I want to raise my own children..:

Did you know that in Australia, children aged 0-12 years spend an average of around 40-50% of their waking hours in someone else's care each year, which translates to approximately 1,500-2,000 hours annually?

That's a massive chunk of their childhood parents are missing out on.

It’s true that sometimes I’m a shit mum, sometimes I’m a good mum. I have ups and downs, periods of success and total failure.

But despite my flaws and the dark days, I want to be the one to raise my children! And we make sacrifices to do so.

We live in a van, we wee in a bottle, my roots are way past needing to be done, we eat a lot of eggs and rice. We have a shitty car that’s scratched and ancient (which I am eternally grateful for - my Getz runs like gold).

Home education isn’t a privilege, it’s a choice. People make significant sacrifices to ensure they can raise their own children.

In this economy, it’s hard and near impossible to live off one income, but it can be done - if you want to.

We have a beautiful, loving home, but we are houseless.

Why? Why do we accept a lifestyle most would view as lacking?

Because we want to raise our own children.

We want to decide what goes into our children’s bodies.

I don’t want to ship Grace off to daycare 5 days a week.

I don’t want to put her into a government institution for 13 years after that.

I don’t want to miss her childhood.

Did you know that childhood is when you’ll spend the majority of your time with your children? Once they're adults, the time spent together becomes less and less.

I want to be the one to see her learn and grow.

I want to see her successes and failures.

I want our family to be the main influences on them (not the only influence, calm your farm, alarmists. I’m not advocating keeping your children locked away). Life occurs in the world, in the community, outside, with friends…

Life is richer when children aren’t stuck inside all day.

Not everyone wants to home educate, not everyone feels that it’s even an option, and that’s understandable.

It’s okay if you want to work full time and to get this done you send your child to childcare.

This economy is a bitch. Our village has been decimated.

We are all just doing what we can to afford basic necessities…

Teachers are kind and dedicated - at least most of them are.

But they’re not you.

They don’t love your child like you do.

They’ll never fight for them like you will.

They won’t sacrifice for them.

They may want what’s best for your child, but they also want what’s best for the other 30 children in the room.

Your child is just one of many.

Teachers don’t have the time or resources to provide the holistic care your children need.

They’re doing their best with an overcrowded curriculum, never-ending paperwork, and their own families.

Schools can’t raise your children as well as you.

Not only that, they don’t want to.