The Wonder & Wild Podcast

There's a scene in The Princess Diaries where a chicken runs amok through the throne room, and it taught me more about homeschooling than any curriculum catalogue ever has!Explore our programs: www.wonderandwild.com.auPurchase our programs: register.wonderandwild.com.auFollow us on instagram: instagram.com/wonderandwildhomeschooling

In today's episode, I chat with Wonder & WILD mum Meri (@meri_duarte_) about the very real road from school anxiety and feeling behind to watching her son absolutely thrive at home.

We talk wildly different kids, faith, family rhythms, slowing down, giving yourself “space and grace,” and how Wonder & WILD helped Meri feel equipped to think, “Yep. I can do this.”

Explore our programs: wonderandwild.com.auPurchase our programs: register.wonderandwild.com.auFollow us on instagram: instagram.com/wonderandwildhomeschooling

Whole family learning is having a real moment in the homeschool world, and I understand why. It sounds lovely to gather everyone around the same book, the same topic, the same project and call it a family rhythm.There are times where that is exactly what homeschooling should feel like, whether it is a nature walk, a read aloud, a cooking project, a museum trip, a family discussion or a rich project that takes over the table. But whole family learning cannot carry the whole curriculum.

I thought it was time to share a little more about the person behind Wonder & Wild.The tea first, almond latte sometimes, chocolate brownie loving, pink obsessed, homeschool in the middle of the day, married my childhood sweetheart version of me.Because Wonder & Wild has never just been a curriculum. It carries so much of what I value most: strong academics, rich childhoods, family life, creativity and raising children who know how to think.

Homeschooling should be simple enough to follow and rich enough to matter.

For the past few months, something very exciting has been happening behind the scenes at Wonder & Wild. While families have been getting on with their homeschool days, reading on the couch, heading off to co-ops, building projects, doing maths at the kitchen table and sharing beautiful little wins inside our community, Wonder & Wild has been quietly growing into something even richer.

Explore more about our program and purchase at www.wonderandwild.com.au

If you’ve been feeling that quiet pull toward homeschooling, but every time you think about it properly your stomach flips, I want you to know you’re not alone.

Spending time in the garden is one of the simplest ways to support children’s learning, and often one of the most overlooked.

At the start of every homeschool year, I don’t ask, “What do I need to buy?”. I ask a quieter, more important question: “What will help my children think, regulate, and feel safe to learn?” After years in classrooms and now years at the kitchen table, I’ve learned this: Homeschool doesn’t need more stuff. It needs intentional tools, simple rhythms, and the right support. This is the list I come back to every year.

If life came with a blockbuster trailer, mine would start with a tiny girl living twelve years on all-boys boarding school grounds - basically the ultimate crash course in surviving noise, mischief, and boyhood chaos.