When Bill and I decided to start homeschooling, I had so many questions and had absolutely no idea where to start. One of the greatest assets we had during that process was an amazing support system of homeschooling families at our church.
One of our friends invited us over for dinner and allowed me to pelt her with my long list of questions.
As we took the dive into the homeschool lifestyle, I made a promise to blog about what I learned in order to help other families. So, if you find yourself asking some of these same questions, I hope this list of links will help you.
1. How structured should my lesson plans be?
2. How flexible should our homeschool schedule be?
3. Is there an easy way to choose curriculum?
4. Why should I buy curriculum instead of just putting it together myself?
5. What am I supposed to do on sick days?
6. How can I teach my children to serve others?
7. How can I homeschool on a budget?
8. How do I schedule my day to get everything done?
9. Where can I find great homeschool resources?
10. How can I keep up with attendance and grades?
I had most of these questions! I wish I had seen this before I started. I am glad that our state does not require attendance. Right now we are going through Calvert, so they keep track of attendance…when I remember to log on and input it. Next year we are going to use a pieced together curriculum…not as expensive, and better Science and Social Studies, and more fun. After that I am not sure if I will keep attendance or not. I might just for myself.
It amazes me how different each state is on their homeschool requirements… or lack thereof. That definitely makes it harder on new homeschoolers when they are trying to figure out how to start.
Best of luck on building your own curriculum. I’ve tried it… I’m just not focused enough to do it well. (Or I’m just too lazy. LOL)
I have a question! How does one get started homeschooling? I have a one year old now but I’m looking ahead to the future since he will be three next fall and I’m wondering how we will ever get started with it or if I’m even capable of doing it.
Read all the books by Dr. Raymond Moore! Start with Better Late Then Early, move on to Home Grown Kids. These are wonderful foundation no matter what style of learning you are comfortable with.
Penny, you have a great page, and the questions I was asking myself last year. Thus is my first year with my second grader…but we went with
the K-12 program, but we are trying to find the right cirriculam to go on our own next year.
When I began homeschooling, we had a 5th grader, kinder., 2 preschoolers and I was pregnant and couldn’t walk. Boy, did I have questions!
Fast forward 15 years, I survived and have such a heart for new homeschoolers. I love encouraging them along their journey.
I love that you are blogging about your journey! There are many who need encouragement.
My biggest question was always “How do I teach all the kids well.”
I learned to teach thematically, write my own curriculum and to teach older kids to be independent and organized:).