Deciding to homeschool can be both exciting and overwhelming. Suddenly, you’re responsible for choosing curriculum, creating a schedule, understanding homeschool requirements, and figuring out how to teach your child. But you don’t have to figure everything out at once. I have a simple roadmap to help you start homeschooling without stressing.

Homeschool Requirements by State

Homeschool laws vary by state, so it is important to regularly check in with your state’s laws to see what the requirements are. Some states have very lenient laws that only require a letter to be sent to acknowledge that you are homeschooling, and some states require regular check-ins and testing.

The HSLDA is a great resource to check requirements for your state. You may need to take attendance, have strict record keeping, or teach certain required subjects.

Decide Why You Want to Homeschool

Before purchasing anything, it’s important to determine your family’s goals. Consider the following questions:

• Why are we choosing homeschooling?
• What do we want our children to experience?
• What values are important to us?
• What do we want education to look like?
• What are our biggest concerns about traditional schooling?

The answers to these questions will influence what subjects you teach, your schedule, your curriculum, and your educational philosophy.

Get to Know Your Child as a Learner

Many families choose to homeschool to optimize learning for their child. If the traditional school model is not a fit for your child’s learning style, homeschooling allows you to teach in a way that works best for your family. Some questions to think about are:

• What subjects interest your child?
• What are their strengths?
• What frustrates them?
• Do they enjoy reading?
• Do they prefer hands-on activities?
• Do they need movement?
• Do they work independently?
• How long can they comfortably focus?

The answers to these questions will help you figure out your child’s learning style.

Explore Educational Philosophies

There are 7 major styles of homeschooling or educational philosophies. Once you figure out your homeschool style, you can make decisions about curriculum, schedule, and subjects. The 7 main philosophies are: traditional textbook, Charlotte Mason, classical education, Montessori, Waldorf, unit studies, and unschooling. Many families end up using a combination of these philosophies in an eclectic style. Check out this article to see an overview of the different homeschool styles to see which one is best for you.

Choose Your Curriculum

Once you have determined your child’s learning style and your educational philosophy, you can start making decisions about curriculum. Other considerations to think about are budget, child’s age and skill level, preparation required, religious vs. secular content, digital vs. paper content, number of children in the family, and learning preferences. Don’t just choose a curriculum because that’s what everyone else uses. Choose one that will work for your family and your children. For a deeper dive into choosing curriculum, check out this article.

Start with the Basics

New homeschoolers often feel like they have to do everything. I’m personally guilty of buying way more curriculum than my kids or I could ever complete. It’s understandable to want your kids to know everything. But we cannot predict what skills our children will need to know in the future. What we can teach are basic skills like reading, math, language arts, and critical thinking. More important than filling your children with facts is teaching them how to be life-long learners.

For this reason, I suggest starting with math, reading, and language arts curriculum, then adding science, social studies, art, nature studies, and foreign languages as you fell more comfortable in your homeschooling journey. Many families choose to integrate several subjects into one study to reduce the amount of time and money spent on individual subjects.

Create a Schedule

A homeschool schedule does not need to look like a traditional school time table. You can make a daily rhythm where you have a set order of subjects you teach in a day. Another option is to make a weekly schedule where you have a list of subjects that you teach in a week. You can make a block schedule where you rotate the days that you teach different subjects. Other options are loop schedules, morning baskets, 4-day school weeks, year-round schooling, or seasonal schedules.

Consider your family’s real life to make a schedule that works for how you really live. Think about:

• What time do your children wake up?
• Do you have toddlers?
• Do you work?
• Do you attend co-op?
• Do you have extracurricular activities?
• When does your child focus best?

Build your homeschool schedule around your family’s life. Not the other way around.

Gather Your Supplies

Don’t worry, you don’t need to create a classroom in your home. While that works for some families, the reality is that most families do not have an extra room that they can dedicate to schooling. Most of our learning happens at the kitchen table or the living room floor. You will want to have some basic materials like pencils, crayons, markers, construction paper, scissors, glue, and other art supplies. Other supplies that are helpful but not necessary are a printer, laminator, manipulatives, and science supplies. It is possible to homeschool on a very small budget if that is a consideration.

Build a Community

One of the biggest misconceptions about homeschooling is that there is a lack of socialization. In my experience, homeschooled kids have much more interactions with other children of different ages. Because your children will not be at school all day, you will have more time for sports, community classes, homeschool co-ops, field trips, church groups, music lessons, library programs, and more. If you can’t find a group in your area that meets your needs, you can build one! If you are looking for a community, odds are, someone else is too.

Give Yourself Time to Adjust

The first few weeks of homeschooling may feel strange. Give yourself time to make changes and find what really works for you. At the start of your experience, you will make mistakes, you may become frustrated, and you may discover that you need to change your approach. In my 4 years of homeschooling, I have used 3 different math and 3 different language arts curriculums. It’s ok to change your mind if something is not working. In our homeschool practice, I have found it helpful to assess our progress every few months to see what is working and what is not. Your first year of homeschooling is a learning experience for you as much as it is for your child. Don’t be afraid to do things differently!

Be Flexible

Many homeschool parents can feel burnt out by trying to do too much. To avoid this, take things slow and don’t try to do everything. Limit the number of extracurriculars as you begin. To get started, begin with a simple schedule with a limited number of subjects. As you get more comfortable, you can always add more. More is not necessarily better for you or your child. Finally, homeschooling doesn’t just mean school at home. You don’t need to recreate a public school education in your home.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

If you are still feeling unsure of how to approach homeschooling, I would love to help you out. One of the hardest things about homeschooling is trying to make dozens of decisions about your child’s education at once. That is why I am now offering homeschool consultations to help narrow down those decisions for you.

This consultation will help you:

• Identify your homeschool philosophy
• Understand your child’s learning needs
• Narrow curriculum choices
• Create a realistic schedule
• Determine what subjects to prioritize
• Feel confident about getting started

Ready to get started but not sure where to begin? Learn more about my personalized homeschool consultations.

You don’t need a perfect plan to begin homeschooling. You need a starting point. Remember, we are all learning and adapting as we go. You can always make changes as you progress. If you are new to homeschooling, let me know what your biggest concerns are below. I would love to help!

Happy homeschooling, friends.