Homeschooling

You've decided to homeschool your kid...what now? Well, the saga begins...

Some questions you may ask are: Where do I start? How do I go about it? Where do I buy the materials? Will I be shunned for it?

In my posts, I will tell you all about that, and about everything I have learned as a newbie homeschool mom. This post will be on how to get started.

For one, the first thing you want to do, is sit down and think about what you're getting into. I've learned that homeschooling has both its ups and downs, pros and cons (depending on what is important to you). What are your days normally like now? Do you have a lot of free time? Are your kids at school most of the day? Do you just make a quick breakfast for yourself and snack through the day until the whole family is home for dinner?

Your current lifestyle may very well determine whether you are built for it.

If you are used to having the day to yourself, or you go to the gym and run errands while the kids are at school, homeschooling may not be for you. If you like peace and quiet, or simply just don't have much patience, you guessed it, it's not for you. There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to be true to yourself. You have to admit and accept that other people may be better educators for your children. If all it will do is stress you and your kids out, it's not worth it.

Homeschooling may be for you if:

*You have patience with kids

*You enjoy hands-on activities

*You usually take care of cleaning and chores early on in the day

*You spend your day sitting around the house, but try to keep busy

*Your hobbies are: reading books, researching, or exploring.

So, if you feel homeschooling is for you, the first thing you want to do is join a local or statewide Homeschool association. Most of these coalitions have lawyers on speed dial and guidance/help that is openly available.

We are in Texas, so I joined the Texas Home School Coalition (https://www.thsc.org/). An old co-worker of mine recommended it, and it just so happened that they were having a conference nearby a few days after I had toyed with the idea of homeschooling. I registered as a member for a hundred bucks or so. I went to the conference and learned about the do's and don'ts. They also had a nice exhibition where they sold different homeschool material.

Once you've joined a local coalition, prepare a student withdrawal letter like this one. Hand deliver it to the school or to the administrative district offices. You can also send it through Certified Mail (the signature receipt will be sent back to you). If you hand deliver the letter, take an extra copy for yourself, and have the office staff sign and date it to confirm/acknowledge receipt. They may have a form for you to fill out as well, make sure that they give you a copy of it. I have heard that CPS (Child Protective Services) sometimes likes to butt-in when parent decide to try non-traditional schooling. Having all of this documentation will help prove that you followed the required/reasonable steps when withdrawing your child from school. Some states are different than others when it comes to acceptance of homeschooling. Here in the Lone Star state, they are fairly okay with it.

As far as researching and purchasing material. Make a list and decide what you want your child to get out of this. Are you christian/religious? If so, you can try Abeka or Rod & Staff (I recommend both, no I am not getting paid to advertise. lol). A lot of these publishers offer the full year coursework. Personally, I prefer to mix-and-match the material so you're getting different aspects and teaching methods. You can also go to your local homeschool store or bookstore and shop around. A lot of these places have free or used books at a discount. The books you use don't necessarily have to be grade or topic specific. You can use encyclopedias, and any book really. There is also a lot of free material online. There are tons of great sites with worksheets, both free and subscription based. A simple google search of "_________ kids worksheets" will get you great results, mostly printables.

These were my purchases:

Math - Rod and Staff

Science - Spectrum (workbook)

Art - Abeka

History - Pearson (workbook)

Multiple Subjects - E.D. Hirsch, Usborne Books

Online worksheets/handouts/games - Education.com, kidskonnect.com, Prodigygame.com, and Tynker.com,

After you have received/purchased your curriculum, put together a lesson plan like the one I use, and choose a course year calendar period. I googled the calendar for the closest school district, and go by their dates, including semester start and end dates, holidays, and report card periods (every 9 weeks). We are coming up on the district's "Spring Break", and boy, am I looking forward to it!

If you are not going to copy the district's calendar, decide whether you are going to issue report cards every 6 weeks, 9 weeks, every quarter, or mid year.

Keep all of the completed coursework and report cards in one place, in case anyone ever questions your competency or the curriculum. This way, they can review all of the material and know exactly what was done and when (make sure your child puts their name and the date on everything).

Summary:

1. Decide if homeschooling is for you

2. Join a local Homeschool Coalition

3. Prepare a student withdrawal letter and deliver to the school district

4. Research and purchase material that best fits your teaching style

5. Create and prepare the Lesson Plans

6. Teach!