How to Get Started Homeschooling

This Thursday's homeschool how-to post will help you figure out what you need to teach.

What you will need to teach may be set out by your state homeschooling requirements. In some states you are required to teach a "standard" curriculum. That would consist of reading, writing, math, English, American History, the history of your state and maybe civics or health. For the most part you can cover the basic material in a few hours a day. The great thing about homeschooling is that after the basics, you can really get into subjects that interest your child. For example, your child can spend lots of time reading about subjects that he is into. Or maybe spend the day at the museum or library. You can stay up late to look at the stars if astronomy is an interest. Last August, my kids and I and another family that homeschools drove out to a country road at 1:00 AM to watch the Perseid meteor shower.

But as far as the basics, here are some resources for what to teach. Most of these books can be found at your public library.

This series of books tell you what your _ grader needs to know.

http://www.exodusbooks.com/author.aspx?id=152

The Well Trained Mind tells what to teach using the classical method.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/

Worldbook gives an outline of what to teach on their website.

http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum

As kids get older there are all kinds of learning opportunities out there. They can volunteer at zoos or museums. Try searching for volunteer opportunities in your state.

Now that you know what to teach you may be wondering when am I going to teach. Next Thursday I will post about daily schedules.

Here are some more homeschool websites.

http://www.homeschooling-freedom.com/homeschooling-curriculum.html

http://www.homeschoollearning.com/resources.shtml

How To Get Started Homeschooling

This Thursday's post on beginning homeschooling focuses on the cost of homeschooling, curriculum concerns and homeschool methods, and record keeping.



The cost of homeschooling is dependant on the curriculum and materials you choose and the activities you take part in. You could spend a few thousand dollars a year to homeschool, if you choose a fancy curriculum with all the bells and whistles. On the other hand, you could put together a curriculum with local library materials and a few purchased items for a very inexpensive school year. A lot of homeschoolers go for somewhere in between.
The kind of curriculum you choose will be determined by how much you can or want to spend and also the method that you choose. That's right, there are several homeschool methods to choose from. New homeschoolers may try out a few before finding one that's comfortable. Take a look here at some of the methods used. http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/methods/Methods.htm

I recommend doing an internet or library search on these different methods of homeschooling.

Some new homeschoolers have gone out and purchased an expensive packaged curriculum and found out that it didn't really fit. Just because one is more expensive doesn't mean it will be better for your homeschool. In another post I will look at some curriculum choices by subject.

Record keeping will be something that has to be done. You will want to keep an attendance record. What records you need to keep will depend partly on your state regulations. Here are some things you will need to record...



What you have done- Keeps track of progress and is a precautionary measure in case there are any questions or complications.

Some sort of records will be needed to document the student’s work and for placement purposes should you ever need to put your child back into a group classroom situation.

As the homeschooling parent, you are responsible for keeping adequate records. You should keep a listing of the curriculum you use.You will want to keep a record of the activities done each week; this can be in the form of daily or weekly lesson plans or a journal.
Keep all tests, projects, and lab reports. Most families keep a portfolio that contains a sampling of the student’s work, including writing assignments. A simple way to collect this information is to have a file drawer, file crate, or file box for each student, with a folder for each subject.
Most families have a way to keep track of progress (grading system), whether with formal grades or informal evaluations of goals and objectives.

You can get record keeping materials at teacher supply stores or find them on the internet to be printed. I would recommend a purchased lesson plan book to keep track of what you've done.

Here are some more links to help you. There are lots of topics on these links. Spend some time exploring them.

http://www.homeschoolingresourcecenter.org/pages/HRC-GettingStarted.php#Record-Keeping

http://donnayoung.org/index.htm

http://www.homeschoolingonashoestring.com/index.html