11 September is Make Your Own Bed Day. It sounds like one of those slightly odd days that appears on the calendar and gives us something to smile about. However, at Orchard, it made us stop and think. Who actually makes your child's bed? And perhaps more importantly: why? It's not really about the bed We aren't particularly interested in perfectly tucked corners, matching cushions or whether the duvet is completely straight. We are interested in what happens when a child begi

What a Changing Google Map Can Teach Us About Geography, Digital Life and the Way We See the World? If your child tells you this week that the United States is being renamed South Canada, don't rush to buy a new atlas. It is a joke. But like many good jokes, there is a real story behind it — and that story raises some surprisingly important questions about geography. So, who gets to name the world on the map? Who gets to name the world on the map? Last week, US President Dona

When families first start homeschooling, there can be a temptation to concentrate on the major three school subjects. English. Maths. Science. And those things matter enormously. A child needs to be able to read, communicate and use numbers confidently. They need enough scientific understanding to make sense of the world around them. But is that an education? Or is it just the beginning of one? Children need more than the three basic school subjects Imagine being able to read

One of the strange things about starting homeschooling is that suddenly nobody is telling you what a school day should look like. There is no bell at 9 o'clock. Nobody says maths must last exactly an hour. You don't have to stop science because it is 11.15 and the timetable says it is time for English. That freedom is wonderful. It can also be slightly terrifying, so what should a good homeschool week actually look like? A good week needs some structure At Orchard, we don't b

When we tell Orchard families that we expect around 20 hours of purposeful learning each week, I think it can be difficult to picture what that really means. Twenty hours can sound like a lot. Or, if you are comparing your homeschool with a child who leaves for school in the morning and doesn't return until mid-afternoon, it can sound surprisingly little. So let's put those 20 hours into perspective. A school week isn't 25 hours of lessons A child may be away from home for si

Two of the questions parents ask me most often when they are thinking about homeschooling is: “But how am I going to teach them everything?” and How much teaching do we parents really have to do? The answer is — you probably aren’t. Homeschooling does not mean recreating a classroom at the kitchen table, with a parent standing at the front explaining every lesson. Nor does it mean handing a child a pile of worksheets on Monday morning and hoping for the best. There is a much

September is suddenly not very far away, and things are getting busy behind the scenes at Orchard Homeschooling. How are we getting ready for September? We are welcoming new families, getting our existing families ready for the new year and putting together the first weekly learning packs ready for Week 1 on 1 September. There has also been a lot of work going on with the curriculum over the summer. We have been looking carefully at what our children will be learning this yea

This is probably the question I am asked more than any other. "I'm not a teacher. Can I really homeschool my child?" My answer is always the same. Yes! In fact, most of the parents at Orchard are not teachers. You don't need to know everything. You don't need to stand at the front of a classroom. You don't need to recreate school at home. What you do need is a willingness to learn alongside your child. You already have the most important qualification to homeschool your chil

Well done, everyone, for looking after yourselves last week! We had the perfect storm of very high temperatures, high humidity and exceptionally high pollen counts. For many families, this meant poor sleep, reduced concentration and increased frustration, making learning much more difficult than usual. Now that the worst of last week's disruption has settled down, we have the final three weeks left until the end of term. During this time, we need to: Finish any work that was

Discover the Orchard Training Programme: A Complete, Flexible Approach to Home Education The Orchard Training programme offers a rich and structured learning experience designed especially for home-schooling families. Learners benefit from a blend of virtual classroom lessons , personalised 1-to-1 sessions , and a range of optional enrichment clubs—including gardening, cooking, and film—bringing education to life beyond the screen. Each week, our homeschooling learners receiv