Sparks to Scribbles, Self-doubt and Chaos

When families step into home education, two words often come up very quickly: deschooling and unschooling . They can feel freeing when you first hear them. They can also feel confusing, or even a bit loaded, especially when you realise those same words don’t always land well with your Local Authority. I remember feeling unsure how much to say, how to explain what we were doing, and whether the language itself was going to cause more stress than the learning ever did. So here’s what those terms have meant for us, in real life. What Deschooling Looks Like Deschooling isn’t a method or a timetable. It’s a pause. For us, it looked like slower mornings, less pressure, and a lot of decompression after years of rigid routines and expectations. There was a period where very little looked like “learning” on the surface. To be honest, it sometimes looked like doing nothing. But what was really happening was rest. Confidence was being rebuilt. Curiosity was starting to reappear. The con...

  The Biggest Lie I Believed About Education (and what I learned instead) For a long time, I believed that if you didn’t pass your GCSEs, your life would somehow be smaller. That idea sits quietly underneath a lot of our education system. It creates pressure, eats away at confidence, and turns learning into something you either succeed at or fail, based on a handful of exams taken at sixteen. And the older I get, the more I realise how little that reflects real life. In life, paths change. Plans break. Doors close and others open somewhere unexpected. We adapt. We find another way. Education should work like that too. Why I Know This Isn’t True I didn’t pass my GCSEs. As an adult, I took an Access to Higher Education course. I went to university later than planned, with my eldest daughter in tow. She was two when I started. It was chaotic and far from glamorous. There were hard days, tired days, and a lot of making it up as I went along. But I finished. And I graduated ...

  Helping your child enjoy poetry is not about analysing every word or producing a “perfect” piece of work. It is about giving them space to explore language, play with ideas, and discover their own voice. Here are 5 easy tips you can try at home, no English degree required. 1. Read Aloud Together Poetry comes alive when it is heard. Read poems together, slowly and with expression, and let your child feel the rhythm. Do not worry about understanding every line, just enjoy the sound and flow. 2. Start with What They Love If they like animals, find animal poems. If they love silly jokes, look for funny verse. Matching poetry to their interests makes it instantly more engaging. 3. Play with Words Make up rhymes in the car. Turn your shopping list into a poem. Encourage nonsense words like Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. It all counts as creative writing. 4. Keep the Pressure Off Not every poem needs to be a masterpiece. Praise the effort, the idea, or even just ...