Getting Started

Now that you’ve decided to take the leap, where do you even begin? It can feel very overwhelming, especially if you’ve always had your kids in school where you are told what they’ll be learning, what books they need to read, and when tasks need to be completed. The first thing you need to do is take a deep breath, ask God for wisdom and direction and remind yourself that these are YOUR kids. You have been caring for them, raising them up, TEACHING them new things their whole lives! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

If you are choosing to homeschool after having your kids in school, or if you are starting from the beginning with a student just coming into school age, there are some things you might want to consider.

1) Homeschool requirements in your state. I would say the first step in this whole thing is to familiarize yourself with the homeschool laws in your state. They can vary greatly from state to state but a wonderful resource and place to start is the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Their website www.hslda.org has everything you need for whichever state you live in. You will find the age at which you are required to enroll your kids in school, how to open your homeschool (submitting a Letter of Intent), what is required for your annual evaluation (how you show progress), and really, anything else that you might have questions about!

2) Cost. Homeschooling definitely requires sacrifice, but let me tell you, it is so worth it! I could say that the experience of homeschooling is absolutely priceless, and that would be true, but it does come with some literal expenses. These expenses vary greatly and depend on a variety of things and there are lots of ways to cut costs. For instance, if you choose to use a brand new box curriculum, you are obviously going to spend more than if you choose to buy used books. With a little creativity (and maybe a bit more effort on the front end) there are ways to find lessons, educational experiences & even curriculum at minimal cost. We will often take advantage of our library, borrow from friends or use online resources and just that saves quite a bit!

Another expense that comes with homeschooling actually has nothing to do with “home” but taking advantage of the freedom to get out! Obviously, field trips and classes at various places (museums, aquariums or art centers) are not usually free of charge. We incorporate these things into our annual homeschool budget and I really try to stick with it! I say “try” because I’m telling you, there is so much available to homeschoolers that it’s really easy to get sucked into wanting to take advantage of every cool opportunity that comes up! For my sanity and our bank account, we do have to limit some of those organized learning opportunities and field trips.

3) Homeschool Approach & Curriculum Next, you’ll want to take a realistic look at what you want your homeschool to look like, and by that I don’t mean the physical space, but your approach to teaching. And, I say realistic because there have been times that I have found myself wanting to make our homeschool look like someone else’s or do all of the things that I read in somebody’s blog when the reality was that my personality or my kids’ personalities and learning styles were in complete contradiction with what I was trying to replicate! You can’t copy someone else’s homeschool style and you certainly can’t copy the classroom you may have seen when your kids were in school.

There are so many different styles of homeschooling from school-at-home (this usually means a pretty structured schedule & the use of an all inclusive, open & go curriculum) to Unschooling (which can have a million different definitions, but is typically student/interest led learning) and everything in between! So which is the best? In my opinion, the best approach is the one (or combination of) that works best for your family. Every style (I’ll touch on those in a later post) has strengths & weaknesses, pros & cons. Our homeschool falls somewhere in the middle of all of it, which some would call Eclectic. We use a variety of different types of materials and we love the freedom of doing what we want when we want to do it along with learning in places that wouldn’t typically be thought of as a “classroom” (or doing our lessons in our pajamas!). I often say we use a hodgepodge style of curriculum and you will find there are materials or curriculum to match nearly any approach you decide on.

Once you have a general idea of what you think your homeschool style will look like, you can start perusing through curriculum/materials. I’ll share our curriculum choices for the different grades in a future post. Be prepared, though, that just as in parenting, once you think you have your homeschool figured out, you will likely find that you’ll need to modify or adjust, and that’s perfectly fine! Your kiddos will be learning and right alongside of them, you will be learning as well!