Suze - Adelaide, SA / Kaurna Country

06/25/23 • 77 min

Suze and her husband homeschool their three girls aged 10, 7 and 2 from their suburban home in Adelaide. Not only is she the primary homeschooling parent, Suze is also a teacher by trade and in this episode we discuss how she reconciles educating her own children at home whilst working in a school setting and the importance of advocating for all children, not just our own.
SUMMARY

Suze reflects on the contradictions of her own schooling - uniform mandates, compulsory sport - and the hangovers of people pleasing and authority intimidation
How the introduction of the national curriculum shifted things for her professionally, witnessing the effects of the academic push down to do more younger
Her eldest daughter's apathetic experience of school and how Suze reacted to the commonly touted advice "She'll adapt"
Her husbands (hilarious in hindsight) reaction to her suggestion of considering homeschool and how he came around to the idea
“I actually can’t reconcile what I know and believe about learning now with being a classroom teacher.”
How Suze and her husband structure their week with support from her parents so they can both work and homeschool
Time, freedom, front row seats and watching her children choose to be friends are just some of her favourite things about this lifestyle
The challenges of homeschooling aren't that different from parenting and they are far outweighed by the benefits
Not every family is able or willing to homeschool and her aim is to make education and life more joyful for all children
The importance of defining what they value as a family and knowing if the decisions that they make pull them closer to or take them further away from those values
The joy of living intentional, purposeful and meaningful lives

INSPIRATION
Changing our minds - Dr Naomi Fisher (book)
CONNECT
@wonder.and.flourish instagram
Have you got a story to tell?
Connect with us on instagram @australianhomeschoolstories or email [email protected]
This podcast is recorded on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.
Original music - Hazel by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
Listen on Spotify here

Suze reflects on the contradictions of her own schooling - uniform mandates, compulsory sport - and the hangovers of people pleasing and authority intimidation
How the introduction of the national curriculum shifted things for her professionally, witnessing the effects of the academic push down to do more younger
Her eldest daughter's apathetic experience of school and how Suze reacted to the commonly touted advice "She'll adapt"
Her husbands (hilarious in hindsight) reaction to her suggestion of considering homeschool and how he came around to the idea
“I actually can’t reconcile what I know and believe about learning now with being a classroom teacher.”
How Suze and her husband structure their week with support from her parents so they can both work and homeschool
Time, freedom, front row seats and watching her children choose to be friends are just some of her favourite things about this lifestyle
The challenges of homeschooling aren't that different from parenting and they are far outweighed by the benefits
Not every family is able or willing to homeschool and her aim is to make education and life more joyful for all children
The importance of defining what they value as a family and knowing if the decisions that they make pull them closer to or take them further away from those values
The joy of living intentional, purposeful and meaningful lives

Previous Episode

Jules & Dan - Melbourne, VIC / Bunurong Country

Jules & Dan are true partners in life, homeschool and business, with four girls aged 7, 6, 4 & 1. They split their time between their home in Melbourne and with family in Singapore, and all of their learning is derived from play!
SUMMARY

How Jules & Dan's paths crossed in Melbourne despite growing up in Singapore and Malaysia and both recount their heavily academic focused upbringings
Jules always knew she wanted to be a teacher but her view of what learning could look changed completely when she came to Australia to complete her tertiary education
Likewise, she always knew she wanted to homeschool - "If I was going to be teaching someone anyway, I might as well teach my own kids" - and Dan's complete trust and faith in Jules' vision
Family as their core value and being the biggest influence in their girls lives
How their extended family have embraced their lifestyle and the flexibility it allows for them to spend time with their relatives both here and overseas
How Jules & Dan juggle working from home and homeschooling together
No curriculum, just play. It's all about doing life together.
There is so much more to life than studying and getting good grades
How their business teaches parents to harness the power of play - curating & creating a play space that inspires children to imagine, discover, explore and create
Dan's brave decision to leave the corporate world to be more involved with the family and never looking back
Fridays are for family adventure days!

CONNECT
@storiesofplay instagram
Stories of Play website
Stories of Play facebook
Have you got a story to tell?
Connect with us on instagram @australianhomeschoolstories or email [email protected]
This podcast is recorded on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.
Original music - Hazel by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
Listen on Spotify here

Next Episode

Daniel - Mornington Peninsula, VIC / Bunurong Country

Rounding out the first season of Australian Homeschool Stories is my partner in life, homeschooling and podcasting, Daniel. Together we are raising our two wildlings, aged 5 and 2, amidst the natural splendours of the Mornington Peninsula.
SUMMARY

Dan recalls his journey through public, international and private schooling and how gaining early acceptance into his preferred tertiary course meant year 12 was a write off and his ENTER score proved irrelevant a second time when he returned to university as a mature aged student later in life
Music is his greatest passion but he became burnt out by the industry in his twenties, only to rediscover his love for it after becoming a parent and seeing the joy music brought to our children
Reflecting back on how this podcast came about and how we have combined our talents to make it possible
Dan’s initial reaction to my want to homeschool, in contrast to having placed our daughter on two private high school waiting lists from birth
His de-schooling process was a long, slow journey which he believes largely stems from his own school baggage
How homeschool naturally aligned with our family values, and felt like the final piece of the puzzle in achieving the home based lifestyle we were seeking
Creativity is what we want to instil in our children and carve out time for
Curiosity is the foundation of all knowledge, the bedrock for a lifetime of learning
Dan is completely self taught as a musician and this gives him immense confidence that homeschooling is the right path to pursue
Retrospectively imagining if you took school out of the picture for kids that it didn’t serve
Dan’s advice to skeptical parents - be open minded, take your time, everyone has the same concerns

INSPIRATION
Peter Gray - Free to Learn
John Taylor Gatto - Dumbing us Down
Stark Raving Dad

CONNECT
Daddy Dan The Music Man Spotify
Daddy Dan The Music Man YouTube
Daniel Garrood Spotify
@garroodcomposer Instagram

Have you got a story to tell?
Connect with us on instagram @australianhomeschoolstories or email [email protected]
This podcast is recorded on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.
Original music - Hazel by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
Listen on Spotify here