Home education: Subjects to teach

Exercise is helpful in developing physical and psychological health, as well as developing social and other skills that are useful in adult life. This may be difficult for home schooled children.

However, there are a number of activities you can do as part of physical education:

• Walk to places.
• Get a bike for both of you. If a place is too far to walk to, try cycling.
• Swim. There are some great pools in the area, and in summer there's the sea. Swimming is great for developing survival skill, muscle development and stamina.
• Play against each other. Racket games can be played all year and, apart from the discipline of following a set of rules, knowing how to win or lose in a dignified way is a useful skill to have.
• Use the public playgrounds.
• Join a club. There are a lot of teams and organisations for young people which provide physical activities as part of their programme. Tennis, football, rugby, cricket and athletics clubs usually have junior sections and teams.
• Borrow a book from the library, and draw up a home gym programme. If you don't have exercise equipment, you can make your own weights. Steps and flights of stairs provide great aerobic exercise.
• Get some simple equipment that develops hand-eye co-ordination such as balls, frisbees etc.
• Encourage your child to play computer games that develop balance and overall fitness.
• Grow some vegetables. Digging will be good for both of you, and so will the fresh food. Your child will learn some biology and food science, notice the seasons and the weather, and cook something they've grown. If you're lucky enough to get an allotment, you'll also meet some nice, wise people.