Beginners guide to home education resources

How our home educating journey started...

My two eldest children were ok in mainstream, but when my youngest tried school, he struggled to cope. He is autistic, and had an EHCP, but we found that a formal school environment wasn't right and he stopped thriving.

We knew it would be challenging but made the decision to home educate, as not only would it be the perfect fit for his unique and hands-on style of learning, but having him happy and regulated would benefit the whole family.

We spent a couple of months deschooling him, letting him process what had happened, having no expectations and giving him time to re-discover the joy of learning.

Once he showed signs that he was ready to learn again, we started looking for home education resources that could support his learning. We spent a while looking at what was available, seeing what my son enjoyed, and gaining advice from experienced home educators.

We are about six months into home educating now, and I have put together this guide to the resources we have found helpful. It's not an exhaustive list, but I hope you will come away with a little inspiration for your own home education journey...

Digital Resources

Not only are websites, apps and TV programmes a fun way to supplement daily learning, but they also help you get time to do all the other things you need to do as a busy mum, which is vital in looking after your own mental health.

• Numbots

• Science Museum

• Natural History Museum

• National Geographic Channel

• Teach Your Monster to Read

• Theatre of Science

• YouTube Kids

• TT Rockstars

• Reading Eggs

• BBC Bitesize

• Horrible Histories (BBC)

• Oxford Owl

• Solveme

• White Rose Maths

• Minecraft Education Edition

• Oak Academy

• Access Art

• Doodle Maths

• Ask The Storybots (Netflix)

• Paw Print Badge Family

• NASA

• Education.com

• Planet Earth (BBC)

• BBC Super Movers

• Learn Laugh Play

• Tate Kids

A lot of these resources don't have any cost at all, but some of them require subscriptions, however many subscription-based resources have a free trial period so you can see which you prefer before committing.

Check out the How We Play and Learn shop for our fun and engaging printables to support your child's learning

Places to Visit

There are so many places that offer opportunites to play and learn and they don't have to be costly; many museums and outdoors spaces are free. You can also save money by joining Facebook groups that share offers, such as PopArt Home Education.

• Museums

• Woodland/Forests

• Nature Reserves

• National Parks

• Sports Lessons

• Beavers/Cubs

• Music lessons

• Theatre

• Cinema

• Library

• Beaches

• Castles

• Supermarkets

• Railway Centres

• National Trust Properties

• Playgrounds

• Farm Parks

• Ponds

Hands on Learning Activities

You will already have a lot of resources and activities at home that can be used as part of your child's home education - here are a few examples:

• Lego

• Board Games

• Baking

• Cooking

• Sensory Trays

• Painting/Drawing

• Gardening

• Cleaning

• Puzzles

• Playdough

• Crafting

Learning about the layers of the Earth with playdough

Second-hand Learning Resouces

Whilst it's helpful to have a range of learning materials available, home education doesn't have to be expensive, there are many ways to get your hands on some bargains:

• Charity shops

• Car boot sales

• Vinted

• eBay

• NCT nearly new sales

• Facebook marketplace

  
  

DIY Learning Resources

There are lots of cheap and easy ways to create your own resouces to enrich your child's learning environment:

• Draw pictures onto flat stones to make "story stones" to support reading

• Paint a chalk board on a wall or in the garden as a mark-making area

• Save clean pieces of recycling to create a junk modelling / crafting bin

• Turn an old palate or cable reel into a mud kitchen

• Save milk lids and write numbers on them for hands-on numeracy resources

• Use a marker pen and paper to make homesmade worksheets based on their interests

• Collect natural resources from all your outdoors adventures

• Raid the kitchen for science materials, such as cornflour and bicarbonate of soda

Using recycling to demonstrate polution

Home Ed Groups and Sessions

The home education community is so friendly and welcoming; you can join your local Facebook home education group to find out about arranged group outings, and there will always be someone willing to give you advice.

Some museums and centres offer special home Ed sessions during term time, this is another great way to meet other home edding families.

Forest schools are a great source of learning about topics like science, seasons and nature, and they are perfect for children that need lots of movement and fresh air to learn.

There will be a lot of trial and error at the start of your home ed journey together, but over time you will find the resources that work for you. I hope I've given you a little bit of inspiration for your new and exciting adventure together!

Are you new to home education? Do you have favourite resources?

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