How To Get Started Homeschooling

It’s overwhelming and exciting to consider homeschooling your child and it’s amazing that you are finally in a position to be able to do such a thing. You probably have a large amount of mixed emotions right now with thoughts racing through your head on what you are supposed to do next.

So I created this homeschooling guide to help you with compartmentalizing all of these thoughts into categories that are workable for you. 

So, let’s break it down in steps. You need to make some initial decisions first before even making steps.

Know the homeschooling laws

First things first, you need to know the homeschooling laws in your state, or the state that you are planning to homeschool in (if moving). Every state has different homeschooling laws, which may make it easier or more difficult depending on the state.

Some states are not hands on when it comes to how you decide to homeschool your child while other states require that you follow a certain curriculum.

Also, it may be a good idea to know the school district that you belong to based on your neighborhood because you can still utilize some of the services that the school district may offer, especially if your child has special needs.

You may also want to consider when you plan on starting homeschooling, if beginning, middle, end of school year or even the summer. In some states you have to coincide with the school year while other states are more lenient and allow you to start when it’s convenient for you.

Cost of homeschooling

Are you on a budget for homeschooling? Are you looking to homeschool as close to free as possible? 

Your state may offer some financial assistance to you if you are planning to homeschool, so you may want to look further into any and all of the benefits your state offers. However, do keep in mind that it is not a guarantee that you will receive any financial assistance for homeschooling.

The cost of homeschooling will vary depending on the curriculum that you choose for your child, the age of your child, and how many subjects you are incorporating into your curriculum. Also, it depends on if you are using workbooks, online learning, or hands-on instruction. 

You may also want to budget for any private tutors that you may have to hire to teach subjects that are more challenging. 

Homeschooling Portfolio 

In some states, it is required that you maintain a homeschooling portfolio that consists of grades and progress in each subject based on quarters of the school year. In other states, there are no requirements for this and you can keep track of your kids' grades in any form that you desire. 

Teaching Methods

There are a few different teaching methods that you can choose from, and you may want to alternate them depending on the subject being taught. Do you know how your child learns best?

Here are the 3 main types of learners

1. Visual

2. Auditory

3. Kinesthetic 

The best way to figure out what type of learning style your child is with retaining information is to try all of the learning styles in the subjects that you are planning on teaching them. You will know which style is best if they are retaining the information best through that method of teaching. This is where you would want to take note of each subject.

Though it may seem like your child learned a foreign language best visually it is best to try the other methods of teaching for other subjects. This is because math may be best taught to them through auditory than visual or vice versa. Ensure that you try different methods for each subject to see what’s best for your kid.

Curriculum

What about lesson plans?

If you are purchasing a curriculum, then you will have lesson plans included with the curriculum. You can also create your own lesson plans if you aren’t satisfied with the ones that are provided to you, especially if you want to incorporate something specific into the curriculum.

Core Subjects and Special Subjects/ Curriculum Building

There are the basic core subjects that are highly recommended to teach to your child, which include reading, writing, math, and language arts. In some states these are requirements that need to be maintained through a portfolio. 

Since you are homeschooling you can add in special subjects like religion, science, art, music, anything you want.

It would be a good habit to keep track of your child’s progress through their subjects regardless if it is required by the state. Keeping track of their progress allows you the space to adjust the curriculum as needed for the following school year.

As a side note - it is recommended that you are consistent with your curriculum throughout the entire school year and try not to switch it up. It can make things confusing for your child and it will be more difficult to measure their progress.

How do you know which curriculum to choose?

As far as curriculum’s go - there are so many options out there. You can do online learning, traditional textbooks, hands-on learning, etc. The kind that you choose really depends on the reason why you started homeschooling from the beginning. 

So, I suggest going back to the beginning and exploring why you want to do homeschooling. Was it to introduce the bible into your child’s curriculum? Was it because your child has special needs? Figuring out your “why” will help you figure out which curriculum to choose. 

How to find the right curriculum for you?

So, you’ve settled on why you are doing homeschooling and what you want out of it. Now, time to do some research.

1. Homeschool support groups (locally or virtually)

These are usually found on social media groups, especially Facebook, but you may have some luck at your local library or even your school district may have some resources for you.

2. Homeschool conventions (virtual or in-person)

This is a good chance to get further information about different curriculums at a venue and meet different vendors to ask further questions in-person. You can look these up to find one near you.

3. Create your own curriculum (if you are up for the challenge and have experience in this area), but there are so many that have already been created that it may be easier to just use what’s created.

Plan Your Homeschool Year

Now that you have a curriculum you need to build a schedule around all of the information that you have. There are some important decisions that need to be made that are influenced by your child’s learning style.

 

I know this task is probably the most exhausting because it involves an entire year of planning, but let me stop that thought right there. You’re basically building a tentative framework for the school year. It would be beneficial to get a binder to keep track of everything.

You should keep track of their progress in each subject being taught, grades, etc. The easiest way to keep track of your child’s progress is by documenting it on a daily basis and by providing them with tests/quizzes on the subjects being taught.  

Making A Schedule

The cool thing about making a schedule is that it can include other blocks of time that you can shift around, while still maintaining the to-do list of the top goals that you need to accomplish for the day. 

For example, you may move around the time block for chores if you have an appointment scheduled that afternoon. Or you may decide to homeschool in the afternoon today because the kids slept in a little bit after staying up late the night before.

You may choose to only homeschool 3-4 hours a day 3-4 times a week, or you may go for all 5 days. It really depends on how many subjects are included and the age of the child. This is also dependent on whether you are also working or staying home full time to care for the children. Those schedules would look very different from each other.

At the end of the day you need to create a schedule that works for your family and incorporates all subjects while also including time to take care of the home, scheduled appointments, and enrichment for the entire family.

Set A Goal

I mentioned earlier how setting a top daily goal is important, but I should’ve emphasized how important a top 3 daily goal is even more useful. This is because you are only human and are not always able to accomplish all of your goals every single day.

However, setting a goal for just 3 things that are the highest priority and then if the other tasks on your list get completed, then that’s great. The whole point of it is to not burden yourself with a laundry long to-do list.

Also, set some long term goals for your homeschool as well. What is something you want to have accomplished by the end of the school year?

Letter of Intent

You now have all of your tasks situated. So, to officially begin the homeschooling process legally you will need to file a letter of intent with your local board of education. They may ask for more information from you, such as your curriculum or book list for the school year, so be prepared. This is why this is the last step because you will already have your ducks in order.

And that’s it! Once the board of education acknowledges your letter of intent you are officially a homeschooler. If there is any further information that your board needs they will contact you. Again, this may vary by the state, so ask questions along your journey.