Beginner’s guide to homeschooling
Homeschooling is defined as educating your child at home instead of sending him or her to school.
I think it’s necessary to add that you, as the parent, take full responsibility for this education. This means that you decide when your child is ready to read and how you will teach them. What things will you include in your child’s education? Nature study, sports, books, life learning, you get to decide it all.
While, for most homeschoolers, this freedom is something we love and enjoy, for first time homeschool families this can be quite scary. What if I forget to teach them something important? What if I don’t know HOW to teach them to read? And the list of what ifs continue on and on.
It CAN be scary and intimidating to take on this role of being solely responsible for the education of your children, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are some simple steps to take to make this homeschool world a bit less scary.
First, find out the homeschool law in your state. Each state’s homeschool requirements are different, and it is important to know and understand what it is saying. You can find these on your state’s government education website. If you have access to a printer, print the requirements. Read each one. Make sure that you understand what it is asking you to do. If you are unsure, find a state specific homeschool group that advocates for homeschool rights. Another resource is the Home School Legal Defense Association site. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states but make sure you are following the law for your state.
Once you know the law in your state and you understand what is required of you, ask yourself- “Can I do this?” Can you follow what the law is asking of you? It IS possible to homeschool in all of the 50 states. Look at your family’s lifestyle, needs, and goals and see if homeschooling is something you can do.
Next, make sure that your spouse is on board with homeschooling. There are a LOT of misconceptions when it comes to homeschooling, so it’s okay to have questions.
When you are both in agreement to homeschool, write down the answer to this question- “Why do I want to homeschool?” Families have different reasons they homeschool. There are no right or wrong answers to this question. This answer will help you as you make other homeschool decisions.
Next, decide when you will start. If your child is enrolled in a school already, you will need to decide if you will wait until the end of the current school year or start now. Either way you will have to let the school know. Do NOT rely on your school system to know the protocol. You are now taking this responsibility on so do your research and find the forms that are needed and what legal steps you need to take.
Finally, it’s time to decide what you will be teaching, what curriculum you will be using. There are a lot of factors that may influence this, but the most important is how does your child learn new things now? Start making a list of ways he already learns these things. The homeschool curriculum world is huge, and it is growing every day. There are so many more options than when I started 13 years ago, and each year I find something new that I didn’t already know about. If you know how your child learns best, it’s easy to weed through the many choices.
Last, START HOMESCHOOLING!
Find a rhythm within your family that works. Tweak things to fit your life. Drop things that aren’t working. Add things just because your family loves it. Enjoy each day.
I came across a quote years ago that I write in my planner each year. It serves as a reminder to me to just do it, just homeschool scared or not, just do it. (I will give the author credit when I remember where it is I heard this quote.)
“I’ve decided that the best way to homeschool is to borrow ideas from people here and there, and then just be brave.”
Go, be brave, homeschool.