By Alyce Collins
MOTHER who took her son out of mainstream education vows never to send her children to school after her eldest son was BULLIED by a teacher for being vegan, and now she gets to spend seven days a week with her family, starting with yoga at 5am EACH morning.
Student nurse Kirsty Rother (23) from Queensland, Australia, has taken to home-schooling her three children after taking her eldest son out of traditional school and choosing to educate them herself, so they can choose what they want to learn each day.
Kirsty and her husband have three children, Byron Marley (6), Matilda Rainbow (2) and Luna Peaches (10 months), who they openly raise as vegan and refer to them as their âFlower Childrenâ.
Byron was taken out of reception because they didnât feel it worked best for him and he was singled out by a teacher who mocked him for being vegan. So, they chose to home-school him themselves. However, this first round was a disaster and Byron was soon returned to the school for a few months.
Kirsty planned out the best way to home-school Byron while he was back in mainstream education, looking at the best ways to teach and what would work best for him specifically.
Now, Kirsty has mastered the best way to educate her children at home and they no longer have to stick to a routine, as she relishes in being able to spend time with her family seven days a week.
âSending Byron to school is not something we would ever consider again,â said Kirsty.
âWe actually decided to home-school when Byron was in reception, but it turned out to be a massive flop. We returned him to school, then only months later realised it was a mistake and schooling wasnât suited to him as an individual or us as a family.
âSo, we put a plan in place the second time and itâs been successful ever since.
âRegular school didnât work for us because it needed a set routine. We were also extremely upset when Byron was bullied by a teacher who didnât agree with him being vegan and singled him out because of it.
âI found that a lot of what they were teaching Byron was the opposite of what we were teaching in the first place, so it was extremely counterproductive.
âWe arenât restricted to just weekends or school holidays to do things. We can trial and error and adjust our learning program to what suits us at that particular time. Byron can choose what he wants to learn, rather than be told.
âYou also learn a lot about your children â their strengths, their weaknesses and their personalities. I believe seven days a week with them compared to just two makes a huge difference.
âWe usually start the morning off with yoga, meditation and affirmations to give them a positive start to the day. The children start their yoga or meditation anywhere from 5am to 6.30am depending on when they wake up.
âThen we plan Byronâs day out with a white board with his usual learning program and ask him something in particular he is interested in learning that day, so we can incorporate that into his learning.
âWe teach them things such as geography, culture, art as well as the classics of science, maths and English. Byron is incredible at maths and he really enjoys it.
âFor example, yesterday we spent the whole day on English, so we did four hours of reading, activities and handwriting. But sometimes we may only spend a couple of hours doing it or we wonât even need to focus on English in a day.
âIn the meantime, we can organise activities to keep Matilda entertained so that she is also learning but at her own level. She really loves things like reading and art.
âSheâs still very young but has managed to pick up an incredible amount so far.â
All five members of Kirstyâs family are vegan, even down to Luna Peaches who drinks vegan smoothies from her baby bottle.
Kirsty chooses to educate herself and her family on the lifestyle they have chosen as opposed to a lifestyle of consuming animal products, to show her children the work of industries who are cruel to animals for the sake of consumerism.
âWe are happier and healthier within ourselves and so far, Iâve lost 7st since going vegan,â said Kirsty.
âWe donât contribute to any of the industries who condone animal suffering. We wouldnât ever want to go back to consuming animal products.â
Kirsty has faced criticism in the past for choosing to home-school her children because of the possible effects this can have on the childâs sociability and the level of education they receive while growing up.
âMy children donât miss out on anything from being home-schooled,â added Kirsty.
âSome people say that home-schooled children donât get any socialisation, but I find this funny because I remember when I was in school and my teacher would regularly say âyou arenât here to socialiseâ, but our children socialise regularly.
âWe have met quite a few friends from places such as local libraries, parks or home-schooling events.
âI also believe that in a classroom with thirty students and just one teacher itâs impossible to spend that individual time with each student. But now we home-school Byron we have the time to sit with him as an individual and really help him to understand concepts.
âSchool was a very negative experience for me. I had teachers that damaged my self esteem which lead me down a path of not carrying for my education.
âBy home-schooling them myself, I hope that we can have many memories together, that our children have close relationships and that our children arenât moulded into the same person, but they can remain an individual.
âWe receive more positive comments than negative ones, but like anything in life, if people donât know enough about it they tend to criticise it. But we just ignore the negativity.â
You can see more of Kirstyâs lifestyle by visiting her Instagram, @raisingflowerchildren