Home Education

Getting Started...

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Home education is a totally flexible way to educate your child, as long as you are providing an effective education suited to the age and ability of your children then they can learn in whichever way they find most effective.

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In our house we use a variety of resources and methods for education so we can keep education fun and fresh. For socialisation our little ones go to groups with other children such as Scouts and home ed. groups, of course at the moment groups aren't operating due to the pandemic but we have been able to stay in contact with friends and family by using technology and having conversations at a distance when we go for walks.

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If your child already goes to a mainstream school then you will need to deregister them by sending a letter or email to your school. Below is an example of how you could word your letter or email.

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(Your name    

&  Address)    

 

(Head teacher's Name

School name

Schools address)

 

(Date)

 

In regards to (name of child)      D.O.B. (Date of birth)

 

Dear (Head's name),

 

I am writing to inform you that my (son/daughter/child/children) (Child(rens) Name(s) is/are)  receiving an education at home, otherwise than at school in accordance with Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act.

 

Therefore, I request you remove (his/her/their name(s)) from the school register as from (the date you wish to deregister) in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 2016 section 8(1)(d) for mainstream schools.

 

(I / We) would be grateful if you could please confirm in writing when my (child(ren) has/have) been removed from the school register.

 

(Kindest regards,)

 

(sign here)

 

(Print your name)

(mother/father/parents/guardians)

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However, if you are thinking of home educating there are some things you should consider:

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• If you want your child to have qualifications can you afford to pay for them?

When you deregister your child from school you become responsible for the full cost of your child's education. When children attend school the government gives the school a minimum of £4000 per pupil per year for primary school children and a minimum of £5000 per pupil per year for secondary school children; with HE the government gives guardians nothing and expects parents to look for work if they claim benefits. Home educated children are still able to get free medical examinations and vaccinations but you may have to contact your local GP to arrange the appointments.

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• Do you have the time to devote to education?

Home Ed is a full time job and depending on how you wish to educate ('home schooling', 'unschooling', 'world schooling', 'home educating', 'game schooling'... the list is endless) you will spend a lot of time supervising learning, enabling learning experiences and planning. If you want to teach 'subjects' and follow the curriculum you will probably be spending quite a bit of time organising and doing lesson plans - if you want to do less planning check out the 'Tips & tricks' section. 

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• Is this a temporary arrangement?

If you plan to home educate for a short period (and you aren't dealing with trauma or medical issues of course) then it's worth thinking about following the national curriculum and keeping a routine similar to the school day so transition back is pretty seamless. If you plan to home educate for longer then you can have more fun with it and change up your routine, your curriculum and how your children learn. 

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• What do you want to achieve from home educating?

Families home educate for a variety of reasons, some children are recovering from trauma due to bullying, others struggle in the classroom environment, in the current climate many parents or guardians feel uneasy about the risk from covid-19 and other families may just enjoy the flexibility of home educating.

Whatever your reason you can mould your educational plans around your child's needs and change them if they need adjusted or if your child wants to pursue a certain style of learning.

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If you have considered all of the above and decide to home educate it's a good idea to join local home education groups on social media so you can find events happening in your area, they are also a wealth of knowledge, offer support and groups like Home Education and your Local Authority: Help with dealing with officialdom can assist you if you have issues with the school or local authorities.

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Keeping records...

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If you plan to complete a yearly report for the local authorities (you don't have to if you don't want to - click here for more in depth information on your rights as a home educator) or just want to keep a record of what your children do then there are multiple ways you can achieve this. 

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Some free ways families record learning experiences:

• Email photos, videos and comments to their own separate private email account.

• Post to their Instagram account.

• Make a blog with Wix, Wordpress, Squarespace or many others.

• Use a diary or scrapbook!

• Use an app like Evernote, Journey, Daylio, 1 Second Everyday, Momento or others.

• Start a private Facebook group and add photos, videos, written records etc. This option can be really handy for families who share educational responsibilities because both parents, grandparents, childminders and others can be added to the group to share their records too.

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Staying on track...

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The national curriculum is what most schools use for guidance when it comes to education but if you home educate you don't need to follow it, this gives you some more freedom to learn what you want how you want.

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Some families don't plan, keep records or have any kind of 'lessons' and all learning is autonomous but of you want to set objectives then here are some ways of doing that!

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Create a plan.

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More planner templates coming soon...

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Planning lessons...

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You can save time by using pre-made teacher resources and lessons on various websites such as Twinkl and teachingideas.co.uk but it is also pretty easy to put together your own lesson plans to personalise your little one's learning even further. This can be particularly helpful if you have a child with additional needs or if your child loves learning in ways that don't suit classroom style teaching.

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That is the real beauty of home education for us, one of our children has always struggled to sit still at a table so we changed our routine to suit! Lessons sitting at the table are kept short, a chewy silicone elephant is at hand and we play classical music in the background. It may sound pretentious but playing relaxing classical music and embracing 'stimming' in children who sensory seek (in our case through chewing) can actually greatly aid concentration as their senses are stimulated and that makes focusing on the more mundane tasks much easier!

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Books such as the CGP workbooks are great for core subjects so you can ensure all the curriculum topics are being covered; you can even choose from targeted question books that the children can read from and write in or the study books which are usually read-only and explain in detail each topic. If you are doing all your own lesson plans then the latter is an economical way to keep track of which topics to cover and base your lesson around, if you want a quick plan free lesson then the targeted question books are your best option.

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Another way to lesson plan is to decide what the learning aims are and then facilitate various routes to achieving those.

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For example, today's learning objective is to learn about types of rocks so you think of ways to learn about that topic:

• Sort various rocks into groups such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.

• Don PPE and use various tools to try and mark those rocks.

• Experiment to see if any of those rocks float, shatter or break.

• Layer coloured play-doughs to make your very own layered rock formation.

• Search the internet for famous rocks and rock formations around the world.

• Look at how erosion effects the different types of rock.

• Make your own volcano with clay, stones, grass then use vinegar, food colouring, dish-soap and bicarbonate to make it erupt.

• Research the formation of various types of rocks.

• Draw on the pavement with chalk then research how chalk is formed, mined and processed.

• and so on...

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You can also use the Montessori style of learning and ensure a wide range of educational and general resources are available for your child to access freely and safely and let them learn autonomously!

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Recommended resources...