Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities for May-June 2026.

Homeschooling activity flying a drone over the dam

Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities:

Our Homeschooling Activities:

Homeschooling.

Homeschooling adventures and activities in May and June are always hectic! The family has a particular passion for horses and polo, which makes our Winter activities very busy, mainly because we need to travel every weekend. The constant juggling between travel and venues, throughout the polo season, demands a lot of our time and energy.

– Murray John celebrated his 15th birthday on June 23rd and has now shot past his Mum in height, as he continues his rapid growth spurt.

He somehow manages to remain on top of his academic responsibilities, whilst managing his polo commitments, maize harvesting, and wheat planting. This means that his everyday schedules are packed from dawn until dusk!

Paula Joy is gradually recovering from her illness, as she experiences some good days, between the more challenging ones. Over the past few months she has managed to have some energy to ride her horses, but on her bad days she just needs to rest. -Unfortunately, Paula Joy was unable to work at the Harare ADMA Show this year, due to her ongoing health issues.

ADMA Show.

The ADMA Show in Harare is a week that the children really look forward to, as it is filled with many things of interest to our farming family.

This year Murray John was hired by the William Bain stand, to promote and sell their new GPS system for tractors. Before the Show he dedicated a day to making a one-minute video for their social media presentation, which showcased their equipment being transported to the event.

Murray John also used some of his farm drone footage, to create a 50-minute video for their booth. As a result, he was able to earn some extra cash, which went towards buying himself a new drone.

He now runs a small side business in drone filming, which he hopes to expand in the future. All these small job opportunities are enhancing his CV, whilst expanding his drone skills.

Polo Mallet Repair Business.

During the polo season Murray John needs to resurrect his polo mallet repair business. However, now he seems to spend more time fixing his own mallets, which break more frequently, as he plays with adults in stronger teams.

This small polo mallet repair venture does, however, support the purchase of some new polo mallets for us all.

Commentating Showjumping.

Thanks to years of experience commentating horse polo Murray John now gets the odd job commentating at horse shows. A great life skill to add to his CV.

Horses.

May Polo Tournaments.

The Sambok Polo tournament marks the beginning of the season each year. Murray John so enjoyed his time in the top division, alongside Douglas. Paula Joy participated in several slow chukkas, as she supported the development division. Everyone left with victories in their respective teams, making it a very good start to the season.

Murray John, and Douglas then participated in the Lady Malvern tournament, where neither emerged victorious, but they thoroughly enjoyed enhancing their polo skills.

Hillcrest Derby Show.

Whenever she felt up to it, Paula Joy got Ollie ready for the Hillcrest Derby jumping weekend. In order to compete, she needed to modify her riding style with Ollie, due to her limited leg strength. She managed to train Ollie to seek out the jumps, whilst responding to her voice commands. This was an interesting lesson in accepting the necessity of adapting one’s riding skills to a different situation.

Paula Joy participated in the show mainly for the enjoyment, fully aware that completing those lengthy showjumping courses would be tough on her health. It turned out to be a fun

weekend, and Ollie performed remarkably well. The whole experience helped Paula Joy realise that she is gradually regaining her strength.

June Polo Tournaments.

The Umzari Tournament took place in early June, where a return to our former polo club was a lovely experience for our family!

Murray John participated in the A division that weekend and he had an impressive performance, resulting in a thrilling win for him and his fellow players. He also earned the MVP (most valuable player) award, which was recognition of his ability, which he really appreciated.

The PAZ championships took place in late June, where Murray John participated in two divisions, since Douglas had pressing work obligations. Murray John managed to secure victory in the B division, whilst riding Douglas’ horses. Once again he was honoured with the MVP award.

July will kick off with the largest tournament of the season, so Murray John is dedicating a lot of time to get himself and his horses ready for this important weekend. We will carry on with our busy polo season, for a few more months. In late July Murray John will head to Kenya for a polo tour. This will be an exciting new adventure for him!

Homeschool Sports.

Most sports are put on hold during the polo season and will resume in September. Nevertheless, Murray John still finds time to play the occasional round of golf.

Homeschooling Adventures:

Farm Life.

Maize harvest.

The maize harvest of 450 hectares, extended into May and June. Murray John spent countless hours working with the combine harvester, known as “Bumble Bee.” He truly enjoys the new computer automation this amazing machine features.

He was also happy to instruct the tractor driver, who manages the chaser bin, on the proper techniques for offloading the combine while it is in motion!

Barley planting.

The 450 hectares of barley were sown in May. This is yet another crop that Murray John is learning to plant, fertilise, spray, and irrigate, whilst being closely guided by Douglas.

Given the numerous pivots utilising the dam water, Murray John dedicated a significant amount of his time to helping Douglas monitor their effectiveness.

Tobacco seedbeds.

The previous season’s tobacco crop has now been sold. It wasn’t a great season, due to the high rainfall we experience, together with the low tobacco sale prices.

In farming there is always the feeling that ‘next year will be better’…so the new seedbeds have already been sown, as the tobacco season starts once again.

We look forward to sharing more updates on all our new activities and farm life adventures. In the meantime, take care, and God bless.