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

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

Week 13 - of our Rethinking School Series Last week, we explored the growing link between mental health challenges and the decision to...

When it comes to learning, not all teaching roles are the same. A school teacher, a tutor, and a homeschool teacher all help you learn and grow, but they do it in very different ways. Understanding those differences can help you see why one hour of work a week is never enough to keep up, especially if you are learning from home. School Teachers vs. Homeschool Teachers A school teacher works with a whole class at once. They follow a set timetable and a curriculum that is made

Week 13 - of our Rethinking School Series Last week, we explored the challenges ADHD students face when formal support ends, and how some...

Week 12 - of our Rethinking School Series Last week, we explored the challenges students face trying to get support with autism, and how...

Week 11 - of our Rethinking School Series Last week, we examined the realities of dyslexic support and explored why some families are...