And that is exactly the philosophy an increasing number of Border families are adopting when it comes to educating their children. 

Home-schooling numbers in the region have slowly risen over the past 12 years, with parents saying the advantages far outweigh the societal norms of mainstream education.

Indeed, parents who advocate home-schooling say they have never had greater access to resources to help nurture their children’s learning experience. 

In a quiet West Wodonga street, brothers Darcy, 9, and Corey Day, 7, sit in their home and concentrate on their writing while mother Nikki Hind marvels over the benefits she’s seen since taking the pair out of traditional schooling. 

What would normally be a sitting room has been transformed with desks, whiteboards, a bookcase and piano. 

“There’s so much more organic and incidental learning,” she says.

Ms Hind uses daily activities like grocery shopping and playing board games to improve her children’s maths skills.

“The thing I love about home-school is it has the potential to nurture a child’s natural love of learning and they ask questions about everything.”

Ms Hind previously worked in public relations and has never studied teaching, but she says that doesn’t hinder the boys’ learning. 

“Whatever background you have, you can use it for teaching,” she says.

The family moved to Wodonga from Queensland about a year ago and Darcy attended primary school for prep and years 1 and 2. 

“To me I felt like he lost his confidence socially and academically,” Ms Hind says.

Darcy also faced bullying, as did Corey when he attended prep soon after.

“I felt like I was throwing them back to the lions every day,” Ms Hind says.

“That’s when I became interested in home-school.

“A friend of a friend wrote a book that I read and I found it really empowering and validating and I am in fact the ideal teacher for my children.

“I have taught them everything they knew before they went to school so I think I can continue that.”

Ms Hind has been able to hone the talents of Corey, an aspiring author, and Darcy, a budding engineer, and says they are working towards getting a book published and creating new inventions.

As Corey reads one of his imaginative stories based on Doctor Who, there is no sign he would rather be anywhere else. 

“I like doing my worksheets and teaching my brother and mum,” he says.

Dreams day, where the brothers talk about what they want to achieve in the future, is also another highlight of home-school for Corey.

Darcy says he likes that his mother is also his teacher.

“One thing I like is being able to play in your house,” he says.

“And playtime goes for approximately 12 hours or more.”

The Albury-Wodonga Homeschooling Support Group was formed on the Border more than a decade ago and when Catherine Little joined the group in 2003, there were just nine members. 

But now she says more than 120 families are home-schooling children at preschool age and right up to late high school.

“I think it’s a much more accepted educational option,” she says.

“It has always been a legal education option but a lot of people realise now it’s just one of the many options you have when it comes to educating your children.”

Ms Little says there was a difference between distance education, where children are sent work from a school, and home-schooling.

“Home education is where a parent is responsible for the education of the child so parents are the ones who decide how they are going to do the curriculum and what sort of things they want to teach,” she says.

“It fits in with where you live and how each child learns and how they fit in and there’s a lot more freedom about how you go about it.”

Socialisation is often a concern of people who are more familiar with home-schooling but Ms Hind said her children’s social interaction was more natural.

“Putting a bunch of six-year-olds together is not the best environment to socialise a child,” she says.

“Socialising through interests like sport and music is much more natural.”

Meanwhile, six children in Burrumbuttock are making the most of their 13 acres and are taught by their mother Sarah Joy Fandrich, who also does not see socialisation as an issue. 

“Socialisation is what you make it and every aspect of life is socialisation,” she says. 

“I don’t think our kids need to spend time with 30 other children their own age because I’ve never been in a room with 30 people my own age and been expected to get on with them and find my best friend.”

Mrs Fandrich said her children, aged 11, 10, 8, 5, 3 and 1, talked more with adults than children their own age and said they did it better than the average child.

A typical day in the Fandrich household starts with bible study before a maths lesson. 

Then they move on to reading where the younger children will read to Mrs Fandrich, while the others read to themselves. 

“The older children are reading well above their actual age so I don’t need to worry about them as much,” she says. 

The children also learn German because their father’s family is from there.

Mrs Fandrich said they had a task sheet to work through and were required to tick off lessons as they went and could do it in any order. 

Music is also a focus of the family and some of the youngsters learn piano and guitar and they all make use of their property and go bike riding.

“Pretty much everything in our day, a primary school child has to do,” Mrs Fandrich says. 

The flexibility of home-school has also been an advantage for the family with Mrs Fandrich’s husband working as a pastor and doctor. 

“We get to go out with him rather than be locked into the 9am to 3pm schedule,” she says.

With the children being at home, Mrs Fandrich said she could have more of an impact on their lives.

“I get to see what’s happening and get to be involved and get to see the joy of learning on their faces,” she said. 

The children aren’t hindered when it comes to opportunities and the family grow food in their garden, which teaches them science and health, and they learn about the history of their property, which is where the old Burrumbuttock West school stood 130 years ago. 

“In the end I think they get more opportunities,” Mrs Fandrich says.

“They do miss out on some things that go on at school but I think life is about picking what you miss out on and picking what you have instead and we’ve chosen this.

“They still get opportunities school kids don’t.”

Mrs Fandrich used to teach in a mainstream school for four years and has taught every grade except for year 7.

“But you don’t need to be a teacher to home-school,” she says.

“Education is about finding out together.

“Lots of things my kids ask me I have no idea about but we have Google and we have books.

“Now is the best time to be able to home-school, I have access to all sorts of experts on YouTube and access to all sorts of interesting things.”

Back in Wodonga, Ms Hind was not one who ever considered home-school but said education affected the level of freedom children had.

“I didn’t make the decision lightly and it’s not for everyone, she says.

“But it is for me and my children.”

“I want them to love learning and be confident.”

Anybody wanting more information about home-schooling can email daf.little@gmail.com