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Honey, I Homeschooled the Kids: A personal, practical and imperfect guide
A personal and practical guide to homeschooling by Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha and her husband Mark Adderley.
TV presenter Nadia and her husband Mark took their two children out of mainstream school five years ago. Since then they have homeschooled them. At a time when so many of us are being forced to rethink our roles as parents and teachers, Mark and Nadia bring their experiences - the good and the bad - and offer a candid and practical guide to teaching at home.
Statistics show that the number of homeschooled children in the UK has increased by 40% over the last three years, and the rate is steadily increasing. With humour and frankness Nadia and Mark share the challenges and rewards of their home school experiences, and ask what 'success' really means when it comes to our children's education.
Bringing their energy, enthusiasm and openness to what is becoming an ever more relevant aspect of our lives, Honey, I Home Schooled the Kids will share obstacles, insights and resources that all parents can learn from, whether they're looking for help supporting their child at school or if they have decided to take the plunge and home school.
This book is an honest and no holds barred guide for anyone interested in embarking on the homeschooling journey.
TV presenter Nadia and her husband Mark took their two children out of mainstream school five years ago. Since then they have homeschooled them. At a time when so many of us are being forced to rethink our roles as parents and teachers, Mark and Nadia bring their experiences - the good and the bad - and offer a candid and practical guide to teaching at home.
Statistics show that the number of homeschooled children in the UK has increased by 40% over the last three years, and the rate is steadily increasing. With humour and frankness Nadia and Mark share the challenges and rewards of their home school experiences, and ask what 'success' really means when it comes to our children's education.
Bringing their energy, enthusiasm and openness to what is becoming an ever more relevant aspect of our lives, Honey, I Home Schooled the Kids will share obstacles, insights and resources that all parents can learn from, whether they're looking for help supporting their child at school or if they have decided to take the plunge and home school.
This book is an honest and no holds barred guide for anyone interested in embarking on the homeschooling journey.
- GenresEducation
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 13, 2020
Well written book about education, learning styles and how the system is failing kids.
My education story: I was a quiet kid at school, I struggled to make friends. I was academically ahead of most of my peers at primary.. I was in the top set at Secondary but I felt that I was never paid attention to as I went to a large state school and I came despondent by the end. I ended up not achieving as well as I think I should. I went on to a college and again fell through the cracks and left with no a levels.
This book doesn’t promote homeschooling as the own option but discusses the different options for a particular child.
This is a 4* read.
My education story: I was a quiet kid at school, I struggled to make friends. I was academically ahead of most of my peers at primary.. I was in the top set at Secondary but I felt that I was never paid attention to as I went to a large state school and I came despondent by the end. I ended up not achieving as well as I think I should. I went on to a college and again fell through the cracks and left with no a levels.
This book doesn’t promote homeschooling as the own option but discusses the different options for a particular child.
This is a 4* read.
October 31, 2021
A very interesting and informative book about this family's journey to home educating their children.
We have been home educating our two children for around the same length of time and for very similar reasons, which is why this book resonates so much.
We have been home educating our two children for around the same length of time and for very similar reasons, which is why this book resonates so much.
May 15, 2021
Really insightful talk about education and its place in the modern setting, especially after the pandemic.
September 30, 2021
We've been home educating for almost 4 years now but love how honest this book is. Thank you x
September 4, 2020
Let me start by saying this: you do NOT need to have kids to read this book, you do NOT have to be homeschooling to read this book, you do NOT need to WANT to homeschool to read the book. All you DO need is to have a story of your own; and everyone does.
This will help and interest and delight anyone who has any kind of opinion on the education system. Even if you think it’s brilliant and effective I’m sure there will be interesting insights into how it isn’t effective for all. Most importantly though, it is a book that could help countless people. It helped me. I went through HELL in school. Funny, maybe, because I wasn’t bad at school, but I constantly felt belittled and trodden on and had my self-confidence (metaphorically) beaten out of me by some (not all) teachers.
I changed over to a very small and unique kind of school for my last year and it was so different, it was a positive place to go to, an encouraging place to go to, but it also deeply saddened me that not all learning was like this.
Long story short, I have always felt SO disillusioned with the system, but even that one year in that new school started to build my confidence up again, and I went on to do a BA and MA and now strive to do all the weird and quirky courses that no formal education system would deem worthwhile, but they are things that make MY heart sing.
Nadia and Mark refer to this notion a lot, “what makes your heart sing”, and therefore this book really encourages and challenges you to look at what “success” actually means. At its very core, this book is about love, happiness, the human condition, interconnectedness and of course, how to cultivate a TRUE love of learning.
This book has made me feel understood, and helped me to recognise that I am not the only one who looks at education VERY differently to the mainstream education system, despite the fact that I have been involved in it and have enjoyed my COLLEGE (NOT school) life. The only reason I’ve enjoyed college is because I’ve deliberately chosen things that MAKE MY HEART SING and I always try to take learning into my own hands as much as possible alongside everything else.
This is a heartfelt, raw, emotional and very real book that made me teary eyed, if not then sobbing, at something at every section. It is a breath of fresh air and such a relief to read, I felt a weight coming off my shoulders at every section.
One last thing, Sir Ken Robinson, who has been an inspiration to me ever since I discovered his Ted Talks a few years ago, and who has sadly now passed away, in Mark’s own words, is “threaded” throughout the book. This is the perfect book for letting his memory and ideals live on in more than one way.
Thank you Nadia and Mark, and well done to Kiki, Maddie, and indeed Isobel and Fleur, all bright and wonderful girls! And well done to the ‘village’ of people that helped this family along the way.
This will help and interest and delight anyone who has any kind of opinion on the education system. Even if you think it’s brilliant and effective I’m sure there will be interesting insights into how it isn’t effective for all. Most importantly though, it is a book that could help countless people. It helped me. I went through HELL in school. Funny, maybe, because I wasn’t bad at school, but I constantly felt belittled and trodden on and had my self-confidence (metaphorically) beaten out of me by some (not all) teachers.
I changed over to a very small and unique kind of school for my last year and it was so different, it was a positive place to go to, an encouraging place to go to, but it also deeply saddened me that not all learning was like this.
Long story short, I have always felt SO disillusioned with the system, but even that one year in that new school started to build my confidence up again, and I went on to do a BA and MA and now strive to do all the weird and quirky courses that no formal education system would deem worthwhile, but they are things that make MY heart sing.
Nadia and Mark refer to this notion a lot, “what makes your heart sing”, and therefore this book really encourages and challenges you to look at what “success” actually means. At its very core, this book is about love, happiness, the human condition, interconnectedness and of course, how to cultivate a TRUE love of learning.
This book has made me feel understood, and helped me to recognise that I am not the only one who looks at education VERY differently to the mainstream education system, despite the fact that I have been involved in it and have enjoyed my COLLEGE (NOT school) life. The only reason I’ve enjoyed college is because I’ve deliberately chosen things that MAKE MY HEART SING and I always try to take learning into my own hands as much as possible alongside everything else.
This is a heartfelt, raw, emotional and very real book that made me teary eyed, if not then sobbing, at something at every section. It is a breath of fresh air and such a relief to read, I felt a weight coming off my shoulders at every section.
One last thing, Sir Ken Robinson, who has been an inspiration to me ever since I discovered his Ted Talks a few years ago, and who has sadly now passed away, in Mark’s own words, is “threaded” throughout the book. This is the perfect book for letting his memory and ideals live on in more than one way.
Thank you Nadia and Mark, and well done to Kiki, Maddie, and indeed Isobel and Fleur, all bright and wonderful girls! And well done to the ‘village’ of people that helped this family along the way.
August 9, 2024
I enjoyed this book, and it changed how I thought about schooling. I used to believe you could only gain a ‘proper’ education by attending a ‘regular’ school, but I have learned that’s not true.
I must say, I totally envy those who home-school through choice and planning. I don’t think I could have. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns in the UK, my husband and I had no choice but to home-school our nephew, and let me tell you, it was hard.
The hardest part was trying to adhere to any semblance of structure, especially when all my nephew’s friends seemed to be skipping school work in favour of video games.
Nevertheless, we persevered and just about managed to pull ourselves through. I wish I had read the book back then because I don’t think we would have put so much pressure on ourselves, and I’m positive it would have calmed our anxieties that we were getting it all wrong.
I was convinced our nephew’s intelligence level would be zero by the end of it because of how terrible we were at home-schooling. However, as it turned out – in case you were wondering – his intelligence level is just fine.
I think, as well as providing their experiences with home-schooling, Nadia and Mark will prove to readers that there is more than one option regarding a child’s learning experiences and that just because traditional schooling is the norm, it doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
I am giving Honey, I Home-schooled the Kids a 7/10.
Read my full review here:
https://georgelthomas.com/2024/05/10/...
I must say, I totally envy those who home-school through choice and planning. I don’t think I could have. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns in the UK, my husband and I had no choice but to home-school our nephew, and let me tell you, it was hard.
The hardest part was trying to adhere to any semblance of structure, especially when all my nephew’s friends seemed to be skipping school work in favour of video games.
Nevertheless, we persevered and just about managed to pull ourselves through. I wish I had read the book back then because I don’t think we would have put so much pressure on ourselves, and I’m positive it would have calmed our anxieties that we were getting it all wrong.
I was convinced our nephew’s intelligence level would be zero by the end of it because of how terrible we were at home-schooling. However, as it turned out – in case you were wondering – his intelligence level is just fine.
I think, as well as providing their experiences with home-schooling, Nadia and Mark will prove to readers that there is more than one option regarding a child’s learning experiences and that just because traditional schooling is the norm, it doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
I am giving Honey, I Home-schooled the Kids a 7/10.
Read my full review here:
https://georgelthomas.com/2024/05/10/...
September 7, 2020
Over view of a family journey into making the choice to home educate and the reasons behind their personal choices. The family have had to be careful not to bash the schools their girls attended but their disappointment is palpable; instead they are critical of an education system that is not fit for purpose and lacks creativity.
The written delivery is repetitive, I found, which is a distraction from some otherwise important messages like: there is no one way to home educate; don’t try to replicate school at home; be prepared for outside criticism; enjoy your children.
The inner conflict and questioning around whether to step off the merry go round is well described, as is the anxiety about bucking the trend and having to answer awkward ill-informed questions from friends and family.
There are lots of books about educational approaches. This is their particular family story and approach :)
I wish the girls and family well.
The written delivery is repetitive, I found, which is a distraction from some otherwise important messages like: there is no one way to home educate; don’t try to replicate school at home; be prepared for outside criticism; enjoy your children.
The inner conflict and questioning around whether to step off the merry go round is well described, as is the anxiety about bucking the trend and having to answer awkward ill-informed questions from friends and family.
There are lots of books about educational approaches. This is their particular family story and approach :)
I wish the girls and family well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2023
In their book Nadia and her husband Mark, offer their rational for home schooling their children. Advocating that the current system does not support all children's needs and can be stressful.
They also discuss their assumptions about fee paying schools and question whether they really are the best option and the pitfalls of being a parent in the public eye.
They also discuss their assumptions about fee paying schools and question whether they really are the best option and the pitfalls of being a parent in the public eye.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews