Is there a difference between Home Education and Home Schooling?

The terms “home education” and “home schooling” are often used interchangeably, but there can be some subtle differences in meaning. It should be remembered that in the UK we are legally required to educate our children, not to provide a school environment, and so you will see me using the term home education on this blog, as while we do have routines and schedules in place, at times we may be more unstructured in our approach and that is still a valid form of home education. There have been attempts over the years to control home education and make it more like school in terms of timetables, topics and curriculum so you may find some home educators can feel passionately about differentiating between the two in order to emphasise that school is not a requirement and not what they do.

Home education generally refers to any type of education that takes place primarily in the home, whether it is through traditional schooling methods or more alternative approaches. This can include homeschooling, but it can also include unschooling, online learning, co-ops, or other forms of alternative education.

Home schooling, on the other hand, specifically refers to the practice of educating children at home through a dedicated or widely adopted standard curriculum, that can be designed and delivered by the parents or guardians, or could be purchased from a home school provider. In this context, the term “homeschooling” is often used to describe a more structured and formal approach to home education.

So while there can be some overlap between the two terms, and some parents/guardians will use them interchangeably, home education tends to be a broader concept that encompasses a wider range of educational approaches and philosophies, while home schooling specifically refers to a method of educating children at home while replicating the school set up.

Do you differentiate between the terms Home Education and Home Schooling? Tell me in the comments below.