When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was fortunate enough to have already found Eloise Rickman on social media and given the spare time we suddenly had, I signed up to her course ‘A Beautiful Education’. Home educating had been something I had noncommittally thought about since Theo was around 18 months, when I really began to plan activities and see how our everyday life allowed him to thrive.

But it seemed so radical.

My friends and family didn’t really have any resources for me, and it was (and is) a very out of the ‘norm’ within the circles I was in. So I hadn’t given it much serious thought – until my husband had a breakdown and got some time off work, and suddenly this course came up, so we did it together. Timing with the pandemic was a total coincidence, and somehow, for our family it worked out perfectly.

I began to really consider the reality of home educating – and I began to dream of the years that we would gain. The time we could spend together, and the amount of memories would create as a family, learning together – without any pressures of time or school years and curriculum. It seemed too good to be true. I listed the pro’s and con’s…

The reasons hardly seemed to compare; I had very concrete positives, and abstract worries… and so we decided to roll with it; give it the year and make the choice before Theo was due to start school. Harrison returned to work and Theo turned 3, gaining allocated childcare hours at nursery – so he went, for some. The nursery staff were fantastic, and some very supportive of delaying education where possible; so suddenly I was not only hearing about home ed online, but having real life conversations and support too.

There is no school equal to a decent home, and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent. ~ Ghandi

In the year, this quote has reminded me many times that no-matter how much I feel like I’m not doing enough, we are all learning and living together; and that is more than good enough. So as 4 loomed, and school placements were being discussed, I returned to our WHY, and added to it. Designing a simple and beautiful print for our home, so that when I feel worried or unsure, I can return to the reasons about our decision.

But I also know, that at any time, if it’s not working for us, we can choose to change our minds. That’s the beauty of home educating for us, we get to CHOOSE.

Print (customizable) will be available from a Shop, coming soon…