These images below help give you some ideas to help you on your home education journey.
Click on each image to see a PDF, or scroll down for image descriptions
You can find some more ideas on ways to cover the various Key Learning Areas on a Activities basis here.
The text below is for those that use text readers
Ways to cover the ENGLISH Key Learning Area:
Research a topic of interest – Read a recipe – Write a postcard – Create a haiku, limerick or other poem – Play Bananagrams, Scrabble or Wordle – Learn a new word each day – Compare a film and a book – Watch a play, write a song – Plan a resume –Give a speech – Play I Spy, Hangman or The Minister’s Cat – Learn English words of Latin, Greek or French origin – Play charades to practice syllables – Do a crossword, or create your own – Read a book outside – Present a persuasive argument – ‘Why we should get a dog’ – Create a newsletter or blog about a topic of interest – Interview someone who has had an interesting life – Keep a journal – Rewrite a tale in your own words, change the characters and setting – NaNoWriMo – Send an email – Copywork – Dictation – Write a paragraph, or essay – Chat online – Memorise a poem or famous speech
Ways to cover the MATHS Key Learning Area:
Play shops with real or play money – Use weights and measurements when cooking – Compare statistics and percentages relating to a sport, country or other interest – Choose an online program – Play Prime Climb, Ticket to Ride, Set or other games – Multiplication bingo – Playing card maths – Textbook – Cuisenaire rods and other manipulatives – Create your own dice games – Make 3D shapes with paper – Convert analogue time to digital, or learn military time – Create Venn diagrams on foods the family likes – Learn how AFL scores work – Keep a plant growth log – Learn some calculator functions – Weigh produce at the market – Compare value for money on supermarket prices – Plan a journey using timetables – Khan Academy – Explore the intersection of maths and art
Ways to cover the HUMANITIES Key Learning Area:
Play the ASX share market game – Visit a cultural museum – Cook a food from another culture – Listen to a history podcast – Discover the history of hairstyles ,trains or horses – Create a Medieval newspaper – Plan a fantasy world voyage – Learn the history of your local area – Watch a documentary – Research your family history – Delve deeply into one topic – Start a small business – Attend a place of worship – Study Greek and Roman gods – Create a timeline – Discover Aboriginal culture and technology – Go to a community festival – Learn about tax and superannuation – Study public transport maps – Read a biography – Build a model of an ancient building or invention – Create a historical costume – Watch ‘Back In Time For Dinner’ – Learn capital, state and country names and locations – Design a flag – Create a meal using wartime rations – Watch the news
Ways to cover the SCIENCES Key Learning Area:
Plant flowers or veggies – Observe animal behaviour – Kitchen science experiments – Nature walks – Science Museum – YouTube experiment videos – Snap Circuits – Back yard plot study – Bird watching – Observe the night sky with an app or star map – Ask questions at medical appointments – Start a rock and mineral collection –Participate in citizen science events – Zoo – Make a rain gauge – Hand pollinate some flowers – Use a field guide –Explore cogs and gears – David Attenborough documentaries – Become a wildlife volunteer – Make a model of DNA – Learn about fungi – Check your pulse and reflexes – Learn the Periodic Table song – Make a worm or ant farm –Study habitats and adaptations – Take your fingerprints – Observe things under a microscope or through a magnifying glass – Find out which objects float and sink
Ways to cover the ARTS Key Learning Area:
Write or perform a puppet play – Learn an instrument – Draw and paint – Online class – Hip-hop dance class – Pottery – Crafts – Explore mixed media art – Pastels, Watercolour or gouache – Create a wire sculpture – Make a papier-mâché bowl – Create an interpretive dance – Organise a readers theatre session with friends – Make printing blocks – Sew a bag – Try tie dye techniques – Make an origami crane – Learn about art movements or famous artists – Photography – Prepare for a music grade exam – Create a self portrait – Listen to music –Make a wine glass xylophone – Make jewellery – Learn a Tik-Tok dance – Learn to knit or crochet – Create a sculpture from fruit and toothpicks – Watch a play – Create an optical illusion – Challenge yourself to draw daily
Ways to cover the LANGUAGES Key Learning Area:
Auslan – Modern languages – Ancient languages – Duolingo – VSL – Purchased program – Klingon – Esperanto –Latin in Harry Potter – Musical terms in other languages – Local place names – Aboriginal languages – Codes, cyphers and signals – Coding languages – Learn a few words in multiple languages.
Approach language through culture : Cook a dish from another culture – Find out where in the world a language is spoken – Explore traditional costumes, homes or customs in different societies – Read Material World, What the World Eats, or A Child Just Like Me to learn about differences and similarities between cultures – Attend a cultural festival or ceremony – Explore the art of another culture – Go to a Mongolian, Nepalese or Brazilian restaurant
Ways to cover the HEALTH AND PE Key Learning Area:
Circus skills – Saturday sport – Swimming at the pool or beach – Ride your bike – Bounce on the trampoline –Sports day with friends – Visit the dentist – Practice mindfulness – First Aid course – Cook healthy food – Study the history of disease –Zumba – Wii Fit – Walk the dog – Read nutrition labels – Yoga – Set personal goals – Visit a skate park – Meditation – Hula hooping – Learn yoyo tricks – Juggle – Play ‘the floor is lava’ game – Try orienteering, rogaining, or geocaching – Surf life saving or Bronze Medallion course – Learn about human physiology – Strength training – Martial arts – Roller skating or blading – Laser tag – Hiking – Go to the gym – Take time to relax – Learn about neuroplasticity or gut health – Try jumping a rope or playing elastics – Sign up to a fitness challenge to raise money for charity
Ways to cover the ICTDT (TECHNOLOGIES) Key Learning Area:
Interior design – Robotics – Lego – Take apart broken items – Minecraft – Hour of Code – Blacksmithing –Woodwork – Costume making – Knitting – Use a computer – Create a video for Tik Tok or YouTube – DIY – Carve wood or soap – Try woodturning – Learn to touch type – Engineering challenges – Cooking (food technology) – Stop animation – Photography – Videography – Create a podcast – Build a spaghetti bridge –Educate yourself about social media – Fashion design – Cardboard creations – Metalwork – Use a sewing machine – Make a Rube Goldberg machine – Macrame wall hangings – Draw a scale plan of your home – Build an indoor fort with sheets – Upcyle a garment – Go to the Lost Trades Festival – Watch a glassblower at work – Write a program, game or app – Music editing – Start a blog – Mask making
How many ways are there to learn?
Conversation – Games – Free online MOOC courses – Outschool – HEN virtual incursions – Museums – Podcasts – Documentaries – YouTube – Ted Ed – Google – Encyclopedias – Clubs, guilds and societies – Libraries – Mentors –Work – Therapy appointments – Picture books – From friends and family – TAFE – Open Uni – Reading – Project based learning – Curriculum – Lapbooks – Notebooking – Competitions – Novels – Watching the news – Computer games – Living life – Project Based Learning – Co-ops – After school activities – Textbooks – Scouts and Guides –Excursions – Home ed groups – Volunteering – Crafting – Creating – Movies – Experiments – Building and making –Life skills – Festivals and events – Audio books – Observation – Biographies – Trying new things – Self directed learning – Concerts and talks …
Ideas for home educating kinder kids:
Spend time outside – Write letters in shaving foam – Play with water and measuring jugs – Draw with chalk on the driveway – Observe – Learn to balance – Climb a tree – Make up a nonsense poem – Put on a puppet play – Create habitats for model animals – Sensory play – Listen to different styles of music – Have a scavenger hunt – Create rhythm to your day, week and year – Create a nature table – Teach by example – Play games together – Build an indoor cubby – Encourage reflection – Help children understand their emotions – Make counting, sorting and classifying part of everyday life – Give children an appropriate amount of responsibility – Cuddle up with a book –Make a friend – Prepare a salad or simple meal – Conversation – Free play
Ways to support specific learning needs:
Voice to text app – Learn in comfortable environment (doesn’t have to be at table) – Meditation and mindfulness –Spend longer learning deeper about special interests – Build in down time – Use therapies as part of your schedule –Break tasks into small, manageable chunks – Don’t be afraid to learn at levels ‘outside age’- Use music as background (or noise cancelling headphones if preferred) – Scribe for your learner – Allow longer processing time if needed – Use all modes of learning/ communication (visual, auditory, tactile, kinaesthetic) – Use frequent movement breaks – Give autonomy over learning – Make abstract concepts concrete using real world examples (eg math- money at shops) – Read aloud or use audiobooks
Home education options for teens:
Free online MOOC courses – Learn to drive – or even to fly –TAFE – Volunteering – Take opportunities – you never know where they will lead – Work experience placements – Open Uni courses – Apprenticeships – Work – Teach a skill – Join a club or guild – Prepare your resume – Learn leadership skills through Scouts, Cadets or Duke of Edinburgh – Be active – Take an independent trip – Go to a cultural festival – Career counselling – Attend a camp –Learn how to maintain a car – Skill share with a friend – Textbooks – Approach a mentor – Join a team – Engage with your community – Mentor a younger person – Take care of siblings – Start a small business – Pre-apprenticeship workbooks – Youth groups – Take more responsibility at home – Become an advocate – Short courses – Express your creativity – Research work and study options – Try new things
Ways to create structure in your home education life:
Anything which occurs regularly can help to create a timetable or rhythm.
Time outside – Time for reflection – Regular home ed group – After school classes – After lunch nap or quiet time – Observe the seasons, create a nature table – Create traditions for the first day of term, the longest day of the year etc – Celebrate annual events and festivals, Holi, Pi Day Solstice, Bastille Day, Christmas – Camps – Weekly, termly or yearly topics – Reading time, either alone or together – Family meet ups like Sunday dinner, or cousins day – Co-ops and activity groups – Online classes or sessions – Family excursion day – Chores – Walks or bike rides – Regular study time – Morning and evening routines – Planting and harvesting
Ways to plan and record learning:
Records are useful for the review process, but can also be valuable for parents. Detailed record keeping is optional, your family calendar and a few photos are enough if you are in Victoria, choose the method that works for you, if something adds to your stress levels instead of lowering them, try another option.
Spreadsheet – Notebook – App – Photographs – Bullet journal – Diary – Keep ticket and receipts – Used workbooks or exercise books – Projects – Artworks – Videos – Photobook – Facebook or Instagram account
Timetable – Family Calendar – Whiteboard – Notes from daily, weekly or termly meeting/discussion
If you are concerned that not enough learning is happening, write down everything you do for one day or week, and then assign to KLAs. You may be pleasantly surprised.
This is a useful exercise to do occasionally when you start out, or if you experience a parental confidence ‘wobble’.
