This year’s Not Back To School (#NBTS) Sports Day was held on Glasgow Green on 27th August and attracted a good number of families, despite the less than encouraging weather forecast. It always takes more than a bit of rain to dampen the spirits of home educated children and parents!
A big thank you from us all to Dawn, who organised the event and supervised the placing of children in sacks(!) and all the other wacky races that have become a mainstay of our open air gatherings. And a very happy 10th birthday to Connie, whose mum brought along a scrumptious birthday cake (complete with candles) to share.
A larger selection of pictures of the sports day is available for members of the Home Education Support Scotland Facebook groups, but here are a few to give a flavour of the event.
It was a pleasure to meet families who are new to home education and to reconnect with those who have been around a bit longer. Hearing about the paths that older children and young adults have taken is always reassuring for those starting out, and home educating parents never tire of chatting about their varying approaches to home education.
There have been many changes since our first pioneering #NBTS sports day event in 2001, not least of all the technological advances which have made networking so much easier. Some things remain remarkably unchanged, however, and a new generation of home educated children is still celebrating the benefits of learning without limits, enjoying opportunities that would be unavailable in a class of same-age children from the same ‘catchment’ area and following the same curriculum.
This picture, kindly provided by Aileen Malone, is from our 2003 #NBTS sports day. The wacky races and happy faces are remarkably similar, aren’t they?
