The first year homeschooling can be challenging – whether you are starting in Kindergarten or transitioning your public high schooler to homeschool.
Ask almost any homeschooler and they will tell you: your homeschooling journey will take you places you never imagined!
Take it from the veterans… they have learned the do’s and don’ts the hard way!
Homeschooling Do’s
-Deschool, if necessary. If you are transitioning your child from a brick and mortar school to homeschooling, they will need time to decompress. Use this time to get used to being together more often. Watch educational movies/series, go out to lunch, take walks around the neighborhood.
-Do read The Way They Learn by Cynthis Tobias to get an idea about you and your child’s learning styles. I promise this will benefit you and your child(ren) as you plan your homeschool journey!
-Familiarize yourself with your state’s homeschooling laws. If you’re not sure what is required of you, check out this link.
-Find a homeschool community near you. This could be a co-op or homeschool play group or even a homeschool karate class. You can find local homeschool groups by searching Facebook or Google.
-Plan to be flexible. Odds are, the homeschool you plan will NOT be the homeschool you get. No matter how deligently you plan, you will probably have to tweek a few things here and there… if not tweek EVERYTHING.
-Read about the different homeschooling methods: Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, unit studies, online schooling, Eclectic homeschooling. As the TV PSAs used to say, “The More You Know…”
-Start slow. Education is a marathon, not a sprint. Just because you are not hyper-rigorous right from the beginning, doesn’t mean your child will never get into college.
Homeschooling Don’ts
-DO NOT spend a ton of money in your first year! I CANNOT stress this enough! Countless homeschooling families have learned this costly lesson the hard way. Do not be like them! Too often, a bright, shiny, complete, expensive curriculum catches your eye and you drop the big bucks only to find out later that it is not a good fit for your child.
-Don’t over-plan. It is so tempting to jump into homeschooling and want to do all the things. There are so many options out there that it’s hard to pace yourself (and your child!). I’m a big fan of planning only 6-weeks at a time. That way, I have time to re-evaluate and change course, if need be. You can read more about how I use Block Scheduling here.
-Don’t try to mimic the public school. You will drive yourself crazy, and probably your kids, too. Homeschool is not public school at home, so don’t even try.
-Do not lose your cool when things get tense. And, mama, they WILL get tense. You don’t have to be perfect, but go ahead and make a game plan for how you will handle the tense moments. Plan a time out for everybody, or hide some chocolate in your nightstand and excuse yourself to your room.
-Do not be too rigid in your homeschooling approach. If things are not working, you need to be flexible and change. Yes, that might mean giving up on your dreams of what you thought homeschool would look like.
-Don’t beat yourself up. We moms are all too quick to judge ourselves harshly. When it’s your child’s education on the line, you can REALLY, REALLY beat yourself up when they struggle with reading, or you lose your temper, or they don’t score well on tests. Breathe. Again, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Honestly evaluate what went wrong, make changes where necessary, and do better tomorrow.
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