How to Start Homeschooling

If you find yourself reading this then you have thought about homeschooling and I am so glad you are here!

I bet the one question running through your mind right now is “where do I even start?”

No worries, I am here to help! First step is to take deep breaths and relax. You have made a huge decision and that wasn’t easy to make. So grab a cup of tea and settle in as we plan your next steps.

You made the decision, now what?

First, is your kiddo already enrolled in a public school? If you so you need to look up your states specific rules. For this you can google “homeschool laws in (insert state name here)” and you will be bombarded with websites. Look for the one from your state specifically. Another option is to go to hslda.org they have every state regulation on their page.

Find your style

Once you have followed your states process for unenrolling your student you are free to basically do as you please. You are free to educate your child however you see fit. You can check out my post about different homeschool styles here if you need help finding your way or need some ideas. This part isn’t actually necessary. When I first started homeschooling I didn’t know what my style was. All I knew was preschool in our local district was starting and I didn’t want to my child to go, I figured there had to be a better way.

Deschooling

The next step is deschooling. This is only for the kiddos who have attended public school. If your kids have not then you can skip to the next step. Deschooling. Let’s get into it. The idea behind deschooling. When you let your child deschool you are allowing their brains to rest and gives both of you a chance to deprogram your brains from the public school way of learning. Deschooling gives the student a chance to accept that learning can take place in many different places and situations. You can learn more about deschooling here.

Find your curriculum

Next up is the curriculum. There are so many options! I am going to warn you now, it is TOTALLY overwhelming! No joke. The options are endless and even after you find one you like it might not work for your child, or it might work for one and not another. That is the freedom of homeschooling, you can find what is the best fit for your child. Some curriculums are based around learning style and some on teaching style. There are paper curriculums, online curriculums and even free curriculums!

"Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire." -W.B. Yeats

I warned you it was overwhelming! Your best bet is to research. You can read reviews, watch YouTube reviews and do basic google searching. I want to say again it is completely normal to switch from one curriculum to another mid year or even multiple times a year. We all do it. Finding the best fit for your learner is what is most important.

Essentially that is it! Easy peasy! There are a few other things I would suggest doing but I don’t want to add them to the official stuff above because they are all about personal preference. For example, making a daily routine for yourself, your home and your children will save your sanity. You can read about mine here. Another thing I suggest is finding a co-op or a moms group. It will be vital for you to find homeschool friends. It will actually be more important for you to find like minded friends then it will be for your children to find friends.

I truly wish you luck in your endeavor and know you aren’t alone! Homeschooling is on the rise as society changes. There are more resources now than ever before. You got this!