Chairperson: Ilana Coetzee
I was born and (mostly) grew up in Namibia. After Matric, I studied a BSc at Stellenbosch University, after which I worked at a company in Cape Town, remediating learning difficulties in children and adults.
I studied a postgraduate in Tertiary Education, and had a short stint of teaching at a school on Koh Samui, Thailand. I taught in township schools in Cape Town after we returned to SA, and ended up moving to East London, where I taught at a high school until my son was born in 2015. And we’ve practically been homeschooling since then; my daughter was born in 2018.
My husband and I run a project teaching coding to learners in the under-served high schools in the Western Cape, and are busy setting up our little off-the-grid permaculture farm/homestead close to East London.
Vice-Chair, EL Chapter Leader: Karen Galloway
My husband, Roger, and I homeschool our 13, 12, and 10-year-olds, and I juggle homeschooling, farming, and physio-ing. We are fortunate to have lots of practical and applied life around us from which to learn, and we love the EL Homeschooling Community. We really enjoy the adaptability of homeschooling to meet our children’s various needs and have especially enjoyed seeing them flourish into preteens and teens with this way of learning.
Treasurer: Nqwenelwa (Nqwesh) Jako
I was born and raised in Mthatha. I completed my Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting at the University of Fort Hare. I am an inspirational speaker and a certified life coach. I am a registered Chartered accountant, currently lecturing in Accounting at university. I also offer tutoring services for English, Maths and Accounting to primary and high school students.
I have always been passionate about education; I guess my parents influenced me in this regard. Being raised by parents who were teachers, I was taught at school and at home. I enjoyed the sessions with my parents.
I had always resolved that I would homeschool. Being a lecturer and tutor further entrenched my decision to homeschool my kids. I believe learning should be learner-centred and paced. So often, students feel that they don’t know things or subjects are difficult when, most of the time, it’s the pace being used, or the content is taught using foreign concepts that the learner cannot relate to. At times, they are slowed down because they are in a certain grade, even though they may be ahead intellectually. During Covid- lockdown, I saw my nephew improve because I taught him at his own pace. He did not even want to go back to mainstream when the lockdown was lifted.
I am a wife and mother of 4 boys (2 from husband’s prior marriage and 2 in marriage). My husband and I are currently homeschooling our son, who is 3 years old, and his younger brother, who is 2 months old, will soon join in. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility homeschooling affords me and my family. Currently, I reside between Mthatha and East London. I love that my son does not have to miss out on his learning, irrespective of where I am.
I joined ECHSA because I wanted to associate with like-minded people. To learn from people who have travelled this journey while bringing in, hopefully, some knowledge from my fields, so that I can improve the learning experience of other parents and kids.
PE Chapter Leader: Lowell Vickers
I was born in East London and grew up on a farm in the Lady Grey district of the North Eastern Cape. Obtained a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering at PE Technikon and spent most of my career as a Sales Engineer, marketing and selling products in the Process Control Industry, both in Gauteng and here in the Eastern Cape.
I married Daleen in 2004, and we have two boys, Liam (19) and Ewan (16). I left the corporate game in October 2016. We decided to make the move to homeschooling during the first term of 2017, and so have been homeschoolers since April 2017. We lean more towards the unschooling approach, with a mixed bag of curriculum content. Currently, I homeschool our boys while also working on building a home-based business and our dream of a homesteading lifestyle, where we would like to go off the grid as much as possible and become self-sufficient, using the principles of permaculture.
We love how homeschooling fits hand in glove with the lifestyle philosophy we are pursuing:
Permaculture Homestead
Self Sufficiency
Energy Conservation
Simple, Free Lifestyle