Family of 5 home educating in the UK.
3 boys aged 2, 4 and 8
2 parents who don't know what 'rested' feels like any more and have well and truly forgotten how to be bored.
We pulled our eldest out of school in February 2023 and we're now trying to document our journey into home education in the UK and to show what it's like 'on the inside'.
We're not experts, we don't know what we're doing and are fully winging it, but kids seem happy and that's the main thing!
Follow along and hope you enjoy.
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I would like to know what opportunities there are for a second f/t income please x
I want to get my kids out of the school system & have all these fears! 😣 Thanks for your videos, I don't know if I'm brave enough!? Xx
Hi ladies, fellow homeschooler parent of 2 girls also from the Midlands. Came across the podcast today loved it, couldn't agree more homeschooling doesn't and isn't expensive at all. I'm also a subscriber to twinkl and it's great they have worksheets for every subject/topic. (Couldn't agree more about TK Maxx it's my worst nightmare 😬😂)
Monday-Friday I stay home and homeschool. Sat & Sunday I work when the hubby is home to look after the children, and that helps us financially.
Another excellent podcast episode. We have been homeschooling since April. We have been able to do it so far by cutting down on food bill and petrol as my wages have been cut by 250 per month.
Love this ❤ 💯 agreed 👍
Thank you so much for creating this content! ❤ Mum of 3 boys too! My eldest has done his first year in school and have such a pull to home ed! 😫 This is so refreshing to hear stories from the Uk!! As a suggestion can your partners do a mans perspective podcast to help encourge dads 😂
I’m so glad you resonate and it’s giving you encouragement! It’s so hard to find things from the UK that’s pretty much why we did this, thinking of us 18 months ago! How did he find his first year? Actually we have the men as our planned episode 8 so the one after the next one! 😄🫶🏻 hopefully that can help!
Honestly it's amazing! There's hardly any content in the uk! And I'm researching the hell out of it as it's such a big decision to make 🤦♂️ Well it's been a rollarcoster, he's really struggled to settle in! It's now almost end of the year he's happy to go! In September he has a new teacher and class so it will all begin again! My middle son is 3 and he's not going till he has his 3rd surgery.... We've had bullying already, he comes home exhausted which then turns into explosive behaviour... which I'm told is normal.. basically it's been a whirlwind 🤦♂️
How I navigate- For my home ed 7 Yr old I do not allow routine with screens, everyday is different and because of this she doesn't ask, she just waits to be told that it is screen time. My 13 and 15 year old who attend school, its weekdays after homework until 9pm and at weekend it's whenever I choose and for as long as I choose. They don't ask for it unless they haven't had any up to dinner time then it's a "will I get it after dinner" sort of question
Thanks so much for creating these podcasts, I've really enjoyed listening to them. If possible, it'd be great if you could touch on the finance side of things in a future episode (how you budget/do you also work etc) and how you manage this aspect while home educating/unschooling. Thanks :)
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed listening and some stuff resonates ☺️ yes that’s a great idea, we’ve got that as our next planned episode! Tried to record last night but my wifi is terrible at the moment so hopefully recording and uploading tomorrow 🤞🏼
Such a fab episode, ladies! The love for your little ones shines through :)
Please can you share your Instagram?
My photography one is @aimee.captures and personal is @aimeemorris_x 🤗
I think my problem with finding people locally we live in a small area and there is one pretty big group but they all already have been together a long time and my kids are quite shy so unless the other kids invite them in they won’t join in. And when they all already have made friends they don’t tend to invite new ones in
Totally understand, my kids are also very shy and find it hard to integrate at first. Honestly we went to meet ups and they played by themselves for the first few times, I just let them find their own confidence at their own pace and had faith that they would find their own way of making friends and that’s exactly what they did! Home Ed kids are pretty accepting, understanding and inviting from our experience, just like most of the parents. No matter how long the big group has been meeting (judging from my experience joining others as well as the group we have formed) they will more than likely be happy to invite new families in as they know what it’s like to need friends! Don’t let it put you off, sometimes it can take quite a few consistent meets for any integration to happen, just takes time for everyone to get familiar 🙂
Good conversation! School is a contrlolled environment to create emotionallly and intellectually dependent citizens.. without it, we would not have social structures that we have today. It will never reform but will always conform people to behave to social norms...no free thinkers will make it through a school system...those are the dropouts.. No one is employed into a facility with the same age co-workers😂 why have it like so in school? It helps with control and is a motivating factor in "moving up" a grade if you play all your cards right and wont getnmarked down enough to fail*
So encouraging for me just starting this journey! And SO needed in the UK as I've trawled through hundreds of US videos but they're not as relevant 😊👍Looking forward to more meet ups and podcasts!
So glad you can relate and enjoy listening 🫶 I know, we’re so underrepresented over here aren’t we! Everything’s American and although it’s interesting it can be very unrelatable can’t it, so nice to hear people close to home having the same experiences 🧡✨
Came here to say the same thing. Starting with my 3 year old, already dipping my toes in to see what styles he might like. These podcasts are really helpful. Thankyou :)
@CharlieeLou so glad you find them helpful! We’re still learning every day so don’t think that we’ve got it all sorted either 😂 it’s encouraging and insightful to hear others’ experiences though isn’t it! Love to hear that you’ve already made that decision for your three year old! 🫶
I love this! Please keep doing them. 3 weeks in, it's the right decision for us
Thank you! We plan to, have already recorded ep 2 so that will be out next week 🤗 so glad you have made that decision for your family and it’s working out! It can be a really nerve wracking thing to do but so worth it 🧡✨
Love this! Planning to home educating my nearly 3 year old and i am still torn whether to send her to pre school for 1 or 2 days per week or not. Single mama needs a break sometimes haha. X
Oh totally!! I can imagine being a single mom and choosing to home ed is an even tougher decision in a way but I have a few friends who are single parents and I think the main thing is to get a good network and social group because that does give you a break and the support system around you really helps!
Great video! We home educate our 4 year old which we love and may well be doing the same with our 11 year old. I’m just a little worried about blending their learning needs and interests, any tips for kids of different age ranges?
Thank you ☺️ to be honest I just go with them and what they want to do each day. They each have non-negotiable things they do every day such as a maths app, reading and my 8 year old is doing Spanish on Duolingo but other than that they just get on with life, I don’t direct their learning. They each have their own interests and have their own clubs they go to each week which helps them have a bit of independence. We also have social groups a couple of times a week at which they each have their own different friends. Then when they’re at home they’re mostly happy to play with each other or separately. I don’t have a structure or a set way of making sure each of them learns according to their age, if one of them asks a question we explore it until they’re satisfied and sometimes one of them will want to explore it in much more depth than the other so we go with it. Hopefully that’s a bit helpful although I realise I’ve not given you a set answer!
@@athomewiththeabbeys thanks! No I get what your saying and it’s seems like the easiest approach 👍🏽
I love the way you shoot the video, the story. I feel like i watch a professional documentary. Im love the idea of unschooling but yes I'm scared. I have been reaching put to family in my city who do unschooling.
Thanks so much, that means a lot! I felt the same to be honest, it’s really scary! But a few things I found made it easier: 1. Reading as much as I could about the ways children learn 2. Reflecting on my own life and the things that I’ve learnt by myself vs in formal education 3. Listening to interviews with adults who have been unschooled 4. Looking for the learning where I wouldn’t necessarily have expected it Also, once you’ve committed it gets so much easier because your kids show you that they’re learning and thriving and you can trust the process a bit more. But yes, finding your people definitely helps! Not even necessarily those that categorise themselves as unschoolers, just those families that aren’t putting their kids in mainstream education I’ve found is enough. Not all of our friends are unschoolers, everyone does it so differently according to their own families needs, so finding your own rhythm will take time but you will find it, I promise!
Absolutely love the video. So many are going to resonate with this. Exactly what I went through! Looking forward to the next one 😁
Thanks so much Aide! 🫶 I hope to have captured the “us against them” feeling you have at the beginning 😂
New subscribers here! 🙏🏾 My goodness, you have something special here. People will learn so much from this. I absolutely loved this video and your style of film and editing. Keep it up beautiful family. 👏🏾👏🏾💚
Thank you so much that really means a lot! I hope to fill the gap for us over here in the UK because this is what I’ve been looking for but can’t really find it like the Americans. 🫶✨
Brilliant video. Have just found your page and watched everything 😂 I’m at a point in my life where my son is due to start Reception in September but I know in my heart it’s not for him, or us as a family. I also have a 3 year old son too. The thought of tearing them apart 5 days a week is heartbreaking. Homeschooling could be the answer to our problems. Xxx
Thank you 🤗✨🫶 aw I know exactly how you feel! It’s such a heartbreaking feeling! I took my eldest to the settling in days at his local reception and everything about it was just off for me I came out crying 😭 and I don’t really cry very often 😄 if you have the ability to give it a try i would, I just think that school will always be there if it doesn’t work out at home but once they’re in the system then it seems harder to pull them out x
Love that you have posted. Are you planning on posting regularly? I'm 2 weeks into home educating my 6 year old. I am learning to slow down after working in a full time high stress job. This has been the most challenging for us both.
Yes, I'm hoping to post at least a couple of times a month :) Honestly, at the beginning I found it really hard to slow down too, as I talked about in this video! From what you've said, I can imagine you've been running on adrenaline for a while and it takes time to decompress from that! But, two weeks is such a short amount of time, you're still adjusting and don't be too hard on yourself or put too much pressure on getting it "right" because there really isn't a right way, only the right way for your family. At the beginning if I were to go back, I'd make the main priority reestablishing the connection to each other, taking time getting to know each other and just having fun. It's going to be just as much (if not much more!) of a learning curve for you as it is for your 6 year old, so I would focus on becoming more of a model for how you'd like them to see healthy lifestyle than trying to teach it. I really hope that helps! 6 is so young too, my eldest was in Steiner school and didn't start "formal" learning until he was 7, as is the way in a lot of European countries. Are you in the UK?
Really love your style! It feels like having a chat with a fellow home ed mum…
Ah thank you so much, that's what I hope to do here! How long have you been home educating?
Almost 6 years now :) I have 5 kids so we have a busy household and it’s refreshing to see someone just be honest about what homeschool looks like with one mama and many kids 😅
Oh wow you’re way more qualified than me to be sharing experience and advice then 😆 amazing, I think sometimes it’s almost easier with more kids because they can play with each other and tell each other their new found information rather than bombarding me with it because frankly sometimes I get tired of new facts 😂
@@athomewiththeabbeys totally agree! But even with more experience you still have the same worries I’m afraid… or at least I do… I keep going but I also keep doubting myself 🤣
Oh it’s good to know it’s not just me then! But I was hoping that it would go away after a certain amount of time 😆😫
Love these videos! Especially the parts where you just talk through your inner thoughts… it’s reassuring that I’m not alone with these types of thoughts 😅
Ah thank you so much 🥰 I'm so glad you resonate, I'm also glad I'm not alone with these sorts of thoughts too! 😄 I hope to share my thoughts as well as some insights into how we do things but just to show that everyone does it differently really!
Love your channel! Super inspiring, such a cool family. I hope you make more content really want to follow your journey it’s so encouraging whilst we make the change to homeschooling !
Aw thank you so much, that means a lot! 🥹 Don't think my kids would say the same about us 😂 I hope its inspiring to you! Are you in the UK?
@@athomewiththeabbeys yes we’re in the south east off England about 45 mins outside London… not a huge Home Ed community near us! I have found a lot off family’s have chosen this route due to their child having SEN or struggles in school as opposed to us who just prefer this lifestyle ! Lol
@paigepizzey6030 honestly that’s what we found in the beginning. We kept finding people that just weren’t our people (I might do a video on it actually!) that also had pulled out due to SEN and it just wasn’t the same for us or our kids to connect. It took a good 6 months or longer of us keep trying new meets, joining groups, FB groups, WhatsApp groups to really find our people and now we have a decent community with likeminded families who are just like us. Sometimes they’re all just hiding under the radar and you have to hunt them down 😂
Do you have to give a report to you LA on what they're doing learning wise?
Once you deregister, the LA get in touch to see what provisions you're providing and to ensure you're providing a suitable education. Then they usually make contact once a year to see how your child has "progressed" during that year, which is in the form of a report. But, you don't have to follow a curriculum or anything just as long as it's an age and developementally appropriate education. Hope that helps!
Keep making videos! This is great!
Thank you so much 😊
I say that! 😂 I thought adults had it all figured out too 😂😂
😂 turns out not many adults do have it figured out, do they?! 😆
@@athomewiththeabbeysnope 😂
I really want to do home-schooling because its the only learning environment where I can actually work and put effort ): unfortunately my parents think its not reliable
My parents aren't really on board either, to be honest! They made school the most important thing in my life when I was growing up so their views on it are very different to mine. But ultimately, my kids aren't theirs so although they can have their opinion it's not up to them to choose, and that's what I try to remember when they are planting those seeds of doubt or casting their judgment. I know that I've done enough research and know my kids well enough to know what I think is best. So, hopefully any of these thoughts can help you too!
Please do some more of these! We've been Home edding for seven years now, but always great to see and listen to others with the same mind set! Makes you feel a little less alone! You won't regret this time spent with your children, I promise!
Ah thank you, I do plan to do more! Just life and businesses have got in the way but I absolutely love making the videos so I hope to be more consistent from now on :) Amazing, you're like a veteran home edder then! You'll have a lot more advice and experience than me 🙈😄 I just enjoy sharing our journey and so we can look back on it too, so it's so nice to hear you don't think we'll regret it! Are you in the UK too?
@@athomewiththeabbeys Oh that's great to hear! Will look forward to it! Yes, we're just over the Border in Scotland!
New subscriber here! Really happy to find a home school /unschool family that looks 'normal' haha! We currently live in Mallorca and will be moving back to the UK with our 2and 4 years old daughters. I have never done anything conventionally so now feel like putting my eldest in school and having to be 'out the door'n in the morning seems like something I really don't want to do! I never thought I would want to home school, but the more time I spend connected to what matters and not what I 'should' be doing, the happier I am!
Hi Carys, thank you so much! 😊 well, to be honest that's the main reason I started this channel because I couldn't find anyone like us making videos in this way that also live in the UK, so I'm really glad you resonate too! How come you're moving back to the UK? Oh I don't do anything conventionally either, and honestly the more I get connected to what really matters and detach myself from societal "norms" the happier I am too! So you definitely won't regret it and also, I just look at it that school will always be there if for any reason it doesn't work out, but why not give it a go!
Love this video! Very inspiring for someone who is currently considering home educating. Do you talk anymore about your choice to home educate or your eldest child’s response to being taken out of school on Instagram or anything? 😊
Ah thank you so much… Its such a compliment to hear when others find it inspiring, that’s exactly what I hope for in these videos because I couldn’t find this sort of thing when we first started. It’s interesting that you asked that about my eldest response because I’d not thought of sharing anything like that but might be an interesting video! I don’t share on Instagram at the moment but honestly been thinking about it a lot recently because I’ve been asked quite a few times. I just find social media a bit overwhelming 🥴 might just give it a go though and I do I’ll be sure to let you know! If there’s anything you want help of advice with just reach out, I know what it’s like!
💯 spot on. Inspiring ❤
Thank you so much, glad you liked it 🥰
Beautifully put together video. I love this. I'll have a look through the rest over the next week. 😊
Thank you so much, big compliment coming from you 🥰
Just found your channel and subscribed for what it’s worth your dying tree looks beautiful 😂😂 also might be interested to know that Christmas trees, Yule logs, holly and most of Christmas is actually pagan when Christianity started they wanted to make the conversion easier for people to accept so took a lot of pagan traditions and incorporated them it’s the same with Easter it used to be called ostara 🙂 so the random fact of the day but bringing an evergreen into your home and decorating it is a pagan Yule tradition xx
Thanks so much for subscribing! Omg the dying tree haha thanks well I think it looked better on video than in real life but it did the job! That’s really interesting about the trees, thanks for explaining! Definitely a topic to be covered in a couple of months time when Easter comes around and next Christmas (although I definitely don’t want to be thinking about that yet already 😟)
@@athomewiththeabbeys lol usually I wouldn’t be thinking about it this soon either 😂😂 this year tho I’m planning to do everyone homemade hampers thought I could make bits throughout the year so it’s easier financially gna make candles, foraged blackberry jam, chocolates Christmas decor and some cakes and stuff hoping to think of more ideas along the way 🙂 xx
Love your videos! Just found your channel because my partner, daughter and I are moving back to the UK and we want to home ed too. He's unsure about it all, he's got all the same concerns you do, so it's nice to see others in the same boat who also share the same values :)
Thank you so much!! I hope to inspire and be totally relatable at the same time 😄 it’s always good to hear others express the same concerns and worries as you and makes you much more reassured but I couldn’t find anyone sharing much really so I’m glad you found it valuable! That’s so interesting that you’re coming back here to home ed, where are you moving back from?
My boyfriend is from Brum and I'm from Canada! We stayed in Brum for 2 years, but then moved back to Canada. Now, we've decided to come back to the UK and (finally) get settled@@athomewiththeabbeys
Oh how exciting! That’s not far from us at all, we live about 45 mins away from Birmingham so might see you in the local home ed communities! Let me know if you’d like to be added into any groups when you know where exactly you’ll be 🙂
@@athomewiththeabbeys no way! Not far at all. That would be amazing and so kind!!
I use to think homeschoolers were weird aswell lol! Even though i dont think i met any either. Its a stereotype that hopefully all these lovely videos will break.
Haha I think everyone has that sort of stereotype don’t they! It’s definitely made me rethink so many preconceptions I had about all sorts. Thanks so much 🥰 I do hope so!
Most of the modern day Christmas traditions are easily explained. Many were either adapted from other cultures (to get them to agree to convert to Christianity) or were a reflection of (upper class) English life in the 1700 and 1800's. Yes, the people that send their children to public school (state school?) really don't think much about their child's education, at least not beyond what primary or secondary school they want their children to attend.
Yes, I totally understand that traditions have a root cause, I just thought that Christmas is a good time to shine a light on when we all do things without even thinking back to the reason they were done in the first place. I know that i, for one, definitely don't think about why we only eat mince pies and turkey at this time of year, a lot of people are probably the same and it just correlated nicely with going along with society just like entering the school system. Thanks for the consideration and clarification though, might be history lesson we can all learn from as a family in our home ed journey! :)
For someone who is just about to embark on this journey its great to hear you speak of the same worries and the same answers to these worries as i have 😅
oh wow, well a massive welcome to the world of home ed! :) i think we all have these worries, and i know i still have them almost every day, it's an emotional rollercoaster to say the least 😂 when are you official?!
New subscriber, we home ed two currently. Thanks for the content will look out for more 👌👍
thanks so much! i hope to share more this year, from my perspective as a parent as well as what the kids get out of it. amazing that you're home ed too :) how old are yours?
You have so beautifully put into words, why we do this "crazy" thing called home education.
oh wow thank you so much 🥰
Love what you have to say in this video! I always say that despite most people thinking we've lost the plot, Home Educating families have usually given WAY more thought (like hours and hours of deliberating and turmoil) into their children's education than those who simply send their kids to school because it's the way things are done. And yet we are the ones who get questioned over our choices. No one ever asks "why have you chosen to send your kids to school?" to parents of schooled children. "To admit that you're living according to conditioning is really hard to identify" - yep, so true and I think there are probably many other areas of my life where I do that! Great filming and editing as always!
thank you so much for such a detailed and insightful comment, yet again! it really means a lot that you think my videos are worth a watch, honestly. totally agree, we put so much research into it! we constantly have to back ourselves up and be sure of our chosen path because it gets questioned so often (by ourselves, too!) and no-one ever asks the same sort of questions to those that send their kids to school do they! but i have no shade for those that send their kids to school to be fair, i mean if life hadn't taken the path that it did for me then mine would 100% be in school and we'd all just be going along with the system right now, it's just how life unfolded for us that lead us to this option, and it's probably the case for most people that they don't even get a chance to question their conditioning. i definitely do it in other areas of my life too, and we have to to some extent it's just important to know how much of an impact it's having on our life isn't it.
Love your content and editing style! You should have more subs...well, you have one more now :) Great to find another UK home edder 💜 Totally agree with all the points you're making in your voiceover!
Wow what a compliment! 🥹❤️ Thanks so much! We’re few and far between over here aren’t we 😄😩 happy new year!
Where’s the bike trail please?
It’s a mountain bike park in Stourport, Worcestershire 🙂