How to Start Homeschooling

You want to start homeschooling, but where do you begin? First, before you start educating your children, you need to educate yourself. This takes time, effort, thought and prayer. Nobody can give you a magic formula that will guarantee a successful homeschool journey. Each family is different, each child is different, and even the little daily decisions you make will make your homeschool one of a kind.

Here are 10 areas to consider as you begin to educate yourself and map out the "route" for your homeschool journey.

Legal Implications

Check with HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) to become familiar with homeschooling laws in your state.

What are my family values? Why do I want to homeschool? What kind of character do I want to build in my child? What academic goals (long and short term) do I have for my child? What social and/or athletic qualities to I want to encourage? When you have answered these questions write a one or two sentence statement as the foundation for your school and use it in your decision making process. Your curriculum and method may change, but your vision will be the consistent foundation.

Confidence

Once you make the decision to homeschool it will seem as though suddenly you are bombared with questions (from yourself and others) about your choice. Can you answer homeschool questions with confidence? Some common questions are:

A method (also called an approach) is the WAY you teach your child. A method will give you a framework for planning as you start your homeschool. It could be classical education, Charlotte Mason, unit studies, unschooling, or a variety of others.

Is your child primarily a visual learner? An auditory learner? Or a kinesthetic learner? It’s useful to know before you start your homeschool.

Support is crucial when you start your homeschool. Your support network of family, friends and other homeschoolers serves as a sounding board for your ideas and can provide you with new perspectives. The more support you have, the more confident you will feel about your homeschool decision.

Going to school is so “expected” in our society that it doesn’t matter if your child is 5 or 15, they are going to need to “prepare” for the homeschool journey too.

There’s A LOT out there…decide on a traditional or non-traditional approach and take into account your homeschool vision, method, and childrens’ learning styles and you’ll have an easier time.

You might be asking yourself if there is a "master list" of everything your child needs to know for each grade and to graduate.

To find out why a one size fits all scope and sequence is impossible to find, click here.

With so many choices for homeschool curriculum, how do you know how to narrow it down?

Now that you have all your new curriculum, you are anxious to start homeschooling. But first, set up a record keeping system based on your state's requirements. Are you required to keep attendance records? Test scores? Shot records? Work samples? Get a file folder or notebook organized now to make record keeping later a breeze.

Recently, a friend of mine was in tears because her youngest child is graduating high school at the end of this year. She told me, "I can't believe it's ending! I've had the time of my life!" I hope, at the end of your journey, you can say the same thing.

Leave the How to Start Homeschooling Step by Step Guide and return to the HBD Home page