Homeschooling in Queensland, Australia

Well, it’s been awhile since I last posted! Yes, I am still homeschooling but just plain ran out of time! I am finding as I get older I am becoming more and more ‘time poor’! I thought it was supposed to be the other way around!

Well, what’s been happening? This year for the first year I actually registered for homeschooling in Queensland Australia. That was my first mistake of the year! It was relatively easy to obtain registration which suprised me as I have a friend who went through the ‘fires of hell’ in her registration process. This was especially puzzling as we both use books from the same company, I was approved quickly and with no problems, while she was ‘hauled over the coals’ for having the same choice of books. That was my first sign I guess, that this was NOT going to be good!

Throughout the year the Home Ed unit was good. Not intrusive and sent me newsletters with lots of information via email throughout the year. I thought ‘great! no problems’ ! Then I recieved the ‘reporting folders’ from them for each of my children…..well, I was stunned to say the least! To report as per their recommendations would require around 40 pages of information per child, 40 x 3 = 120 pages of reporting! Of course if my children were of prep or grade 1,2,3 it would not have required that much input, but with two highschoolers and one in ‘grade’ 6 it was going to require more info.

My first response was to read the folders through again. It was then I realised something, if my kids had recieved a report such as this from their teachers at school, I’d probably still be sending them to a school! I was having to ‘report’ not only on what they have done throughout the year, with scanned in examples of work throughout the year I would still have to send a report on what I was going to be teaching each child for the next year! I was in looking at this format ‘having to prove myself’ in order to ‘keep’ my registration and gain approval for new registration next year!

Well, I did start the process, but after three weeks of working on it I realised this was doing two things. It was eating into my schooling time and when I realised this I stopped doing it then. I changed the time I was working on this to night time and then of course realised it was eating into the time I use to research information for my future homeschooling activities!

I am from a generation of protestors. I grew up in the seventies’ , during Vietnam, and the feminist movement. My 15 mins of fame was burning my bra in Brisbanes’ King George Square in the early 70’s! This reporting is ridiculous! if they applied the same standards they expect from me to their own education system and teachers and principles we would not have the problems we are having with the ’system’ now! 

It seems to me, that ‘they’ (education system in Qld) are literally trying to force parents to send their kids back to school. They know that this reporting is difficult as the child gets older and requires more information and more teaching and I believe they hope that we will put it into the too hard basket and just send the kids back to school.

I also found out some information recently, for every ‘REGISTERED’ Homeschooled child the government are given an ‘allowance’. So, the federal government, ‘pays’ the home ed unit for every child registered in queensland. No wonder they are trying to force the registration of homeschooling! The money is in the vicinity (I’ve been told) of 10,000 to 13,000 dollars per year per child depending on whether they are primary or secondary students. Do we the ones who are actually doing the work get any of this money? NO! We don’t get a cent of any funding and now if you are not registered for homeschooling you will not recieve the government ‘help’ for text books when your children reach secondary level! So, for me registering my 3 children in Queensland this year, the Education Dept in Queensland has gotten in the vicinity of $36,000!

Of course the Dept will NOT tell you this! I have found this out by someone I know in the Education Department who kindly did some digging on my behalf.

I am NOT impressed!

1 large packet of pasta, boil in water and drain, do not add oil in cooking water!

Make a white sauce: melt butter or marg in large saucepan, add enough flour that it becomes very thick like a pastry, and cook slightly for about 2 minutes (this takes the flour taste away) take off heat and with a whisk pour in milk slowly, for a large amount of people I can use over a litre of milk. put back on stove and cook stirring all the time with the whisk, when cooked it should be fairly thick but still runny enough to pour. Add approx 2 cups of grated cheese ( you can add cooked diced bacon or ham and an onion and you have a meal on its own here) Once grated cheese has melted mix the pasta and sauce together and put into a large baking dish or two.

Mince sauce: 500 gr mince, 1 onion diced, cook together and add: 1 large jar of pasta sauce, 1 tin of diced tomatoes,1 teaspoon crushed garlic, a good pinch of italian herbs of choice, and sugar to taste(takes the ‘acidic’ bitter taste away for kids who won’t eat tomatoes) . Cook well This mix should be fairly runny. Pour over pasta that is already in baking dish.

Topping: Breadcrumbs approx 2 cups, 2 cups of grated cheese and 1 to 2 eggs (depends on how ‘crusty’ you want the topping, the more eggs the harder the crust) mix well and put on top of mince sauce. place under griller until browned and serve.

NOTE: i  have put left over veges into the mince mix to add more flavour.

1 packet of puff pastry or make a shortcrust pastry with 2 cups flour, enough margarine to mix till it looks like fine breadcrumbs and enough water to make into a soft dough.

In a saucepan add – 250gr mince, 1 onion, mix of vegetables diced or cut fine, Cook, then add 2 tablespoons each of bbq sauce, tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce and approx 500 ml of water, simmer, taste and adjust sauces if needed, take off heat and mix in enough breadcrumbs to make a thick mixture. Cool

Cut pastry into strips if using prepackaged pastry you get about 3 strips per sheet. Place a small amount of mince mixture onto the pastry about 1/4 of the way up the pastry and roll over, cut off excess pastry and pinch ends to seal, continue until all pastry is used, makes approx 24 rolls. Put onto a greased tray and bake in a moderate oven until browned – you can brush rolls with an egg and milk glaze for a better browning on top. Put any leftover mince into a freezer bag and label and use next time you want to make them. Serve on their own or with vegetables. This recipe can be modified to suit your own tastes, sometimes I add a packet of soup (beef, or chicken or vegetable) especially if unexpected dinner guests arrive, just add more liquid and a little more sauce and more breadcrumbs to thicken and it will stretch to feed a lot more, but you will need more pastry. I’ve also made a large ‘pie’ instead of rolls when all of my kids and their husbands and wives have turned up at dinner time! (I have 7 kids!) Just line a baking dish with the pastry put in the mince mixture, put more pastry on top and bake. Boil some potatoes and mash and you’ve got a meal that will feed a lot of people.

Kids love helping to roll these. I have to make mine take turns!

Sausages cut into bite sized pieces

1 onion diced

Cook together in large saucepan

Add mixed vegetables of choice and cook

In another bowl add 1 litre of water approx and 2 packets of cream of chicken soup, 1 teaspoon of a very mild curry, and sugar to taste. Simmer, taste and add sugar or curry as required. The amount of liquid depends on the soup mix used. You want to have it fairly runny but not too much. For added tasted instead of adding water add evaporated milk and water. Serve with rice.

To thicken stews and casseroles use dehydrated potato instead of flour

To remove chewing gum from kids hair use peanut butter

To use up leftover bread:

1. make mini pizza’s for lunch,

2. tear up bread and place in baking dish in oven, slow cook until dried and use with hot dip for parties

3. toast and cut into squares and add as croutons to a salad

4. make a bread and butter pudding: butter a few slices of bread, in another bowl add approx 2cups milk and 2 eggs and beat together, add sugar to taste and mix, put bread into a baking tray and pour over milk and egg mixture and spinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon and sugar (mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon with a quarter cup of sugar – if you use this you may not need to add sugar to milk mixture) Bake in moderate oven till set

5. freeze leftover bread and crusts and when needed use a blender to make breadcrumbs or blend it first and freeze

6. a mix of breadcrumbs, grated cheese and an egg mixed well together make an excellent topping for pasta dishes and mince dishes

1 Tin of Evaporated Milk

1 bottle of honey and mustard marinade of choice

a little sugar to taste

Chicken breasts sliced

Cook sliced chicken breasts in a large pan or saucepan. In a seperate bowl pour marinade and milk together, it will get thick, when chicken is cooked pour sauce over and heat but don’t boil. If marinade is a little bitter (depends on the marinade and the amount of mustard) add sugar to taste. Serve on boiled rice or with mashed potatoes and vege. Can also add frozen mixed vegetable to cooked chicken before adding sauce if liked. This is a quick and easy recipe for when you are busy but want a ‘gourmet’ style dinner.

Never before have I ever been so proud to be an Australian. I don’t live near the fires, but I watch what is happening every day on television. I am in awe. The courage of these wonderful people who have been through so much themselves passing it off to help a neighbour. The Fire Brigade and all the volunteers who have worked for 5 days now around the clock are awesome. We are a small populated country compared to most, around 16 million people all told but it has affected us all, and as typical ‘aussies’ we band together and help whatever way we can, volunteering, donating or just sitting in our lounge rooms and crying with them when they tell their stories.

We are a country of extremes. We have severe flooding in North Queensland, drought where I live in South East Queensland and bush fires in NSW and Vic and all at the same time. I have heard stories of the flood victims who have lost everything, giving what they have left to the fire victims. Amazing! But it is the ‘aussie’ way. When people are in need, we just band together and jump in and do what we can.

Last Saturday, the day the bushfires started in Victoria, a neighbour’s house was in danger of a localised bushfire. I drove down there and spent the next 2 hours fighting the fires. I didn’t know these people, have never met them and probably will never see them again.  I don’t want a ‘pat on the back’ for helping or a thank you, that’s not why I did it. It’s just what WE do, what ‘aussies’ always do. I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s a lifestyle. This is just how we live.

My oldest daughter had come to visit me, saw I wasn’t home and ‘knew’ as soon as she saw the smoke where I’d be. She came to drag me out, telling me I ’shouldn’t be doing this’, = a nice way of saying you are too old to be doing this!!! I just looked at her, smiled, and said it’s just the way it is. She understood.

On a footnote though, I don’t think I’ll ever wear the lovely white pants, or pastel pink and white shirt I was wearing ever again! I was on my way out at the time and had just showered and changed! Oh well, doesn’t matter!!

cheers

neetie

Pizza Scrolls

2 cups of Self Raising Flour

Margarine (enough that when rubbed through the flour looks like fine breadcrumbs)

Water to mix to a soft dough.

Once dough is made roll out pastry onto a floured surface until it’s about a half a centermetre thick (or 1/4 of an inch) thick. Roll into a rectangle shape.

Add pizza sauce (or BBQ sauce) and finely sliced ham, pepperoni, salami or other fillings – NOTE don’t make it too full or it won’t roll properly.

top with grated cheese.

Now roll up pastry into a large log, pinch off the ends of roll. Cut into 2cm slices (1 inch) and place onto a greased or paper lined tray and bake until golden brown. NOTE; put the pizza slices on tray so they are ‘just touching’ before baking.

Kids love them for lunches, so do hubby’s!

HELLO AND WELCOME TO HOMESCHOOLING IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

I am the mum of 7, and homeschool my youngest three children. My older four have all grown up, left home, three are married, two with kids (so I am a grandparent too!) I have been raising kids for almost 35 years and am still going!! (started young and finished late!)

I hope to have some useful information on this site as time goes on but I am still learning about all this, so, it’s a work in progress. I will be adding more each week as I learn how so keep coming back and see how I’m doing!

Cheers from Australia

Neet