Where To Start When Considering Homeschooling

If you Google 'I'm thinking about homeschooling' you might as well Google 'help I'm overwhelmed' next! At least in my experience! Here are my tips for how to simplify this process. 

1) Look at your states legal requirements first. HSLDA is the best place to do this (and join them while you're at it!)

- www.hslda.org

2) Start by learning about teaching/homeschooling styles and see what resonates with you - but keep in mind each child is different and what your preference is might not be the best fit for them so stay open minded and think about your child as you check into the styles. 

- see below

3) Read a book or two or a few blogs about each style that interests you (more on this below)

- see below

4) Consider attending a homeschool conference. They're FUN, inspiring, a bit overwhelming, incredibly helpful and did I mention FUN? 

- look for a local conference

- Wild + Free Conference (TN) is a blast and a conference for non-conference people. They don't have curriculum vendors, it's more of an inspirational experience. This group has a website and a large following on Instagram you can check out to see if it's a good fit. Learn more at: www.bewildandfree.org

- Great Homeschool Conventions are my favorite. They're HUGE and lack a used sale but oh my goodness, they're cheap to attend and soooo many amazing speakers. I went to the one in Ohio two years ago and hope to go again this year.

5) Start small. If your kids are under six basically everything is optional. Read good books, go on adventures, incorporate learning into the every day. Relax. Learn to trust yourself and your child. Don't freak out, there is no rush. 

- seriously. Play is the work of childhood. There is SO much research coming out on how rushing academics is hurting outcomes, especially for boys. Follow your child's lead.

6) Find podcasts, books and friends to talk to and bounce ideas off of as you develop your plan. 

- Your Morning Basket wish Pam Barnhill

- The Homeschool Sisters

- A Delectable Education

- Wild + Free

- The Homeschool Solutions Show

7) Be willing to change your plan, but be willing to stick with it for a little too. I once heard someone say they always tried something new for six weeks and then reevaluated. Sometimes you know immediately something just isn't going to work but sometimes you just need to wait and let the bumps smooth out a little. 

8) Have fun! If if isn't fun, it isn't working. The primary goal should be a love of learning, particularly in the early years. If anything is squashing that, do away with it. Seriously. It's not worth it. If your child loves to learn it's a success because they're going to carry that with them for the rest of their lives so make that your priority!  

More about learning/teaching styles:

Here are two great blog resources for learning about teaching styles: 

https://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/five-different-approaches-to-homeschooling/

https://pambarnhill.com/guide-to-homeschool-methods/

Books for each type I would recommend are:

Charlotte Mason: 

For the Children's sake

The outdoor life of children

Classical:

The Well Trained Mind

(this book is quite an undertaking by to get a basic understanding of it you only have to read about the first third)

Unschooling:

The 5-Hour school Week

Radical Unschooling by Dayna Martin

Homeschool adventures 

(not all of these are really good unschooling books, a lot of them are about alternative types of schooling like travel schooling or schooling primarily through field trips but I feel like there's a good but of overlap in those school choices)

Unit studies:

Looking at Five In a Row will give you a good understanding of how this type would work! 

(We have never done unit studies for the basis of our learning but it is fun to do for something fun to add an extra like a summer camp or if they are really interested in a particular topic we might do a unit study on it)

School At Home:

I'm sure there are good books on how to turn your home into a mini school but I have never read one. It's really not my style and in my opinion takes away a lot of the fun and flexibility of homeschool. This is the style I see a lot of former teachers start with but over time they tend to gravitate towards a different method.

Montessori:

The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies

Waseca reading program (we use this in conjunction with other materials and love it) (https://wasecabiomes.org/products/waseca-reading-program)

(Just be aware that Montessori is very much it's own system and while I like a lot of it it can be a bit 'cultish' and have an all or nothing feel to it which I do not think is very accurate to Maria Montessori's original work or useful for a family!)

Eclectic (my style) just takes your favorite parts from each of these and puts it together in our own way! For example we do Sonlight boxed curriculum (little classical, little Charlotte Mason), combine it with some really fun field trips with lots of outdoor time/nature study (Charlotte Mason), throw in a unit study when we find something they really love we want to look into more, and I allow lots of 'unschooling' free time for them to explore their own interests and then top it all off with Montessori reading 😂

Also highly recommend the book Steady Days for a practical how-to of organizing a day with kids. 

This blog has also been really helpful for me in organizing our days: https://amotherfarfromhome.com/

And just in case that wasn't enough, my favorite homeschooling books:

-Awaking Wonder (Clarkson)

-Teaching from Rest (Mackenzie)

-Brave Learner (Bogart)

- Homeschool Bravely (Erickson)