Home Schooling Part 3: Building Confidence and Community

Originally written in September 2014 as 'Home Schooling Part 3' — updated with clarity and reflection in 2026.

Home schooling is still going really well — I couldn’t be happier.

Here’s what we’ve been doing.

Literacy continues to be William’s strongest subject. He’s always engaged in the topic, which for the last three weeks has been Lists, Labels, and Captions. He’s full of ideas and suggestions, creating some brilliant pieces of work. This week we looked at menus, as they show lists, labels, and captions. Today we created a menu covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He loved it and was proud of what he made. Tomorrow he’ll design a complete menu with pictures, lists, and captions.

The only concern I have with literacy is handwriting. Like many boys his age, it’s messy. His spelling and phonics are excellent, but the handwriting hides the ability behind it. I’ll look for online activities to help improve this and see if we can break some habits.

Numeracy is still a challenge, but the fun games and activities are helping. His understanding is growing, even if it’s not always shown in written work.

His free topics have been my favourite to watch.  

In Geography, we’ve explored our local area and looked at our address. We sent letters to family, studied and photographed different types of houses, and wrote sentences about them. We also looked at local shops. His activity book is full — more than what a child his age might do in class — yet it’s all hands‑on, outdoor learning that he enjoys.

History has followed the theme of Now and Then, comparing how things have changed over time.  

Our main topic, Healthy Living, has run for three to four weeks. It’s been creative and practical — from exercise and cleanliness to eating well, making healthy sandwiches, picnics, and smoothies. It’s been a brilliant way to connect learning with real life.

Overall, everything is still going well. My next goal is to connect with other home‑educating families. William’s mum has already joined a few groups, but we haven’t yet. I’m not sure if that’s because of the “anti‑dad” feeling I sometimes get from forums, but my aim for next week is to attend a meet‑up or at least have one planned.

2026 Reflection

This post marks the moment our home‑schooling journey began to look outward. The first two weeks were about rhythm and confidence; this one was about connection. I can see now how important that step was — moving from teaching at home to joining a wider community. It was the start of finding our place among other families, even when being a dad in those spaces felt unusual. This post also shows how our learning style evolved: practical, creative, and rooted in everyday life. It’s where home education stopped being an experiment and became a lifestyle.  

You can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,  Part 7, and Part 8 here.

Alternatively, you can follow our home‑schooling story here.