Home educating a
child is hugely rewarding, and you can educate your child better than
anyone else! If you're like me, you may want to educate yourself before you begin.
Some issues to consider are cost, time commitment, curriculum choice,
supplies, location in the home, schedule, discipline, and your child’s
abilities, interests, and academic level. Perhaps the greatest
question to ask yourself is “why do I want to homeschool?” How you
answer that question will determine much about how you will begin and
the methods you will follow.
During your homeschooling
journey, you'll meet many fellow travelers. It helps to have friends and resources. Here are
a few ideas to get you started on your homeschooling journey:
What if my child is
currently in public school?
You should write a letter to your child's
school officially withdrawing them to avoid difficulties. You are not
legally required to contact the school district, but the chances are
very high that you will receive a visit from an attendance officer if
you simply remove your child. There’s a
sample withdrawal letter on the Texas Home School Coalition website’s Getting Started page:
http://www.thsc.org/Getting_Started/default.asp
Also, info on withdrawing a child on their FAQ
page:
www.thsc.org/FAQ/GSFAQs.asp#Enrolled
You don’t have to show the school anything as
far as curriculum. And it’s against the law for them to try to force you
to show them your curriculum, let them approve your curriculum, sign
anything about it or allow them to visit or enter your home.
You simply have to say that you are teaching the required subjects in a
bona fide manner. (See
"What do I have to Teach?" below.) Whether or
not you use a canned curriculum, create your own, pick and choose, or
even unschool is up to you as the parent.
If I'm homeschooling in Texas, what
do I have to teach?
In order to be a legitimate home school in the state of Texas, you must
have a curriculum which teaches reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics
and a study of good citizenship. Additionally, you must pursue that
curriculum in a bona fide manner. You can use a complete
curriculum, gather from different sources, or develop your own
curriculum.
Where can I
find homeschooling ideas?
Take time to read!
One of my favorite books is Things We Wish We'd Known
by Bill and Diana Waring. In fact, I wish I had known about it and
read it before I started homeschooing! It contains 50 short essays
by veteran homeschoolers. They're short enough to read in a few
minutes, are incredibly inspiring, and can help you decide what your
style of homeschooling will be. I could have avoided several
missteps by reading this book first!
Books such as Homeschooling for Dummies
(hey, with a title like that, I knew it was meant for me!!!), The
Well-Trained Mind, A Charlotte Mason Education, You Can
Teach Your Child Successfully, and many, many more, are
indispensable tools if you're a research-oriented person as I am.
Ask homeschooling friends for recommendations.
Where can I find out what's available in Lubbock?
Lubbock Homeschool News is an informational
group -- we specialize in letting everyone know what classes, tutors,
sports, etc., and support groups are out there. Join the
LHN Yahoo
group to
keep current on mailing regarding class changes, sports notices, special
events and such.
Where can I find advice and fellowship?
Join a support group and make
homeschool connections as discussed above. It's nice to share with
adults and get a jump on stress and burnout -- especially while your
kids are burning off energy playing at a park!
Join your local and state support groups,
participate in local homeschool events, and talk with veterans who can
show you the ropes. Our homeschool support group listing is a good place
to start.
It's also good to join the Texas Home School
Coalition (THSC -
www.thsc.org) because they offer
lots of legal advice and will help you if you have legal problems, plus
give you teacher and student IDs you can use for discounts at stores
like Staples, Barnes and Noble, and Office Max.
The
Homeschool Legal Defense Association is a national-level homeschool
organization that offers legal defense, used curriculum boards, etc.
How can I find a curriculum that fits my student?
Mardel Bookstore has a homeschool section
that you can browse through, but
technically, you don't have to have use a commercial curriculum -- just collect your own
as you decide which style of homeschooling fits you. There's traditional
homeschooling with Abeka, Sonlight, Bob Jones... Computer-aided
traditional, such as K12.com. Computer-only, such as Switched On
Schoolhouse by Alpha Omega, etc.
Or gather your own curriculum, as in The Well
Trained Mind by Susan Bauer (traditional classical homeschooling).
Unschooling, which is a laid-back life lessons and living books
schooling ala Charlotte Mason... The best thing is to ask moms what they
have tried and see what fits your child. Then hunt through local
book fairs, library book sales, eBay, Half.com, VegSource, and more for
the best buys.
There are tons of websites out there with info.
Go to the Homeschool Links page of this website to find lots of info and
curriculum links – we're adding more links all the time. Also, the
Homeschool Support Groups page lists several homeschool support organizations:
local, regional, state, and national where you can ask for opinions.
Don't be afraid to change if you choose
a curriculum that doesn't seem to fit your students. Sometimes the
best thing you can do is change as you learn what you and your child
need. Remember, no one knows or loves your child more than you do!
You are the best teacher they will every have. And every
homeschool mom has periods of doubt -- including those with advanced
degrees and teaching experience!
Discover your child’s learning style
Homeschooling enables you to tailor your child’s
education to his unique style of learning. "Children’s overall learning
style includes both the channel through which she/he learns (eye, ear,
or hand) and the ways in which she/he is most motivated to
learn—‘thinking style’" (Mary
Pride’s Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling).
Other resources:
Research
curriculums & methods
There are almost as many
curriculum combinations and educational philosophies as there are
homeschooling families. Many families find their teaching style and
curriculum choices altering to meet their growing children’s changing
needs. Here’s a nutshell description of some general categories: (See
Mary Pride’s Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling
-- Formerly
The Big Book of Home Learning, vol. 1-3)
for a much more thorough description of curriculum types.)
-
Traditional—Textbook/workbook approach,
emphasizing reading, writing, grammar, and spelling through drill
and practice.
-
Classical—Following the medieval "trivium,"
a child’s education progresses from fundamental facts and skills to
logic and advanced language abilities. Students study the great
works of Western literature.
-
Unit studies
(instructor-designed thematic studies)—Progress in several disciplines is woven around a
particular theme.
-
Unschooling
/ Child-directed / Delight-directed—Allowing a child to learn by
encouraging and equipping him to pursue his own interests (guided or
unguided exploration).
One of the great things about homeschooling is
that you don’t have to be limited to just one approach—you can mix and
match, taking what you like from each approach, to best fit your child's
needs..
Attend a
convention or curriculum fair
"At a curriculum fair, you have many of the
homeschool publishers and their most popular products all gathered under
one roof," explains Beverly McCord. "You can really pick up a book and
thumb through it—you can’t do that when you are trying to shop over the
Internet or through mail order catalogs. You can get honest consumer
feedback. Just stand at a publisher's booth for about 10 minutes and get
an earful of what homeschoolers think about some of the titles of that
publisher—which ones are the jewels that everybody’s using and which
ones are really not that helpful. Many of these publishers actually
wrote the materials they’re selling. I just love being able to talk to a
live human being and really get my questions answered."
http://www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/43/hshbwk4.asp
Tap into the
used curriculum market
Save money by borrowing, buying, or selling
second-hand materials and swapping with other homeschoolers in your
local support group, at regional/state book fairs, or through used
curriculum vendors. Also, check for used curriculum on
e-bay and
vegsource.
Where should we do our schooling?
In the kitchen? Living room? In a school room?
Each family finds solutions that work for them. For some creative ideas
for streamlining and maximizing your space, check out these books:
Are there field trips for homeschoolers?
If you don't belong to a support group that
holds field trips or you want to add more, you can start by searching
the events section of this website and just look around town.
Also, THSC puts out an annual field trip guide that you get when you
join, Texas Tech
University International Cultural Center offers K12 Outreach classes
that make wonderful field trips, such as The Ellis Island Experience
(which we ended up doing yearly for a while, because it was such an
amazing experience), and there are many local educational field trip
events, such as Ag-in-a-Bag.
Here are some other
resources:
What problems might I run into as a homescholer?
There are some has some
common questions you may encounter.
Winning over friends &
relatives
If you have some skeptical relatives or friends,
you’re not alone. Many homeschooling families have won the respect, and
even changed the opinions of nearby critics through simply providing
positive social interaction and allowing their children’s educational
success to speak for itself.
You can make a difference by explaining why
you are homeschooling, having your child put together a scrapbook or
portfolio showing samples of his best work for the year, reporting
standardized test scores, having your child write articulate letters, or
encouraging him to perform some voluntary service demonstrating strong
language, math, and/or social skills.
Mary Griffith has a
free version of her book, The Homeschooling Image: Public Relation
Basics, which you can download at
http://www.lulu.com/content/2008225. It has some common questions
you may encounter. And, while the title is a bit off-putting, the
information in the booklet is useful for new homeschoolers.
Tackling the "hard" subjects
like calculus or Latin
Maybe you could trade calculus for French
lessons! Many homeschooling parents have found they can round out their
children’s education by trading teaching time in their areas of
expertise—usually referred to as co-oping. Other options include
private tutors, classes, and seminars, such as those listed in the
website and Yahoo Group databases. Maybe someday Lubbock will
offer a co-op or you could start one!
Making a
transcript
The key here is not waiting
until just before college. Help your student start planning his
transcript as he's getting ready to enter the high school years.
This is often a topic at curriculum fairs and homeschool seminars.
Adjusting to
life on one income
Homeschoolers often make
great sacrifices when they ignore the lure of a second income to place
primary importance on educating and raising their children. Many families have faced this challenge and
share the innovative ways they found to meet their goals.
-
Miserly Moms, Frugal Families,
and Miserly Meals by Jonni McCoy,
www.miserlymoms.com
-
Get More for Your Money: Proven Tips for
Thrift from a Single Income Family by Trish Garvis.
-
Food Coops,
www.foodcoop.net
Some of these tips are from third-party
sources, used with permission,
and personal identifying information has been removed at the request of
the author. |
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