How to get Started Homeschooling your kids!

A wonderful homeschool friend showed them article and told me to share it with anyone else I know who could use it so going to pass it on to my blog readers.   Good article.  

By Netanya Hoffman

The idea of homeschooling your children may be a daunting task. But once you've made the decision that homeschooling is right for your child and for your family, here's how to get started.

The first thing you need to do when you want to start homeschooling your children is to find out the home schooling requirements and laws of your state or region. You can find the laws and home schooling requirements of your state at the HSLDA's Web site.

Next you'll need to do research on homeschooling. Your local library is a wealth of home schooling resources. Other parents who homeschool their children will be an invaluable resource to you as you take on the home schooling challenge. While homeschooling will require a great deal of amount of work on your part, you can make the burden easier by pooling home schooling resources with other homeschoolers in your area and finding out what has already been successful for seasoned homeschool parents who have been doing this for longer than you have. Look online for support groups, blogs and forums where you can collaborate and brainstorm with like-minded homeschoolers.

When you first decide to start homeschooling you're going to have to come up with a homeschool curriculum. Of course, your homeschool curriculum will depend on the grade level of your child. You'll need to incorporate reading, writing, math, science, social studies, geography, and history. For a well-rounded education, you'll want to include things like arts and crafts and music in your homeschool curriculum, and don't forget your child's physical education! Keep in mind that different children have different learning styles. If your child is a visual learner, you may want to use pictures, movies and slides in your teaching. If your child is an auditory learner, music and rhythm will help her or him connect better to your homeschool curriculum. If s/he is a tactile learner, try to incorporate more hands-on lessons that involve writing, drawing, building, creating and moving around.

If you want to school at home, you're going to have to set a daily schedule for your child or children, much like a regular school day if they were in a classroom setting. Planning a beginning and ending time to each activity is important, whether you decide to schedule specific subjects at specific times or just block off general time slots for "academics," "hands-on projects," etc. Don't forget to schedule in time for snack, lunch, and recess! You'll want to schedule the "three Rs" (reading, writing and 'rithmetic) when your kids are most alert. You can leave crafts and projects for the afternoon when they're running out of steam and have a harder time focusing on facts and figures.

Simultaneously homeschooling children of different ages and grade levels can become something of a juggling routine. This is where a schedule becomes particularly essential. Make sure that when one child needs individual attention, you have an independent assignment scheduled for the other ones to work on. Keep in mind that you're going to have to be flexible when you school at home. You may have to rearrange the schedule several times until you find one that works for your family.

Set up a space in your home that is just for homeschooling. It should be quiet, with few distractions. While homeschooling can be done anywhere from the couch to the floor, you might find that a classroom environment with a table and chairs will be create more of a learning environment and will be more conducive to your child's concentration.

Stock up on teaching supplies and homeschooling materials before you start homeschooling and keep everything organized in its designated spot so you don't have to run around searching for it in the middle of a lesson. Hygloss Products is a great resource for all kinds of supplies, from colored paper, poster board and scissors for crafts to science kits, counters, flash cards and everything in between.

An essential part of home schooling that you might have overlooked is the necessity of keeping records of your child's progress. There are several ways you can go about this. You can purchase a record-keeping system to keep track of exactly what your child is learning. You can keep a portfolio of your child's work. You and/or your child can keep a journal of what s/he has learned and accomplished, as well as memorable events and activities that have happened throughout the homeschooling year. Finally, you can jot down lesson plans, projects and activities in your daily planner and then go through it several times a year and write up a summary of the lessons and subjects you've covered.

There is no "right" way to homeschool your children. There are many homeschooling methods, such as the Charlotte Mason Method, the "Traditional" School-at-Home Method, the Classical Education Method, the Montessori Method, the Waldorf Method, and others. You'll need to do some research to find out which homeschooling method fits best with your philosophies, your routines, and your children's personalities and learning styles.

Homeschooling your children takes real commitment. You have to be motivated to get the ball rolling. But once you learn how to homeschool, you'll see for yourself how rewarding it is. Both in terms of your children's education and in terms of maximizing the time you spend with them, you'll see that home schooling your children is worth every bit of effort you put into it.