So what DO we do all day?

This used to be our home office area haha - Kye and I have slowly but surely taken over!

When we first started home schooling I didn't have a bloody clue what to do to be honest. I registered my intent to home school Kye with the Education Department, all was approved and that was that...off you go then, educate your child, teach him from these 8 areas of learning - Maths, English, LOTE, Science, PE, Society and Environment, The Arts and Technology and Enterprise and we'll see you next year... some time...good luck, see ya later!

What are we doing today? - So Kye know's what's going on and when and to remind us which bloody day of the week it is!

The Happy Box - This is full of little notes just for Kye, from me, Dan, Kye's brother Josh and his Nani telling him how much he is loved and exactly why we each think he is so wonderful.

The first couple of weeks were spent figuring out just where Kye was at. How far behind was he? What were his strengths? What scared him? How could I teach him in a way that built his broken little spirit way, way up again? How could I help him to truly believe in himself like he used to before his self esteem and trust in others was shattered to pieces?

Used to be my bookcase :)

We've come a long, long way since then.

We like bright, happy colours.

Makes life more interesting don't ya think?

I wish my school books had looked like this.

Here we are 15 months later, cruising merrily along, the fear of doing the wrong thing by the Education Department is long gone and our learning is now interest based, we do it our way, the way that works and has allowed Kye to shine again and laugh again and to slowly, slowly believe that he is worthy simply because he is here. He is loved and he is safe and he is learning successfully, the fear of failure having been removed.

The Simpsons

Each square has an mini biography of the character on the front.

This was a lot of fun. The map in the centre is Springfield showing where all the characters live.

Taking care of Kye - This folder deals with emotional health. So so important and so so overlooked in mainstream schooling. What could possibly be more important?

There are no tests to "prove" that he has "memorised" something, we simply do not move on to the next thing until he really gets it, really understands how we came to a particular answer (think Maths here).

New York - Kye's nut's about the place!

There's no competitive pressure and there is certainly no belittling in our classroom.

Windows to his Soul

Ain't this the truth. I love this. Could be the next tattoo!

My precious boy

We simply try to have fun whilst learning something new, things that are interesting to us, places we want to go, experiments we'd like to try, thing's we'd like to have a go at making, photos we want to take, movies we want to make, interesting show's we'd like to watch, books we'd like to read etc. We are still learning from all 8 areas of the curriculum but are doing it "our way".

Now he shines. Now he flys. Now he soars!