How do you start homeschooling?

Question

and How do you do it, I need it very detailed.

Answer 1

You have gotten the basic answers so far, but the easiest way to find out about homeschooling for your area is to find a local group and talk to them. They will give you all kinds of help. The range is wide on how people homeschool from unschooling to traditional homeschooling and everything in between. There are tons of sites online as well as books to you can but or borrow from the library

Answer 2

I found this really good website that has TONS of detailed information about homeschooling. They're also having an essay contest, in which the top two essayists will each win a Nintendo Wii!! The essay must be 500-1,000 words, and the question to be answered is: How is your family putting "Christ" into Christmas this year? The contest ends December 31st, 2006.

Check it out at www.learningbygrace.org

Answer 3

I agree with the other answers here:

1) Find out your state's laws.
2) Join a local and online homeschooling support group
3) Go easy on the curriculum. Buy a mishmash of cheap stuff in the beginning, until you figure out your philosophy
4) Be flexible and do a lot of research; online, at the library and by talking to experienced homeschoolers.

There is no one way to homeschool. Or to educate, really. That's your first assignment in homeschooling - figure out who you are as a family, and go from there. If anyone tries to tell you that the "best" way or the "best" curriculum is XYZ, run away.

Good luck!

Answer 4

1. Research the possibilities -- online, at bookstores, through home-school groups and organizations.
2. Determine which elements of education are the most important to you.
3. Buy, borrow, barter, trade -- do what it takes to get the material and resources that you will need.
4. Keep it simple. Begin with math, writing and reading.
Math should be worked on until approx. 30 equations are mastered every day. Writing a full page essay every day is great practice in using thinking skills -- this will need to be checked and corrected in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Reading should be for a minimum of 2 hours from the very best books that are available to you.
The main tools that you will need are:
1. A good quiet study environment
2. A good self-directed math text and answer key
3. Paper, pencils
4. Encyclopedia and dictionary
5. Hundreds of really good books including historical fiction, classic literature, autobiographies of our country's founders, historical documents, adventurous fiction that is tailored to the interests of boys and girls, plus many more... You can buy them at used or new bookstores. You can borrow them from libraries and relatives or friends. You can print your own from CD's or from free book sites on the internet.

Do you want a play-by-play of a possible daily schedule? Everyone has a different method --- the list is long.

Join other homeschoolers in online groups such as
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/homeschoolanswers ....

Answer 5

Like many others, I would suggest finding out the laws and requirements for your state, and then finding a local homeschooling group. Another first would be figuring out what kind of learner your child is, do they need to move alot? Are they visual, are they auditory, tactile? Do they love worksheets and reading? You can buy any curriculum you care for, but if it doesn't match their learning style you are buying yourself nothing but trouble.

Some people are eclectic and don't use a curriculum, that takes a lot more work because you are constantly assessing what they are learning, and finding new resources, and tying things into what they already know. We're eclectic unschoolers, which is a ton of work, but definitely worth it, I don't want my kids limited to filling in someone else's blanks. They know how to do it, and that's enough, they don't need practice with it....just like we do taxes once a year ;-)

Once you start academics, your next immediate concern would be social activities. Get your child involved in the local homeschooling groups. They usually have social clubs, coop classes, or playdates. Your local library and parks department are other places to look. Our kids are in scouts, 4H, chess club, art club, tae kwon do, baseball, band, orchestra, as well as the book club at the library, a videogame gathering, and weekly park days and hikes with the teens.

My older kids get time alone with their friends, while the younger ones are in playgroups with parents. They have lots of free time, and have spent that time figuring out what they enjoy and how to fill their time with appropriate hobbies and chores. They don't get bored, or if they do, it's only long enough to recognize that it's a developmental plateau and they figure out something. They explore and experiment alot.

Answer 6

I sugest going to Homeschool.com They have a great starter kit. Also they have many links to support groups and other great information. Then consider how you want to home school. Do it yourself, keeping all the records and such one downfall can be proof to your school district that your child(ren) are actually doing school work. Another option is a correspondance school like A Beka or Summit Christian Academy where they send you the cirriculum and supplies and you mail back the work your child does to be graded. These 2 are accredited and your child will recieve a diploma upon completion. That is an important thing to look into for college later on it makes it easier to apply when you have a diploma. There are many more correspondance schools you just have to do a web search. And ask them for a catolog so you can read about them and decide if their cirriculum is one you like, I found one that only lets girls take home ec. so you will have to do a lot of research. Also look for home schooling support groups in your area. They may help you out too. Lastly, find out your state laws as someone else said. They may require certain courses and registration or even being certified as a teacher. Good luck.

Answer 7

I agree with many of the answers here. I homeschool five children. How you homeschool is as individual as you and each of your children!

And that is the beauty of it. You teach based upon what you believe is important for your children to learn to be capable members of society, including basic skills. You also cater to what your children are truly interested in at the time.

All while you are building a stronger family unit.

Probably one of the most powerful things about homeschooling is that you get to decide what your children really need to succeed in life.

To see what I mean, read John Gotto's Underground History of American Education, where he exposes American public education as designed to deliver a workforce for big business, rather than attempting to develop the unique gifts and calling of each person. And Gotto was New York's Teacher of the Year when he quit teaching and announced why.

Also, to see a completely different way of looking at homeschooling, to equip your children to be masters of their own destiny regardless of what area they choose to go into, see Rhea Perry's site on entrepreneurial homeschooling at www.educatingforsuccess.com.

Oh, and I emphatically disagree with the idea that home schooled children suffer in the area of social skills. Studies show that children who are home during those early years are usually more confident later in life. You can find some info on this issue at www.homeschoolforsuccess.com.

Answer 8

Well, you start by giving birth or adopting a child. Then you start helping them learn by interacting with them,loving them, playing with them, talking to them, singing to them, singing with them, gradually, they learn to talk, play, walk, run, climb, speak on their own, and this is all in just the first year or two!!

That was sort of tongue in cheek, but I do believe that we are all our children's first teachers. No one is going to have their best interests at heart more than we are, as their parents. All good parents homeschool, whether they think of that way or not. They may call it helping with homework, or helping their children with a team sport, or extra cirricular activity, or a science project, but it's the same things hsers do.
Homeschooling regulations vary from state to state, and from country to country. If you live in the US, then Home Education Magazine is about the best magazine I've seen for homeschoolers, and their website is about the best for state regs. They are very good at keeping their site current.

Go to your library and check out a handful of books on homeschooling. Look for anything by Linda Dobson. I would recommend anything I've read that she has written. Esp homeschooling book of answers....It's pretty much a homeschool 101 kind of a book.
Also, to get a wide overview of homeschooling, pick up "well trained mind", by susan wise bauer (www.welltrainedmind.com)
John Holt's "teach your own" (http://www.holtgws.com/index.html ) , dumbing us down, by john taylor gatto, A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
by Karen Andreola
( http://amblesideonline.org/ & http://www.charlottemason.com/ )

Answer 9

To start homeschooling, start with learning about the laws where you live http://www.hslda.org and try to find a local support group.

Each family does their homeschooling differently, sometimes affected by what their laws require them to do. It's impossible to be very detailed about how to homeschool because that's almost like asking how to parent.

Answer 10

are you asking as a parent or a student?
It has to be a parents' choice
How old is this student (is it you?) or students?
If they are already high schoolers, they could just start college
I guess that's not true 'home schooling'

and nearly everyone else on this forum recommends HS even if they don't know if the asker is a parnet or a kid or why they are considering homeschooling, sheesh!