Knowledge and Nurture Hub

Home
Australia
Korumburra, VIC
Knowledge and Nurture Hub

📚 Tutoring 🧠 Counselling
💚 Children & adolescents
✨ Evidence-based support for parents + caregivers
👩‍🏫 Tara | M.Ed, B.Ed | ACA L2 Registered
🕘 Tues + Thurs

14/07/2026

🎬 Movie Worth Watching: Lilo & Stitch 🌺

On the surface, Lilo & Stitch is a fun Disney movie about an energetic little alien.
But underneath, it’s a story about grief, belonging, identity, acceptance, and the life changing impact of feeling truly seen.

Stitch is introduced as a “monster.” He’s impulsive, destructive, and misunderstood. As the story unfolds, we realise his behaviour is only part of the story.

Lilo is navigating grief, loneliness, and feeling like she doesn’t fit in. Yet she continues to offer compassion, acceptance, and a place to belong.

One of my favourite messages from this movie is:
“Sometimes behaviour is the visible part of an invisible story.”

Personally, this movie has always resonated with me on a very deep level. Growing up, and even now, I know my personality can sometimes come across as impulsive or misunderstood. More than once, people have actually said to me, “You’re like Stitch.”

At first, I wasn’t sure how to take that. But the older I’ve become, the more I realise it isn’t about being chaotic. It’s about being different. It’s about wanting to be accepted for who you are, even when others don’t always understand you.

Maybe that’s why this movie has remained one of my favourites. It reminds me that behaviour isn’t someone’s whole identity. Every child and every adult has a story beneath the surface.

As parents, educators, and carers, I think that’s one of the greatest lessons this movie offers us. Look beyond the behaviour and become curious about the story underneath.

Because everyone deserves someone who sees beyond their behaviour and reminds them they belong. 💚

I’d love to know, what movie has stayed with you long after the credits rolled? 🍿

09/07/2026

A new chapter is about to begin. 🌿

I can’t wait to share it with you all.

2 August 2026. 👀

08/07/2026

🏡 Thinking about homeschooling?

Over the past few months, I’ve had more and more families ask me about transitioning to homeschooling. Whether it’s due to anxiety, autism, ADHD, school refusal, bullying, medical needs, or simply wanting a more individualised approach to learning, every family’s journey is different.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that homeschooling means recreating school at home. It doesn’t.

In Victoria, families have the flexibility to educate their children in ways that suit their interests, strengths and learning needs, while providing a broad education across the key learning areas.

If you’re considering homeschooling, I hope this carousel helps answer some of the most common questions parents ask including registration, curriculum, socialisation, record keeping and returning to mainstream school.

📚 Where can I find more information?

The best place to start is the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) website. You’ll find information about:
• Home education requirements
• How to register
• Parent responsibilities
• Frequently asked questions

💚 Every child’s learning journey is unique, and every child deserves an education that helps them thrive.

At Knowledge & Nurture Hub, I support homeschooling families through curriculum planning, literacy and numeracy support, learning assessments, individual learning plans, educational guidance, and ongoing support throughout their homeschooling journey.

30/06/2026

📚 What is a decodable book?

If you’ve ever heard the term decodable book but weren’t quite sure what it meant, you’re not alone.

A decodable book is carefully written to match the phonics a child has already been explicitly taught. Rather than relying on guessing, pictures or memorising whole words, children use their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to decode words independently.

For example, if a child knows the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m and d, they can successfully read words like sat, pin, map, dip and mat. Every successful decoding attempt strengthens the brain’s reading pathways, making reading more accurate, fluent and automatic over time.

Learning to read isn’t about memorising thousands of words.

It’s about understanding the code our written language uses.

🧠 Phonics gives children the code.

📖 Decodable books give them the opportunity to practise using it.

So if your child is sounding out words slowly, that’s not a sign they’re failing—it’s a sign they’re learning. Every word they decode is another step towards becoming a confident, fluent reader.

💚 Practice. Repeat. Progress.

23/06/2026

🧠 MYTH OR FACT?

“My child is 6 years old and still writes letters or numbers backwards. Does this mean they have dyslexia?”

This is one of the most common concerns I hear from parents.

While persistent reversals can sometimes be one piece of a larger picture, letter and number reversals are actually very common in young children learning to read and write.

Learning is not simply about getting something right once. Every time a child practises, their brain is strengthening neural pathways between:
👀 what they see
🧠 what they remember
✏️ how they move their hand

The more these pathways are used, the stronger, faster and more automatic they become.

This is why a child may write a number correctly one day and reverse it the next. Often, the pathway exists, but it is still developing.

One simple activity I frequently use is:
👀 Watch
✏️ Trace
📝 Re-write

Children watch the formation, trace the formation, and then independently re-write it. Repetition and practice are key to strengthening these neural pathways.

Writing a number or letter backward is not a failure. It is information. 🌱

18/06/2026

Did you know counting on fingers is actually a positive maths strategy for many children? 🖐️

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from parents is:
“They still use their fingers to count.”

And my response is usually:
“That’s okay.”

In my professional experience, finger counting can support visualisation, grouping, skip counting, number understanding, and problem-solving confidence.

For many children, fingers act as a concrete visual tool that helps bridge the gap between hands-on learning and mental maths strategies.

Research has linked finger awareness and finger counting to stronger number sense, mathematical development, and early calculation skills.

The goal is not to rush children away from using their fingers.

The goal is to build strong mathematical understanding first.

Instead of saying:
❌ “Don’t use your fingers.”

Try asking:
✅ “Show me how you worked it out.”

Sometimes the most important part of mathematics isn’t getting the answer quickly—it’s understanding the thinking behind it.

What are your thoughts on finger counting? 👇

•

14/06/2026

Children’s movies can offer so much more than entertainment. 🎬🌱

Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing a series of movies that I believe provide incredible value from both an educator and counsellor perspective.

Many of these films explore important concepts such as:
• emotions
• anxiety
• resilience
• grief
• family dynamics
• identity
• courage
• belonging

One of the most valuable parts of watching movies together is the opportunity it creates for connection and conversation afterwards.

Turn the phones off.
Sit together.
Slow down for a little while.

Not every meaningful moment with children needs to be complicated. Sometimes emotional learning begins through stories, shared experiences, and simple conversations on the couch afterwards.

This week’s reflection:
The Croods 🦴

Save this for your next family movie night 🎞️

10/06/2026

Some things in my room will always be non-negotiable 🌱

Not because they look nice…
But because they support learning, confidence, communication, regulation and connection.

Every resource in my space has a purpose.

From counting hippos and whiteboards, to books, games, decodable readers and alternative seating. Each item helps create learning experiences that are engaging, safe, meaningful and developmentally supportive.

Children learn best when they feel comfortable enough to explore, make mistakes, ask questions and build confidence in their own abilities ✨

Many of these are simple resources that can be purchased by families too.

You do not need to be a teacher or educator to help support children’s learning, confidence and development at home 🤍

09/06/2026

I spent four years working in full-time classroom teaching positions across both Victoria and Queensland, alongside relief teaching at the beginning and end of those years.

During that time, I worked with students from Prep through to Year 9 across a range of educational settings.

For my first Master’s degree, my major research thesis focused specifically on teacher retention, teacher emotional wellbeing, and the unrealistic expectations currently placed upon educators within schooling systems. I received a High Distinction for this paper, and this issue is something I hold incredibly close to my heart.

This post is not written to criticise children, families, or schools.

It is a reflection on the increasing pressures being placed upon educators within systems that many teachers are struggling to sustain long-term.

I loved teaching.
I still love education.
And I will always advocate for both children and teachers.

But the reality is that many educators are carrying enormous emotional, behavioural, administrative, and academic demands every single day — often with limited support and increasing expectations.

I also believe societal respect toward teachers has changed significantly over time. Many educators no longer feel trusted, respected, or valued despite the growing complexity of the role.

According to AITSL data, around 34% of Australian teachers reported intending to leave the profession before retirement in 2022, with workload and wellbeing being major contributing factors.

I made the decision to leave the classroom full-time and pursue my love of education in a different way.

Not because I stopped caring — but because I knew I could no longer sustainably function within the expectations and demands being placed upon classroom teachers long-term.

To every educator still showing up every day despite feeling exhausted:
I see you. 🤍

•

04/06/2026

Early maths learning should feel hands-on, visual, supportive, and achievable 💚

Today I used my Prep Maths Screener with one of my little learners using hippos, mini whiteboards, hands-on materials, discussion, and lots of encouragement while working through early addition, subtraction, grouping, and sharing concepts. 🦛➕🧠

My Prep Maths Screener was designed to help identify where children are currently sitting within their early maths understanding in a way that feels supportive, engaging, and low pressure.

One of the best things about using screeners is being able to see how a child thinks — not just whether they can produce the “right” answer.

The screener helps uncover:
• the strategies a child is using
• confidence levels
• gaps in foundational understanding
• areas of strength
• how they communicate their thinking

These screeners help guide future teaching and support by providing a clearer understanding of a child’s strengths, gaps, and next learning steps.

Watching confidence grow in real time will never stop being one of my favourite things. ✨

•

Address

100 Victoria Street
Korumburra, VIC

Website

http://www.knowledgeandnurturehub.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Knowledge and Nurture Hub posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Knowledge and Nurture Hub:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Korumburra?