I’m so excited to share these 7 simple steps to start homeschooling. I’m putting an emphasis on SIMPLE because homeschooling does not have to be complicated or stressful. Homeschooling is a beautiful opportunity for your child to learn in the best way that fits their learning style and your family dynamics. I started my homeschool journey when my daughter was 4 years old because I wanted to instill a love for learning for my daughter at a young age. I knew homeschooling would be a great option for our family.
How to Homeschool Step 1:
Know Your Why
Before you begin your homeschool journey, it’s important to know why you want to homeschool. Every family has a different reason for choosing to homeschool. Take some time to write out all the benefits and opportunities that will come from homeschooling.
How to Homeschool Step 2:
Understand Legal Requirements
Each state and county has different legal requirements for homeschooling. Find more information on your state’s legal requirements HERE. These requirements typically include documentation to start homeschooling, a letter of intent to the school district, reporting, and possible assessment obligations. When you first look at the legal requirements, it might seem overwhelming, but don’t get discouraged. Some states require more documentation than others.
Tip: Join a homeschool Facebook group that is specific to your state and/or county. The families in these homeschool Facebook groups know the ins and outs of the legal requirements. So asking them can save you a lot of the extra work.
How to Homeschool Step 3:
Decide on a Homeschool Style?
Homeschooling has evolved so much over the years and there are so many different ways to homeschool. I love the variety of options for homeschooling. Here are some different styles of homeschool:
- Traditional Homeschooling: homeschool at home for a certain amount of hours per day/week.
- Hybrid Homeschooling: a combination of the child doing their academic work at home on certain days and in person with a charter/private school on other days.
- Virtual Academy: child does school from home but completes most of their work through a virtual school.
- Homeschool Co Op: meet up with other local homeschool families to achieve academic/social goals.
- Homeschooling Outside the Home: homeschool at the library and other places outside the home. There are also families that travel and utilize travel experiences as a way to meet academic/social goals.
- Homeschooling with a Private Tutor: bring in a tutor or teacher every week to assist with the academics/social goals of your child.
How to Homeschool Step 4:
Choose a Curriculum
There are so many homeschool curriculums! Some are free, some are affordable, and some are expensive. I believe that almost any curriculum can work for your family. You’ll just have to modify and adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of your child. A curriculum is important because it’s simply a guide/roadmap to what to teach your child. Select a homeschooling curriculum that aligns with your goals and your children’s learning styles. Consider using a pre-packaged curriculum or create your own by gathering resources, textbooks, online courses, and educational materials. We use the Good and the Beautiful for Preschool, PreK and Kindergarten HERE.
How to Homeschool Step 5:
Create a Daily Routine/Rhythm
Homeschooling will look different than traditional school. Your child doesn’t need to be doing academic work throughout the whole day. Develop a daily or weekly routine/rhythm that includes academics, extra curricular activities, field trips, and daily home tasks like going to the grocery store. Those daily home tasks like trips to the grocery store, the car wash, and post office are great opportunities to bond with your child. Be very flexible with the routine and have a good balance of learning time, extra curricular activities, and family time.
How to Homeschool Step 6:
Teach and Engage
It might take some time to understand your child’s learning style. Utilize hands-on activities, educational games, field trips, and multimedia resources to make learning engaging and interactive. I encourage you to be okay with trial and error when teaching your child. It’s going to take some time to figure out what works for your family. For example, maybe you realize after a couple weeks that you should switch academic time to the evenings because you’ll have additional help from your husband. Or maybe after a month of homeschooling you realize that your child does best with learning when on field trips to museums. So maybe you include field trips to museums more into your weekly routine. Be encouraged and find ways to make teaching simple and fun for yourself and your child.
How to Homeschool Step 7:
Assess Progress:
Regularly evaluate your children’s progress. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and adjust your teaching accordingly. As a homeschool family, it’s important to have a system of filing documents and assignments that your child completes. One of the reasons why I love The Good and the Beautiful curriculum is because my child can easily complete all the assignments within the curriculum book and there are assessments after the lessons, making it easy to keep track of my child’s progress.
Additional information
- Join homeschool communities and local support groups.
- Stay flexible and adaptable. The benefit of homeschooling is you can always adjust to what works best.
- Trust that your child is going to always learn everything they need with you as their teacher. You don’t need a degree in teaching to teach your child.
- Foster social skills through community events, sports, field trips, church, etc.
- There are lots of discounts you can get on learning resources and extra curricular activities since you homeschool.
I hope this was helpful as you begin your homeschool journey. Always revisit your why for homeschooling throughout your journey. You’re going to do great! Make sure you check out my blog post Free Homeschool Resources
XOXO,
The Ashley Nicole Blog
I love these tips ✨