Homeschooling your child

This information applies to England and Wales.

Homeschooling your child may be challenging if your child has Special Educational Needs (SEN). But there's online support and a range of educational and fun activities to help you.

Online resources and activities

There are plenty of online resources, from teaching packs and activities to apps and online games. We've tried to collect together a range of activities to suit children with different abilities and needs. There are many more online and you'll know best the type of activities that suit your child.

Homeschool resources for children with SEND

There are some resources that could be particularly helpful for children with SEND:

• SEND Home Learning Resource Pack (Twinkl)
• Sensory stuck at home Facebook group for parents to share ideas and tips
• 150 sensory learning ideas (Special Education and Inclusive Learning)

Home education website lists

• online education resources for home learning (GOV.UK)
• educational resources (Education Otherwise)

Education packs and resources

• Super movers active learning (BBC)
• BBC Bitesize
• Khan Academy
• Teacher's pet free home learning resource packs
• Free Landy and Friends Teaching Resources

Fun things that inspire learning

• Education Quizzes
• NASA at home for families
• Football inspired educational challenges (Premier League Primary Stars)
• Sensory activities (Learning4Kids)
• Interactive music videos (Jessie's Fund)

Educational listening and watching

• 25 best podcasts for kids (commonsensemedia.org)
• Noodle Loaf is a musical-themed podcast that is also all about teaching kids about science
• Circle Round adapts folktales from around the world into sound and music radio plays for ages 4 to 10, exploring themes like kindness, persistence and generosity
• YouTube Kids gives you more control over content while finding educational videos for your child to watch freely
• Online stage shows and pantomimes (What's on stage)
• Head2Head Sensory Theatre has interactive, Makaton signed online videos

Educational apps

• Duolingo for languages
• Kahoot! offers learning games for study at home and a new self-study section
• Star Walk app for learning about stars and planets, use the device at night to see constellations for a fun activity with your kids
• Sololearn makes learning to code a game

Online games

Some websites are organised by American school system but you can easily search online for the UK equivalent age groups. You could try:

• CBeebies online games
• educational games for kids (education.com)
• Arcademics combines arcade games and academic learning with free multiplayer educational games

Virtual tours and online exhibitions from around the world

• Best virtual travel experiences (Independent), from museums to national parks
• Natural History virtual museum
• 'Harry Potter: A History of Magic' British Library exhibition

You could create some activity sheets about what you see or learn about each place or exhibition.

Exercise and physical activities

• PE with Joe (YouTube)
• Flamingo Chicks virtual and inclusive dance classes
• Kids workouts to do at home (YouTube)

Homeschooling and your mental health

Looking after your own mental health is important. If you can, avoid setting yourself unrealistic expectations. Think about things you can do with your children that you may also find relaxing and therapeutic. This could be:

• baking a cake
• drawing or painting a picture
• learning a new craft, like crochet or knitting (Crafts Council)
• listening to audiobooks together
• playing board games
• meditating together

Learning does not have to be structured academic lessons. When you walk outside and see the seasons changing, this can lead onto biology, nature and the weather.

While baking a cake, you could talk about how heat changes ingredients from solids to liquids or you could practise maths skills with weighing and measuring.

Children also learn a lot of valuable skills through play. You can focus on things like how you are working as a team or how creative they are becoming.

Write down at the end of each day something you have achieved as a family.

Managing mental health

Balancing work with homeschooling

Speak to your employer about flexible working and other options to help you homeschool and work. You can also use some techniques to manage interruptions, such as creating a timetable with things like:

• quality time
• scheduled breaks
• deciding who is on 'parent duty' if you live with your partner
• screen time, using both educational and recreational games or TV shows

Motivation and routine

There are a few ways you can help your child with motivation and encourage positive learning.

Helping your child with motivation and confidence

It can also help to create a homeschooling schedule or routine. Within your schedule, you may find it useful to give your child a choice of 2 educational activities. This helps them to feel they have a choice.

Speak to other parents for help

Talking to other parents about resources, support or techniques that they're using or found worked well can be helpful. You could:

• ask questions in the parents and carers group of Scope's online community
• go to the Special Needs Jungle website for parent-led information and advice on distance education resources for children with SEND
• visit Mumsnet to chat to parents online
• contact charities specific to your child's needs
• look for local online groups or pages for parents of children with special educational needs

Many local authorities have parent carer forums that work with the council to make sure that local services meet the needs of disabled children and their families. Ask your local authority if there is a parent carer forum in your area.

Contact your local authority (GOV.UK)

Support groups for parents