UK resources

[Vita Passiva]

For those of you from the UK or live there, what are your favorite homeschool resources? ..... both books, curriculum, and websites.

 

Thanks! I am doing a little personal research to consult with some friends who are new to homeschooling. I am American and sort of unfamiliar with the system.

[Laura Corin]

I use a lot of products from Galore Park. If you want to have a look at the website and ask me about anything, I'm happy to help. This wikipedia article may also help you. Some terminology:

 

UK 'years' are numbered one higher than US grades, so year 1 is the equivalent of US K, year 2 is grade 1, etc.

The 11+ exam is a test that can be taken (at age 11-ish) to enter certain schools.

The 13+ exam is a test that can be taken (at age 13-ish) to enter certain schools.

GCSEs are exams taken at age 16 - roughly equivalent to SAT subject tests, but college-bound UK students usually take eight or more of them

AS levels are taken by college-bound students at age 17 - normally four or five subjects are taken

A levels or A2 levels are taken at 18 - normally three or four for university entrance. There is no such thing as a school transcript, so those exams are crucial.

KS1 (Key Stage 1) runs from age 5-7

KS2 from age 7-11

KS3 from 11-14

KS4 from 14-16.

 

The main homeschooling charity (UK people mostly say 'home education' instead) is called Education Otherwise. They don't operate in Scotland, where the charity is called Schoolhouse. I like to visit this website, which is for structured home educators; child-led home education is the predominant model in the UK, and religion-based styles are relatively rare.

 

Any other questions, please ask.

 

Laura

[Vita Passiva]

Thanks so so so much Laura! The forum sight is really helpful as is the Galore Park site.

 

I am just curious, is there a sight where I can access the national curriculum for England? Like some sort of scope and sequence chart? I am learning all sorts of new terms here :001_smile:

 

And one more question for now....then I may pm you with more questions as I chat with my friend, but are there favorite book titles/poem lists/resources specific to the UK for early childhood/kindergarten, or would you say that the titles like from Ambleside, TWTM, etc, can be used just as easily. I am not sure how to ask that.....

 

Thanks! I so appreciate your advice!!!!!

[Laura Corin]

Thanks so so so much Laura! The forum sight is really helpful as is the Galore Park site.

 

I am just curious, is there a sight where I can access the national curriculum for England? Like some sort of scope and sequence chart? I am learning all sorts of new terms here :001_smile:

 

And one more question for now....then I may pm you with more questions as I chat with my friend, but are there favorite book titles/poem lists/resources specific to the UK for early childhood/kindergarten, or would you say that the titles like from Ambleside, TWTM, etc, can be used just as easily. I am not sure how to ask that.....

 

Thanks! I so appreciate your advice!!!!!

 

Here's the site for the national curriculum for England. Do remember that the NC is designed for school use. There is absolutely no legal requirement that home educators follow it. All that is demanded of us is that we provide a suitable education and there's very little case law to describe what that entails.

 

In general, a lot of the recommendations for reading from WTM will work in the UK too, but of course it has more of a US slant for children's literature. For young children, the key British texts are the complete Beatrix Potter and A A Milne; Shirley Hughes is wonderful too. After that, the field gets wider, but Roald Dahl, Dick King-Smith, Mary Norton, Kenneth Grahame, E Nesbit, CS Lewis, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Rosemary Sutcliff, George Macdonald, Richmal Crompton and Arthur Ransome would be on many people's lists, I would think. I have some Amazon lists which are designed for advanced readers, but you might be able to glean some ideas - they are a mix of UK and US titles.

 

ETA: I forgot Kipling and RL Stevenson.

 

For British history, there is a free curriculum here which is a nice option. She also has a list of essential children's books here. On my blog, in the side bar, there are some options for combining British history with SOTW.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

Edited May 12, 2009 by Laura Corin

[TeacherZee]

I'm not Laura but here is the link for the national curriculum for England. You will have to click your way through to the different ages. Hope that helps

 

ETA. Laura beat me to it:D

[Vita Passiva]

thanks for the links! these are just what I was looking for....a little more background information, and a bunch of links to link on! :001_smile:

[freerange]

For more information about UK exam/qualifications http://www.home-education-exams.org.uk/ is compiled by HEers.

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm has maths curriculum (free) that cover right through to A level.

 

For theatre, look out for outdoor plays/'promanade theatre'. We're going to see Jason & the Argonauts this summer.:lurk5:

 

If your children are too young to read the broadsheet newspapers (the 'quality' papers) First News is very good, although hard to obtain in a newsagents. http://firstnews.co.uk

 

For older children http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/ is fantastic. The Open University is also open to under 18s studying their courses. Ring and ask to speak to the YASS dept.

 

http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk has some very good value deals on books.

 

Hmm, I suppose I should find where to introduce myself now!