Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities for Nov-Dec 2025.

Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities.

Homeschooling Activities:

Homeschooling.

Our homeschooling adventures and activities for November and December involved adjusting to our new farm home, whilst preparing for Christmas.

Homeschooling needed to continue until the week before Christmas, to ensure the children met their annual academic goals. Despite the moving disruptions, we just had to keep pushing forward.

The great news is that we now have a beautiful sunny room for our school office, allowing us to unpack all the various school boxes and to have everything organised in one place again.

Settling into Farm Life.

We absolutely love farm life and relished the challenges of organising the house and garden to make our new farm home very cozy and inviting. We were able to release all our furniture from storage, some of which had been there for over 10 years, as our previous farmhouse was quite small. Now, with all this space, we truly feel as though we have come to live in a palace!

The early rains have made gardening a breeze, so soon both the house and garden looked cherished and well loved.

Next, we turned our attention to the stable yard and new fencing for the horses. With everyone pitching in, we completed the work, just in time for the horses to arrive in mid-December.

Paula Joy’s Health.

Unfortunately, Paula Joy’s health declined in November, making it difficult for her to manage each day. After our move, she had the entire month of December to rest and recuperate, which has significantly helped her healing process. Although she still needs to consult a few specialists in the New Year, she has made great strides and is now able to complete her school work and engage in light exercise.

Christmas on the Farm.

Enjoying Christmas at the new farm was something we truly wanted to do. Spending time riding the horses and motorbikes, and simply being together in one location, was incredibly special.

We were then able to welcome family and friends for a joyful Christmas Day, before celebrating the New Year with a barbecue by the dam, right in front of our house.

The plentiful rains we have experienced, meant early blooming farm flame lilies, which added to our many memorable moments.

Homeschooling Friends.

Meet Jenga.

Sadly, some of our close friends have moved to Australia. We were, however, fortunate to be given their wonderful mixed breed dog, Jenga.

She is a very affectionate dog, who has adjusted nicely and loves the family. Our senior Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Sumoz, is very excited to have a new friend, so they both enjoy exploring the farm together.

Horses.

Stables up and Horses moved.

November was devoted to renovating an old hay shed, transforming it into 16 stables for our horses. After unpacking all the tack from numerous boxes, the tack rooms are now organised and ready. We also dedicated time to securing a large day paddock for the horses to enjoy.

By early December, we were finally able to move the horses to the farm. We were all incredibly excited, and it’s truly wonderful to see the horses right outside our garden!

They are still enjoying a rest period and will return to work in February. Meanwhile, every afternoon Paula Joy and I take a few horses out, for a gentle ride around the farm.

Homeschooling Sport.

Due to the farm move and Paula Joy’s health, we cancelled all other sports until the new year. This allowed the children to take a break from travelling and to settle and adjust to our new home. We shall resume golf and cricket activities, once we are truly into the new year.

Homeschooling Adventures:

Farm Life.

Maize Planting.

Murray John thoroughly enjoyed the 480 hectares of maize planting that was finished by mid-November. He took great pleasure in spending long hours driving the large tractors and working on their GPS systems.

Thanks to the good rains we’ve had, the maize crop is well established and growing rapidly. We frequently use drone sprayers to treat the crop, and both children have enjoyed learning about this process.

Tobacco Planting and Reaping.

The period between planting the tobacco crop and the time for harvesting is quite brief. Once the large tobacco reaping tunnels are activated, the farm becomes extremely busy with the reaping, curing, and grading.

Murray John enjoys his time in the tobacco curing tunnels, where it takes considerable skill to manage the fans, the heat exchangers and airflow.

Murray John’s New Drone.

With the money Murray John earned from working on the farm, he was able to purchase a second-hand drone, which he uses to assist Douglas in monitoring the arable lands, whilst keeping an eye on the dam levels. It’s a fantastic farming tool and Murray John also enjoys using it to create videos for his Instagram farming channel called farming_murray.

Dams filling.

Fortunately, the early rains and the current wet season have ensured the filling of the farm dams. The end of December saw the small dam in front of our house at the point of overflowing. We definitely needed this rain, as the past few years have been quite dry. We are, therefore, extremely grateful for this wet start to the summer season.

Zimbabwe Economy.

Living in Zimbabwe is always challenging, and the economy remains as tough as it was a year ago. The roads are still in decline, and the rising cost of living adds to the stress for our many struggling Zimbaweans…

On a positive note, the beneficial rainy season is expected to replenish groundwater and hopefully enhance our electricity supply, as the Kariba Dam begins to fill.

Travel.

Douglas’s employer frequently lands on the farm in his helicopter, much to the children’s delight! It didn’t take long for them to request a ride, which allowed them to view the farm from above.

homeschooling adventure having a helicopter ride.

This experience has only intensified their enthusiasm for flying, and I have no doubt they will both pursue flying lessons in the future.

It’s time for us to set our 2026 goals and say goodbye to a very difficult 2025. We wish you all a very happy New Year and may 2026 be filled with many blessings.

‘Those who fully trust God will see His promises fulfilled. The road may be long, but obedience always leads to blessing.’ Numbers 14:24