I have been homeschooling my six children since Josiah turned five in 1994 – one of the greatest joys of my life! In this section I share my insights, successes, failures, tidbits, tips, resources and encouragement for anyone homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling.

I have stories to tell. Put in other words, I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. It’s a jolt into the real world of writing when you realise that each story, each book, is going to be a huge amount of work – blood, sweat and tears. Even though I have been quoted as saying, “The Barn Chronicles just about wrote themselves”, the truth of it is… read more | 3 Comments

What on earth  is a fumblerule? Let me give you one before I tell you.  ‘Avoid cliches like the plague.’ Want one more? What about this one?  ‘Don’t use no double negatives. I’m sure you’ve got it. A fumblerule is a rule that breaks itself; mistakes that call attention to the rule. William… read more | 1 Comment

The other night after dinner we climbed out of Ellie’s window and set pillows and blankets out on the verandah roof and settled down to look at the heavens.  It was a cold, clear night – beautiful! Ellie says she saw thirty shooting stars. I told the children about the radio interview I heard recently in which they said that only 20%… read more | 8 Comments

This afternoon I took Ellie, Milly, Sam and Jacob out to the Adventure Forest for some high tree top challenges! I decided I needed to do it as well, and I’m glad I did, even though a couple of the activities stressed the weak muscles in my old broken leg somewhat. Milly is on the left in the photo; I’m waiting at the right… read more | 2 Comments

The children and I have been learning a new memory verse from Proverbs 24. “I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgement; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered in weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:  ”A little read more

It is seventeen years since I first began the exciting and somewhat scary journey of homeschooling. I have six children, but my two oldest children are both finishing their degrees this year (valuation and music degrees) so I only have four still at home. What a journey it has been!
When I first began home schooling Josiah… read more | 6 Comments

The Big Read is a nationwide event, as part of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards festival, to encourage kids to read. I was delighted to hear that one family has planned a special day including putting on a play from Where Lions Roar at Night.

Here’s what they’ve got planned:

“A whole day of books and more books – Mum reading aloud… read more

We have just discovered a wonderful little verse and memorised it together. It’s Psalm 138v3:

“When I called, you answered me: You made me bold and stouthearted.”

Now I often find myself praying that I will be stouthearted. And it’s a verse that often comes to mind when one of the children need to be brave. They like the verse because it makes them think of brave… read more

A while ago, we celebrated Milly’s 14th birthday. When each child turns 14 we have a special day where people speak into their life and offer words of wisdom. My neice read out a beautiful letter which had written for Emily, and she’s given me permission to put it on my blog. Thanks Hannah!

Dear Emily,
You are so blessed to be in a family that places value in… read more

I just found a little notebook in my tidying up and discovered some notes I’d jotted down.
“Your appearance sends a message. Know what that message is!”

Not sure who said it, but it’s true, and worth thinking about. And it doesn’t just apply to the the clothes we wear – it’s the look on our face, the stance of our body…
It would be good for us to… read more