Articles

What the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill means for home education in England | March 2026 update

A calm summary of what is changing and when for home educators under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. March 2026 update.

There has been a lot of anxiety around the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and what it could mean for home educating families in England. That concern is understandable. These proposals matter. But it is also important to stay rooted in what is actually happening,...

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School is the newcomer: why children learn best outside the classroom

The industrial revolution and the birth of modern schooling: what history tells us about learning

For most of human history, children learned by taking part in life. They absorbed skills and knowledge through family life, apprenticeships, play, and community. Learning happened as they joined in with the real work of their world; watching, listening, experimenting, asking questions, and...

Home education is creation, not escape - nurturing curiosity and childhood

Creating learning that fits your child, not the system

People sometimes assume home education is about escape, or ‘running away from the system’. As though we turned away from school out of fear, avoidance, or rebellion. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Home education is not an act of retreat. It is an act of creation — a deliberate choice to build something new,...

Music Technology Club: Online music sessions for home-educated teens

Music Technology Club opens new sessions for home ed learners

One of the joys of home education is discovering learning that feels truly alive - the kind that ignites curiosity and confidence. The Music Technology Club , part of Education & Bass , does exactly that. It gives young people the tools to explore music, sound and self-expression - no expensive gear, no rigid rules, just...

How a home education photography course helped a Suffolk teen find her passion

With results day around the corner, Suffolk teen Caitlin Banham is an example of how home education can transform your relationship with learning.

Teacher and founder of Aced Qualifications , Deborah Hayward, is currently celebrating the successful impact their photography course has had upon recent student Caitlin who, after being inspired by her studies at Aced Qualifications, has...

Play is not a break from learning, it is learning.

Play is learning: why play fuels education for children of all ages

Learning through play: From early years to teens

In England, play often gets treated as a nice extra, something squeezed in when the “real work” is done. But research, and decades of experience in home education, show that play is not a break from learning. It is learning. When we think of play, we often picture young children with building blocks or playground games. But the power of play...

Stop calling home educated kids ‘invisible’: why these children aren’t missing

The myth of invisible children: why home educated children are being misrepresented

Home educated children are not “ invisible ”: why being out of school is not being at risk.

In recent years, a troubling phrase has crept into media headlines and government discussions about elective home education: “invisible children”. It’s used to describe children who are not in school, as though being outside the school system means they are unseen, unknown, or at risk. The implication...

ADHD, hunter-gatherers, and education: why the system isn’t built for our brains

There’s been a popular photo being shared on Facebook about how ADHD isn’t really a disorder - it’s a different kind of wiring. A set of traits that once helped humans survive, especially in fast-paced, unpredictable environments. And for many home-educating families like ours, this idea makes a lot of sense.

It’s backed by research too. A study in Nature Genetics found that ADHD traits are...

Home education: changing the environment, not the child

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower – Alexander Den Heijer

So often, families come to home education after watching their child struggle to thrive in school. They’re told their child is behind, too distracted, too sensitive, too slow, too much. But what if the problem isn’t the child?

This quote speaks right to the heart of it....

Oscar Wilde: “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue.

Why disobedience matters: home education as a quiet act of rebellion

Oscar Wilde wrote, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”

Many of us come to home education through a quiet act of disobedience. We’ve said no to a system that doesn’t serve our children. We’ve stepped off the expected path - not out of...

What real learning looks like: letting go of school-like expectations

Learning doesn’t follow a straight line What I used to think learning should look like: Workbooks. Steady progress. Timetabled ‘learning’. Educational apps. A clear beginning, middle, and end. What does it actually look like? Messy bursts of curiosity. Half-finished projects. Sudden leaps after long lulls. Ideas that spark, fade, and sometimes return months later - or not at all.

Growth isn’t...