How to Get Started With Homeschooling
I’ve been a little MIA the past few months because life is full as a homeschooling mom, but I have a lengthy list of ideas I’ve wanted to write. Since it’s the start of new school year for many of us, I thought I’d begin with a homeschooling post. If you’re just getting started with homeschooling or even just considering it in the future, I hope this encourages you. It’s been in my plans to write on this topic for at least a year and I wanted to share it closer to the summer, but better late than never right?
10 years ago, our little family said yes to the unfamiliar path of homeschooling. After sending our firstborn son to preschool for a year, I felt a nudge from the Lord to try teaching him at home. Even though he was only away from me a few mornings a week while being right up the road, the year he went to preschool made me realize how much I wanted to be involved in his learning. As a former teacher with an Early Childhood Education degree, I felt comfortable teaching my then preschooler. However, even with the boost of confidence my teaching background gave me, I wrestled with many of the common fears moms feel when considering homeschooling.
Despite some reluctancy, my husband and I talked about it and prayed about it and decided to try it. Since we started homeschooling before my son legally had to be enrolled in school, it took some of the pressure off and gave me a solid two years to “figure things out” before needing to report.
I remember browsing the internet to find any resource that would provide direction as to how to homeschool. It felt like one of those Where’s Waldo search and find books where it takes a lot of searching to find Waldo amongst a sea of dozens of items on a page. I was searching, not for Waldo, but for helpful homeschool advice amongst a sea of varying opinions.
Upon deciding to homeschool, wouldn’t it be nice if someone showed up at your door with a How to Homeschool manual containing everything you need to get started with homeschooling? Well, no such manual exists, but what I hope to share are a few pointers that would have benefited me in the beginning. I’m not an expert and when it comes to the legal aspects of homeschooling it’s important you do your own research, so please simply take this as a handful of friendly suggestions from one homeschool mom to another.
Know The Law for Your State
This is one area that seems to rattle nerves, including mine, so that’s why I’m starting here. But before I do, here’s my perspective as a Christian homeschool mom:
My boss is ultimately God. I’m serving Him and care most about what He thinks and desires of me. Over the past decade, He has always provided for our family and taken care of us as we’ve homeschooled and I know He will keep leading the way.
With that said, I’ll briefly dive into this topic.
Requirements will vary depending on where you live so it’s important to know what’s required in your state. HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) is a helpful starting place for finding out the homeschool law in your state. They have a Homeschool Laws By State tool that provides basic information about things like testing requirements, teacher requirements, and options for homeschooling. So if you’re curious about your state’s homeschool law, I recommend starting there. You won’t find every detail, but it will provide a non-overwhelming overview.
Depending on the law where you live, you may need to do some further digging to find out things like specific subjects you’re required to teach. Often, a state’s Department of Education will have a section about homeschooling and will provide a list of required subjects. Just a side note, my personal experience is that I’ve found the most help from organizations that support homeschooling, which is one reason why our family chooses to report to an independent school.
For our family, meeting requirements looks like submitting attendance records yearly, testing every other year starting in 3rd grade, and keeping records of my kids work. It’s really not as daunting as it can appear.
Write Out Your Why for Homeschooling
It’s important to know why we’re doing what we’re doing in the first place.
You may or may not have an elaborate why when you’re starting out, and it may expand as you go, but either way it’s something worth taking the time to consider.
Are you homeschooling because you want to spend more quality time with your kids? You want to nurture healthy family relationships? You want your kids to be taught from a biblical worldview? You want to protect your kids from negative influences? Your kids had a bad experience with the pubic school system? You want the freedom to choose what’s best your kids?
Our why can help us to keep going on those especially exhausting days, it can be a focal point when deciding on schedules and curriculum, and it can be a steady reminder that there is a purpose for all we’re doing. It can be as simple or elaborate as you like, and you don’t have to share it with anyone if you don’t want, although it can come in handy when people ask the infamous question, “So why do you homeschool?”
Research and Choose Curriculum
With a plethora of curriculum at our fingertips these days, it can quickly become overwhelming sorting through so many options. So where does one even begin?
Since curriculum is simply a tool to help your family accomplish your learning goals, it’s good to first know your learning goals. What subjects will you teach? What style of homeschooling do you lean towards (and if you don’t know that’s okay)? Do you want an all-in-one box curriculum or do you want to piece together curriculum? Do you want to do some subjects family-style or are you mainly looking for curriculum to meet the needs of each kid?
These are all questions I’ve pondered in my planning process.
Also, one simple thing I do before choosing curriculum is to first type out a list of subjects I want to cover with each of my boys. Then I go searching for what to use to fulfill each of those subjects. That way I stay on track and don’t waste my time looking at curriculum related to subjects we’re not even covering.
All our situations and needs are different, but…
A few questions to consider when looking for curriculum:
- Is the curriculum open-and-go or does it require a lot of prep work?
- Does the curriculum align with your family’s values?
- Who wrote the curriculum?
- Do you want curriculum that encourages independence in your students (depending on their ages) or are you able to manage something that is more parent-intensive?
- Does the curriculum fit your style of homeschooling, if you have one?
- What do reviews say about the curriculum? While opinions will always vary, I have read and watched many curriculum reviews from other homeschool moms that have been helpful.
While finding the right curriculum involves some trial and error, curriculum should be something that serves you rather than controls you. The longer we’ve homeschooled, the more comfortable I’ve become modifying curriculum to best meet our family’s needs.
Also, I’ve enjoyed piecing together some of my own activities to do with my kids, especially for things like unit studies. You don’t always need a specific curriculum for everything!
Find a Rhythm That Suits Your Family
One of the many perks of homeschooling is getting to choose a way of life for our families, which includes schedules. We have the gift of creating a rhythm that suits our unique circumstances.
Maybe you’re a planner and thrive off structure like me. Or maybe you’re more relaxed with schedules and don’t need as much structure. Either way, rhythms help set the tone and kids tend to feel more secure with routines. Of course, the unexpected things come up and some days our schedule will get plowed over by unforeseen challenges…so it’s good to stay flexible too.
When we first started homeschooling, I focused more on specific increments of time such as: 9:00-9:30 we’ll do morning time, 9:30-10:00 we’ll do math, etc. Coming from a classroom teacher background where I had to do that to a homeschooling environment with more flexibility, was an adjustment. Plus, since I like structure, so it just made sense to me in the beginning to have the cookie-cutter schedule.
I still type out a schedule with time increments when planning for a new school year, however, that is mainly for me to see how I’m going to fit everything into each day. When we’re actually homeschooling, I don’t pay attention to the time as much as I used to. It’s become much more about a manageable rhythm.
Morning Basket
Math
Handwriting
Spelling
Etc…
Having the flexibility to spend more or less time on a subjects means we may spend 30 minutes on morning basket one day and 45 minutes the next. We may finish our school day at 2pm one day and 4pm the next day. So while time increments may vary day to day, the order in which we do things is what offers that predictability.
If you’re looking for a free daily schedule sheet to help you get started, I’ve been using this one from Confessions of a Homeschooler practically from the beginning. I fill out one of these for each of my sons while I’m planning in the summer for an upcoming school year. Then I print them on cardstock, laminate them, and hang them in our school room so we can reference them throughout the year. And like I said, we don’t stay right on track with the time increments, but they’re just a general guide.
Attend a Homeschool Conference
If you’re new to homeschooling or even just thinking about homeschooling, homeschool conferences can be a great place to get your questions answered. You’ll be encouraged by experienced speakers, enjoy fellowship with other homeschoolers, and likely get to peruse shopping exhibits to look at curriculum in person.
My husband and I attend a local homeschool conference once a year and it always refreshes me with encouragement and inspiration to keep pressing on. There’s something special about being in a building filled with hundreds of other homeschoolers on a similar path. I highly recommend checking out a homeschool conference in your area or elsewhere to enrich your homeschooling experience.
Final Thoughts
I remember having so many questions in the beginning and wondering if I was capable of homeschooling. God has faithfully provided for our family every step of the way and I’m truly thankful for that gentle nudge I felt all those years ago.
While this isn’t an exhaustive how-to list, I pray it offers some insight and hope.
If you have any questions, I’m happy to try and answer them or point you in the right direction!
Rejoicing in Hope,
