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The Homeschool How To
I don't claim to know anything about homeschooling, so I set out on a journey to ask the people who do! Join me as I chat with homeschoolers to discuss; "why are people homeschooling," "what are all the ways people are using to homeschool today," and ultimately, "should I homeschool my kids?"
The Homeschool How To
Homeschooling Special Needs Kids: Sensory Struggles, School Refusal & Finding Freedom Ep. 148
In this episode, I’m joined by Jem from Australia, a homeschooling mom of four navigating autism, ADHD, sensory needs, school refusal, and neurodivergent learning—and doing it all with honesty, humor, and so much heart.
Jem shares why her family left the traditional school system, how her kids went from daily meltdowns and sensory overwhelm to peaceful mornings and learning at their own pace, and why unschooling naturally became the approach that finally worked.
We talk about:
• What homeschooling looks like for autistic and ADHD learners
• Why school refusal isn’t “defiance”—it’s dysregulation
• The surprising benefits of late-morning starts, slow mornings, and interest-led learning
• How volunteering at an animal rescue farm completely changed her daughter’s confidence
• Creating sensory-friendly learning spaces at home
• Using fidgets, wobble seats, chewing tools, trampolines, and pets for regulation
• Transitioning out of curriculum and into a more intuitive, child-led rhythm
• How homeschooling reconnects families and helps kids thrive emotionally
• The differences between public school vs. homeschool in Australia
• What new homeschool parents REALLY need to hear before they begin
If you’re parenting a neurodivergent child, exploring unschooling, or wondering whether homeschooling can truly support special needs, this episode will give you encouragement, perspective, and a whole lot of validation.
✨ Connect with Jem:
Jem's Facebook
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Perfect for parents seeking meaningful, courage-building stories for kids ages 8–12.
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📘 The Homeschool How To Complete Starter Guide
Thinking about homeschooling but don’t know where to start? Cheryl created this comprehensive guide, compiling insights from interviews with over 120 homeschooling families across the country. From navigating state laws to balancing work and home life — this eBook covers it all. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling confident on your homeschooling journey.
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Welcome. And with us today, I have Jen from Australia. Welcome, Jen. Thanks for being here.
Speaker:Thank you. It's a delight. I'm really privileged to be sitting here with you and having a chat.
Speaker 1:Now, one of my guests from Australia told me before, and I'll have to see if this is true. Australia was a place they used to send criminals. It's like an island that they just sent them to. So everybody that's there now is like uh some sort of relative to a criminal that was just a convict that used to call them.
Speaker:Yeah. Yes, that is very true. Yeah, Botany Bay. Do you how long ago do you know? Well, we did a a little bit of a study at the beginning of the year with the kids. And I'd please don't quote me because I don't retain a lot of information. Um 1860, I think, was that when it was. But don't quote me on that because I don't retain information. But yeah, just that journey.
Speaker 1:Not that long ago when you think of the community scheme of things. So it's like a grandparent or two ago. A couple of things. I mean, I could be wrong.
Speaker:It might be um more than that, but the just that story of them coming over and why, you know, why convicts came over? You could have just been someone just providing for their family and just, you know, taking an apple and then they're on the ship over like and then they were basically slaves. They were brought over and they built the camp.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how many kids do you have and what are their ages?
Speaker:Yeah, so I actually have four kids, um, all different ages. My oldest is 19 at the end of the year, so December, his December baby. Um, he is now working and he's doing a trade cabinetry and joinery, um, and he's really enjoying that. He's into his second year. So we're not homeschooling him. He's made his own way now and his own journey, which is fantastic. Um, my next one is uh turning 16 in a couple of weeks, um, and he's in U10. Well, what you call U10, and I have two girls, 13 and 10 as well. Oh awesome. So when did you start homeschooling? So we started at the beginning of this year for many different reasons, I guess. The school system just wasn't working for the challenges that they were facing with a nearly diagnosis of. So I've got two on the spectrum, plus possibly a third, so the 10, the 13, and the nearly 16-year-old. And the sis the school system just wasn't working for them, even though we had lots of support at school and we had everything set up for them, it just still wasn't working for them. So we just had to make that change for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I hear that very often. Like I I can homeschool because my kids have special needs and they moms especially feel like they're not adequate enough. Like they it's intimidating to them to saying, I can do better than all of these services that the state or government are providing. But obviously, you're seeing the opposite that you are more than capable, even than all of the different resources that they're providing you, everything that was set up. Can you talk a little bit about the benefits to homeschooling when you do have a child with special needs?
Speaker:Yeah, so obviously we were faced with um school cart or school refusal. I'm not sure if you know those terms. It's basically where they just can't get to school. They want to be at school, but they just can't get to school. It was, you know, the kids were facing difficulties with their processing skills and that rush to get out the door, and then that would lead to them to a meltdown because they didn't have that time to get themselves ready and be at school by 9 a.m. Um and now they just get to have their flow morning, they get up on their own, and they're able to get look, we don't start homeschooling probably till about 11, but that that's what's working for them, and that's okay, and it could change. And I just want people to know that that's okay. School does not have to be between nine and three. You're right. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah. What are some of the other benefits, like the one-on-one, or have you changed curriculums even? Like to hey, this actually works better for you than what they were doing at school.
Speaker:It's funny, you know. I listened to a lot of your interviews and I was a bit in the same mindset that, you know, do I have to follow a curriculum? Like, no, I don't. And I did sort of at the beginning say, okay, we went and spent a bit of money on some books to work through, and very quickly we found that that does not work in any way, shape, or form. Sitting down at a desk working from a book or a computer screen, however you want to do that. So we are sort of on the path to unschooling, and that happened very, very quickly and very, very naturally. And I think that one of the benefits is that with that you can cater to their interests and their needs and what their goals are. Um, I think this year for us it was more about that that decompression from school and learning what their interests are. So my 13-year-old daughter, she's level two ASD and ADHD, and she has this passion for animals. Like you could talk, she could just sit there all day and just talk about animals and all the different things about animals, doesn't matter what it is. It's just up there. And she's quite obviously going to go into that field when she's older. And so once a week we go out and volunteer out at a animal rescue farm for her, and that's part of her homeschooling, and she can get hands-on with these animals. And there was a sick cow out there the other day, and I've got a photo of her just straddled over the back of this cow holding its mouth and its head so the people could administer the medication. And you know, they just don't get that in in a school, that hands-on experience, and that is such an amazing learning opportunity for her, instead of sitting there and just reading about it, and some like we don't get me wrong, we still do that, but this this is where she's learning the most. This is what she's gonna do later on in her life, and that's gonna just set her up for success when she's older.
Speaker 1:So I think you know, yeah, she's seeing like what other jobs there are firsthand. She's not like hearing about it as she's scrolling through what college degree should I get, and you know, okay, that one sounds good. It's like, no, here she can view what that the veterinarian or whatever it is, homesteader does on a daily basis and say, Oh, I think I would like to do that, or a variation of that. They're actually seeing it as a job.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah, like you know, I I don't put any restrictions on what she can and she can't achieve or any of the children, but you know, she might not be able to manage going and doing a further education anyway. So being connected to the people out there that don't have have any of those skills, they haven't been to school, they haven't done any further education either. So, you know, if she picks up all of that experience, those hands-on experience and those skills and learn that way, she won't need to go. She won't need to go go do that higher education because she'll already have that those soft skills and those hands-on experiences and learn from people that are already she's already connecting with. So that's one of the benefits. The other benefit is, you know, being having sensory overload all of the time. The kids can just learn at their own pace. They can go jump on my bed and tuck themselves in and read, and they can well, this morning my daughter was sitting here next to me while I was setting up here and just doing maths and English and phonics and stuff that we do do a little bit of and we haven't had done for quite some time. So I said today we're just gonna sit down, 20 minutes, just read read your book and fill out your questions. Nothing too difficult. So they can find a space where they're comfortable, where they feel at peace, and they can and they can just be themselves and learn. And I think that if if their well-being is being met that way, they're gonna learn, they're gonna thrive.
Speaker 1:How are the schools in Australia? Like, what has been your experience with them?
Speaker:So we have moved schools all around a little bit, like we went to a public school kinda, which is um age five, four to five. I did that in a private schooling, which was lovely, and we just couldn't afford at the time to send them all the way through pu private schooling. Um, that was amazing. That was really hands-on. They love that, but then I had to send them to public school, and I think that was just the worst decision ever, ever, because um I saw that, you know, my son at the time wasn't allowed to hold things in his hand. The teacher said to me that, you know, it's distracting other children from learning who can't hold things in his hands, who can't scribble on a notepad, eyes have to be up at the board, and but he takes things in by sitting there and fiddling with things and drawing scribbles, whatever. But he'll he'll be listening, but the teacher doesn't think he's listening. So, you know, that was a bit of an eye-opener, and all these things sort of just started showing up in the in the public school system. Even when I address the issue of, you know, what have you noticed about the kids at school? Like I'm beginning to see some behaviors that aren't normal. This is way before their diagnosis. And they said, no, they're fine, they're they're fitting in well, they're doing their work, you know. Um, they're not behind, they're just there, they're just plugging along, which to me wasn't true because I was seeing a whole other picture when they came home from school. So that was my concern that, you know, they're just ticking boxes, they're not really in tune with the what is really going on with the kids. Look, you know, I give teachers so much credit because, you know, they're looking after a whole class, you know, 33 children with one teacher. So, you know, they're not always going to be able to have that relationship with each and every child. But when you when you go and ask questions and they can't give you the answers, it really makes you think about what are they actually learning? What are they actually achieving if the teachers don't really know what what their interests are and how they're actually functioning in the classroom as a as a student? But yeah, there's so many eye openers in the public school system.
Speaker 1:Well, and when you think of it about like, oh, they're just chugging along and oh, they're just they're getting by, it's like what kind of childhood is that? I mean, they're just setting us up for that in adulthood, right? Like, oh, I I've got in a cubicle for 16 years just chugging along and just getting by. And now that I'm outside of that system, I'm like, oh my gosh, there's so much to learn outside of the walls. I mean, the just going outside and paying attention to, you know, insect that you've never seen before and looking it up, and what is that? And you know, watching birds build a nest, Miriam, and you know, other parts of that. Or driving by a building, I said to my son today, I go this building that we've been by hundreds of times. I'm like, wow, that's a really old building. Is it abandoned? Is it not? When was it built? What was it here for? And um, you know, I was like, we need to look that up. And it's just back when I was like rushing to school, rushing to daycare, rushing to work, I never would have stopped to think rushing home to make dinner, you never would have stopped to think about that. And even if you did take a weekend car ride, like it's just your mindset is not let's look at the world around us. It's just, you know, what what's the next thing so that you can get to the next thing and the next thing. So it's like all of that starts from the school system and they just make us think it's okay to just get by.
Speaker:The system is set up that we are busy all of the time. We don't have the opportunities to really explore and take notice of things because we're busy running here and busy running there, and get home, you know, from school, homework, dinner, bed, and you just repeat that every single day. And you know, the the benefit of homeschooling is that, you know, you can just get in the car like on Monday just gone. We just I picked up the kids from their dads and we just said, Hey, we're gonna go to the Melbourne Aquarium and you know, we stopped to have pancakes and have that family connection time, which we wouldn't get anyway if we were still in that school system and we sat and the kids ordered like their breakfast and well it was brunch really, but you know, I said you know, part of learning today is that you guys are gonna tell the waitress what it is that you wanna eat and drink and you know, because they're all a bit um socially challenged with their autism spectrum. So they need those practice skills. They weren't comfortable doing it, but hey, they did it and I was so proud of them. You know, and we drove into Melbourne and you know, the kids were just, you know, going through the tunnel. We we got underground tunnels. I don't know if you have those in America, but underground tunnels and you know, they're trying to count we've got this green light that goes along the wall of the tunnel, and um that means you're going at the right speed as long as you don't pass this green, green line that's driving in front of you. And you know, they're counting how many seconds we're away from the green line and the car in front of us and all of that. And then we like you said about an old building, Melbourne has some really beautiful old buildings, and I said, Wow, isn't that a beautiful building? And they're just looking at me like it's not new and shiny and tall, it's like made the the bricks are made by hand and they're put together by people that put brick on top of brick and just the shape of the windows are like curved and round, and I'm like, Do you not see how beautiful that is? And then they stopped and they had a look, and I'm like, Yeah, that's pretty. How did they do that? Like, you know, and then you know, we spent a good 10 minutes just looking at the corner of this building, just talking about it, because we had the time to do it. We went in a hurry, and yeah, yeah, you know, because we we weren't going to Melbourne to look at buildings, we were going to the clearing, and but hey, look at that, we just learned something, we saw something in the beauty that goes into hard work.
Speaker 1:You're so right. And I remember last year we had read a book around Christmas time about like a woodworker, and it was a children's book, it was a really a beautiful story. And we were driving later that day to a play date with friends, and we passed somebody on the road that was making like figurines out of wood with his hands off just on the side of the road. And I was like, that's weird. So I was like, let's stop and ask him about you know what what he's doing because that's just what homeschoolers do now, right? Fold over and he's like, No, I've been here for years. And I'm like, well, there's another thing I must have passed a million times and never stopped to pay attention to a man literally in the cold with a fire flooding stuff. He's making bears making eagles and owls and all that stuff. And so he's telling me like how they wouldn't let him put a building up because of codes and where we live and stuff. And so he's like, well, yeah, I'm just gonna do it without the building. And how people on the way to Vermont like stop on the weekends and he sells out every weekend. So then on the way home, my son and I are talking about like, okay, well, if that was your job and you sold 300, and say it takes you a week to make 40 of them, and you can sell them for $300. What's 300 times 40? And we're figuring that out. And okay, well, what does he make a year? And okay, well, that's a job you could do someday. You know, so like you're so right. Homeschooling gives you the opportunity to like really pay attention to life around you and be part of it.
Speaker:Yeah. And even I'm learning on the go as well. I'm learning so much more than I did when I was in school. Obviously, I went to pub um public schooling and and you know, school is hard for me. I don't don't call myself a very educated person by any means. But yeah, so I'm learning along with the kids and you know, education has changed. If the kids came home from school with homework, there's just no way I could help them because what we learnt is no longer uh what's the right word? Uh it's different. It's relevant. Yeah. Yeah, it's no revel relevant and um the way they do things. So, you know, my grade sixer is doing work that I probably would have done in year nine because it keeps evolving and I I just couldn't help them with it. Um and I said, Look, we're gonna have to connect with the teachers to help you, which meant they they weren't handing their working time working on time and that was stressful for them. So yeah, I just very open awake now in the way the school system is. My nearly 16-year-old, I guess this is one of his strengths, but it's also one of his weaknesses as well. He is the most awake 15, 16 year old I've ever known. And school, he would part of his resistance to go to school was because he's learning the same thing he's learning when he was in grade three. It's just a little bit of extra tacked on the end. And he goes, Mum, I know all this, and his brain, because he's um hype functioning, his brain already automatically does it, and he he can work it out so quickly. That add-ons of every year. So he's already done it in his head twelve months ago. So and then the teachers want it delivered a certain way, but that's not how he worked it out. But it's the same answer, but they need it answered in a certain way. And he goes, Why? Why do I have to do it that way? I already know the answer, I've already done it, like and so we we really struggled with that with him towards the end. And I think actually he was the one that made me more awake. Like, you know, I was already on that journey anyway, but that really just pinpointed, Well, this just is not working, is it? Just not working. So this year we I actually for him made my own curriculum with the help of Chat GPT. Um nice, yeah. So that was a really resourceful tool to have, especially because he's into gaming and learning about YouTube channels and content creation and things like that. Um I have no no knowledge in that field at all. So we were able to do a basic introduction to content creation and gaming for him for all of the first semester of this year, basically half the year. And he loved it. And we were able to do just chunk sizes at a time because getting him to sit down and do even though he's in year ten, like you know, that year ten level, he can't sit there for six hours with small, you know, even small breaks. So and he also struggles with depression as well. So just doing little chunks every day and letting him connect with his friends have been the most beneficial, most beneficial things for him this year. So that's another benefit if they're struggling, struggling mentally as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Are there other like tips and tricks that you would have for parents who do have children with special needs that like you mentioned before, having something in his hands? Are there certain things that you buy for them to be able to fiddle with or other tricks that you have found?
Speaker:Yeah, so so over here in Australia we have something called the NDIS, which is um uh don't ask me to figure out what that actually means, but basically you get their diagnosis and the government funds everybody with a disability um for money to buy these things that would be normally be out of our pocket that we couldn't afford. We we have lots of fidgets in our house, you know, and each one of them are very different. My oldest boy that's um 16, he likes to chew on things, and obviously he was chewing on things like tin cans and sticks and things that are actually very dangerous that could harm him. So we're able to purchase safe chewing sticks and um heavy he likes weight in his hands, so things that are heavy in his hands to hold. We have a wobble seat on his desk chair, and he likes to move around as well. So a lot of the time you'll I'll just find him pacing back and forth in his room, but he'll have his headphones on and he can do that and he'll be listening to a documentary while he does that, pacing back and forth. We have like an exercise ball that they all use. We use um desk chairs at the kitchen table so that they can swivel on um to learn. They go out on the trampoline and they sit on the trampoline because one of my girls likes that that deep therapy pressure of bouncing. So, you know, they were able to supply a trampoline for us, believe it or not, so to help with those needs. So nothing is out of the question really when it comes to being able to support your kids at home because you have everything here that they need. The school, such as like when we were in private school when I pulled them out, they were really good on the welfare, their welfare was amazing, they looked after them so well, but even with the IEPs and the student support plans they had in place, it wasn't enough. And the kids didn't want to take their own personal um sensory items with them because you know, the fear of being judged basically. So, yeah, they couldn't take those supports with them to be able to help them in the classroom. And my daughter obviously really needed a support pet, a support animal to go with her to school, and we had the opportunity to do that and take her rabbit to school while she was still in grade in middle school, so grade five and six, where they weren't going across from classroom, different classroom to different classroom, and it could easily just stay on her desk. The rabbit just sat there for her and she could pat it whenever she wanted to. None of the other kids were allowed to touch her, that was the rule, it was just for her use. Um and she that year that she had her rabbit there, she thrived. She absolutely thrived, even in her relationships with other students and her work. Um, but obviously she got to year seven, and that's when they're going to different classrooms and carrying all their books and she couldn't she couldn't process that movement with having the rabbit with her and safely doing that, carry all of her books and her laptops. So once she couldn't do that, we saw a dramatic, a dramatic drop in her attendance at school and her work, she just couldn't cope at school in the classroom environment at all. I had days where yeah, I had days where I just couldn't get to work because I'd drive her because we live country, rule, and so it was a 30-minute drive to school. So it was like pulling teacher Mahin to get her out of bed and get her going and deal with those meltdowns in the morning, get to school and she just wouldn't get out of the car because she just couldn't. She couldn't like she was so overstimulated and dregulated that I would have to then say, ring up work and say, Hey, I'd better take my daughter back home and look after her now because now she I'm going to need to spend all day helping her re-regulate.
Speaker 1:You wonder how many parents would be like, Well, let's get rid of that rabbit, because she's she's just missing school because she wants to be home with that rabbit. But yeah, it really is something helping.
Speaker:And and I am really sure some people thought that as well. Um but yeah, she took that rabbit everywhere. She she was taking it to OT. She would take it to some. We managed to get her to cut get it to get into Kmart sometimes, which is a bit like Walmart in America, but depending who was depending who was.
Speaker 1:I grew up with a Kmart here, yeah. We don't have them anymore.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. So we just there's no, yeah, we don't have a food section in our Kmart anymore. It used to be, it's just clothes and homewares. But um yeah, I think they cottoned on that there was quite a few people bringing their pets in that unless it's a service animal and has it on their little jacket, you can't bring it in now. So yeah, that was that and now she can just sit here at her desk or on the floor, on the trampoline with she's got three dogs, you know, the dog next to her and putting his head on her lap to keep her regulated because of that deep pressure, and she gets her work done. And all the rabbits sitting on her desk with her on her bed, you know, and she'll she'll be out of focus then and gets more done. But she's more of a hands-on, a more hands-on girl. So, you know, I find that if we're outside in the veggie garden or we're out at the farm, or we're down at the beach looking in rock pools, or where we've got five minutes up the road a little place called Caldermead farm, and they have animal nurseries and goats and lambs, and we're going out there, and you can also view a whole milking a whole milking what do you call it? A milking farm. It's uh open to everyone to come and view. So we go down there and we watch the cows get milked and all of that. So just absolutely loves that and she just learned so much. So you've been having raw milk in Australia. It's actually illegal in Australia.
Speaker 1:It's illegal in my state too, isn't it? So crazy.
Speaker:Yeah, we can um the closest I can find is um unhomogenized. I don't even know if that's safe for you. I haven't really done that research, but how close that is to raw milk, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1:Unreal.
Speaker:We do yeah, and I really like I remember my mum and dad, they had friends that were farmers, and every now and then they just get like these big buckets of milk, and I was pretty sure that was straight from the cow.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, still I think that's it.
Speaker 1:Everybody was probably healthier.
Speaker:I was gonna say that was 42 years ago, so you know, yes, I'm 42, so yeah, can't do that now.
Speaker 1:Now have you personally I know you haven't been homeschooling too long, but have you found even over the years with the kids in school, are there certain curriculums or styles of learning from the book that are better for special needs than that? I know now you're kind of leaning towards the unschooling, so you're following their interests and learning through that. But is there for parents that do want to do a curriculum, or is there anything that's better than something else?
Speaker:I haven't really ventured into that. Something I'm actually going to look at for next year now that we've had this whole year to decompress and find what their interests are. So I've actually just been following what your other guests on here are doing. So some of those things I'll be looking into, like maybe the Waldorf, is it how I see that? Wald off, walldoff education. So uh yeah, something I want to look more at. I'd really like them to just really explore more or give them that confidence that they can learn more than what they're just learning now. Because I feel like right now with this year, they're just you know, we're just floating because not not because it's easy, but I just wanted to give them that, you know, that space to just breathe. So yeah, gonna look into a bit up the ante a little bit and see what what they're comfortable with doing. Maybe I will be making my own curriculum again, who knows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think you're doing it right by starting out with kind of the unschooling approach and seeing what their interests are. Imagine if the teachers in school actually asked us what our interests were, and then we got to like, I don't even know. I went first so long up until I was like 41 years old. Like, I don't think I have any interests. I don't know. I've just always been told what to read, what to do, what to, you know, what job to have, that I didn't even you don't even have the free time. Like you might say, oh, okay, I like dance, but then that you're in five dance classes, you know, you're doing dance classes five nights a week and all of a sudden it's not fun anymore because you know, everything's fun out of it. Same thing with soccer, you know, okay, practice five nights a week and then games. It's you know, it's so it's so interesting. And we you were talking about it earlier and how they just make you so busy that one, it's to not connect with your family, same thing as changing the way they do the math problems and all that so that kids can't go to their parents. They want to kind of sever that bond. But yeah, they also don't want us figuring out what we really like doing in life. And like I recently was like, all right, let's start reading before bed. And I think I was going on vacation and I was like, Oh, I'd like to have a book to read. That would just be so nice if I had to read a little bit. I mean, I got the two little kids. So it takes me a long time to get through a book, but now I'm like, let's just read before bed for even 10 minutes. It doesn't matter if it's like three pages, but just like I I actually enjoy it and look forward to it. So I've got a book sitting beside my bed right now.
Speaker:It's a book I've started reading four times. Just sitting next to my bed right now, and I'm like, okay, I might have two minutes here or there with a cup of tea, and I might just pick it up and read two pages, and I'm like, okay, we'll get through it eventually, but that's okay. That's that's for me. And I think that's important, especially when you've got kids at home and especially with special needs, you don't have a lot of downtime for yourself because even when you're not homeschooling, their needs are so high that you've got to spend a lot of time, a lot of time with them. Um, I've got one girl who needs somebody with her all of the time. So just that for that emotional support. Um more than anything. Yeah, that lack of time. I think it's important that especially even even mums and dads or guardians who have as a homeschooling, you need that time whether your kids are special needs or not. Um, it's very, very important to have that space. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that leads kind of to my next question. What do you do for yourself? Because that, I mean, that is a lot too. Like my two kids are a lot. And I have two dogs, and you just said that you have three and a rabbit. So, like three dogs. Sorry, two rabbits. I can barely cool.
unknown:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, I find it's oh my god, she's still got she's still going on with the animals they have and a kangaroo.
Speaker:Actually, they're straight across the grass at the front of the house, a hundred of them in the reserve at front of a house. We're surrounded by animals and cats here anyway. And we're getting adopting another rabbit.
Speaker 1:Send me a picture of that. I want to see that. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not that I've heard.
Speaker:Sorry, I lost track of what I was gonna say now. Time for myself is what you're doing.
Speaker 1:How do you not go insane because of just so many people needing you all day long? How do you do it?
Speaker:So for me it's really, really difficult because I struggle with my own Health condition, I have type 1 diabetes as well. And I work a secular job as well as um an online business. Finding that time is very, very hard. But I think it what helps is, you know, my husband is amazing. He tells me I need to stop sometimes and just take take half a day, you know, homeschooling can wait, or but also the fact that they go to their dads as well. So even though I do work my secular job a lot on those weeks that they're all those days when they're with their dad, it does give me the space just to to breathe or sit down and watch a a movie or focus on something. Like like you said, I don't have a lot of interest myself because we've been so we've brought up that way that we don't haven't had that time to explore our interests. I struggle to pick up a book and that's what something I'm learning is to pick up a book and just it's okay just to sit and read for a while, or it's okay to watch a movie and not do anything else and to stop my brain from overthinking everything.
Speaker 1:It's so funny because I saw a reel today on Instagram, and I have thought of making this before too. I'm just not like that good of an actress. But a mom, she had a camera on her, and she was just like paused, and then it showed her in a different scene, paused, and then she's the the captain is like, you finally get a moment to yourself and you have no idea what to do.
Speaker:It's exactly right.
Speaker 1:The days going and everybody's like, mom, mom, mom. You're like, oh my god, I have 50 million things to do, and then it's finally quiet, and you can do one of those things, and you're like, I have no idea. I'd have no idea what to do with my time right now.
Speaker:Should I go have a bath? Should I go for a walk? Should I read a book? I'm like, and by the time you've thought through all those processes, then it's time to go and you know, you make dinner or something like that. And we actually haven't done anything but overthink, but yeah. And you know, there's a cupboard down the back of the house somewhere that could really have a good thought-through.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw like uh bug spray, like an essential oil bug spray that I got years ago yesterday leaking down the back of my our brand new like three-year-old pantry, and it was just leaking all down the walls and onto the wood. And I'm like, uh, I should clean that, but the dog also got sick in his crate and it was all over my son's walls and stuff. Like, that's just not enough to make it. There are bigger like fires going on.
Speaker:Correct. Yes, correct. I totally understand that. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, okay, as we round out here, are there any last words that you kind of want to give as encouragement to parents? You know, because you're kind of at the start of your journey, you're a year in. So you've got that like fresh mindset to people that are probably listening, just like you. You know, what what have you been listening to the podcast and you're like, I wish somebody would say this?
Speaker:It's okay. It's don't be scared. Just take that plunge, really. If it's something you're considering on about doing, and if it's been put sitting in the back of your mind about taking that leap, but you don't know where to start, you don't know what to do, just do it. You'll learn along the way. You'll be able to create those spaces for your kids and those opportunities. You can research the curriculum curriculum as you go if that's something you want to explore. You know, everyone's child actually learns differently. So you're gonna have to take that time to explore those interests and their needs and just go with what you feel right. Don't worry about what other people what other people think. I think that's the biggest thing for me. I was really worried about what other people think about, you know, they're not sitting and they're not working from a school book, not how our kids learn. So just do with what what you feel right. And I think I learned that a lot from listening to um all of your other guests. Um I think I've listened to nearly every single one of them before. My husband was actually the one that found you, and I said, I don't know if this is gonna this podcast is gonna be beneficial because you know, we're in Australia and uh, you know, I I listened anyway and I've learned so much, so much, and you know, I'm so grateful that you have this platform and you're able to help so many people. I encourage everyone to jump on and you know, you'll get yeah, you'll want to listen to all of your podcasts. Um I think that's their update most things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. But I've had a couple people from Australia on at like more than any other country.
Speaker:Yep, yep, yep. I was actually really surprised at one point in time that that stuff is. There's a guest from Australia, yeah. And I think they're they were more up New South Wales way, which is a different state to us. Um, but I'm like, yeah, that and uh each state obviously has their own what's the word requirements. So we're pretty relaxed here in Victoria. So as long as we're covering those um, you know, math English, humanities, science, technologies, digital art, you know, all the art, we can do it however we want to do it, as long as we can provide evidence that we're doing it. So and we get I think we get there's a ten percent chance that you might get a phone call to say, hey, we're gonna come and have a little chat with you, see where the kids are at, what how you're providing the resources. You're not gonna get in trouble if if you haven't done it a certain way. They're there to guide you basically and say, Hey, have you thought about doing it this way? They're not gonna say, Hey, you've got to send your kids back to school or anything like that. They're just there to help and support. But I like that. Yeah, I think that's the fear. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like here, I think in the states. I think that's the fear. People think, okay, if they start putting these regulations on, then what's next? And then what's next? Because our government has proved to us if you give them a little, they take a lot more. So uh it is a slippery slope, but you know, and then I don't I don't know the exact percentage. Are there kids that are abused and neglected that are, you know, they're not really getting homeschooled, they're just parents not sending them to school, you know. Maybe do they how many are actually found out about that way? You know, I'd I'd love to know the numbers, but yeah.
Speaker:Um I'm I'm sure there's a small, a small statistic of um children that are being neglected and aren't learning in any way, shape, or form. And then you've got that um the new age now where yes, you're you've got your kids home and they're homeschooling, but they sit on computers and devices all day. They're not really learning anything. They're just, you know, gaming. I mean, there is a a learning experience to gaming. You know, my son does it, but when they're just there gaming all day, all night, they're not you know, there needs to there needs to be a um a balance there. So I guess that's a new thing that that's got to cater for as well. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense. Well, Jen, thank you so much for joining me today. Um, this has been so interesting talking to you and so informative and helpful to parents. So I just thank you so much. And I can even type up in the notes like the little things that you said that you recommended so people don't have to try to find a pen and paper and re-listen to that. I'll just put that right in the notes section because I think that's gonna be super helpful.
Speaker:Yeah, happy to um pop my link in for my profile for Facebook. I'm on Facebook and Instagram. So if anyone's got any questions on, especially on the the neurodiverse side of things um and sensory issues, I'm happy to have a chat. And I've got a few links in my bio there to to help create safe spaces that our children are in the most, um, being at home and creating safe places for that environment. So yeah, feel free to click on those links um and check that out. Awesome. And yeah, happy to have a chat.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna go on and hit follow right now because sometimes I forget and uh I want to make sure I see that stuff too. So thank you so much, Jam. Have a wonderful evening. It was really nice talking to you today, Cheryl. Thank you for having me on, it's been a privilege.