Home Education Matters

It was great to have Cheryl on to talk us through the process of giving information when requested to the local authority, what most of us think of as 'writing the annual report' (which is a bit of a misnomer as will be revealed in the podcast!). Cheryl guides us through: When and whether to respond The ways to respond What to include What not to put in Frequency Issues Communication And so much m...

Join Amy and I as we make our way through the home education rules and regulations, as they shift and change, in Wales. We talk about: Deregistration Reports  Exams Additional Learning Needs Changing government legislation / statutory guidance It's a complicated and very quickly changing environment but involves changes that everyone in home education needs to be aware of, whether you're in W...

Join Emma, busy home educating mum of 7, to discuss home educating in Scotland and how it differs from other parts of the UK. Together, Emma and I discuss deregistration, LA checks and reports, as well as exams and home educating children with additional needs.  If you enjoy the show, do like and subscribe or leave a comment, wherever you are listening to us and share it around with any of yo...

Today's podcast looks at making that transition from home education to university and I am joined by Ossie, a recent graduate from Cambridge who pit stops with us before going on to do his Masters.  We talk about making that move from autonomous home education to the more structured university life, as well as talking about workloads, perception of home education and, of course, 'socialisatio...

Fancy a maths GCSE that you can split into parts and retake at your leisure? Yeah, me too!  In this podcast, we talk about the new modular maths exam at GCSE level and discuss its benefits and disadvantages, as well as what to expect and how to book onto it. Next week's podcast is a look at the university experience from a home educated person's perspective so stay tuned for that. Don't forge...

For our last episode in our mini series "School's Out", I talk to Vicky about her daughter's experience of bullying at school. It's a shocking but ultimately hopeful episode as we learn about their journey from school trauma to the amazing restorative power of home education. Next week, we'll be back to our usual mixture of episodes starting with a podcast on the new modular maths exam. Intrigued?...

Today's episode is a personal story from Martine who shares her experience of witnessing her son's traumatic school journey and then embarking on the healing journey of home education. Martine's story is both shocking and emotional, and yet from it her and her family have repaired themselves and come out the other side stronger and wiser. * This episode contains some distressing descriptions and t...

Today I am joined by Dr Robyn Koslowitz, expert in trauma and author of upcoming book on Post Traumatic Parenting.  In this insightful episode we will talk about how school can cause trauma and the ways in which home education can uniquely heal those wounds. Robyn also guides us in how to differentiate trauma from the usual childhood ups and downs, and gives her advice on healing those trauma...

Welcome to our summer series - School's Out! Where we'll be shining a lot on some of the issues within the education system which has led many of us to opt out. Whether it was an ideological choice, a responsive choice to school or even an imposed decision due to your school situation, we've all come to this because we feel this is a preferable route.  In this podcast, Helen gives us her hone...

Join Ash and I for the last episode following her journey into home education. And this month we look back at July but also take a wider look at the things she has learnt, the rewards and challenges of the last year, plus what she's looking forward to in the future. I know we've all loved the monthly chats with Ash and it's been such a joy to follow her and Ismael's journey this year through a pro...

Home educating through exams can be difficult to navigate so, in this podcast, Julie Barker from Faregos guides us through the procedure for access arrangements. We cover what they are, how to get them, what they're not, top tips and advice and much more.  Check it out and share around with any fellow home educators who may be wanting access arrangements for their exams!

Today we talk through the nuts and bolts of the exam process with Paul Turner from the very popular exam centre 3A Tutors in Bristol.  It's a long one so skip to the bits that are relevant to you or settle down for everything you ever wanted to know about exams as a home educator! TIMINGS - 5:45 Exam sittings 11:30 Registering for exams 13:00 Fees 14:15 Access Arrangements 24:15 How the proce...

Today's podcast dives into the world of online learning. Myself and the fabulous Mary Middlebrook discuss: How to get the best out of online resources Where to find top quality online education What to look for and what to avoid Creating a pick and mix global online education to support self study And much much more. Enjoy the podcast! And don't forget that if you'd like to support the work we do...

When you home educate you get used to people saying "oh I could never do that, we'd all get on each other's nerves so much". So today we will be discussing conflict and how to handle it if you home educate (and if you don't!). Sven Lauch guides us through his 4 step approach and explains why conflict need not always be avoided but instead can be used to further healthy communication and connection...

Join Ash and I as we discuss how her home education journey went in June. We talk about the bravery it takes to home educate and the bravery it's currently taking to put Ismael back into school. And much more. If you enjoy this episode, click 'subscribe' so you get alerted when new episodes come out!

Today is the last episode in our mini series where we showcase some of the amazing stories from within our home education community. And we meet Naomi John O. who is an inspiring 16 year old home educated student who is busy making a difference to the world we live in.  Check out her story here and maybe share it around with any 'doubters' who question your decision to home educate!

Want to help your child improve their writing skills without picking up a pen? We've got you covered on this podcast where Munira will guide us through her top tips to improve your child's writing. We cover some great strategies and approaches which are all designed to build confidence and ability without some of the anguish that goes with copy writing or handwriting practice.

Today's podcast talks about the unique challenges of home educating when you have ADHD. And we talk to Amy about her journey of self discovery around having ADHD and how it's affected, positively and negatively, her home education experience. Alert! If you don't want to listen to 15 minutes of discussion about how broken the school system is, skip ahead to 15:00. You have been warned ;-)

Join Shelley and I as we discuss home educating a child with Auditory Processing Disorder and the value of incorporating British Sign Language into your home ed journey.  This is a fascinating and sometimes emotional conversation where we talk about the pressures on ourselves as home educating parents and the balancing act of prioritising our children's needs with little state support. We del...

Today I am joined by Pamela Anton who set about persuading her parents to home educate her when she was a child, at a time when home education was much less common. Armed only with a magazine article and a distinct hatred for school, Pamela launched into home education and now has chosen that route for her own children. Listen to Pamela's fascinating story about her interaction with the school sys...

Ash and I discuss how her May has been going and it's been a month of ups and downs. Both Ash and Ismael are working to get ready for their return to school in September and it's been a bumpy ride!

Today's podcast is all about inspiring your child in their approach to writing and reading. Often these things come in waves of motivation and the beauty of home education is that you're able to flow with your child as their interests shift.  But similarly being able to write fluidly, fluently and with ease is an important life skill and can unlock a future of creativity in allowing your chil...

Today's episode is Female Rage: The Podcast! Join Sareeta Pattni and I for our last in the series Parenting with Possibilities. This episode looks at the role that anger can play in our parenting and how to honour it and express it in a way that feels healthy for everyone. We talk about boundaries, saying no and when to go and scream into a pillow! Check it out and do share it around with your par...

Join Ash and I in our latest installment of A Journey into Home Education where the household has been afflicted by sickness and preparations are being made for Ismael's return to school this autumn.

One of the amazing things about home educating is the flexibility it offers and my guest today embraced that flexibility by taking her family across the world.  In this episode we talk about how she did it, the places she went to, the reasons she worldschooled and her advice for how to set about it. It's a great episode for anyone with undiagnosed wanderlust!