As the year comes to a close, it feels like a privilege to reflect on the theme of togetherness. At Streams, we hold firm to the belief that we are stronger when we journey together.
The well-known African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” resonates deeply. Yet, its full meaning only becomes clear when it’s lived. As we end the year, it is this lived experience I am choosing to reflect on.
When we first stepped into the world of home education, I was very much alone. I had stepped away from my roles as an active mum in the school playground and as chair of governors at our local school. These roles had rooted me deeply in our school community, and leaving them behind felt like leaving part of myself. This was combined with the reality that choosing to home-educate also felt overwhelming. Endless questions would flood my thoughts: “How would it work?” “Would we mess up the kids?” “What does a day look like?” … to name a few!
Choosing to home-educate was a big decision—one we knew we needed to try as a family. Our move from the city to an old farm seven miles south marked a fresh start as we chose this path. We left behind the familiar rhythms of school life and embarked on an unfamiliar, solitary path. During this season, I learned a lot about myself. I had the space to de-school, embrace the freedom that came with this choice, and witnessed that same freedom enabling my three children to flourish. Some days we were in a gentle flow; others were bumpy and chaotic! I knew we would never go back.
Throughout it all, my mind was often restless, filled with questions and dreams. What would it look like to create a “non-school”? A learning community for young people? I pushed on doors, initiated conversations with progressive schools around the world, and let my imagination run wild with ideas. The potential was exciting, and I ran fast, energised by the possibilities. I didn’t really have space to reflect on this solitary path.
In 2018, an unexpected call changed everything. An old university friend, Matt, shared that, as a family, they were moving to Bristol and planned to home-educate their children—the question came: could they join us? I still remember where I was when I heard the news—on a walk with my dog next to the river. I sat down and cried, overwhelmed by the realisation of how alone I felt. I had been running fast, chasing the dream of a learning community, but I had been running alone.
That phone call marked the beginning of a new chapter: a journey of walking together. Over the next few years, Matt, Sian (another new home-ed mum), and I built a small home-education learning community. We started with weekly project-based workshops for 15 young people in a friend’s garden hut. This eventually grew into twice-weekly sessions at my house, with Fabienne joining our team as she, too, stepped into the world of home education.
Our learning was rich, bumpy at times, but fun. We learned alongside the children, shared laughter, embraced the chaos, and grew together. While my initial dreams of partnering with progressive schools in Bristol didn’t materialise (it was too complex to open a school), an unexpected meeting with Fabienne and Caroline led to something even better emerging: the Streams Learning Hub.
Together (with Matt too), we’ve worked hard as a team, learned alongside the young people, and steadily grown this vibrant learning community. It hasn’t been fast, but it has been meaningful. I am so grateful for our team and each of the amazing young people we get to co-create with. Looking back on this journey, and rereading previous blogs from this year, I see a beautiful thread running through it all: the power of togetherness.
Togetherness Through Trust and Growth
Togetherness is built through mutual trust and the shared journey of growth between parents and children. Specifically, as adults, we need to de-school. The transition is tough, and we have to shift embedded mindsets about what learning is. We need to trust our kids in this—they get it way quicker than we do!
Togetherness in Community
I passionately believe that community is central to the experience of home education, offering collective strength and shared learning opportunities. There is a joy in learning together and supporting each other through the highs and lows.
Togetherness in Purpose and Advocacy
We are part of a wider community with responsibilities to our community. This rallying call from Juliet in the September blog underscores the collective effort required to safeguard educational freedoms and to protect shared values. It is not one to forget as we journey into 2025.
Togetherness in Imagination and Vision
As adults, it can sometimes be hard to imagine differently, particularly for newcomers to home education who had not planned the journey. This is the joy of learning alongside our young people—they are not conditioned by society, their minds freely think outside the box, and we have the joy of learning with them. Co-creating with them can lead to meaningful change.
I am so grateful I walk this journey with family, with a team, and with a community of young people. Togetherness comes with shared risks, it asks for mutual trust and vulnerability, it requires collaborative learning, and collective advocacy, and it is grounded within family, community, and broader societal movements.
Brené Brown is one of my favourite authors. I finish with a quote from her book Daring Greatly:
“Together we will cry and face fear and grief. I will want to take away your pain, but instead, I will sit with you and teach you how to feel it. We will laugh and sing and dance and create. We will always have permission to be ourselves with each other. No matter what, you will always belong here. As you begin your wholehearted journey, the greatest gift that I can give to you is to live and love with your whole heart and to dare greatly.”
https://brenebrown.com/book/daring-greatly/
I am excited that we will continue to laugh, sing, dance, and create together. Life is so much richer for us all when we make the choice to do it together.