It wasn’t me walking a tight-rope today, it was Aisha and Brioni. We had an opportunity for the girls to pick up fun circus skills when we joined a local home-education group for a workshop at the fantastic Aerial Angels Academy on the Gold Coast.

At least twenty children from ages five to fifteen came to the workshop. The staff at the academy divided the children into three groups according to height, and each group rotated through the activities.

At the start of the session, Aisha and Brioni weren’t certain that they wanted to participate. The warm-up was fast-paced and impersonal, and so we all watched from the side-lines. However, once the groups split up, our girls were lured by the fun — first Brioni, then Aisha.

Maddy helps Brioni across the tight-rope.

While waiting their turn at jumping on the mini-trampoline, the girls watch and learn from the other children.

The girls work through a number of small jump routines with the help of T'La.

Brioni is thrilled to finally have a turn on the trapeze — this is the most attractive part of today's class for her.

Leigh-Anne directs Aisha into position.

Instead of chatting with other parents, I sit at the edge of the mat and watch the children.

Maddy demonstrates her wizardry on the aerial silks.

T'La shows how three hoops can triple the fun!

After the demonstrations, it's our girls' turns.

After Maddy's confident demonstration, Aisha and the other children are not intimidated by the aerial silks.

During today's class, Leigh-Anne and her helpers demonstrate cheerful enthusiasm for sharing their elite skills with the children.

Before a short period of free-play time, the girls try twisting on the aerial ring.

When the kids have a break, I help Calista and Delaney onto some of the equipment.

While waiting for her sisters to complete their class, Delaney practices her own somersaults on a soft wedge mattress.

Calista rolls the hoops around and catches them in this configuration. It's a great opportunity for me to introduce her to the word "perpendicular"!

Usually I enjoy using these meet-ups to chat with other homeschooling parents, but with Calista and Delaney not participating, I used the time to play intensely with them so they wouldn’t feel left out. We all had fun, but I did leave feeling a bit isolated after sharing only a brief chat with the mother who organised the outing. However, I’m so thankful to her for setting this up, as it gave our girls a fantastic exposure to these fun skills which they may or may not choose to continue in the future!

Photos featuring me are kindly provided by another homeschooling parent. Thanks, Danny.