Sending in the deregistration letter or making the decision to home educate from the outset can feel very daunting. I see a lot of posts on social media from parents asking advice on how to start 'home schooling' and the comments are often full of people offering tutoring services or a range of resources. Before you rush into hiring tutors or buying resources (and, yes, I do include mine in there), take a deep breathe and consider how you've helped your beautiful brood to learn what they know up to press.

If your children have never been to school, and you're just starting home ed, it's very likely that they're young enough for you to be able to remember fairly well how you started helping them along the path towards writing, from their first marks on paper to wherever they are now. You've probably still got nursery rhyme earworms buzzing around your head, full of rhyme and number to help them with counting.

However, if your children have been in school for a few years, those early education memories may seem a little blurry, having been superceded by more recent memories of school runs, after school clubs and homework. You may have subconsciously relegated 'learning' to the 'school' box. But take a moment to consider all the things your children have learnt with you outside of school - the skills and knowledge that are important to your family's culture. Either way, you've got this :)

So, where do you start? Exactly where you and your family are right now. Each family is different, each child is different. Your kids are learning so much from you and with you all the time - this is a journey that started the moment they were born :)

In case you still feel you need a little help, please feel free to email me or join the Picture Book Explorers group on Facebook. 

In the meantime, my Top 10 Tips for new home educating families are:

1. Try to contact local home educators for real life support, meet ups and information about dealing with the local LA. In Facebook search, type 'Home Education - [your town/county]' to find them.

2. Don't buy anything yet. Yup! That's right. Buy nothing, unless of course you don't own a pen, pencil or single piece of paper ;) 

3. Don't panic. It's natural to be nervous at the beginning of the journey....and at the end ;) In fact, 'having a wobble' can happen at any point in your home ed journey. Fortunately, it can often be easily cured by talking to fellow home educating parents :)

4. In the UK, you have to provide an education from day one, BUT it doesn't have to look anything like school, so please, try not to buy every workbook going just because it's what they'd be doing at school.

5. In the UK, you don't have to follow the NC, or any curriculum for that matter. You can be totally child-led, if that's what suits your family best, and make up your own curriculum as you go :)

6. Read up on the different HE philosophies. You don't have to stick to any single style - you're free to mix and match - or you may come across the one that's a perfect fit for your family and find real joy from it. 

7. Prepare to be flexible, what works this month might not work next. Be prepared to take a break when you and your little ones need it. There's no need to be tied to term dates, school hours and school holidays.

8. Spend some time deschooling your children and, most importantly, yourself. Try some hands-on learning together to help the process along - read aloud, bake, play board games, go for walks, chat, do art projects, make things, build Lego, read aloud, watch documentaries, chat, do some gardening, read aloud, have some days out, listen to your children and read aloud and chat some more. Learn to see the learning that's going on every day :)

9. Keep a diary of all the learning that's been happening in your family, not just the academic stuff, but the hands-on stuff, the hobby stuff, the life skills stuff and the fun stuff. Not only will it be lovely to look back on when your kids are grown and flown, it can be very reassuring for those days when the wobbles strike and the inevitable question 'Are we doing enough?' rears its ugly head :) 

10. Be prepared to learn alongside your kids. Enthusiasm is catching, that's what makes family learning so much fun :) 

Welcome aboard! It's going to be a great adventure :)