regularly surrounded by children and adults of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life, and they would all have something in common; their choice to home-educate. Throughout our time on this homeschooling journey, our children have had the time and space to learn how to be better friends and members of society without navigating the social and emotional challenges of the school environment. They’ve been more regulated and better positioned to learn self-regulation skills. I feel so proud when other parents have sought me out to say how lovely our girls are and how thoughtful and meaningful their conversations have been with them. I genuinely feel the same about many of the other children and families that we have had the pleasure of spending time with during our homeschooling adventures.

As I reflect on the last year of homeschooling in the Territory, I can see we did so much learning! We had excursions to the Wildlife Park where we met the sugar gliders and asked lots of questions about what they like, how they are cared for, where they live in the wild etc. And we witnessed multiple bird shows, each one of them different! We went to MAGNT and showed family members around the exhibits, exploring the new and old. The homeschool community organised a road safety morning at Parap, where the kids learned about road rules and practiced their skills on bikes. We visited Organic Ag and learned about the importance of what we eat and where it comes from. We attended a St John’s First Aid course for kids, where Steph had her wrist cared for as though it were broken. We experienced a homeschool market, which taught the girls that things don’t always go to plan, but you can still have a great day anyway. We attended a group activity to see Duck Pond, a truly clever take on Swan Lake, and we attended many more activities which the girls have really enjoyed throughout the year.

We are truly grateful for the wonderful community of families across the Top End who go above and beyond to arrange these wonderful events for all of our kids to enjoy – we’re looking forward to loads more homeschooling adventures throughout 2026!

Written by Viv Kleemann