Even before the coronavirus upended our lives, more UK parents and caregivers were considering educating their children at home. Especially if their students have special educational needs (SEN). The need for educational concessions is the number one reason parents choose to homeschool in our country; that trend is reflected worldwide.

Parents of SEN students found long ago that the public education environment is not the best for their children to thrive and succeed. The pandemic helped to prove that not only is homeschooling feasible, but it may also actually be better for their kids:

  • homeschooling means learning in a safe, comfortable, familiar environment
  • learners receive personalised attention
  • instruction is often student-led or a matter of discovery
  • caregivers may hire a tutor to give their kids a diverse learning experience
  • homeschooling parents have their choice of materials to teach from

Critics of home education point to the lack of social activities and the child being taught by an untrained, unqualified teacher. To that, we say who is better qualified to teach a child than their caregiver? Another frequent homeschool criticism: what materials and resources will those home teachers use to educate their children? That's the topic of this Superprof article.

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Why More Caregivers Are Turning to Home Schooling

In this article's introduction we said that until this pandemic closed our schools, special educational needs were the number one reason more parents were turning to educating their children at home. That hints that there must be more than one reason UK parents are considering - or switching to homeschooling.

A woman wearing a black leader jacket sits outdoors, on a hill with railroad tracks at the bottom of the incline, holding her head in her hand as she gazes forlornly into the distance.
It's not just parents, students too are growing discouraged about how schools educate Photo by Kyle Broad on Unsplash

There is a growing dissatisfaction with how children are taught in schools. The grumblings are numerous and wide-ranging. Children are being taught only to pass exams; they're not given any real knowledge. Nor are they taught transferable skills, as evidenced by the growing alarm over the lack of critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the workforce.

To be fair, the Department for Education (DfE) has its hands full. They have to administer to schools across the country, taking into account an array of conundrums. How much maths should be taught? Should we also provide Mandarin teachers or would only Spanish teachers be enough of a choice for foreign language study?

The decisions go on: which curriculum will we teach from? What should we limit class sizes to? How about easing teacher qualifications to attract new talent and paying them more so they'll stay? Should we scrap the GCSEs in England now that the school-leaving age has been raised?

And above all, they wonder how to implement far-reaching, consequential changes. All of these urgent questions and others whipping around the DfE form a bit of a roadblock. People in charge of establishing the rules for educating our children have little time to think about how our children are being educated.

Parents and caregivers have plenty of time to worry about how their children are being educated. Such thoughts are often foremost in their minds whether they're working full-time or enjoying the relative privilege of being able to stay at home.

We hope you don't get the idea that only stay-at-home parents homeschool their kids. Plenty of parents with jobs to go to put in the time, effort and devotion to ensuring their kids receive an education that the whole family can be satisfied with.

Indeed, it takes devotion to embrace a practice that, until recently, many thoughts was the exclusive purview of trained and qualified teachers. It takes devotion to give up one's quiet time, full stop. As a parent myself, I can attest to being giddy with relief at having a bit of time to myself once the kids are back in school.

One thing parents don't need for home education: is teacher qualifications or certifications. Parents do not need to attend any classes, or workshops or even seek out an authority to guide or oversee their teaching. Of course, they're welcome to work with a social worker or teacher-mentor.

Parents aiming to homeschool need to know the laws underpinning the practice (and follow them, of course!). Laws such as whether homeschooled children are expected to sit standardized exams, who can administer them and when they should be taken. Regulations regarding everything from recordkeeping to what type of curriculum is acceptable.

If you are new to the idea of homeschooling, you may not know that you have several types are curricula to choose from. We'll describe them in the next section.

Despite taking it upon yourself to ensure your child is educated to your standards, you still have rules to follow. They are meant to ensure that, when your learner re-joins the mainstream, s/he will be on par with peers who were educated in schools. These rules assure you that when your child looks for work or applies for a place at university, they won't feel too out of place.

Resources to Help Educate Your Children

Finding resources for home education might seem a daunting or costly prospect but it is much available online, some of which are accessible at no cost. Keep in mind that you have a choice of curricula to educate your children. Depending on which 'theme' you choose, you may find more help on some websites than on others. The different curricula include:

  • traditional curriculum - rather like the National Curriculum, taught at home
  • religious curriculum: includes scriptural references; available for Christian and Muslim faiths
  • project-based curriculum: more 'doing' than following a textbook and completing worksheets
  • Charlotte Mason's curriculum inspires a wholehearted embrace of learning, not rote memorization of information
  • world schooling curriculum: for families who are always on the go
  • autonomous curriculum, known as the 'un-school' method of learning

The DfE has approved all of these curricula for use in homeschools. All of them include the information any student would need to succeed on their GCSE exams and enrol in college. Later, your learners may follow a university course of study if they so choose to.

With that in mind, let's turn our attention to non-curricular resources available to you.  The following are a few that might help home-educating families, particularly those with young children who are embarking on their first forays into homeschooling.

A row of books arranged spine in the air, showing the bottom edge of their pages.
Homeschooling parents have their choice of curricula Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

Starting Points

The BBC Learning website is a good place to start your search for homeschool resources. There, you can search either specific subjects or by year, meaning what level of education your child is at. Don't limit your exploration to only the homepage; take a look at the ‘Basic Skills’ and ‘Bitesize’ tabs. You'll surely find plenty of activities to engage your student in.

Even though some are aimed at adults, they’re just as useful for younger learners. One advantage of home education is that you/your child are not restricted by either age or grade level.

Homeschoolers can pursue the knowledge that interests them, suits them best and that they enjoy the most. They may explore any subject at any time and at whichever level they can competently navigate. That's why BBC Learning provides other links to games and activities that build skills. BBC's ‘Parents’ tab is also worth exploring for information on helping you help your child learn.

Channel 4 Learning is similar to that fantastic resource. It contains a wealth of activities and video clips that kids will enjoy. You can find those under the ‘Interactive Resources’ tab.

Interactive Games and Programmes

No need to worry whether these enjoyable interactive games are not ‘proper’ learning from the traditional school approach. They’re just as effective, if not more so. Because the more children enjoy their learning, the more they retain and engage with what they've learned. And the more likely it will be that they will want to continue learning.

If your kids are a bit older, watching documentaries or dramas on TV, natural history programmes or historical films is a great teaching resource. Such materials provoke thought and discussion; they also encourage further research around the Net. Some sites have links to other websites children can explore and learn from like this one for science or Google Earth.

We once did all our learning by studying books and writing things down. But today's more web-based, interactive and independent approach is just as effective. So let the children explore – it is research, after all. You could even put unstructured academic exploration on your list of things do to during holidays.

YouTube

It might be clear, by now, that you don't have to teach like a traditional school teacher to educate your children at home. You have much more leeway in how you conduct your lessons and how you assign homework. Both in how that work should be done and how it's presented.

Worksheets or ‘lessons’ are not the only ways to explore and learn. Youngsters these days go straight to YouTube whenever they want to find out how to do something. This is just as valuable an approach to learning as any other.

For example, a quick search for the ‘long division’ brought up several short video clips demonstrating how to divide large numbers. Pretty much any tutorial can be found on YouTube and whatever else you need to know, you can search for via your favourite search engine.

Self-teaching can serve one's learning needs as well as being taught; maybe even better. Many education experts maintain that autonomous learning - students taking the initiative to seek information and learn what they found, is the future of education.

Social Media Groups

Another convenient way to find resources and support for homeschooling is to join Facebook and/or Yahoo groups. In the UK, Mumsnet is a good platform to connect with other home educators.

These and other platforms help homeschooling parents share and discuss the resources they use and where they found printable worksheets and exercises. They talk about which were the most valuable resources, free ones and those they bought. Social media groups may provide useful insight into a particular resource you might consider investing in before you commit to the outlay.

Social isolation is a common criticism of homeschooling so social and extracurricular activities are more reasons to join such groups. Many supporters of the traditional education models contend that school is where kids learn social skills. That may have been mostly true in the past but, back then as in these days, they also learn/ed anti-social skills. Who wants their kid to learn bullying, unhealthy competition and a host of other social ills?

Joining like-minded families and sharing similar experiences does not put you or your child in a bubble, outside of the mainstream. Rather, it allows children to develop in a comparatively safer environment that nevertheless permits them to learn how to function in society. Considering the current social climate, that's not a bad idea.

Blogs

Not all homeschool resources are meant for kids or educational purposes. Parents take on a significant challenge and they need help and guidance, too. Many homeschooling families are extremely generous in sharing their homeschooling experiences. They write blogs and/or record vlogs, both of which may be one of the most valuable homeschool resources of all.

Contributors may list their curriculum selections or extracurricular activities, experiments they conducted with step-by-step explanations or craft ideas. You may find one homeschooling blogger who writes book and resource reviews, and others who describe their outings and field trips.

Most homeschooling caregiver talks about how they set up their teaching area and discusses specific concerns related to learning. They might cover which subjects they've elected to teach this semester and which exams they've administered. You can find out what they’re reading if they’re using schemes of work and how they go about planning and guiding their children’s learning.

These blogs contain a treasure trove of information and support, ideas and reassurance. Adventures in Homeschooling and Ordinary Life are two good ones to start with. There are many more good ones out there.

Four women sit at a table, three on one side and one on the other. The table holds two open laptop computers and some papers. The three women on one side look at one laptop while smiling. The fourth woman has an open laptop in front of her.
Homeschooling groups can be a source of strength and inspiration and fun! Photo by Kylie Haulk on Unsplash

Tutors: the Top Resource in Home Education

You might think: "What do I need a tutor for?" as you're staying home or otherwise managing to fit conducting your children's education into your busy schedule. After all, we've already said you don't need any special certifications or qualifications to teach your children at home. So, again: why bring a tutor into the mix? Because students benefit from exposure to a variety of knowledgeable people and teaching methods.

If your children are in their earliest years of formal education, different pedagogies may not be important. Your kids may find comfort in not having to work with anyone but you. However, as time goes on, your children will need to experience what it's like being taught by people other than you, your partner or their grandparents.

You may, for instance, team up with another homeschooling family to swap classes every so often. You may also consider having one parent set teach Humanities subjects - Geography, English and Art while the other set focuses on STEM subjects like Maths, Information Technology or the sciences.

If you have no other team to trade lessons with - and even if you do, know that a private tutor will bring a fresh perspective and new attitude into the mix. Any tutor you hire will likely have a bit of experience working with children of many different temperaments and levels of intellectual curiosity. They will be able to recognise your child's learning preferences and plan their sessions accordingly. All of this is said with no disrespect to your experiences with teaching or how well you know your child.

If you've homeschooled your kids since Day 1, you may not recognise that they have a learning disability that may impact their future career or university study. A tutor will likely know the signs of any learning disability and be able to advise you on how to modify your teaching to minimise its impact. They may also counsel you on how to document your child's condition for future protection in the workforce or higher education.

As noble a goal and as selfless as you are in devoting so much time, energy and resources to ensuring your children are educated to your satisfaction, you're still human. You need time to yourself to maintain your balance and keep your focus sharp. You must try to stay enthusiastic about this endeavour you've embarked on and see it through with as much dedication as you started with.

Engaging a private tutor can give you a few precious hours to yourself each week. You may not want to leave your house if your child takes lessons online but, at least, you won't be constantly engaged in a decidedly monumental task all the time. Being a parent is already a full-time job; being a teacher on top of that could make the demands on your time excessive.

Go ahead: take an hour or more off from teaching each week. Let your tutor take over so you can read a book, have a cuppa and just relax. Do you know of any resources we've overlooked? Perhaps you could add your favourites below, in the comments section.

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Jon

As an Englishman in Paris, I enjoy growing my knowledge of other languages and cultures. I'm interested in History, Economics, and Sociology and believe in the importance of continuous learning.