Online Mathematics Classes for Home Educators
In August 2026, we’re launching our Secondary Fundamentals mathematics classes — tailored for home educators. In this article, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know: how the classes will run, which ages and knowledge levels they are suitable for, and the content your child will cover.
How will the Secondary Fundamentals classes work?
The Secondary Fundamentals classes will use our curriculum booklets to provide families with the resources they need for their child’s mathematics education, all in one convenient place. Our booklets contain: prior knowledge exercises, live lesson content, independent problems, retrieval homework, and assessments. We will look at each of these in turn.
Prior Knowledge
Before each live lesson, students complete short prior-knowledge exercises based on that week’s content. This creates an opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning and helps them arrive prepared for their live lesson. These exercises are not passive reading of a textbook chapter. Instead, students are presented with clear explanations and then asked to complete questions that require them to apply what they have read. The material can be worked through at their own pace, allowing learning to be tailored to the individual child. The idea is that children learn to arrive prepared for the lesson and are then able to make the most of the live lesson content.
We believe that learning to work independently should be a key component of education, and these prior-knowledge exercises help to develop that skill.
Dorothy Sayers — “For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain.” The Lost Tools of Learning
Live Lessons
Students will have two live 60-minute lessons each week, held on Microsoft Teams. The first 15 minutes will be spent reviewing any difficulties from previous independent work that has been completed. Students can submit any questions they want to be covered before the lesson.
The remaining 45 minutes of lesson time will be spent introducing new material. Students actively participate in the live lesson by answering questions, sharing ideas, and solving problems themselves. The teacher provides support, clarifies misconceptions, and explains new concepts in an engaging and interactive way. During the lesson, students will be completing questions, so having a mini whiteboard can be helpful, as it allows them to erase their work quickly and make corrections. Our classes will be capped at 15 students to keep learning personal and interactive.
Independent Practice & Retrieval Homework
After the live lesson, students will work through problems based on the live teaching at their own pace. The questions gradually progress from fluency practice — reinforcing newly learned skills — to problem-solving tasks that stretch and challenge students. The live lessons will prepare students for this independent study, but any questions that students struggle with can be submitted and covered at the start of the next lesson. Each of our lesson booklets comes with a parent solution booklet, which will help you to guide your child during their independent practice and allow students to mark their work.
At the end of each booklet, there is retrieval homework that revisits previously learned concepts to keep them fresh in the student’s mind.
Assessment & Feedback
At the end of each unit, students complete an assessment designed to highlight areas for improvement. Each assessment includes a shadow copy, allowing students to retake the assessment if they wish. Solutions are provided in the parent booklet, and parents may choose either to mark the assessment themselves or supervise their child while they mark it. Completed assessments are then submitted to the teacher, and time is allocated during live lessons to provide feedback to the class.
Who are the Secondary Fundamentals classes for?
Primary Requirements
Our Secondary Fundamentals curriculum is designed for students working at or above age-related expectations. In practical terms, this means a student should have:
Secure times tables and number bonds
Confidence with equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions, comparing fractions, and performing calculations appropriate to KS2 expectations
Strong skills in column multiplication and long division
If you are unsure whether your child is ready, we encourage you to try our Free Baseline Assessment.
Age Groups
Schools often group students by age; the difficulty with this approach is that teaching may not always meet the needs of the individual learner. Some children are left behind academically, while others become frustrated by a lack of challenge. In my experience as a teacher, I have seen 11-year-olds who are far more mathematically competent than students five years older than them. For this reason, we encourage parents to use the Primary Requirements as their main guide.
That being said, we recognise that some age guidance will be helpful. Here are age guides:
High-attaining students: UK Years 7–8 (ages 11–13)
Confident students: UK Years 9–10 (ages 13–15)
Please note that this course does not cover all GCSE Higher content (we are currently developing a separate course for this). Students in Year 10 preparing for the GCSE Higher tier should ensure they cover any missing content elsewhere.
Learning Context
This class is designed for Christian home-educating families who want mathematics to be taught within a clear and consistent Christian worldview. Families from other backgrounds are also welcome, provided they are comfortable with this perspective being integrated naturally into the teaching.
The course is aligned with the UK National Curriculum, making it well-suited for students preparing for GCSE examinations. It also provides a rigorous and comprehensive foundation for U.S. and international students studying high school mathematics. A detailed document outlining how Secondary Fundamentals aligns with the U.S. Common Core will be provided.
What content will be covered?
Our Secondary Fundamentals class is aligned with the UK National Curriculum and covers all of KS3 and most of KS4 mathematics, excluding some higher-tier topics. It is designed to give students a strong and broad understanding of secondary mathematics and to prepare them for GCSE Higher-level study. The course is delivered across two academic years. We study five units in the following order: Number, Algebra, Ratio & Proportion, Geometry & Measure, Probability & Statistics. It is a mastery curriculum, which means we spend significant time on each topic before moving on.
If you’re interested in our Secondary Fundamentals class, please visit our sign-up page using the button below. We’ll contact you to guide you through the next steps.
For more information, including class fees, timetables, and dates, please see our Class Handbook.