Getting Started

So, you think you want to (or need to) homeschool? There are so many options for non-traditional schooling and hundreds of sites explaining how to homeschool that you are probably feeling overwhelmed. Somehow, you found your way here. If you have questions about any of the items that follow, drop me an email.  I will answer your questions or point you to where you can find the answer.

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1. Breathe! You are not alone. You CAN do this. You do not have to have all the answers on Day 1.

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2. Do not try to re-invent the wheel.  Again, there are thousands of websites, podcasts, books, and videos on "how" to homeschool. Yes, you will probably need to modify a curriculum or change your daily schedule as you and your student adapt to homeschooling. But, you don't have to create every plan, schedule every day, and know every subject all on your own.

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3. Know the law: visit the HSLDA website to read the requirements for homeschooling in your state (or country).  Follow the laws and regulations.  Know that decades of homeschoolers fought for the right to homeschool that you are now using, and for the legislation that regulates it. If you have specific questions about homeschooling regulations in Washington, Texas, or Kentucky, please contact me.

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4. Find a "homeschool bestie". This will be the friend and fellow homeschooler that you can call when your son is failing that on-line course or your daughter hates that expensive science curriculum.  You can text about field trip ideas, share your successes, and support each other through the hard times. Bonus points if the friend is local, but living in the same town (or state) is not a requirement.  My bestie lives in different time zone!  I couldn't do this without her.

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5. Find your support structure. Social media is great for this. I am currently a member of 7 different Facebook homeschool groups and I am the owner/admin of another. You can search the web or social media for "homeschool groups in  {name of town}" and I can almost guarantee you'll find a group. Homeschool co-ops, sports leagues, and clubs are all out there just waiting for you to join.

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6. Do not try to recreate public school in your home. I've yet to find anyone who made that model work. It may be that your child needs and enjoys the structure of having math lesson for 45 minutes every day at the same time. If so, feel free to do that. Understand though, that schedules fluctuate. You may wake up with a migraine. He might have struggled with yesterday's lesson and need more time today.  She might have a sports practice on Wednesday mornings. Homeschooling affords you flexibility in schedules--you'll need it!

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7. Don't try to follow the public school curriculum at home. Even if you are only planning to homeschool for one year and then place your child back in public (or formal private) school, trying to stick exactly to the public school curriculum is a recipe for burn-out. Public school curricula are set up for a specific number of minutes to teach material to classrooms of 25-35 kids. Teachers using those curricula have trouble completing them on-time and there is little-to-no room to modify the lesson plans for each individual learner. Homeschooling gives you the freedom to combine art class with social studies (Greek history through a unit study on Greek vases) or math with science class ("Remember how we learned the quadratic formula to solve for the x intercepts of a parabola? Now we apply that to rocket launches!"). You will probably find it quite easy to exceed what is studied in public school. Even if that is not the case and your student is struggling with a lesson, you have the freedom to find a different way to explain the concept and spend more time on that.

8. Learn what kind of learner your child is. Both of my boys have learning disabilities, but their disabilities manifest in different ways.  One child struggles with understanding inferences in fiction texts. The other loves character-driven sci-fi novels.  One can memorize any math or science formula you put in front of him while the other can't remember 3 x 7 but can give you an in-depth explanation of the differences between types of stars. They both need shorter lessons, lots of movement breaks, and prefer conversational lectures over textbook reading. Maybe your lanky pre-teen feels comfortable reading while hanging half-off (or fully off!) the couch. Perhaps your child understands scientific concepts better with hands-on experiments.  You have a wealth of resources (videos, online courses, library books, podcasts, field trips, etc) at your fingertips. Find what works for your child--and keep in mind that his/her siblings might be polar opposites.

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9. A word on costs: You can spend a fortune on supplies, school desks, textbooks, out-of-the-box curricula, and on-line courses. You can also fully educate your child(ren) using the public library, public-source novels, free on-line resources, and community funded programs. If you're fortunate enough to live in an area with many tax-payer funded or privately endowed museums, those are a great educational resource. Find what works for your budget. Don't over-do it.

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