Mum homeschools children in 'real life skills' - including gardening, cooking, DIY

A mum has revealed how she homeschools her children in "real life skills" - including gardening, cooking, and DIY.

Ruthie Loganbill, 27, began homeschooling her oldest son, Rhett, seven, during lockdown when schools were shut.

She loved it so much she carried on doing it to teach "real life skills" you don't learn in a classroom.

He learns how to help on the family farm - changing tyres and oil on equipment, using a hammer and air gun - and cooks meals using child-safe cutters and peelers.

The part-time secretary also teaches daughters Remi, four, and Rubi, three, who learn simpler tasks, alongside the traditional school curriculum.

Ruthie feels she's preparing them better for life this way than by sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day.

The mum-of-three, from The Ozarks, Missouri, said: "It's not healthy for kids to have to sit eight hours a day in traditional school.

"We make a monthly schedule, and they learn life hands on, instead of being left with just a little bit of time in the evening for fun things like with traditional school.

"Everything can be made into a lesson.

"We love the flexibility of the schedule and the time we get with our kids."

Ruthie's husband Rex Loganbill, 33, runs a farm and the children have grown up watching him doing hands-on work.

Neither Ruthie or Rex were homeschooled themselves, but loved the flexibility that homeschooling provided.

Ruthie writes a curriculum based on information online and the morning is spent doing that.

The afternoons are spent getting stuck into age-appropriate versions of 'real world' tasks.

These include DIY, food preparation, vehicle maintenance and gardening.

Ruthie said: "Rhett can use a spirit level, a hammer, an air gun, and a saw with parental supervision.

"He knows the safety of sawing, learns the different of geometry and angles of sawing, and knows how to use wood glue.

"He can lift things with a crowbar correctly - sometimes it's like just having another man on the crew.

"He can turn farm equipment on and off, and he can shift gear while my husband is driving the tractors and trucks."

All the children get involved with food preparation using child-safe cutters and peelers, and can help with measuring when baking.

And they help with watering, weeding and plant maintenance in the garden.

Rhett is old enough to go near the stove, so he often makes eggs for breakfast, and can do baking accompanied by his youngest sister.

Ruthie said: "Rubi is very artistic, I'm teaching her to decorate. It'll be amazing to see what they can accomplish together."

She said people assume homeschooled children are "unsocialised and awkward" but says it's "an outdated stereotype".

She said: "It actually allows time for more meaningful socialisation.

"They go to kids club, music groups, sports groups, and have playdates with friends."

She said if the children want to go into formal education when they get older, such as doing a degree, then she and Rex would support that.

Or they may want to join the family business and work on the farm, but she said there's no pressure for them to do that either.

She said: "We joke that my son is like a little adult, he loves wearing his toolbelt and stands tall.

"When you teach real life skills, the confidence it builds is amazing.

"It instills a desire to learn - they think 'I can do this, I will do this'.

"Everyone has their opinions but the proof is in the pudding - we're thriving.

"We're seeing great results not only academically but in the skills they know.

"Its truly been my biggest joy in this motherhood journey, seeing little lightbulbs over their heads when they accomplish new skills."