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If your child is currently enrolled at a school, you may need to register for homeschooling and present your certificate before you can withdraw your child from school - depending on the school's policies. While it's true that some families choose not to register for homeschooling because they find the registration process stressful, or the interview doesn’t go well, or they disagree with registering for philosophical reasons (a parent and child are born with a right to free will), many families will choose to register simply to gain a certificate and some confidence with “legally” homeschooling ... as well as a handy discounts at some websites.

The NSW Government has ensured that homeschooling registration is available to everyone. It is not something you need to spend any money on, and they state this during the registration process on the NESA website. In fact most homeschoolers do it with a very low budget to save money versus school expenses. The logistical aspect of homeschooling is available on the NESA website and there are many websites offering additional curriculums for children to follow. Purchasing a curriculum can help transform a homeschooling experience in particular for those who wouldn’t have felt drawn to, or have the confidence to homeschool initially, but have opted out of the traditional school system and are looking forward to being guided and provided with lesson plans.  Ultimately, having an understanding of the free resources on the NESA website NESA is all that is legally required.

On the NESA website, you can download the booklet of requirements for registering to homeschool. Then simply create a word document and type in your answers to all their questions, which you will find in the booklet. You don't need to submit this word document in your application to homeschool. However you should have it available to show the visiting Homeschooling Registration Officer on the day of your interview to gain approval.  It is also helpful to refer to the homeschooling plan throughout the year to monitor your achievement towards your learning and developmental goals.

You can download the home school registration templates on the Home Educating Mum website to save time in presenting a thorough plan that addresses all of their questions. While some homeschooling parents have proficient office skills, all kinds of vocations are acceptable for parents when it comes to becoming an effective homeschool parent and providing a safe and loving environment that is conducive to learning. You don't have to be great at everything, but know where to look for resources to save you time and achieve your goals. To this end, please also know that you can easily gain registration with a few pages of very personal and informal handwritten notes and a simple schedule. The Home Educating Mum templates are “fill the gaps” style and have been effective at gaining homeschooling registration for users for over 6 years.

In a way the first meeting with the home schooling official (to get registered) signifies that you are officially starting the official homeschool journey. Before the meeting, you might like to set up a special area at home with something like a lounge, scrap books, play dough, that kind of thing. The first meeting will usually go well with polite introductions and encouragement to your child, and the home schooling official will encourage you to have fun with homeschooling. 

It's easy to get nervous when you know the second meeting (6 - 12 months later) is coming up. Spend a little time compiling documentation of what you have been doing, and get your written plan for the next 6-12 months in place. Look at the curriculum to see if you are keeping up so you are prepared for that conversation when it happens. You might not actually BE keeping up with the curriculum if your child does not want to even look at a pencil case let alone hold a pen and write in a book! But the awareness you demonstrate that you gain from reviewing the curriculum speaks in volumes and is in some ways is more important to the visiting official than your child's ability at that particular point in time. The trick is to show that you have the capacity to plan, review, and identify your child's learning needs in accordance with the curriculum at any point in time. 

For your child, encourage that they are themselves, and rely on their language skills, knowledge, confidence, passion for life to tell the story of how comfortable they are in a homeschooling environment. You can also step out of the way and let your child do most of the talking along with a tour around the home and property.

You may not even keep scrap books with written learning experiences if your homeschooling is based around science and technology (STEAM). What you can demonstrate, instead, is  an album of photos and videos where you  have recorded learning experiences. You are supposed to keep your homeschooling records and a daily journal and it's possible to do this in a digital way, such as a private Facebook group with family only, and the advantage of this is that you can upload photos and videos anywhere... in the car while your partner is driving, or in bed at night while breastfeeding a younger child. A second advantage is that your time on your phone is then mostly spent reviewing homeschooling records and really enjoying the photos and feeling a sense of achievement. A third advantage is that as you are doing things, your children can learn to present to the camera, which can create presentation skills, sense of humour, and personal speaking skills. 

A Natural Learners or Unschoolers community is a social group that gets together regularly. It consists of mixed aged kids and parents where people feel relaxed and are learning through play, conversation, unstructured outdoor exploration, sharing meals picnic-style, and sharing passions and interests (toys, books, technology, circus skills, knitting, pocket knives, anything goes). 

Children in these environments are often thriving, feeling like they are looked after emotionally, physically, mentally. The people attending enjoy being out in open environments mixing with all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds.

If you’re feeling any pressure to give your kids any specific activities while they’re not at school, please just ease yourself of that pressure. Kids don’t need that much to do.  

One of the greatest BENEFITS of homeschooling is that you live an unhurried life.  You don’t have to get out of bed in the morning and pack lunchboxes, and rush to be anywhere at any time. You don’t have an agenda that comes from the school saying “you have to be here at this time”, or “you need to do these extra events after school”, like festivals or sporting events, and your kids don’t come home saying, “all my friends are doing this, and that’s why I want to do it…” None of that exists in homeschooling. You have this really freestyle living arrangement where you can actually be yourselves, and be in nature, and really get in touch with what lights you up and do more of that, and you have the opportunity to get bored and see how you can GET CREATIVE out of that, and you get opportunities to just walk around and feel peace and be mindful and be in touch with your emotions, to connect with each other, and share those emotions.

You are enough. Everything that you’ve done as a mum to this point, to date, is enough. And everything you’ve already given your kids is enough. There is so much available in your home already ... you have books, you have favourite websites ... you have your favourite activities, or your dress up costumes, and games that you play, and you already have routines surrounding your chores and your housework, so just enjoy all of it knowing you are exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you are supposed to do. You are enough. 

Often, with homeschooling, LESS is MORE. If you have an opportunity to be in an unhurried lifestyle, getting in touch with your emotions and being outside with your kids under the sunshine with nowhere to go, then live it up. Live this life as best as you can because it’s a fleeting opportunity to see how amazing an unhurried life is. 

Homeschooling and working part-time from home is definitely doable. It's generally beneficial for the family (read why here). A time when working can become hazardous in homeschooling families is when children are left with very little parental input: few or no boundaries, no goals, no engagement, no lessons. 

It's possible that children who have very little to no supervision or input from the parent, can feel lost and ultimately, worst case scenario, lose their sense of safety, being and belonging to their home place - including lack of connection and love and safety in the relationship with their parents. They can also set up their own play area too often leading to poor habits doing things, while unsupervised, that would not be acceptable in groups of children or people generally - such as hurting one another or things, or destroying useful or beautiful things, or becoming disrespectful and careless with words, attitudes, and resources, and so on. This can eventually over time impact on the parent, the children, and the wider family and friendship circles along with the community. 

If children's personalities become "too" independent, empowered, or detached from other people and the rhythm and flow of community life, you might like to ask yourself if you can reduce how much time you are working and aim to create more engaging connections with your homeschooling children.