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How to reduce home education prep and save time

Spend less time preparing: simple ways to reduce home education prep

There is a quiet, sneaky myth in home education: the idea that the success of a learning day depends on how much time you spent prepping for it the night before.

Whether you follow a structured curriculum, let your child’s interests lead the way, or take a piecemeal approach like the rest of us, it is ridiculously easy to...

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Free Let’s Talk Safer Families webinars and resources for parents and carers

Free online safety webinars for parents and carers

Free online digital safety and family support sessions for home educating parents

Talking to children and teenagers about online safety, relationships, AI, exploitation and the things they encounter online can be difficult. It can be even harder when the risks seem to change every five minutes. Let’s Talk Safer Families is a free online programme designed to give parents and carers practical...

Art is more than creativity: why it matters in home education

Why art belongs in a whole education

Art education is most often “sold” as the best way of building creativity. I am not even attempting to go there, because I don't believe that is why art should be included in every child’s education or life. People, especially children, are naturally creative, unless we stop feeding them with impulses that challenge their minds, feed their souls and care...

Young people taking part in the first EngineerED Lab in Ashbourne with STEM Venturi founder Holly Da

Free engineering courses for home educated teens in Derbyshire

Fully funded EngineerED Labs for neurodivergent home educated young people

A new fully funded engineering programme is giving neurodivergent home educated young people in Derbyshire the chance to get hands-on with electronics, CAD, coding and product design.

STEM Venturi has launched its new EngineerED Labs programme following a further £15,000 of funding from the Sanjay Mortimer...

Home educated teenager with no motivation? What can help

What to do when your 13 to 16-year-old teen seems interested in everything except education, from gaming and screens to motivation, GCSE pressure and growing independence.

There is a particular kind of home education panic that seems to arrive somewhere in the teenage years. Your child used to have interests. They made things. Asked questions. Read books. Watched documentaries. Became briefly...

The cost of homeschooling in the UK in 2026

How much does home education cost in the UK? 2026 Guide

The real cost of homeschooling in the UK, from books, groups and days out to tutors, GCSE exams, travel and the income families may give up.

One of the first practical questions families ask about home education is also one of the hardest to answer properly: how much does it actually cost? You will find wildly different answers online. “Almost nothing.” “About £800 a year.” “Thousands.” All...

There is more than one route after 16 for home educated teenagers

What can home educated teenagers do after 16? UK guide

College, apprenticeships, qualifications and other routes. A practical guide to post-16 options for home educated teenagers in England, including college, A levels, vocational courses, apprenticeships, Functional Skills, work and continuing home education.

One of the worries that creeps in as home educated children become teenagers is what happens at 16.

When they are eight or nine,...

Home ed burnout: why homeschooling can become exhausting

Home education burnout: When it all feels too much

Home ed burnout: when you’re tired of being responsible for everything. Why homeschooling can become exhausting, even when you still know it’s right for your family

There are plenty of articles about starting home education . How to deregister. What resources to buy. How to find groups. How to reassure worried grandparents that your child won’t spend the next ten years feral in a hedge....

Home education and GCSEs: preparing for exams without losing the plot

A practical guide to GCSE preparation for home-educated young people

GCSEs have a peculiar effect on otherwise sensible parents. One minute learning is centred around the young person and their interests. Then suddenly, somebody has bought forty highlighters, opened a spreadsheet and announced that Tuesday at 10.15 am is now “simultaneous equations”. I have taught maths for over 15 years, so...

Reflections on keeping curiosity and creativity at the heart of learning. Cresconova Labs

Keeping curiosity and creativity at the heart of home education

A beautiful mess: reflections on keeping curiosity and creativity at the heart of learning How passion-led projects can bring subjects together through real-world learning

As a home educating parent of twenty years, and now CCO of Cresconova Labs , I’ve watched ideas about curiosity-led learning play out in real life. I started as many parents do, with subjects kept separate: time for maths,...

15 easy French activities for children at home

Simple screen-free ways to bring French into everyday learning

Learning French doesn’t always mean sitting down for a formal lesson.

For children already learning French, short, playful activities can help reinforce familiar vocabulary without reaching for another workbook. For complete beginners, they can be an easy first introduction to the language, with no pressure to remember...