Home Education Spring 2026 - April

This month has been another busy one, with lots of different activities throughout the Easter holidays. The littlest had his first paid job and the eldest got braces, but both had fun with plenty of chocolate over Easter!

But, how did their education go? Do we educate over the school holidays? Well, we don’t tend to take breaks from general routines, but as we were away for various days we didn’t do the usual routine. So it’s a sort of break, but as learning is everywhere, there was still plenty of learning going on!

Table of Contents

History

Whilst on the island of Gigha at the beginning of the month we visited a few historic sites. The Basket Weavers cave, which is a bit tricky to get to, but has various old initials and the picture of a boat carved into it. Plus a scramble through bushes to find a mystical well that was used by islanders in the past, and of course the bodach and cailleach stones, standing guard over the island.

The eldest also visited the Secret Bunker in Fife and Perth Museum, whilst the youngest and I were away up North for a couple of days. The secret bunker is an old Cold War bunker, created for high ranking officials should a nuclear war break out. Perth museum is incredibly interesting and filled with local artefacts, but also the Stone of Destiny (which all Scottish kings were crowned on).

Geography

We spent the Easter holidays travelling about a fair bit. The youngest had his first paid job as an extra, so we had to go North a couple of times for a fitting and then filming. So we explored a little of the Caledonian Canal and Neptune’s staircase, discussing how it made it easier to transport goods in the past. Plus discussing the affect of overtourism on Scotland after a torturous journey North twice in one week.

Also visiting the Isle of Gigha and driving South to see family near Wanlockhead, it means we saw quite a lot of the country between us! Wanlockhead also is very interesting for the geology, with lead mining happening here for many years.

Science

We explored some of the old spoil heaps at Wanlockhead. I’d hoped to explore more and find some better pieces of lead, but unfortunately the rain tipped it down and we were too soaked to look further. So we’ll need to go back sometime and find more lead. The geology is really interesting!

We’ve also been listening to various podcasts including the Rest is Science, the current favourite. And also Tumble and Wow in the World. A lot of the Rest is Science is about unusual science questions aimed at adults, but older kids will enjoy it too, from laminar flow to how to prove you are a time traveller. Lots of interesting information and great to listen to.

Maths

The youngest has been spending every spare minute learning card tricks. Most of them have some mathematical twist to make it work, along with sleight of hand. So he’s quite enjoying that side of maths, alongside theoretical mathematics learnt from The Rest Is Science.

They have both been using Lego to build various projects. The eldest has been modifying trains to make them more similar to real life trains. Whilst the youngest has been creating fidget toys from his dad’s technic Lego! Nice to see some good engineering going on.

Both have also been using maths in daily life for baking, cooking etc. And of course they are still using Beast Academy to build up their math knowledge too.

Language

The youngest has a weekly tutor specialising in dyslexia, but as we were away a bit this month, we’ve only seen her once. But it definitely helps him in practicing how to decipher words. His reading is certainly coming on a lot. Although I also think singing along to karaoke musical songs on YouTube is helping too!

The youngest has been reading Tom Gates graphic story books and listening to a variety of different chapter books on audio books (too many words on a page is overwhelming). And the eldest is reading various books, although hasn’t settled on any longer books at the moment. He seems to be concentrating on Lego builds instead.

Both children are practising writing each week, mostly so it is neat and legible. I did wait to let them write things in their own time, however they have never been interested (peer pressure doesn’t work!), so I’ve been using some handwriting workbooks. At least now it’s much smaller and often more legible, but that depends on their moods. Which is fair, because my own writing of notes is not always easy for other to read!

Clubs and Groups

The children have had all their usual groups and clubs the first and last weeks of April. These include board games club, Lego club, dancing, drama, gymnastics, Scouts and choir. But everything was off in the 2 week Easter holidays.

Socialisation

Plenty of socialisation this month, as always. We have home educated friends we see at least 3 times a week. Plus we have been visiting family of the holidays and the youngest chatted to other kids whilst he was filming as an extra over 2 days.

Art and Music

As mentioned the youngest has been filming for a couple of days, so he had his first time on a film set. Which he would love to do again. He’s also been practising for an upcoming audition for a local musical theatre show. Which has meant singing the same song on repeat over and over!

Physical Education

Plenty of exercise this month, walking on beaches, clambering over rocks, walks in the forest and playing in parks. Plus a new bike for the eldest so they can go out cycling more often and an Easter egg hunt that lasted 5km (apparently the eggs were hidden too well!).