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Making It Up As We Go and Living Life Otherwise
I believe every parent considering home education for their child has the right to choose.
Making the right choice for your child and your family means you need to understand fully what home education is and isn’t, and especially how it impacts neurodiverse children.
Hi! My name is Jax and I’ve home educated my four children (two to adulthood) and I have blogged extensively over the past 20 years to share my experiences.
Whether you’re new to home ed or a seasoned veteran my topical posts, reviews, and discussion threads are useful sources for learning, sharing, and connecting with the home ed community.
So What Is Home Ed?
Increasingly I’m getting contacted via social media or my blog by people considering home education. It’s a perfectly legal alternative in the UK, although the exact legislation differs from country to country. I’m in England and only know about the details of that country, please be careful to check the details of where you live.
Resources to Support Your Home Ed Journey
I’ve put together a collection of resources that I’ve genuinely found useful over the years—things that have actually made a difference in our home education. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to freshen things up, there’s something here to help. These are the tools, guides, and materials I’d recommend to a friend, because they work.
Featured products
Really Helpful Posts
About Me: Hi! I’m Jax…
My name is Jax and I’ve been blogging since 2003 when I started homeschooling my first child.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride, but I have homeschooled my four children and shared my experiences here as we’ve made it up as we go along.
By sharing my experiences and expertise I believe that every parent considering home ed can be better informed than I was 20+ years ago and understand that there are options outside of mainstream education.
I believe home ed and neurodiversity can be powerful companions and enable young people to grow and thrive in a supportive environment that they may otherwise have missed out on in a different setting.
Home Ed Inspiration, Ideas, and Activities
Click the links below and scroll through my collection of ideas, workshops, excursions, and more to discover practical everyday activities you can do together in and around your home classroom.
Home Education by Age and Special Interests
Explore our collection of activities, ideas, and resources tailored for different ages and learning adventures. From sensory play with toddlers to exam preparation with teenagers, plus our special passion for living Tudor history at Kentwell Hall.
Early Years Home Education (Ages 0-5)
The magic of early learning happens through play, exploration, and following your child’s natural curiosity. These formative years are about creating rich environments where learning flows naturally through everyday adventures – no formal lessons required, just lots of wonder and discovery together.
How to Keep your Baby Safe Around the Home
Disclosure: collaborative post Do you look around your home and just have a gut feeling that it is not safe?…
Cosy Up: Mastering the Art of Comforting Your Kids
Disclosure: Collaborative post In our journey as parents, we often find ourselves puzzled by figuring out how best to provide…
Getting started with home education in the UK.
If your child is in school, you need to know your rights around deregistration. If not, you can skip on…
Choosing The Right Car Seat: What You Need To Know
Disclosure: collaborative post Image credit A car seat is one thing every child needs to help keep them safe. Car…
Important Ways To Help Your Child’s Education
Disclosure: collaborative post. As all parents should be aware, your child’s education is hugely important for their future and their…
Why It’s So Important To Nourish Your Inner Child
Disclosure: Collaborative post Pexels CC0 license It’s very easy to be critical of ourselves on a daily basis, and sometimes,…
Primary Years Home Education (Ages 6-11)
Primary years bring the perfect balance of hands-on exploration and gentle structure. This is when children’s natural curiosity flourishes through exciting projects, real-world adventures, and discovering that learning can be joyful. We focus on building confidence alongside skills, always following their interests and enthusiasm.
How home education looks for us in 2025
I have been home educating, on and off for over 20 years now. That feels like a bit of a…
Low demand full time (cheap!) home education
Youngest is now 12. Somewhat demand averse, but will deep dive at the drop of a hat into something they…
How To Teach Your Child to Feel Independent
Disclosure: collaborative post As parents, one of our most significant responsibilities is to prepare our children for the world ahead.…
Exploring Resilience with Your Child
Disclosure: collaborative post In today’s fast-paced world, resilience has become an essential skill for navigating life’s challenges. As parents, one…
Teaching Your Child About Moral Values
Disclosure: collaborative post. In a world often fraught with challenges and complexities, instilling moral values in our children becomes paramount.…
How to explore kindness with your child
Disclosure: collaborative post. Teaching kindness to children is not just about instilling good manners; it’s about nurturing empathy, compassion, and…
Secondary Years Home Education (Ages 12-18)
The secondary years mark an exciting shift towards independence and deeper learning. Teenagers thrive when given ownership of their education journey, whether pursuing exam routes, exploring passion projects, or preparing for life beyond home ed. It’s about mentoring rather than directing, supporting their growing autonomy while staying connected to their goals.
Prom Dress Shopping on a Budget
Disclosure: collaborative post If your household is buzzing with excitement about prom season or perhaps you’ve got a summer wedding…
Which Are The Best Transferable Skills To Have?
If you are trying to get ahead in the world of work, then you should be aware of the concept…
AI for Business
Disclosure: collaborative post In today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a cornerstone for innovation and efficiency…
Monday listening
Ages and ages ago I was going to do a shuffle playlist post. Only at the time I didn’t use…
Wildflower hunting, sculpture trails and music festivals – some summer plans
I love wildflowers. This is not a surprise to anyone who follows me on instagram. (Handy link over there in…
How to make a fabric indoor wreath
I was recently approached by Turtle Mat to take part in a wreath making activity, they were kind enough to…
Kentwell Hall Tudor Recreation Adventures
For over 15 years, our family has immersed ourselves in living Tudor history at Kentwell Hall’s extraordinary recreations. These aren’t just visits – they’re transformative learning experiences where children don’t just study history, they live it. From churning butter in period costume to speaking Tudor English, these adventures have shaped our understanding of bringing learning to vivid life.
Kentwell 1588 day one
She is happy, honest. Glorious sunset. The hall is open to the public with tudors reenacting 1588 today (Sunday 23rd)…
(early) Saturday snippets September 23rd 2017
{heading} for bed very soon, as Kentwell calls. Our last event of the tudor year, and it’s just me and…
Summer snippets part 2 – all about Joan
This is Joan. (With thanks to Mike and Allison for the picture. ) I’ve been Joan twice this summer. It’s…
Saturday snippets 21 August 2015
{putting} a tent up Kentwell Hall, ready for this week’s hands on living history reenactment. Forecast was for a very…
Mistress Joan and family
We finish at Kentwell hall midsummer tomorrow. Last chance to meet Mistress Joan until August.
Perfect moments
When the rain starts 5 minutes after you get back to your tent after a long warm day. When your…
As Featured In
Latest Posts
What does home education look like without a school style timetable?
When people start to home educate they often start to try to reproduce a school day and education broken down into subjects and topics – that’s what we are told education looks like after all. However, it’s not the only way to do it, and for many people it’s very much not the best way…
Not back to school 2025 edition
It’s everywhere isn’t it? Back to school adverts, uniform bundles in the middle of Lidl, discounts on stationery. Some families are absolutely thrilled – some kids are ready for the routine to start up, and want out of the house and to be back with their mates, and maybe schoolwork isn’t their favourite activity, but…
Budget-Friendly Self-Care Inspired by My Favourite Games
Self-care can sometimes feel like a luxury, but what if it didn’t have to be? Surprisingly, some of the best self-care lessons I’ve learned haven’t come from Instagram or a wellness coach. They’ve come from my favourite video and board games. Yup, games. From soothing rituals to slow-paced play, the world of “cosy gaming” has…
Using the summer to deschool
Right about now, there’s a lot of families breathing easy again. The pressure is off. There’s no need to make it to the school gates, in uniform, with all the right things at the right time. And as they breathe, a few families will be starting to wonder why they put themselves through this. Whether…
When home education doesn’t flow
Sometimes it’s hard to write about home education in glowing terms because it feels like I’m not being entirely honest. Not dishonest, just not sharing the difficult bits. Because I’m trying to be an advocate, trying to lift people up, and I can’t imagine that people want to read about sometimes, I’m the one who…
When home education doesn’t flow
Sometimes it’s hard to write about home education in glowing terms because it feels like I’m not being entirely honest. Not dishonest, just not sharing the difficult bits. Because I’m trying to be an advocate, trying to lift people up, and I can’t imagine that people want to read about sometimes, I’m the one who…
How home education looks for us in 2025
I have been home educating, on and off for over 20 years now. That feels like a bit of a milestone that swung by without me even noticing. We’ve made changes over the years, obviously, and home education in 2025 is pretty different to when we got started way back in 2003. Back then, if…
Low demand full time (cheap!) home education
Youngest is now 12. Somewhat demand averse, but will deep dive at the drop of a hat into something they find interesting. Last week we had some time to spare between activities (home ed ninja tag and bowling at the start of the day and computer club at the end) so we wandered the charity…
Sleep adaptations for the autistic family
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This is a collaborative post. It seems a bit of an oversight that I haven’t talked about sleep much on the blog before, although we’ve had a variety of issues with it over the years as a family. We’re at a fairly good place at the…
Captain Fantastic: The Undersea Monster review and giveaway
I love being approached by authors to share their work, and I particularly like when the book is good for home education. Tommy Balaam at Captain Fantastic is dyslexic, and on a mission to help other people with it. The book we’re reviewing, Captain Fantastic: the Undersea Monster, is a fab colourful cartoon-style book with…
ebooks and Downloadable Content
Collaborations and Partnerships
