Free Beginners Guide to Home Schooling Your Children

Homeschooling, A Beginners Guide
By Camilla Ricketts

Part 1...

If you have made the decision to homeschool your children you may be overwhelmed with everything you feel you have to do to get started. Relax, homeschooling can be relatively stress free and completely enjoyable. The interaction you have with your children and relationships you build will last a lifetime.

Homeschooling is legal in al fifty states. It is a viable alternative to public schooling no matter what your reasons for deciding to homeschool. In this series of articles you will be guided step by step through the basics of beginning to homeschool. Including information on:

• Homeschooling Laws
• Researching Curriculum
• Creating a Curriculum
• Getting Organized
• Changing your Mindset
• Getting Encouragement
• Gaining Confidence
• Going your Own Way

First, you must research the homeschooling laws in your state. Every state has different requirements of homeschoolers. Some require that you register with the local school system and have yearly testing. Others require documentation on lesson plans and course studies. You want to make sure you follow the laws of your state. You can visit your state Department of Education web site or The Home School Legal Defense Association at hslda.org for a summary of all fifty states homeschooling laws.

I would not recommend contacting your local school department. They usually are not well versed in homeschooling statutes and may give you misinformation unintentionally. Make sure your information comes from a reputable source and prepare to follow the requirements of your state.

Part 2...

Choosing a homeschool curriculum can be a daunting task. Breaking it down into more manageable steps can make the process easier.

First, investigate what type of learning style best suits your child. Are your children hands-on "kinesthetic" learners or are they visual learners? Ldpride.net has simple explanations of the different styles of learning. Deciding what learning style works best for your children will help guide your curriculum search.

Another important factor in your search for a homeschool curriculum is cost. Your budget for homeschooling will greatly impact your choices. The cost of a homeschool curriculum can vary greatly and it is worth comparing different programs. Some programs offer quite a bit for your money, others seem to be a lot of pretty packaging. Some companies will send sample materials for your consideration.

One more very important aspect to consider is your own personality. If you are a "relaxed" and "come-what-may" kind of person, a highly structured curriculum may not work well for you. Be honest in your evaluation of your personality. Homeschooling curriculum can be quite a considerable investment. Don't buy a highly structured program only because you have good intentions of following it. You and your children will suffer.

Talk to other homeschool parents. Visit homeschool forums. See what other people are using and ask what they like and possibly dislike about the curriculum.

Pick a curriculum that is suitable for your personality, your budget and your children's learning style and your homeschooling journey will be off to a good start.

Part 3...

In Part two of this series of articles we covered choosing a curriculum. In this article we will explore the idea of creating a curriculum tailor made for your children.

Homeschooling gives you and your children a lot of freedom. Freedom to choose how and in some ways what to teach. As was stated in our first article you must stay within your state requirements, but otherwise you are free to let your imagination take flight.

To begin, I recommend you download a copy of your state academic standards. When beginning to homeschool it is nice to have an idea of what is being taught in the public schools. Now please, don't misunderstand my intentions. As a homeschooler I do not endorse all of the public school curriculum. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Take what is good for your family and leave the rest. You have the freedom to choose.

Using the academic standards as a guide, you have a big picture idea of what direction you can take in the education of your children. You can download the standards for each subject and then explore the different options for covering the material.

Obviously your local library is a great source for material. Talk to your research librarian. Explain that you are homeschooling, what subjects you are covering for the week or month and she(or he) will point you in the right direction.

The internet is another great source of material. Check out the Google Directory for reference and education. The sites listed there are very helpful.

My favorite sites for lesson ideas:

• 42explore.com
• Dicscoverychannel.com
• brainyhistory.com
• mathman.com
• coolmath.com
• history.com

Subscribe to educational magazines. Check out the local library to see what magazines would best suit your family's needs. Zoo books, National Geographic, US World Reports, the possibilities are endless. A benefit to having the magazines about, you always have material for notebooking and collages.

There are thousands of ways to homeschool your children. Taking the time to be creative with your lessons will benefit your children so much and its fun too.

Part 4...

For the homeschooling parent, organization is never ending. There are thousands of ways to organize your lessons, your schoolroom, your schedule, your materials…..

The best advice I can give about organization is keep it simple. If you have a complicated, color coded, alphabetical, by subject, per child filling system that takes ten minutes per paper to catalogue you are not going to follow through. A spread sheet works great.

Use plastic tubs to store each child’s school materials and have lots of paper, pencils glue and crayons. Buy notebooks by the gross, you will use a million of them.

Organizing lesson plans can be as simple as using a colored folder for each child. Print each weeks assignments and divide the subjects with different colored paper. Personally, I print the assignments for each week and staple each day separately. I was taking way too much time hole punching all of the lessons to make up folders. Now we just staple each days lessons together and they take that days lessons out of the folder.

Finding the best method of organization for your homeschool is trial and error. Try something for a while, if it isn’t working rethink the problem and try something else. Get your kids involved. If they think up an idea they’re more likely to try it.

Part 5...

Change your Mindset. What is your idea of school? Must you stand before a blackboard and lecture? Homeschooling doesn't have to be that way.

When you begin homeschooling you quickly realize the idea of “school” doesn’t have to be like the public school system.

Children have the capacity to learn from all kinds of things. Home Economics can be learning how to keep up the house, doing laundry or cooking with Grandma. Study science by creating a backyard habitat.

Start a family newsletter and let your kids be the editors. Act as if its a busy newspaper. They will learn to work on a deadline and also how to delegate. Brainstorm story ideas and encourage them to interview friends and family.

Art appreciation, take a trip to a local art gallery or pottery shop. Talk to the artists.

Sign them up for music lessons or take a trip to a broadway style show. Most cities have a community theatre. Your children may even want to participate in a play.

Physical Education can be karate lessons, boxing class or any other organized sport. Check out the local boys and girls club or YMCA.

Math at the grocery store? Absolutely! Calculate how much an item costs per ounce, or the price difference between the name brand and the store brand.

Learning opportunities are everywhere, everyday.

Part 6...

People have many different reasons for homeschooling their children. Whatever your reason you are not alone.

Make sure you get in touch with other homeschooling families in your area. Finding encouragement in homeschooling is pretty easy. Reach out to area homeschoolers. They are usually warm, welcoming people who will encourage you in your homeschool journey.

Join a homeschool group. Many groups meet frequently and plan field trips and other fun activities. Homeschool groups are also starting to form sports teams your children can participate in. Some even have tournaments open to all teams.

Extra curricular activities don’t have to be sponsored by the public school system. Our local park and recreation department has soccer, baseball, hockey, basketball, cheerleading, and all kinds of activities for everyone. Homeschooled and public school kids all participate together.

A lot of local community centers offer classes and activities for kids too. Check out your local YMCA for even more things for your kids to do.

The internet also offers lots of encouragement. Join a homeschool forum or bulletin board group. You can find curriculum ideas, sympathy and encouragement on these boards most of the time. Very infrequently someone posts something negative, but I've found that it is rare.

Homeschooling does not mean isolation. Connect with other homeschoolers and have fun.

Part 7...

When you first begin homeschooling you tend to worry about the small things. Is this curriculum right for your kids? Are you teaching enough? What are people thinking? How do I answer questions?

If the curriculum is interesting and stirs a desire for you children to investigate and learn then yes, your curriculum is working. If it isn't, change it. You can change one part of the curriculum or scrap the entire thing and start over. The important thing is what works for you.

A lot of homeschoolers worry they aren't teaching enough. Usually, it's because their kids are finished with school work in "x" number of hours. When you think about it, how much time do public school kids really spend on actual work? They are socializing, changing classes, going to gym, lunch, assemblies, and study hall. How much time do you need? As much or as little as it takes to finish the lessons for the day.

As for what people are thinking, who cares? They are your children. If people think you're strange for homeschooling, so what. I embrace being different. I don't want to be like everyone else, and I don't want my children to aspire to be like everyone else. Celebrate your differences and show your children how to enjoy the differences in people.

When I'm asked why I homeschool I usually answer "Because it's my choice". Most people that I've come in contact with are supportive of homeschooling. Occasionally I run into someone who wants to question my choice. Most of these people don't understand what homeschooling is or are just plain nosy. I try to very politely excuse myself from those situations. Very rarely you may run into someone who is vehemently opposed to homeschooling. If this situation arises just state that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and leave it at that. Your job is to educate your children not the masses.

As you continue on your homeschool journey you will begin to gain confidence. Not that you won't ever have doubts. Everyone does. Try to focus on what is going right instead of what may be going wrong. When you realize that everyone homeschools differently you begin to understand that you can't compare yourself to the Jones family down the street. Don't compare your family homeschool to others. What works for you may not work for someone else.

As you become more experienced in homeschooling your style of teaching, your lesson plans, and lots of other things will evolve. As you gain confidence you may find it easier to go your own way. All of us are individuals and we all do things differently. Doing your own thing gets easier with time.

I hope these articles have given you some ideas on how to start your family on the journey of homeschooling.

Just remember, relax! There is no wrong or right way to homeschool. Only what’s right for you and your family.

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