As the education world increasingly embraces flexible learning models, many parents and carers are opting for home-based education. Designing and managing a primary home learning curriculum may seem daunting at first, but with proper planning and thoughtful implementation, it can be a rewarding option for both you and your child.
This blog outlines key steps you can take to create a well-structured primary home curriculum and offers tips on how to manage it effectively.
Know the statutory requirements
Even if you choose not to follow traditional schooling, being familiar with local, national, or international education standards and programmes of study will help guide the creation and management of your curriculum. Aligning your lessons with these benchmarks ensures that your curriculum covers all that is expected and helps your child stays on track with their peers. It also makes the transition smoother if you decide to reintegrate your child into formal schooling later. The statutory programmes of study for the English national curriculum are listed on the GOV.UK website.
Set out the goals and learning outcomes of your curriculum
In most cases, it is useful to set out the goals of your curriculum in a curriculum progression framework. This is a structure which details, step by step, what you want your children to learn, across all subjects of your curriculum. In a primary curriculum, your framework should break down any national requirements into smaller learning goals or objectives towards your curriculum endpoints. While you will need to do this for each subject of the curriculum, you will also need to consider how you will make meaningful links between subjects. Once you have your curriculum framework in place, you can see clearly how learning should progress over time and begin to think creatively about how you will implement it in the form of curriculum projects, lessons and resources.
Innovation and creativity
One of the greatest advantages of creating your own home curriculum is that you have the freedom to be creative and flexible. So, you should take advantage of this by including in your curriculum those things that your child shows a strong interest in, perhaps a subject or a particular topic. As a home educator, you can dive deeper into these interests, allowing your child to excel at things they are good at and build their passions for subjects they love. You should also seek to include memorable experiences such as field trips, visits to local museums and historical landmarks.
Planning curriculum projects
With your progression framework in place, it is easy to develop engaging projects and lessons to teach it. Choose topics that reflect any statutory requirements and think creatively about the learning opportunities that will help your child develop their skills and knowledge around that topic. A project-based approach to learning is a brilliant pedagogical approach for a primary home learning curriculum, find out more about this in the blog, How a project-based approach to learning can help improve your primary curriculum.
Choose curriculum resources
As a home educator, having the right resources to teach your curriculum is crucial. It is also imperative that the resources you do choose are of the best quality. While the rise of online resources has provided more choice for home educators, many such resources are of poor quality and include errors and misconceptions. This is particularly true of resources created by AI. The perfect approach is to use a trusted platform, where resources are written and checked by curriculum experts and provide consistency in standards across multiple subjects. Quick Teach by Cornerstones is an excellent solution for home educators, seeking quality resources and is not price prohibitive at only £7.00 a month for two key stages.
Assess your child’s progress regularly
Ongoing assessment is crucial for understanding how well your child is learning your curriculum. Tracking progress allows you to adjust your teaching methods, modify the curriculum, or focus on areas that may need additional support. Instead of relying exclusively on traditional tests, try to use a combination of methods including:
- Formative Assessments: These are low-stakes assessments like quizzes, oral reports, or observations that help track progress throughout the learning process.
- Summative Assessments: Larger, end-of-unit tests or projects that provide an overall picture of mastery.
- Portfolios: Have your child collect their work, projects and accomplishments in a portfolio. This serves as a visual way to review progress and achievements.
Evaluate and adjust
No curriculum is perfect from the start. Set aside time every month or half term to review how the learning process is going. Are there areas where your child is excelling? Where are the challenges? Are there any misconceptions in your child’s learning? Don’t hesitate to adjust your goals, your framework or even resources to meet the needs of your child.
Summary
Creating and managing a home learning curriculum requires thoughtful planning, flexibility, and patience. By setting clear goals, selecting best-quality resources, and creating exciting and engaging learning opportunities, you can build a personalised, enriching curriculum for your child. If you want to learn more about developing and designing a primary curriculum, then Curriculum Simplexity by Melanie Moore is an excellent resource to have on hand.
Learn more about how Quick Teach can help you create and manage your primary home learning curriculum today.