After completing a PhD in Genetics, Amanda taught science in secondary school for 4 years before heading off on maternity leave. She now work as a Content Writer for Beyond Science which allows her to balance work around home education for her younger boys and supporting her teenager in school. They fill their days with lots of kitchen science, games and outdoor adventures and a little bit of Dr Who.

It might take a while to find a new rhythm – and that’s okay!

Everyone’s reliable routine has just changed, and that throws us off as well as the kids. You might try to structure your day and it might not work. That’s normal, so don’t let it worry you! Adjust things that don’t work and keep things that do, and you will eventually settle into a new rhythm. Be prepared to adapt again as circumstances change – it doesn’t need to be a fixed routine.

Don’t worry if you don’t feel confident with a subject they are learning.

Schools will likely be sending home work or activities for your children. There is a chance you haven’t seen the tasks since you were at school, or maybe they are taught in a completely different way now. Don’t panic! It’s okay to tell your children that you don’t know the answer, in fact, it’s great for them to realise that we don’t know everything. This is a great leveler for children and they often approach their learning more confidently when nobody is the ‘expert’. Try finding some videos that explain the new learning and have a go at some problems together. Learn with them or let them teach you!

Remember that home education looks very different to learning at school.

At school, not all of the day is spent on focused learning activities. There are break times and lunch times, assemblies, getting changed for PE, waiting for other people to be quiet, lining up and moving between lessons (don’t underestimate how much time this takes!). Then children are taught in large groups, and that can slow learning down. At home, children will be working at much smaller ratios which means they will probably get through learning much quicker. So, there is no need to try and pack out the whole day with academic activities, playing, reading, cooking, crafting and screen time all have their place too.

We have a selection of great resources to support home learning. If you want to find out more about how Beyond are looking to help you, you can check out our ‘school closure’ blog here.