From a dahlia farm to a house bus, six families have found their own ways to teach their kids at home.
The docu-series Home Education looks into the lives of six families that have taken schooling outside the bounds of a traditional classroom. There are as many ways to learn as there are people, and each family is able to mould their days to suit them. They incorporate elements of Montessori, Waldorf, Unschooling, Te Kura, mātauranga Māori and more, aiming to foster their children’s innate love of learning. These students are just a few of more than 10,000 who are educated at home in Aotearoa.
The first episode features Jen and her three kids who run a pick-your-own dahlia farm. The thriving business started when Jen gave them each $100 to start a business, as a home school project – now all of their education is in the context of running the farm. Then we meet Rachel and Felix, who are researching a little-known bunker in Mount Eden. Struggling at times to keep Felix motivated in his learning, Rachel taps into his passion for history as the means to inspire deeper engagement. Felix, who is neurodivergent, found it difficult to fit in at school, but has found friends at Forest School. Next, Irma is home educating her two boys and “de-schooling” herself by letting go of curriculums and schedules and enabling the boys to direct their learning, allowing space for them to be their whole selves.
In episode four, learning at home has allowed Kensey to not fall behind after repeated illness. Her mum Alesha helps her through an online curriculum. Then, the seven “road-schooling” Rasmussen children, aged six weeks to 17 years old, are designing an ancient civilisation in their house bus, led by resourceful mum Bridie. Our final episode features the Baker whānau. Their home education through Te Kura started when a whale washed up on Tokomaru Bay, and Israel and Petrina decided it was as important to teach their tamariki how to correctly harvest the taonga as it was to attend traditional school.
Episode launch dates:
EP01: Tuesday October 8
EP02: Tuesday October 15
EP03: Tuesday October 22
EP04: Tuesday October 29
EP05: Tuesday November 5
EP06: Tuesday November 12
Home Education is made with the support of NZ On Air.