Home-schooling has never been more abuzz with activity at one Engadine household.
Aside from the required textbook education, the lessons at the Richards' are tapping into each student's interests.
The three siblings have been home-schooled for almost three years. The eldest, Alicia, 20, has graduated, and is studying at TAFE. Aaron, 10, Jacob, 13, and Jessica, 17, are learning about what they like, and the proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, the honey.
Nestled among natives and eucalypts, their backyard forms part of their classroom. Jacob has spread his wings into harvesting. Honey is harvested every summer and again in spring if winter yield is strong. A single, typical harvest can produce 27 kilograms of honey, which is pours into jars.
"It's satisfying when you harvest and you get so much at the end," he said. "But because of the rain this year we could only harvest one hive. I've been stung too many times but I love the science behind it all."
His sister Jessica has become a talented baker, and also makes lip balm and hand lotion from beeswax.
The family produces home-grown produce including capsicum, pumpkin, tomatoes and strawberries.
"We eat the honey by the spoonful. It's the best honey going around," Jacob said. "We use it in our tea, scones and in stir fries."
Jacob and Jessica also recently excelled in winning prizes at the Hawkesbury Show for their honey-created treats.
Their mother Belinda said the interest in honey-making started through a family friend. "They had a bee hive in their backyard that belonged to their late father," she said. "Jacob was eager to get into it. He was mentored by a bee keeper and it grew into having two hives in our backyard."
Home-schooling naturally fell into place for the family. "It's always been a passion of mine to be very involved in their education, and to enrich their learning experiences in as much real life as possible," Mrs Richards said. "We make sure we cover all we need to academically but there is also a lot of personal interest.
"We start early in the morning with maths, science, English, literature, and in the afternoon there's piano lessons, excursions like rock-climbing or ice-skating. There is lots of adventure. The world is open to us and we can learn from wherever we are so they can have skills for life. Everything we do is as a family. It's lovely."
