Daniel - Mornington Peninsula, VIC / Bunurong Country

Rounding out the first season of Australian Homeschool Stories is my partner in life, homeschooling and podcasting, Daniel. Together we are raising our two wildlings, aged 5 and 2, amidst the natural splendours of the Mornington Peninsula. 

SUMMARY

• Dan recalls his journey through public, international and private schooling and how gaining early acceptance into his preferred tertiary course meant year 12 was a write off and his ENTER score proved irrelevant a second time when he returned to university as a mature aged student later in life
• Music is his greatest passion but he became burnt out by the industry in his twenties, only to rediscover his love for it after becoming a parent and seeing the joy music brought to our children
• Reflecting back on how this podcast came about and how we have combined our talents to make it possible
• Dan’s initial reaction to my want to homeschool, in contrast to having placed our daughter on two private high school waiting lists from birth
• His de-schooling process was a long, slow journey which he believes largely stems from his own school baggage
• How homeschool naturally aligned with our family values, and felt like the final piece of the puzzle in achieving the home based lifestyle we were seeking
• Creativity is what we want to instil in our children and carve out time for
• Curiosity is the foundation of all knowledge, the bedrock for a lifetime of learning
• Dan is completely self taught as a musician and this gives him immense confidence that homeschooling is the right path to pursue
• Retrospectively imagining if you took school out of the picture for kids that it didn’t serve
• Dan’s advice to skeptical parents - be open minded, take your time, everyone has the same concerns 
  
  

INSPIRATION
Peter Gray - Free to Learn
John Taylor Gatto - Dumbing us Down
Stark Raving Dad 

CONNECT
Daddy Dan The Music Man Spotify
Daddy Dan The Music Man YouTube
Daniel Garrood Spotify
@garroodcomposer Instagram

Have you got a story to tell?
Connect with us on instagram @australianhomeschoolstories or email australianhomeschoolstories@gmail.com

This podcast is recorded on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land.

Original music - Hazel by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer
Listen on Spotify here