Homeschooling Basics

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Well this has been a year of “firsts” for me. The first time we have ever had to cancel all birthday parties, family traditions, and special vacations. The first time we have witnessed businesses and schools close nationwide. The first time we have ever stayed at home for so long.

The first time my husband has ever gotten to work from home for five straight months. The first time we have had SO much time to spend together as a family. The first time my children have become best friends because they are all each other have right now.

2020 is definitely a year to remember for ALL of us!

One of the biggest changes for me as a mother has been switching my children from the public education system to homeschooling them full time.

I still cannot believe that I am a homeschool mom. If you had told me a year ago that I would be homeschooling five children right now I would have laughed out loud. For a long time.

I am probably the least qualified person on the planet to homeschool my children as far as credentials, certification, and experience are concerned. I never planned to homeschool my children because I never felt adequate enough to be their best option.

Although many of my family members are teachers, I did not received the “Teaching Gene” (superhuman patience and endurance to pass organized learning on to the next generation).

Certified teachers have years of classes and experiences to learn things like lesson planning, classroom management, and psychological factors of learning. I have none of these experiences.

Teachers have superhuman patience and the vast majority of them love to teach. They might not love other parts of their job, but in my experience they usually love the actual teaching part. They love to help others learn and grow.

Of course being a mother means I teach my children things every day but to actually be in charge of their formal education was a daunting task to me.

For those of you contemplating homeschool for your child(ren), allow me to save you time and effort with just these FOUR steps!

Four Steps To Setting Up A Successful Homeschool

1- FIND YOUR WHY

The first thing every parent needs to decide is WHY they want to homeschool their child(ren). You have to have solid reasons for taking such a big step. Because it IS a BIG step!

We had two strong reasons that we chose to homeschool our children this year. Number one was the 2020 worldwide COVID19 pandemic spreading across the globe. We have several family members who have pre-existing health conditions so we chose to keep our children at home to lower their risk of becoming severely ill.

The second reason we chose to homeschool is that our personal beliefs and values have often been in conflict with what our children are witnessing or being taught in public schools. We like being able to use Christian curriculums with our children and we incorporate family activities throughout the day with them to strengthen family bonds. Our family relationships have never been stronger and we have never been so happy as a family.

Your reasons might be completely different than ours but ultimately they should be a reflection of what you feel is best for your child(ren).

2- Follow ALL Legal Requirements

Once you know why you want to homeschool your child(ren) you will need to find out what legal steps are required.

In my area parents are required to sign an affidavit declaring that they will provide all education for their children. The affidavit is filed with the local school district and remains in effect each year unless a parent decides to change it.

***Disclaimer: Make sure that you understand all legal requirements to homeschool your child in your particular nation, state, local government, and school district. ***

3- Find The Right Curriculum and Learning Resources

After you fulfill all legal obligations to homeschool your child(ren) you will need to create, find, or purchase a homeschool curriculum for each child.

Parents who homeschool usually love the freedom of being able to choose what subjects they want their child(ren) to learn and how they want to structure that learning.

There are SO many resources available to homeschooling parents! We are trying several new programs this year and are continually searching for additional or alternate resources to add to our curriculum.

Pro Tip: Some of my favorite learning resources so far have come from Usborne Books and More. I have always loved their children’s books but I didn’t realize how many other learning products they have. My favorite product so far is the Learning Palette. They are incredibly effective at teaching my children Language Arts and Math concepts. They are specialized for each grade level and the activity method is simple enough that even my five year old can do them independently (although I always sit nearby and check for understanding when he is done).

This is a great idea for those students that struggle with a certain topic. I can buy individual sets for my child’s specific needs. For example I bought the Kindergarten Vowel and Consonants Sets to help my son learn the sounds of letters but I didn’t realize he was still struggling to identify the letters if they were mixed up. I purchased the Alphabet set and it is helping him SO much! Some of my children have struggled with multiplication so I purchased that specific set for them to work on. I love that I can customize their learning based on their individual learning needs.

This is a video of how the Learning Palette works: Usborne Learning Palette

*Once I realized how many products I wanted from Usborne Books and More I decided to join as a consultant for the personal savings for my family. This link will take you to my personal Usborne shop for US residents if you would like to shop their amazing products for your family: Usborne Books and More. If you live outside of the United States please contact me for more information about if these products are available and how to purchase them in your country.

4- Find A Routine That Fits Your Family

Once you have obtained your curriculum it is time to establish a homeschool routine that works best for YOU and for your child(ren).

I LOVE this part of homeschooling! No one dictates to me when I have to have my children somewhere. We wake up leisurely in the morning, spend time eating breakfast and doing chores together, and then we settle in with our homeschooling activities.

If they are struggling with a math lesson they can take a break and come back to it later. If they beg me to keep reading out loud to them during our daily reading time I can keep reading because we set our own schedule.

If a holiday is coming up we can double our lessons for a week and then take a whole week off of school to enjoy the holiday together as a family.

We incorporate cooking, woodworking, STEM projects, meaningful games, and arts and crafts into our lessons.

We strive to give our children personalized opportunities and resources that they would never have had in a public school.

We celebrate each student’s successes together. I LOVE it!

Homeschooling (like Parenting) is a continually evolving process. We are always looking for meaningful resources to add to our curriculums and we try to incorporate each child’s interests in their learning. Children thrive better with a routine they can count on and a structure that is familiar.

What are your favorite Homeschool or Learning Activities that help your child(ren) learn?

Let Us Know By Commenting Below!