Home Education Matters

And it's official. Today you'll meet your new Home Education Matters host and hear about her plans for the future of the podcast.   Enjoy the episode and thank you all so much for listening for the past two years!

It's my final episode as your host (but not of the show!) and I recorded this interview with Karem way back in Spring but, as I was recording it, knew I wanted to sign out with this podcast, so have held it back all this time. It was a tour de force of patience!   Karem and I discuss the importance of raising politically and philosophically engaged children and how home education is the perfect environment for these subjects. We talk about the who, what, how, why and when of incorporating Politics and Philosophy, and then more widely about home education as an act of love, freedom and defiance.    It's a wonderful episode for me to end my time as your host and do stay listening out for next week's episode where I'll be introducing your new host and we'll share her vision for the future of the podcast!

I am joined by Emmy from Arctic Terns as we discover the opportunities around the world for home educated children. From six weeks in Bansko for the whole family to a month of teen independence in the Netherlands, Emmy guides us through worldschooling hubs and what they can offer your home educating family.

Join Caroline and I as we discuss the benefits, pitfalls and procedure for applying to a non UK university. We roam around the globe discussing university culture, options for time abroad and applications procedure, as well as the all important topic of financing!

What a fascinating podcast we have today as I am joined by Lisa and Sam, visual stress assessors, to guide us through this much neglected condition.    We look at what it is, what the symptoms might be and how to support your child (or yourself!) if you think they might have visual stress.    Enjoy the show and do share it around with anyone who you think might be experiencing this condition!   https://www.facebook.com/share/g/pL8KqHrs9UkjM2ep/?mibextid=K35XfP    https://www.visualstress.net/   https://www.facebook.com/ColourCalm.VS/

In today's podcast I chat with some parents whose children have moved on from home education and away from home. Home education can be a particularly immersive way of parenting (for good and for bad!) and it can be a difficult adjustment to move from that intensity and connection to a quieter home when the children leave for college or work.    In this podcast we discover the joys, losses and surprises of an empty nest and how we have made that transition.

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 more!   Educational Freedom is a great website for getting some really solid information and support: https://educationalfreedom.org.uk/   And don't forget, whilst this podcast is a labour of love, there are running costs and any contributions are very gratefully received! buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation

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 Wales or not. A register brought into one area of the UK can very often have ripples that spread widely.   Check it out and do share around with any home ed bods.   Fancy supporting the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation Or just sit back and enjoy the episode. No pressure!

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 your home ed friends.   I definitely don't do this podcast for the money ;) But you're always very welcome to support what I do by buying me a virtual cup of coffee! buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation    

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, 'socialisation'!   This podcast is about giving something back to the home ed community. But you're always very welcome to support what I do by buying me a virtual cup of coffee! buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation

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 forget that this podcast is brought to you with love and lots of cups of tea! If you'd like to keep me supplied in Rooibos while I chat to our guests, you can now buy me a cup at: buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation

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? Stay tuned for next Sunday's show!   This podcast is a labour of love but if you would like to support the show to continue broadcasting the wonders of home education, you can now Buy Me a Coffee here:  https://buymeacoffee.com/homeeducation

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 therefore if you or your child have experienced school based trauma, you may find this a difficult episode *

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 wounds in our children.    Often, the act of removing your child from the mainstream education system and having witnessed their distress can have an extremely traumatic effect on us as parents and so Robyn has some great advice for how we can go about healing our own parental trauma.   It was great to have Robyn on the show and next week, as part of our 'School's Out' series, we will have an interview with a parent for whom school was hugely traumatic both for them and their child, so watch out for next week's episode.   And for those interested in the episode mentioned on the podcast on supporting your anxious child and how the school system is uniquely manufactured to create anxiety, here is the link to the episode with Dr Naomi Fisher from last year: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-w2tkg-14253c5   This podcast is a labour of love but if you would like to support the show to continue broadcasting the wonders of home education, you can now Buy Me a Coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation

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 honest perspective on school and home education. This episode, from a self-titled 'homeschool slacker' has everything, running the gamut from prison yards to unwanted erections. It's a no holds barred look at Helen's encounters with education, both at home and at school.   And next week, we'll start exposing stories of negative school experiences and allowing individual traumatised children to have their stories told.   And yes, it's not all schools and all teachers and all children. But it's enough of them to make it worth passing comment, and a home education podcast feels the perfect place to showcase these stories. We're opting out and speaking up.   If you'd like to support the podcast, we now have a Buy Me a Coffee page to do exactly that https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation No obligation and we love having you with us every episode, coffee or no coffee, but lubricating the vocal chords is also very much appreciated!

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 process that ultimately was a restorative and healing one for the whole family.   And who knows maybe this is just au revoir rather than goodbye ...

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 process works 25:45 Exam entry codes and booking exams 31:30 Timings of exams and what to do if you're late 34:30 Exam subjects and IGCSES vs GCSES 40:30 Oral exams and MFL subjects 43:15 AS levels and modular GCSEs 47:30 On screen and online exams 51:15 Practicals for exams 56:15 Coursework 59:15 Exam rules 1:10:30 Special Consideration 1:16:45 Cancelling exams 1:19:00 Grade boundaries 1:22:30 Results and Certificates 1:25:20 Appealing grade results / Review of marking 1:29:30 Post exams 1:30:45 Resits   And keep an eye out for our Access Arrangements deep dive coming up next week ...

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 to bring these episodes to you every week, you're now able to donate to the show and help to keep us free and airing into your homes every week: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation

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.   [This podcast is very much a labour of love, but it's also both a costly and time consuming process ... if you'd like to Buy Me a Coffee - no obligation at all! - you can do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HomeEducation]

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 delve into what APD is, the struggle to get diagnosed and also discuss BSL and its variations, along with the sheer joy of learning a new language and being able to communicate with your baby and child in an empowering way. 

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 system and the impact that being in school had upon her on a day to day level. And how this experience has informed her own parenting journey to this day.

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 child to put their thoughts down on paper, whether with pen or keyboard.    Dr Patrick guides us through some great ideas for supporting your child to learn a love of writing and, more broadly, a love for learning that will leave you all feeling equipped and empowered in your home education journey.

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 parenting friends.

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!

Andrea returns from our very popular podcast episode 'From Teaching to Tuition' and today we are doing a subject deep dive into English Literature.   There are options galore when it comes to English Lit so buckle up while we do a whistle stop tour through the main offerings, look at what you can expect on the different papers and discuss how to choose the right specification for you.

Join my children and I as we talk about our ups and downs during the last fifteen years of home educating. There's nothing more candid than a pair of home educated teens so buckle up and settle in to hear a discussion ranging from the good and the bad, to the possibility of a register and the perils of bad parenting!

For today's podcast, I am joined by Damian from Earthlings Learning to talk through the Cambridge IGCSE in Environmental Management.   This exam is a great choice for home educators and is often the first one that a home ed child will sit. So settle back and hear all the ins and outs of the exam, what you can expect and how to maximise your enjoyment of the subject.

It's our March episode of A Journey into Home Education and we are catching up with Ash in her year of home education.   Today we talk about the joys of home ed socialising, the prospect of a return to school this Autumn and Ismael's youTube speed run!   And speaking of youTube, don't forget to like and subscribe over there and share and download over here ;)

Emma from We are the Nomaders is taking her home education journey to the road. With one husband, one van and three children, Emma is exploring the possibilities that home education on the move offers herself and her family.    In today's episode, find out how she does it, where she's off to and the highs and lows of life of home educating on the road. 

Today I am joined by Jeanette from Get Keyed Up and we are doing an in depth study guide for Citizenship GCSE and Global Citizenship IGCSE. These are great, relevant qualifications open and accessible to home educators.   We compare the two options and then look at the community projects, the type of questions you'll be asked and which is the most maths / essay heavy. Do check it out and don't forget that all our episodes are archived on our youTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HomeEducationMattersUK.

Sareeta Pattni and I discuss the role that community and collaboration plays in parenting, specifically home educating parenting. This is a thoughtful and vulnerable episode for both of us and we touch on the destabilising role of comparison, the difficulty of finding your tribe and how we contribute to our own isolation.   Don't forget that all our episodes are archived on our youTube channel: @HomeEducationMattersUK.

I am delighted to be joined by Amy from E-Learn with Amy to guide us through the new and very popular Marine Science IGCSE.   We discuss what you can expect from the exam, the topics, questions and the practical component to help you and your child prepare for the exam.   Do check out all our other episodes on Podbean, your usual streaming service or archived over on our youTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@HomeEducationMattersUK

Today's podcast is an up close and personal look at Economics. Helen guides us through all the exam options so that you can choose the exam specification that suits your child. We talk about the layout of the exams, which has the most Maths, which has the least writing and lots more.    Don't forget that our wonderful podcast will be drawing to a close this summer so if you'd like access to our library of episodes, join us on youTube @HomeEducationMattersUK.

Join Ash and I as we see how February has gone for her and Ismael in their home education journey. This month we see things clicking into place and an exciting new child led project taking shape. 

Join author Richard Clarke and I as we discuss ways to support your child's wellbeing. We talk about how to help them with issues such as anxiety, grief and the effects of covid on a young generation.   Younger children often struggle to vocalise their inner emotional world, so it's great to be able to chat with Richard about how we can support our young children with their mental health from home.

Today we venture into the often unknown world of home educating through the college years. There aren't many of us who home educate through A levels / equivalents but that number is growing every year.    Jenni, Helen and I discuss the advantages and pitfalls (but mainly advantages!) of home educating through to 18 and beyond.

Today is another of our subject deep dives, and we're looking at Biology IGCSE (with a smattering of GCSE and the space between!).  Ibby and I discuss the role of practicals in science, the differences between the exam specifications available to home educators, as well as looking at top revision tips, a general understanding of how Biology as an exam works and resource ideas.

Join Jo and I for our next discussion in our mini series analysing the worlds of parenting humans and animals! Today we are talking about what role discipline plays in home ed parenting. Does it prevent chaos and anarchy or does it create repressed behaviours and increase frustration? And is compliance needed and when?    Buckle up for another thought provoking discussion on how the worlds of parenting and dog behaviourism collide!

It's the first of the month so it's time to catch up with Ash and Ismael's journey into home education. And we're on month five and it's been a month of settling into the natural rhythms of home ed. Plus we discuss the benefits of private tuition, the importance of relaxing into it and glimmers of hope for socialising!

It's revision time! And today's episode is a fabulous in depth look at how to maximise your revision success. From planning and scheduling to resources and strategies, we look at how to make revision work in your household.    Comment and tell us your top revision tip and let's share our wonderful knowledge as home educators!

Join Sareeta and I as we discuss the role that the parent can play in allowing your child to express their emotions by finding a way to listen without problem solving.    Then we move on to the ideas of being grounded as a person to give yourself that space and calmness we need in our centre, creating a bubble around you to help in moments of stress and recognising, from this grounded calm core, which battles are worth fighting and when it's time to let go.

Today we talk about how to use past exam papers as a hugely effective means of revision. Emma guides us through the do's and don'ts of using exam papers, the advantages of it as a revision system and how to ensure your child is fully prepped for that moment they sit down for their exam at the centre. 

Today we do a deep dive into EHCPs including: EHCP at school EHCP and specialist school provision EOTAS EHCP with a budget And the advantages and disadvantages of each possible route Plus a huge amount more. Ann is an expert in the provision of EHCPs and we are really grateful for her time talking us through this vital but complex area of educational support.

Welcome to month four of our regular catch up with new home educator Ash. And today we find out how December has gone for her and her son, Ismael.    It's been a time of nagging inner voices and so we discuss the inherent worry of parenting and the self-doubt that hits us all as home educators from time to time. And we also look ahead to the next year and discuss the tweaks and adjustments Ash hopes to make in her home education journey.