Using Distance Learning for home education

Posted on January 21, 2026 by ofamily

I have mentioned that we decided to use a distance learning provider for the first time this year. I opted to use NEC for my daughter’s A Level subjects and then decided I would also use them for my son’s IGCSE Chemistry. We have never used any distance learning services before so I was a bit unsure. I tried to do a lot of research and I asked lots of questions but I must admit even by the time we signed up I was still a bit unsure of what exactly we were getting.

I am still deciding if I think it is worth the money because I have been a bit disappointed in what we got but I am also not sure if maybe I was expecting too much.

Okay so they give you all the notes that the kids are suppose to need. And the notes do contain questions and they do supply you with answers.

But here are a few things I have not been totally happy with. Firstly I don’t feel like they give you enough questions. For example with my son’s Chemistry he actually came to me and told me he was doing far fewer questions in his Chemistry compared to his Biology and Physics and asked me to start getting him extra material. Now maybe this was my fault but I have assumed that he would be able to do the Chemistry independently without me having to get involved and find extra material for him. I have ended up getting him 2 extra workbooks with Chemistry questions and a subscription to an extra website where he can watch videos and get extra questions. Which is what we are doing for his Biology so it has made me question if doing his Chemistry with NEC is actually a waste of money. At this stage I am not sure, I suppose only time will tell.

With my daughters A Level subjects I have had a mixed reaction. Her Biology and English have been okay but I was not impressed with her first English assignment. They gave her a detailed question to try without having taken the time to walk them through a detailed example of what they would expect. In my mind they should have given the kids an example of what a sample answer for a similar question would look like.

And then the Maths my big shock was the realization that they do not give the kids step by step answers. Which at this level is a joke. How are the kids suppose to figure out where they have done wrong? So I ended up buying her extra student books which contained questions and had step by step answers. I still can’t get over that I have paid for a Maths subject and there are no step by step answers for the questions.

I will admit that I have been impressed by the feedback that she has been given when she has submitted her assignments. They do provide good feedback but I am not sure that just getting good feedback is enough. In my mind if I am paying for this service I would expect a first class set of notes, notes that are clear and well set out with questions and good quality answers so they kids are able to figure out where they have gone wrong.

Like I said it is the first time we have used a distance learning provider for our home education so maybe I was expecting too much. I am still a bit undecided but I am disappointed and I am questioning if I would use them for my son’s A Levels.

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Initial thoughts on A levels

Posted on December 5, 2025 by ofamily

I have mentioned a few times that my oldest started studying for her A levels this year. We are doing her A levels at home using a distance learning provider. It has been a bit of a learning curve for us because I feel like the distance learning provider has not delivered what I was expecting (I think they quality is not as good as I expected) so I have become more involved then I had initially planned. I am still figuring what I want to say about the distance learning provider that we choose and I will write about that at some stage but for now I wanted to say a few quick things.

We choose to go with a distance learning provider because I thought I would not be able to guide her and help her enough. But actually after a few months I can honestly say that if you have been home educating your kids and if you are dedicated to their education then don’t underestimate yourself. Honestly the subject that I was most nervous about (A Level Maths) is the one that I am very involved with and we are managing to figure it out together. It is time consuming, there is no denying that and at times it can be a bit frustrating but we are getting through the work and she is getting good marks. So if you and your kiddo are determined then please don’t underestimate yourself like I did.

With home education there is never one “right” way to achieve your goals. But for us what we have found is we do need to be more structured to get through the work. We have found that having a “rough” routine for the week is a must just because there is a lot of content to cover. We have also found that you need to do extra reading or in the case of Maths extra questions. What our distance provider gave us is not sufficient. For all of her subjects we are using multiple resources (ie multiple books and multiple websites). You have a lot of content to get through but you also need to know/understand that content in detail.

And the flip side of that is although there is more content to get through you do need to still ensure your kiddo is having breaks and good breaks at that. Make sure they get out the house and stretch their legs. A change of environment can works wonders if you are struggling to understand a tricky concept.

A Levels still feels very new to us and I still feel like I have more to learn but I do think as home educators we can underestimate ourselves and honestly if you got your kiddo through GCSE (or IGCSE) and you and your kiddo are determined then trust yourself.

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CGP IGCSE Chemistry workbook verses their Targeted grade workbook

Posted on November 20, 2025 by ofamily

I have often tried to figure out what the differences are between the CGP Science workbooks and the CGP Science workbooks which are grade 8-9 targeted. I wanted to know if the questions are duplicated and if it is worthwhile buying both. I searched and I never found the detail that I wanted so I thought I would now try and answer it myself.

I was given the Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry Exam Practice Workbook Grade 8-9 targeted by CGP and I bought my own Edexcel International CGP Chemistry Exam Practice Workbook. I want to point out that even though CGP gave me the one workbook it was NOT for the purposes of this post, this post is 100% because I got frustrated trying to figure this out for myself.

Okay first look/ thoughts.

The Targeted workbook is a lot thinner that the normal workbook and does contain few pages and fewer questions (the Targeted workbook has only 71 pages of questions while the normal workbook has 125 pages).

Content wise they do cover the same topics but the targeted workbook is a lot more specific in which parts of the topics it has questions on. If you look at the contents page and just look at Section 1 – Particle and mixtures, the targeted workbook only has questions for State of Matter and Elements, Compounds and Mixtures (6 pages of questions)

whereas the normal workbook covers a much wider range and totals 10 pages of questions.

Okay so you do get a more questions in the normal workbook.

Are the questions duplicated? In others words if you bought the normal workbook would it include all the same questions in the targeted workbook. The answer is NO they are NOT duplicated. The questions in the normal workbook and the questions in the targeted workbook are different. (This was always a big question of mine as I did not want to buy 2 workbooks which just had duplicate questions in them).

The normal workbook does include a wider range of questions in that there are a lot more quick questions whereas the targeted workbook has have longer questions (these are the harder questions).

For an example this is the same page firstly in the normal workbook

And now in the targeted Grade 8-9 workbook

What are my thoughts.

I like the normal workbook as it includes a range of questions from easy to hard and there are more questions for each topic, so you can test the basics and also test harder content in one go. As a home educator I feel like this is a must have resource. However if your kid is wanting to go for the higher grades than the targeted workbook does offer lots of extra practice for those harder questions. So it is a case of what are you needing and how confident does your kiddo feel about the easier content.

What are we going to use? Actually Both. Yip I am going to use both with my son as I want to make sure we are completely confident with all those easy marks questions but I know we are going for higher marks so I also want to give him extra practice with the more challenging questions as well.

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International GCSE Chemistry question and answer cards

Posted on October 16, 2025 by ofamily

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we stuck with our tried and tested CGP resources for Chemistry (their workbook, question cards and 10 minute test book), and I meant to write posts about the cards and the 10 minute test book but it just so happened that we moved and I injured my shoulder, so nothing much happened. But now our house is sort of set up (I still have some boxes to unpack but the import stuff has been unpacked) and my shoulder is feeling better so I am starting to get back into sharing about the resources that we use.

Okay so the cards. My daughter used the CGP cards for both her Biology and Physics and we both loved them so I knew I would get them for Chemistry.

This little pack comes with 93 question cards. But on each card you get between 5 and 7 questions. So think about that for a minute, that is a lot of questions. And the answers are all on the back of each card.

We loved these cards for three main reasons. Firstly they are a great way to revise, you can sit in your bed and test yourself. Perfect. Secondly because they are in a card format you can use them over and over again (and let me tell you for both Biology and Physics my daughter used her cards multiple times). And thirdly the cards clearly state which questions will only be in Paper 2. Which when it comes to revising for the exams is very useful.

The cards cover all the topics as per the specification. But they have also included a card which shows all the formulas that you need to know (this card is gold) and they have also included a few on graphs and results which are also incredibly useful.

Honestly if your kiddo is doing IGCSE Chemistry then this set of question and answer cards are going to be well worth it. They are without a doubt one of my must have resources for all the Science subjects.

I have seen these cards at my local book store but you can also get them directly from the CGP website – Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry cards and you can also get them Amazon – CGP Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry question and answer cards

Admin – I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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Terrible True Tales Vikings

Posted on September 26, 2025 by ofamily

I have been enjoying the idea behind the newish series Terrible True Tales. Each book contains 4 short stories which are young kids historical fiction based on something that did actually happen. They are fun reads for younger kids and great for us home educators who want to weave a bit of learning into reading.

The latest is Terrible True Tales of Vikings.

I would say these books suit 7+ ages, but really it depends on your kiddo. Each story is short, fun and filled with historical facts. After the story there is always an “Afterward” which clearly states what part is fact and then a “You Try” page which has ideas on possible activities which you could do.

So Very Briefly what are the 4 short stories about.

The first one is called The Eye of the Viking God. This one is about a young Saxon girl who was kidnapped, turned into a slave by the Vikings and it deals with her life as a Viking slave and how she managed to escape.

The second is The Battle for the Viking Gold. This deals with the raids on the English monasteries. I must admit I quite enjoyed the characters that were created in this one especially that of the naughty boys, the idea of them pranking the monks really did get me chuckling as I could imagine something like that happening.

The third one was The Sword of the Viking King. This was my favorite story probably because it included King Alfred and dealt with the Saxons fighting the Vikings, so there were lots of extra bits in this story that I found interesting.

The fourth one was The Hand of the Viking Warrior. An interesting account of the Vikings trying to set up farms in America.

I thought all 4 short stories were well written and included lots of every day historical facts. This is the kind of book that my son would have enjoyed when he was younger and it is something that I would have used when we learnt about the Vikings. I would recommend this book.

Admin – I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we recommend.

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