How to Start Homeschooling 5 Things to Consider

Are you thinking about homeschooling but aren’t sure where to start? Do you need help navigating the enormous amount of information available online? Are you wondering what to do first?

Homeschooling is a great option for many families but trying to find the right information, tools, and curricula can be a little overwhelming.  Keep reading to find out what 5 things I recommend when you are considering homeschooling your children.

First Thing’s First

Learn all about the homeschool regulations in your state.

While homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, each state regulates it differently. Some states require homeschoolers to do certain things like submit a list of curricula you will be using with your child, or show attendance records, etc.  Other states require absolutely nothing from homeschoolers. Then there are all those in between that vary widely on requirements to homeschool your child.

The one organization that I have relied on during all my years of homeschooling for any information concerning the laws and regulations was the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. My family was a member of HSLDA for several of our homeschooling years. However, you do not have to be a member to access the tons of free information on their website.

For the homeschool requirements in your state, go to their main page HSLDA.org, hover your mouse over “legal” at the top, and click on “state homeschool laws”.  Click on your state on the map, and you will see the requirements for your state. You might want to print out a copy of the requirements, so you have them readily available to refer back to every now and then.

Please be sure to look around their website while you are there. There is so much information that may be helpful to you. If you are able to, I highly recommend becoming a member. It’s very affordable and they offer monthly payment plans if needed. I am not affiliated with HSLDA in any way. I just think they are a wonderful organization and a great help to homeschoolers.

Consider how long you will homeschool your children.

This is important to consider, because if you plan on sending your children back to school at some point you will want to make sure they are following a scope and sequence that at least somewhat resembles that of the public or private school they will attend in the future. You would probably want them to be at the same level as their peers, so they don’t have to repeat a grade and be behind other children their age.

Over the years I have seen some children who were homeschooled for just a year or a little longer, return to school and repeat the grade they just completed at home. This was not necessarily the fault of the parent or child, but mainly because the homeschool curricula they used did not cover as much as the school curricula, so they were a little behind the other children in their grade.

In my opinion, the longer you intend to homeschool, the more freedom you have in how you homeschool your children. For example, you won’t be tied to teach certain subjects in certain grades (unless your state requires this). Your children may have the opportunity to take a little longer with some subjects that might be harder for them. You could take a chunk of time to go in depth with a certain topic that you normally wouldn’t be able to if you had to keep up with a typical school curriculum.

Whether you intend to homeschool your children for a year or for the long haul, it’s good to decide the length of time you will teach them at home up front to help you plan out their education.

Find Other Homeschoolers.

This is good advice for you if you have already started homeschooling or are just considering it. Homeschooling is not easy and finding support from others going through the same things can be such a blessing and help. I have been a part of in-person homeschool groups and online homeschool groups. Both of which were extremely helpful.

Homeschool groups that have park days, field trips, or other educational activities or get-togethers are so wonderful. You get to hang out with some adults and your children get to play with other kids as well. I loved getting together with other families as my children didn’t only hang out with kids in their age or grade. They played with kids of all ages as there were many families with multiple children. They also learned how to converse with other adults because they were there as well. It was really a great experience.

Homeschoolers are more than happy to answer questions and make suggestions to new homeschoolers. If you happen to live in a rural area or an area where there are not many homeschoolers, try to find some likeminded people in an online group. I see many homeschool groups on social media. If you use a specific curriculum, chances are there will be a social media group geared specifically for families using that curriculum.  You can see a lot of homeschool groups in your area by going to HSLDA.org and clicking on “community”. Enter your zip code to see the ones closest to you. There might be more that aren’t listed on this website, so you may want to do a general online search as well. You can also search on your favorite social media site.

Look Over a Yearly Calendar

Get a one-page school year calendar and dream a little bit about what your homeschool schedule might look like for a whole year. (I just happen to have one for you in my free homeschool planner pages here.) Decide what days you will have school and what days you will have off from homeschool.  This helps you see the overall picture of a school year. When will you have vacation time? This, by the way, can be any time during the year since you do not have to follow a public/private school schedule. Yay! Off season vacations can be amazing! What days will you be off because of holidays?

Think about the freedom your family has or could have as homeschoolers. Of course, if you are in a state with stricter requirements you may have less choices, but there is still more liberty in your child’s/children’s education than if they are in a school.

Go ahead and cross off days you will not do school. Make sure you count the days you will have school if your state requires you to keep attendance. You will want to make sure you meet the number of days they require your child to be in school. Remember, any days your children have educational fieldtrips or learning activities would count toward their school days. I always added an extra 5-10 days in our school calendar for any unexpected happenings. We could always knock them off the end of the year or take some extra time during the year if we wanted to.

Talk to Your Children

Let your children in on this dreaming and planning if possible and, if they are old enough, ask them if there is anything special they would like to learn about in the upcoming school year. Ask them which subjects they like best and which ones they wish they didn’t have to do. They still must do them, but you may be able to figure out a way to make them dislike them a little less. Talk to them about any upcoming field trips you may be thinking about or see if they have any ideas for field trips. You may even ask for their input on the calendar mentioned above. Let them see how you are thinking about planning out the year. Try to build a little bit of excitement about the possibilities in the upcoming school year and let them see what they have to look forward to.

Let me know if this has been a help to you or if you have any questions about homeschooling.

You can leave a comment or email me at Mary@whatabouthomeschooling.com

I am not affiliated with any organization or company mentioned in this post at the time of its publication.