About
I began my homeschooling journey just over 12 years ago. My eldest was in school and I 'just happened' to start meeting lots of home schooling families. I really liked what I saw. Children and young people eager to learn, older kids taking care of the younger, and families (who for the most part) enjoyed being together. With the encouragement of my newly found homeschool mums and a lot of reading I began to believe that perhaps, I could just give this thing a go! After a season of preparation, and still feeling daunted, I quickly realised I would never really 'feel ready to start'. And so, exemption in hand, I plucked up the courage and took the leap. I've never looked back. Oh, there's been plenty of 'those' days - you know, the ones where I'm ready to hand in my resignation and it's only 8.30am!! Packing the children off with a lunch box back to school has seemed like a tempting alternative, however, little by little, day by day, along with my husband, we have journeyed as a home schooling family and now that our sons are 19, 17 and 13 years old, we can confidently say that we have no regrets and even celebrate the day we decided to take the full responsibility of educating our own children.
I would love to help you too, in any way I can, whether you are just inquiring about home schooling, want to get started or are further down the track and feeling bogged down, weary or have lost the joy of the journey.
Why don't you tell me a little about yourself and we can make a plan?
Why I chose to be a homeschool coach?
As someone who loves to help others, since becoming a home educator I have passionately pursued every opportunity to encourage others to take the leap into home schooling. I have worked in a voluntary capacity over the past 9 years by facilitating Information Evening's and as a Local Liaison Officer for The Home Educator's Network to the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Hamilton. This has been, and continues to be, a wonderful way to build a bridge between our home educating community and the MoE, developing a positive working relationship between both parties. I also count it a privilege to serve on the National Council of Home Educators (NCHENZ) Executive Committee as part of the national Government Liaison Team together with Cynthia Hancox. I am passionate about ensuring that we maintain a reasonable process for exemptions here in New Zealand and that home educating families are listened to and supported in their freedom and choice to provide the learning opportunities that work best for their family.
We all need encouragement on the journey of life and sometimes a little helping hand to guide us can be a welcome relief. I know I could never have done this journey alone and have been very grateful to wonderful friends who have helped me in so many ways, both emotionally, spiritually and practically, over the years. However, I have often found it difficult to take time to reflect, navigate next steps and figure out ways to find my way through the maze in front of me to enable me to move forward. Over the past few years, I have benefited greatly by having a coach alongside me, cheering me on, challenging me and enabling me to find the focus I have needed to progress forwards. This has been life changing. Combining this with my passion for Home Education seemed like a natural and timely way of offering a way to support a greater number of people in a professional capacity.
I strongly believe that whatever your training, qualifications or background, you can home educate if you choose to. Understanding ourselves as learners is the first key step. It would be my privilege to guide you in the steps forward to become a home educator yourself and get going. If you have been home educating for a while and are perhaps weary from the long journey, or simply need a fresh perspective, I can help you to find your feet again and feel the joy once more in educating your children at home.
