What Counts as Learning in Home Education When Life Feels Unstructured

The last few weeks have been out of our usual rhythm.

We had some travel planned, but just before that my daughter came down with chickenpox, so we had to move a lot of things around and it ended up being a much longer period of disruption than expected.

And I've noticed for me that with home education learning, it's at these times, I can worry about whether we're doing enough, whether learning is happening, whether our days are structured enough. All the old doubts.

Of course I know my kids are learning, they're learning all the time. But it can sometimes be harder to feel reassured by it when it doesn't look like what we typically think of as learning. But old habits and conditioning die hard so the worries continue anyway!

We tend to function best as a family with some sort of home education routine. So when life's quite a lot more open-ended and unexpected, especially in weeks like these, it can feel uncomfortable, especially when it seems like not much is happening.

But when I reflect on it afterwards, I can see just how much rich and important learning was there, even if it wasn't immediately obvious. You probably know this deep down, as do I, but it can be easy to forget sometimes, especially after extended periods away, illness or other challenges to the usual routine.

So if you need a reminder, read on.

What actually happened over these weeks

I thought I’d share a quick rundown of the past few weeks to show both the more obvious (travel and culture) and the much less obvious (lots of downtime and slow days) examples of deep, fulfilling learning.

I’m using 'learning' in its widest sense here - all the ways children grow by learning in everyday life. I've noticed that it can be in these less structured times, when we’re forced to slow down or navigate unexpected challenges, that other, equally meaningful experiences come up.

So first up, a week of cancelled plans due to chickenpox - a final drama performance and end-of-term Easter treats at Brownies missed, and a trip to see old friends rescheduled. So plenty of time at home with books, board games, movies and playing, but a lot of disappointment, frustration, boredom and some sibling squabbles!

We then had a few days in Paris with family - ordering food in cafés and bakeries, visiting various landmarks and museums such as the Eiffel Tower and Musée d'Orsay, talking about the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille, and lots of time playing with cousins in parks and playgrounds.

Next up was a stay with elderly family friends in their eighties back in the village I grew up, which slowed everything right down. There were long conversations over shared interests (gardening, nature, football and F1) and a trip to the stunning Lincoln Castle and Cathedral, seeing the Magna Carta and learning about life in a Victorian prison.

And within all of that…

We stayed with old friends and family here and there which included far too much TV with Grandad and lots of football chat with Granny but also board games, lots of shared reading and a visit to a nature reserve where an expert birdwatcher passionately talked us through all the amazing things we would have definitely missed had we been there on our own.

It also meant connecting with old friends, lots of playing and creating, and also a lot of dead time, where it felt like not much was happening.

Alongside this were plenty of long journeys which were full of audiobooks, podcasts, arguments, made-up games, tally charts and conversations - including one sparked by spotting five (!) dead deer by the roadside, which turned into a discussion about conservation and climate change.

But there was also some really important emotional learning - coping with disappointment, dealing with and accepting boredom and frustration, and working through conflict; sibling clashes and irritability - usually mine - definitely happen more when we're out of routine. These are such crucial life skills, but they’re easy to overlook as learning.

What learning actually looks like

When I look back, what you won’t find much of is evidence of learning in the traditional sense.

No neat pieces of work for every activity or structured outputs. No obvious evidence that can be stuck in a book for someone to check on (which was what so much of my teaching involved).

Instead what you'll find is:

• lots of conversations with many different people
• time outdoors
• books, games and play
• trips, visits and everyday experiences, learning from passionate experts
• quality time with people of all ages
• lots of shared and independent reading
• drawings, lists and notes
• curiosity, questions and ideas

And through all of that:

• language and communication
• maths and problem-solving
• history, geography and science
• creativity, imagination and curiosity
• critical thinking
• emotional development

All of it meaningful. All of it so important.

Where next?

When I write this all down, I can see all of the valuable learning in so many areas. But if you’d heard my internal dialogue throughout some of the slower weeks, you’d have heard how often I felt like we weren’t doing enough.

If I don’t reflect I can think we’ve done nothing, but when I do, I see rich, fulfilling and important experiences that remind me why we’re doing this in the first place.

Out of these slower, less structured weeks, new interests have appeared:

• a growing curiosity about climate change and the environment
• an interest in prisons and dungeons through the ages and more trips requested to castles and cathedrals.
• creative ideas and plans for our own garden after being inspired by our elderly friends' wildlife haven of a garden along with David Attenborough's 'Secret Garden' series.

A little reminder (for me as much as anyone)

When things feel slow, off or unproductive, it’s worth looking back and writing down what actually happened. You might find far more learning there than you expected.

It's not an easy thing to just accept, we often keep needing to remind ourselves as it can be very easy to let our own thoughts get in the way and compare things to an ideal or to what others' tell you learning 'should' look like.

So next time things feel a bit off, slow or like not much is happening, try writing down what you did - and include everything.

If you ever need to reassure others, which can often be the case for home educating families (a partner, relatives or the local authority), it can help to look at the national curriculum and see how much you’ve likely covered - something AI could do very quickly for you.

And in doing so, you may also notice just how much meaningful learning sits completely outside the curriculum.