I often get asked how my children learn without a curriculum or what I mean when I say we learn, year round.

It is my view that we are all, “never not leaning”. Learning doesn’t stop at a predetermined time. So, with opportunity and conversation we can learn all the time…every day of our lives.

Home education is not school. Nor is it Home-School. And the wording really does matter.

Home education doesn’t need timetables, uniforms and bells. There are not hundreds of children needing to move about to their next instruction that is then taught to and at them, and where learning objectives are in place.

The difference at home is that a child can learn more freely, with more choice and they direct their learning.

Home education can still be structured (if so desired) but the parent isn’t a teacher. They are a facilitator. Because they are the parent, they have their child’s best interests at heart and they can work together to discover topics with the same respect for each other. The parents aim is for the child to direct their learning at their own pace and interests.

Being learner focused or directed/child led/delight directed or an unschooler doesn’t mean there is no education. There has to be and must! Children will thrive when discovery and adventure are made available. But they don’t need a curriculum to do it, and they don’t need to stop learning because it’s summer or Christmas.

During what would be the school holidays, we took the girls on several walks (and yes they moaned a bit like everyone’s kids!) We talked about what the stone circles we came across could have meant and thought about the settlements that were long gone.

We noticed the way the frost formed and the way the trees grew. This sparked a conversation about the northern hemisphere and the suns position and also how the wind can cause trees to bend and grow in a certain direction over time. Later at home we had fun reenacting the sun, earth and moon and also talking about why the oceans don’t “fall off”.

(Sometimes my children use curriculum if it adds value to what they want to learn about, or I might present curriculum to them to discover new interests).

© 2025 Juliette Proffitt ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THE ABOVE POST WAS WRITTEN BY AND REMAINS THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE AUTHOR GRANTS PERMISSION TO SHARE UNALTERED POSTS ONLY WHEN EXPLICITLY CREDITING THEM. NO OTHER REPRODUCTIONS ARE GRANTED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION.