Books & TV Programs With Homeschooled Characters 

Hi all,

A fairly quick post today, but one that I hope will lead to a lot of relief and that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with a sense of belonging. When we first started home educating our three girls, we found that homeschoolers were hugely under represented in the media (apart from when, say, the Daily Mail jumped on our story and decided to crucify us in the national papers. Ahem.) We simply hadn’t come across any TV shows with homeschooled children as protagonists; at least not that we knew of.

Anyway, suffice to say that there are plenty- more than plenty- of books and TV shows and films that show children going to school, and each August there are the same episodes and volumes rolled out about “Topsy and Tim (or whomever) Start School” to rightfully prepare those children who start in September.

But, hello, cooee! What about the home educated kids? It is essential that our children feel that they are part of a positive community, and not just ignored or invisible to society. The lack of awareness about homeschooling is evident in not only the media, but in the questions we are asked on a daily basis.

How do they learn, is homeschooling even legal, how do they socialise, how will they do exams, what resources do we use, etc are just some of the queries we get from people. ( I now simply point them to my post on The Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Homeschooling: ANSWERED!)

People generally aren’t told about homeschooling until they seek it out for themselves- it’s kind of like when you’re pregnant and you suddenly want to talk to all pregnant women, and you start seeing them everywhere. There’s this fabulous new community and you all support each other and cheer each other on; but it would be nice to see mainstream society waking up to what an amazing thing home education is too.

That said, here are the TV shows, films and books that I have found that show home educated children. If you decide to purchase any of the books or DVDs, feel free to use this link to get free delivery with a free trial to Amazon Prime. I make a small commission on anything purchased at no cost to you.

TV Shows Featuring Homeschooled Children

• Sarah & Duck (QUACK) – the program featuring a home educated girl and a duck, is available on CBeebies and there is a whole website dedicated to the show.
• Melody- this program, also on CBeebies, is about a partially-sighted girl and her Mum who have adventures through music. Melody is home educated. Find Melody here.
• The Wild Thornberrys- this is an absolutely brilliant show that was run by Nickelodeon about two parents who travel the world with their children instead of sending them to conventional school. Sounds mad, who on earth would do that? (*whistles and looks at the ceiling*). The Wild Thornberrys is now only available on DVD.

Books Featuring Homeschooled Children

• “This is my home, this is my school” by Jonathan Bean. You can find a video of the story being read here (the audio is poor quality but just about adequate). Get “This is my home, this is my school” here.
• “The first day of homeschool”, follows a family’s experience of… you guessed it, the first day of their homeschool. A cheeky ‘homeschool Elf’ hides the children’s books and supplies for a lighthearted twist, and the book includes a pattern to make your own homeschool Elf! Get “The First Day Of Homeschool” here.
• “Ippie, unschooled” is a brilliant book written by an unschooling mother and illustrated by her unschooled, very talented 12-year-old daughter! The book explores what it means to not just be home educated but unschooled, and is an encouraging read for parents and homeschooled children. Get “Ippie, Unschooled” here.
• “Who’s not in school?” is written by an unschooling Dad, Ross Mountney, and follows a homeschooled little boy called Harry as he enjoys a homeschool day. Get “Who’s not in school” here.

I hope that some of these resources are helpful to you and your homeschooled children. I think it is essential that we promote home education as a first-choice, first-rate lifestyle and normalising it through TV shows and books featuring homeschooled characters is a great way to help children feel positive about their own homeschooled lives. 

For more homeschooling blog posts including exams, socialisation, homeschool law, 100+ homeschool resources etc, visit my homeschooling blog page. Please share this post via Facebook or Pinterest if you found it helpful!