Home education: changing the environment, not the child

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower – Alexander Den Heijer

So often, families come to home education after watching their child struggle to thrive in school. They’re told their child is behind, too distracted, too sensitive, too slow, too much. But what if the problem isn’t the child?

This quote speaks right to the heart of it. Children are not broken. They are not weeds that need cutting back. They are flowers, each one with their own timing, rhythm, and way of growing. If a flower isn’t blooming, we don’t blame the flower. We check the soil. The light. The space. The conditions.

That’s what home education allows us to do. To change the environment instead of trying to change the child. To offer warmth, safety, and flexibility. To meet needs rather than punish them. To let our children grow in their own way, in their own time - and trust that blooming will come.

It’s not about perfect parenting or ideal conditions. It’s about paying attention. Listening. Adjusting. Creating an environment where a child can be fully themselves, and be celebrated for it - not punished.