Educational Freedom is a non-profit organisation providing Home Education information and support. Our primary purpose is ensuring all Home Educators have access to FREE information and support. We aim to provide everything you could ever need to know about Home Education.
A great way of ensuring your Home Education journey goes smoothly is to read all of this website. The menu at the top will help you navigate each section.
On each page of our website you will find a video with the audio of that page. (This is a new feature so give us some time to create them all and add them).
Making the decision to Home Educate can be daunting. But be assured that there is plenty of support out there! There are lots of families that have been in your situation, and we have supported tens of thousands of them.
Read through our website to learn all about Home Education. Use the menu to navigate through all of our pages especially the WHAT TO DO FIRST page for your country.
Here’s a sneak peak at our FB page feed where we share factual info as well as fun memes. Drop us a like, a follow and come chat to other Home Educators.
You will be asked to take part in the EHCP review. After deregistration the annual review may be brought forwards. This doesn’t have to be in person, and you can request that the EHE person not be present during reviews, we suggest making each department keep things separate, to avoid confusion. The EHCP should be changed to remove the named school. You are not obliged to follow what is set out in the EHCP, however you will be expected to explain how you meet their needs detailed in section B of the EHCP, or how their needs have changed.
The process of applying for an EHCP is separate from being enrolled in a school, and you have the right to home educate your child even while the EHCP application is being processed, meaning you can deregister while still pursuing an EHCP. *I did this myself (And achieved the EHCP) Lucinda
Do not believe it when people say your child has to be behind in years to get an EHCP. It is down to individual need. Point 6.1 of the Code of Practice states: All children and young people are entitled to an appropriate education, one that is appropriate to their needs, promotes high standards and the fulfilment of potential. This should enable them to: Achieve THEIR best! If you need help applying for an EHCP please head to the SEN section of out website!
I’m making home education plans. What should I buy? Which subscription? How many hours? Should they be doing set work? How do I teach them? STOP!!!! It doesn’t matter how old your child is, just stop. Go out and jump in puddles, have an ice cream, go to the zoo, meet friends and join your local home ed group, visit family, climb trees, watch movies, craft, read etc. Stop trying to think of school type learning. Home education is not school. Read up on deschooling (styles section of our website) it’s a period of time you and your child take to see how an education can happen without being taught, sat to the table, with a workbook etc. It’s time to adjust to being out of the school system. It’s really important you deschool, as well as the kid. It can take months to deschool yourself but it’s better to do it now than in a year when you and the child hate each other and you think home ed failed cos the kid won’t do as you’re telling them An education has to happen from the first day of home education. But that education doesn’t mean school type work. It can be conversation, exploring options and topics online, outings, websites, friends, etc. As you settle in, you’ll pick up on how your child learns, do they read a lot and quietly mull things over, do they have to physically be doing something, do they learn from verbal info rather than written, do they need to write it down/draw it or do they just memorise it? Do they learn in small bursts or like focusing on something for long periods. Do they prefer evenings to mornings. Are they sat up at night self learning or need some guided support during the day? There’s no right or wrong way. But planning their learning for them is likely to end in disaster. So don’t make plans, or pay for anything in those first few weeks, you’ll be wasting your time and money. Ask any old timer and they’ll tell you 2 things ‘I wish I’d dereg’d sooner’ and ‘all my plans went out the window within weeks’. Home education can be fully structured, semi structured, completely child led, or a mix, it will also change as your child and family life changes. If your child is a teen then asking them to consider their future options is a good idea. What do they want to do at 16? Or maybe college at 14. Use their goal as a basis for what they need to do to achieve that. A child who knows they need 5 GCSEs in set subjects is more likely to achieve that than a kid who is told to sit 10 that they’re not interested in. Our teens page on our website has more info. How to educate once you’ve settled in…. Encourage your child to ask questions, remember in school they weren’t allowed to so they need to relearn this skill. Encourage them to find answers for themselves. And critical thinking as to whether the source of info is correct. Encourage artistic expression. Be ready for a discussion on washing the pots to turn into a science experiment, or a maths worksheet to end in a garden replan, or a documentary about climate change resulting in a drive to the coast, or cuddled in bed to turn into a maths quiz, or watching coronation street to turn into questions about the lgbtq+ community. Don’t force your child to stay on topic. Think outside the box, Lego can be used for fractions, baking for reading and writing and maths, bath time for science experiments for floating, knex for engineering. Older kids who are doing GCSEs need to be more syllabus based but there’s many websites with different ways to learn from lessons to fun videos, to work books to hiring a tutor. You don’t have to provide evidence to the LA, a written overview of what you’ve been doing and how it is suitable is all that’s required (our report writing guide talks you through this), so your child’s learning does not have to be on paper. But you do need to be able to demonstrate what has been learned if the LA have concerns. This again can be done in writing rather than in person. The key is ensuring your child can become a productive member of society and that they can achieve what they want/need to. It is VITAL you read our website and learn more about your duty and how home ed can work. Www.Educationalfreedom.Org.Uk
Many of you are worried that writing to your MP about the proposed children’s well-being and schools bill will make you known. Dont be!! Their code of conduct part D7* explains they shouldn’t share your info. The proposed bill is awful. The ridiculous level of detail needed for the home ed register is beyond belief. It’s important you voice your opposition by contacting your mp. We have a template and a breakdown of the bill on our website. https://educationalfreedom.org.uk/ *7. Members must only use information which they have received in confidence in the course of their parliamentary activities in connection with those activities, and never for other purposes.
We have many decades of hands on Home Education experience between us and many years as a professional support service.
Our team is made up of people from all walks of life, and all styles of Home Education.
We never have, nor will we ever, charge Home Educators a fee to access our website, personal support or anything else.
However, we do have costs such as web hosting, so feel free to donate.
Our aim is that our website contains everything you should need to know.
Beyond that we have a Facebook Page where you can connect with other Home Educators and our amazing admin team. We also have the option to contact us, for those times where you don’t have Facebook.
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