If your homeschooled children are using any online platform for learning – Duolingo/IXL/Reading Eggs, etc – they’re already using AI platforms: Ed-tech uses AI to program adaptive learning platforms that help students learn at their own pace. This ability of AI to perfectly tailor learning resources is, without a doubt, a huge asset for home education. However,when we talk about integrating AI into a home-ed curriculum, we’re not just thinking about smarter learning methods; we’re also addressing a crucial future skill. AI is a tool that students graduating post-2025 will not only encounter but will almost certainly need to understand and effectively use. Neglecting to teach these vital AI skills would place homeschooled children at a disadvantage. So, how can we integrate AI into a home-ed curriculum, while ensuring students don’t come to rely on AI itself?
How to teach AI skills in home-ed classrooms
For home-ed purposes, AI can be split into three distinct uses:
- Research
- Brainstorming
- Creativity
1: Research
All home educated children need to learn how to research topics and specific information. Teaching them how to research from books is as important as ever – proficiency in dictionary/thesaurus usage will help with first-language writing skills and be incredibly useful when studying foreign languages – but book-based research no longer has to come from paper-based books : E-books and book-style websites (eg. Cambridge Thesaurus) are synonymous options. By default, children being home educated in 2025 will be internet proficient and research to them will mean a combination of online and offline searches.
Using AI is different to using online resources because AI platforms do the thinking part of the research brief for you. Let me explain:
When researching a topic from books, or using internet search engines, learners have to actively think about what information they’re trying to find. In order to find the information their brains need to engage with the question : What am I looking for? in order to make the search.
With AI, this critical thinking approach to research is not necessary. Learners simply enter the brief and are told what to reread to formulate their opinion/find the answer.
Not only is this problematic from a critical thinking perspective – and critical thinking is one of the most important skills children should learn and develop during their education – but it also relies on the accuracy and bias of the AI. Not only can students who rely on AI find themselves interpreting misinformation as fact, but it can also lead to what scientists are callling ‘cognitive offloading’ – essentially allowing students to think less in depth than they otherwise would, becoming reliant on AI to process the information, evaluate and reason for them.
So does this mean we should not use AI for research in home-ed classrooms?
AI proficiency is a skill that current homeschoolers are going to need after they graduate. Ad used efficiently, AI can be a fantastic tool for research – the key is choosing the right platform to conduct the research on and teaching students how to evaluate (for bias and misinformation) the information AI presents them with.
For research tasks, we use Perplexity.ai in our homeschool because its default mode provides citations and sources for all search queries. This ensures that while the AI is being used as a research tool, learners can easily fact-check as they would from book-based sources of information. In fact, using Perplexity with its citations is passively teaching students how to use citations in their own written work! Perplexity.ai is not a database AI tool – it essentially functions as an amplified search engine, pulling resources from the web, ensuring the information presented to learners is up-to-date.
2: Brainstorming
Whilst AI is sometimes accused of diminishing critical thinking, used efficiently, AI can be used to develop critical thinking skills. Used effectively, AI conversational platforms can be a great tool for home-learners. Our platform of choice is Gemini. Gemini provides a dynamic and interactive environment where students are encouraged to ask clarifying questions and explore different perspectives, but without the conversational tone of similar platforms (like ChatGPT). Gemini was created for deep-research, problem-solving and advanced reasoning and because it’s from Google, the safety features are enhanced and make it a safe environment for students to interact in independently. As students ask questions, Gemini encourages them to ask follow-up questions, guiding them not only though the research itself but also, through usage, teaches them how to better interact with the AI to get better results.
Gemini explains to users the thought process behind the answers provided, which again, passively models critical thinking and research skills to users.
3: Creativity
AI platforms are fantastic tools to help students express themelves creatively. From creating art to complement a piece of writing, expressing themselves musically through AI music generating platforms to generating multi-media projects, AI platforms can support and enhance a student’s offline creativity as well as encourage creativity in students who find digital creation easier than using traditional mediums of expression.
Our homeschoolers love the music generator Sunoai, use art-creation AI tools Midjourney & Leonardo to explore ideas and Canva as a multi-media content creation tool. (An example Midjourney AI art lesson)
AI also makes coding more accessible. Using AI, students can write, adapt and develop code to apply to any project their minds can imagine.
AI is not going anywhere. The reach and usage of AI on a daily basis is only going to increase. By integrating AI tools into our homeschools, utilising AI platforms as tools for learning in a similar vein to textbooks, we can help prepare home-educated learners for the digital world they’ll graduate into. Harnessing AI’s capabilities for research, brainstorming, and creative expression, alongside offline book-based research, conversational brainstorming and real-life creativity can help children find a balance that enhances their learning capabalities. By thoughtfully integrating these tools – and staying on-top of new developments -, we not only prepare our children for a future where AI proficiency is a given, but we can ensure they hone the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills that are the key to a good education.