The first weeks of home education are the hardest — not because the teaching is difficult, but because you’re unlearning a lot of assumptions about what learning has to look like. This section covers the practical first steps: how to deregister, what deschooling is and why it matters, how to understand your child’s learning style before you plan anything, and how to build a rhythm that doesn’t collapse by week three. From someone ten years in.
The question usually arrives around 3pm on a day when nothing went to plan. The maths got abandoned and the printer wouldn’t print. Someone cried (and it might have been you). The afternoon dissolved into a documentary about deep-sea fish that nobody planned and everyone enjoyed, and somewhere between clearing up and starting dinner, you…
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill : What’s Actually Happening Every few months a headline does the rounds suggesting home education is about to be banned, heavily restricted, or made impossible. If you’ve been home educating for any length of time, you’ve probably learned to take those headlines with a pinch of salt. But the…
Home educators in England and Wales are not currently required by law to keep records, but the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, expected to receive Royal Assent in 2026, will introduce compulsory registration with local authorities and is likely to require families to demonstrate they are providing a suitable education. Under Section 7 of the…
To deregister a child from school in England or Wales, parents write a letter to the headteacher stating they are withdrawing their child to provide education otherwise than at school. No permission is required, no reasons need to be given, and the school cannot refuse. Once the letter is received, the school must remove the…
Now you’re officially home educating, the temptation in week one is to dive right in. To plan the year, research curriculum, to build a timetable that proves to yourself — and maybe your critics too — that you know what you are doing. Please don’t. Here’s the honest version of this: you won’t know if…
You know your child. You’ve known them their whole life. Their personalities, their moods, what makes them laugh, what makes them shut down. That knowledge is real and it matters. But knowing your child as a person and understanding how they learn best are two slightly different things. And figuring out your child’s learning style…
Deschooling gives your child the chance to recalibrate and rediscover a love of learning before starting home education.
Homeschooling and home education – aren’t they the same thing? Well, yes…and also, not.
The questions parents ask most often about home education in the UK — answered practically, without the politics.