Today I’m going to share a little about how to start homeschooling. If you want to start homeschooling, but you’re not sure where to start, this blog post is for you. If you’re an experienced homeschooler, then you may get a few ideas or reminders of things that could be worthwhile.
Disclaimer: My daughter will be kindergarten-aged in the Fall, and will most likely be receiving services so I will have to begin formal reporting at that time. That means that this post is based on what I’ve learned along the way and will likely be skewed towards New York State’s regulations and guidelines versus a more lenient state’s way of doing things. Please do your own research to confirm that this advice will work for your state and school district.
Why do you want to homeschool?
I know, I know. I promised a post on how to start homeschooling but I’m asking you why you want to start instead of beginning with a how-to guide, but I promise this is important.
So you want to start homeschooling, but why? Are you doing it to incorporate religion into your child’s education and ensure they learn about creationism? Maybe you’re worried about the potential for bullying or violence in schools? Perhaps your children are unable to attend public school because they haven’t been vaccinated? Or maybe you feel like you’d be a better educator for your children than the school due to your love, knowledge, or experience? I’m not here to judge you for your reason, but I’d like you to keep it in mind throughout the process.
You could write the reason down or do an exercise to find your core belief that really drives your desire to homeschool (peeling back the layers, aka continually ask yourself why – why do I want to homeschool? Why do I feel that it’s important to incorporate religion? Why do I feel…). When you start to homeschool, things may get hard immediately or sometime in the future. If you’ve never homeschooled before, then, well, you’ve never homeschooled before. You’re doing this for the first time so there will likely be challenges. Hold onto your reason for homeschooling or your core belief as a way to help you push through any challenges. Here’s mine!
Are you prepared to handle/ take over your child or children’s education?
Although some states have more lenient regulations and will allow you to have other people educate your kids, other states may require the parent to provide the majority of the education. New York allows you to outsource 100% of the education of your kids, but the majority of the hours cannot be in a group of unrelated students (creating an illegal micro school). Children are allowed to attend co-ops for 49% of the time or less. New York also requires a large number of hours and specific subjects. If your state requires the parent to provide the majority of the education, you will need to be able to take the time to educate and guide your children. It’s important to know your responsibilities up front. I’ve heard of many parents that are employed full-time and also homeschool their children without outsourcing, but I’m not sure how it’s done. I work part time from home so I recognize challenges that come with working and homeschooling, though I believe it gets easier as your children get older and can do more independent learning.
Either way, once you make the decision to homeschool your child, commit to it. Appreciate that you have the opportunity and recognize that you will control your child’s education. But also recognize that you may decide to change your mind in the future and that’s okay. You know what’s best for your child and your family, and you have permission to choose to homeschool or not homeschool based on whatever factors you have in your life.
Step 1: Check the regulations
As I mentioned earlier, I live in New York State, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), New York is one of four highly regulated states for homeschooling (Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are the other three). Click that link to find info on the laws in your state – or click here for some international information.
I recommend that you check out HSLDA first to get an idea of the laws for your state, but then go directly to the source and find out the regulations from the state website. Here is New York’s site with links to the regulations and to a Q&A. The regulations can be extensive, depending on your state, so I created a Trello board for my personal use with the pertinent details and links to find out the rest when I need it in the future. (Tip: if you do this, make sure you note the date that you accessed the regulations so you can make sure things are up-to-date before you quote them or submit any paperwork.) Personally, I also contacted my district directly after reading through the state regulations to find out if they had any specific policies in place. It’s not a necessity, but I found it helpful to get clarification since the state says that some things are to be determined by the district (such as participation in extracurriculars activities and loaning out textbooks and other materials), though I’ve been told that few districts in New York allow either.
Once you know the regulations, follow them. If you need to submit a notice of intent, make sure you do by the deadline. Individualized Home Instruction Plans and Quarterly Reports should be submitted as required. Follow the subject, tracking, and reporting regulations, and although it’s not required, I plan to submit anything required a week early when possible to ensure that everything is received on time. I’ll admit it… I’m very good at procrastinating so this would be my way of being proactive and avoid spiraling into procrastination. Theoretically, I also think that submitting things early may make the district more likely to help when I have questions regarding my daughter’s services. Despite my plans, in New York, you’re required to submit paperwork by the due date that you establish on your IHIP, not sooner.
Note: no matter what state you live in, you should consider getting a membership to HSLDA. This is not an affiliate link and as I write, I’m still considering this for my family when I have to start reporting. As a member, you can receive “reliable answers to any legal question about your homeschool; full representation through letters, phone calls, and even in court; 24/7 hotline for legal emergencies; and state-specific legal forms.”
Step 2: Determine your children’s learning styles and your teaching style
Here’s the thing… if you attended public/private school, or if you went to college, you’ve probably noticed how no two teachers teach in exactly the same way. Each teacher or professor has their own style, and so will you! But just as there are many styles of teaching, there are a variety of learning styles as well. I like to think of the senses, but it can be even more extensive than that.
- Auditory – best learns from hearing the material, the spoken word
- Visual – best learns by seeing the material, reading or demonstrated
- Tactile (or kinesthetic) – best learns by touching, feeling, doing
- Teaching – although I’ve never really seen this mentioned, I learn best by teaching. I might not understand a concept, but by flipping it to teach someone else, I learn as well.
With each of these learning styles and the others out there (you’ll find some great resources if you Google “learning styles”), it can be helpful to focus on multiple styles. A knight wouldn’t fight with only a sword just because it’s his best weapon; he’d also have a shield and other armor for more success. Our children will have more success learning if we allow them to learn through multiple styles.
But this means we may have to alter our teaching style to match our children’s learning style. A lecture might not be the most effective way to teach a kinesthetic learner and a hike might not be the best style for a visual learner that is more focused on the written word. Make sure to focus on your children’s learning styles, but add in other styles to encourage better understanding.
Step 3: Which homeschooling method?
You know teaching and learning styles, now you can see which homeschooling method would work best for your family (and fulfill those fun state regulations). This is what I was referring to earlier about the time to educate and guide your children. There are a lot of styles here too, each requiring a different amount of time from the parent. These are the main ones I’ve seen:
- School at Home – basically you took your child out of school to give them the school experience at home. Many boxed curriculums fit this method.
- Unschooling – this is the opposite of school at home. You have no curriculum or tests. You follow your children’s natural curiosities and teach based on their interests (following only this method might be challenging in highly regulated states that have specific subject requirement, but it is doable as evidenced by a variety of New York unschooling Facebook groups that can help if you want to go in this direction).
- Charlotte Mason – focuses on living books, time spent outdoors, and individual exploration
- Unit Study – choose topics based on your children’s interests and build (or buy) units around them. The unit would likely include math, science, writing, literature, and more
If none of those (or the multitude of others) appeal to you (or if all of them appeal to you!), you are allowed to test out styles to see what works or doesn’t work, or just choose to be eclectic and use multiple styles. Again – you do you. Choose whatever is best for your family and allows you to follow the regulations.
Step 4: What curriculum will you use?
There are many boxed curriculums for homeschooling, many homeschool parents creating and sharing unit studies, and many other resources out there. Pick what you need and don’t be afraid to be even more picky and only use part of a curriculum or resource if you don’t need all of it. You can change curriculums at any time if they don’t work for your family or make your own. Just ensure you are covering any subjects necessary for your state. Even if you do choose a specific homeschooling method, I’d encourage you to include some child-led learning. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can cater to your child’s interests when that can be difficult for a typical school teacher to do when they have so many students in the classroom.
Step 5: Additional considerations for how to start homeschooling
Although New York doesn’t require that parents hand in attendance records, we’re required to have them in case requested by the superintendent. Other states may require these records so it’s best to track either way.
How are you going to plan your homeschool day, week, year? What are you going to use to track hours, days, topics learned? How will you monitor progress and ensure you’re following the regulations and will complete things when you plan to? How often will you allow yourself to adjust or change up your homeschooling routine, add or change curriculum or methods?
What are your plans for getting outside, getting exercise, meeting other people? How will you ensure your child is learning socially and emotionally? What road trips or field trips do you want to do? How can you incorporate learning into your days outside of “the classroom”?
That’s a lot
I know, right? There are a lot of things to consider when you’re figuring out how to start homeschooling (that’s why it’s super-important to be clear on why you want to homeschool!). Luckily you don’t need to know everything right at the start. Even more luckily there are tons of other homeschooling parents out there who can help you out!
If you Google homeschooling in your state, you’ll likely find bloggers that love to answer questions and share their experiences, along with homeschool conventions, co-op groups, and other resources specific to your area. As mentioned earlier regarding unschooling, there are tons of homeschooling groups on Facebook – general groups, ones for a specific method or curriculum creator, groups for your town/county/state, and ones created by bloggers with resources. There are also groups off-Facebook that you can visit to ask questions (including the one for Homeschool Mom Summits that has a Summer Summit coming up June 24-28, 2024!)
What else are you wondering about how to start homeschooling? Comment below 👇🏻 and sign up for my newsletter and I promise to answer or ask my more experienced homeschool friends to help!
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