Now that 6 of our 7 children have graduated from our Home School, I’ve had the time to be involved in speaking engagements, which I love. Here are the ‘official’ speaking engagements I’ve had. They have all been recorded and are available to download.

2017 Mum Heart Conference, Newcastle, NSW (?Unavailable)

As Mums, we can have a tendency to judge each day by the fruit we can or cannot observe. We need to remember that it is the seeds that we plant and nurture today that determine the fruit we see in our children in the future. So what kind of fruit do we want to see? What seeds are we planting?

2019 My Homeschool Seminar, Sydney, NSW

Consistency and daily effort, even if it is only small, will add up over time.
Charlotte Mason once said that it is not about how much a child knows when he finishes his education, but how much does he care and how large is the room he finds himself in. Keeping a rhythm to our days and attending to first things first gives our children the opportunity to develop and grow and put their feet in ‘a large room.’

Update: 2022 – Michelle has made three sessions available for free at YouTube.

2020 Australian Homeschooling Summit

This online summit is great value and although it is hosted in Australian, there are plenty of workshops that would be appreciated by homeschoolers anywhere. I presented three workshops at this event:

* Charlotte Mason for Beginners
* Helping Your Child Love Writing
* Q & A Session.


Starting Out With Home Education: Advice to a Young Mother

Notes From A Charlotte Mason Workshop – These are some topics/questions I addressed at a CM workshop I ran at the 2017 Mum Heart Conference at Newcastle in June 2017.

Home education – some thoughts partly from a large family perspective but mostly applicable to any size family.

Home-schooling Boys Through High School – our experience; some pitfalls to avoid.

Ten Things to Make Time For

Graduating From Homeschool – includes a Year 10 equivalent for a 16 year old boy entering a trade.

Some considerations  – some thoughts on book substitutions and other things when adapting Ambleside Online.

The following were articles I wrote and were posted on 31 Days of CM Myths at Afterthoughts:

Myth: Charlotte Mason Doesn’t Work for High School

Myth: Charlotte Mason Means You Never use a Textbook…Ever

Plutarch – written for the 31 Days of Charlotte Mason at Afterthoughts

The following is a list of posts I’ve written on adjusting Ambleside Online for use in Australia. The major changes have been in Years 4 and 9 where I’ve substituted much of the History & some Geography selections. In other years I’ve added our own Natural History choices, Australian artists & folksongs.

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3

Starting written narrations with a 9 year old. Here & here

Folksongs year 3 & 9 time period

Year 4

A review of the year here;  A Peek at a Week; Year 4 exam.

Year 5 – Australian substitutions – History & Biography
Year 5 – Written narration samples

Year 6

Year 7 – Poetry & creative narrations; History & folksongs

Year 8

Year 9 – Overview

Part 1– a comparative chronology (an overview of what’s happening in the rest of the world at the time we’re studying Australia)
Part 2 – Australian History & Geography
Part 3  – A weekly schedule for Term 1 

A Condensed Year 9 & 10 – 1700’s to 1800’s

Years 11 & 12

Using Books – some books we’ve used in our home.

20+ Years of Family Read Aloud Chapter Books