Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, UK
info@capitalofthefens.org.uk

Temporary Schooling at Home?

Temporary Schooling at Home?

While the majority of children are now home from school, why not discover all the other ways of learning outside of a school environment, for them and for all of us?

Home educated children can and do succeed academically and in life, it is entirely possible to build an education and a career without using schools at all. While there are a lot of groups, visits and social get togethers that have had to be cancelled, home educators are lucky in that they know where to find resources and are used to working with their children. Look for those resources as if you are home educating, and you’ll find plenty of free offers and new content too.

Assuming your children are to return to school, then the work they need to do to keep up will be governed by the National Curriculum (available online) and the school they go to.
The schools will help to make sure they’re on track when they go back, but bear in mind, teachers are highly skilled in moving 30 different children forward each day, you only need to help your own. Parents are facilitators, they can help their child find the answers, a valuable skill in itself.

Please don’t stress over it, you don’t need to do “school at home”, talk to the school if you’re worried. Being together as a family, enjoying each other’s company and learning new things together is just as important. There are so many more resources out there now, organisations are sharing ideas and online packs with free membership so there is plenty for everyone to experience something new, without leaving home! Most are linked to the curriculum too.
Many can be done by children on their own, while you get on with work at home.

My current favourites:

Minecraft (Wizard Keen particularly)
RedTedArt – for younger children
The John Muir Trust – a fabulous free nature journalling course
TudorBritain.org
The British Council – Water Education Pack
On Youtube:
The National Theatre (includes links to educational resources)
LitFilmFest

TED talks – particularly Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity in Education for parents, and hundreds more for everyone.

See Facebook.com/EducationOutsideSchool for more ideas.

Photo: A Minecraft home with bees pollinating the flowers, glass bottles created from sand to collect honey. Maths, architecture, science, industry, nature studies and more!