Hands-On Education's Blog

Explore Our Recent Posts

Jeanie Fair | September 23

Autumn Leaf Activities

September 2023 post

Today, I wanted to share some of our favourite leaf activities with you. This is the perfect time of year to collect a variety of leaves as they begin to fall off the trees. Enjoy your nature walk on a dry day and keep an eye out for leaves on the ground to collect.

Jeanie Fair | August 23

Learning Moments

August 2023 post

As we approach our next ‘school’ year I wanted to take a minute to consider what learning looks like for us, as a home educating family. I am aware that all home educating families take different approaches and rightly so given that all children are unique and learn in different ways.

July 2023 post

Today I want to share with you what I consider to be the most useful resources on our home educating shelf. This list doesn’t include the basic resources like pencils, scissors and glue which many of us already have. Instead, this list comprises of resources which may be overlooked but have surprisingly shown themselves to be really useful time and time again.

Jeanie Fair | June 23

Exploring British Pond Life

June 2023 post

On one of our regular nature walks we pass by three small ponds managed by the Canal and River Trust. The ponds are hidden away between our local canal and an industrial site. I love this little patch of nature and wildlife. We make sure to walk through it at all times of the year. Getting to see the variety of changes throughout the seasons it always amazing.

Jeanie Fair | May 23

Let's Measure

May 2023 post

We have had a lot of fun exploring measurements in the last few months. Finding engaging and practical ways to introduce mathematical concepts is what Hands-On Education is all about! To me, measuring is a physical skill which we can learn through experience. Only by holding physical objects in our hands can we really understand weight. In the same way pouring water into different sized containers and comparing how much each can hold is a fantastic way to understand capacity.

May 2023 post

30 Days Wild is a campaign initiative organised by The Wildlife Trust to encourage people to ‘do something wild’ everyday throughout the month of June. This challenge is not about going on a 10-mile hike every day, but to make the conscious effort to take notice of the nature around us. Ideas range from dancing in the rain, making a sculpture with rocks or preparing bird food. It’s free to take part in this challenge and a real enjoyment for kids of all ages.

Welcome to Hands-On Education

Hands-On Education was born to provide hands-on curriculum of England based activities for primary school aged children and home education families in mind.

I am mum to two boys, Teddy was born in 2014 and Harry in 2016. When we made the decision to home educate I was so excited about all the fun learning experiences my children could participate in. So I was quite surprised that so many of the websites and activities I found involved sitting down and writing. As a summer baby, Teddy had only just turned 5 when he started Year 1 and was still struggling to hold a pencil properly. However, I did not want his writing and reading abilities to prevent him from developing subject knowledge and other important learning skills. Harry was a better age at the start of Reception, plus has his big brother to look up to, so the progress I find incomparable even to today.

Before I had my children I was a qualified teacher of dance, with experience of teaching KS1, KS2, KS3, GCSE and A-Level dance throughout primary and secondary schools. I have always been a very practical hands-on learner and with a good understanding of the way the National Curriculum is structured. Therefore, I decided to find ways my children could learn by building, creating, designing, exploring and even playing!

And that is when Hands-On Education became a reality!

Discover Hands-On Education