How to HOMESCHOOL
Step 1: RESEARCH
Research the homeschool laws in your state by visiting HSLDA.org, and/or join all the facebook groups you can find on homeschooling in your city or state.
Step 5: COORDINATE
Once you have spent a few days or weeks establishing a good household rhythm of breakfast, Bible, math and reading, begin to add in the next subject.
After your soft start has solidified, consider joining other homeschool groups or adding other subjects your child is interested in or needs for their educational plan.
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."
– C.S. Lewis
Step 2: COMMUNICATE
Email your child’s current school alerting them to your intentions and requesting information, to include the name of the curriculums used and/or the “scope and sequence” of each subject, so that you can know what they have studied and what they have not yet learned.
Step 6: ENJOY
Homeschooling can be the most glorious of all endeavors and it can simultaneously be the hardest thing you have ever done.
Get in a community, pursue activities and ideas that ignite your family, and create accountability so that discipline can be the net that catches you when desire fails.
Step 3: CONNECT
Once you have taken care of the legalities required in your state and set a date to unenroll your child from their school, it’s time to form a plan and curate your child’s individualized education! If you can meet with another homeschool mom, do that! Or, book a FREE session with me.
FREE CONSULTATION WITH ME TO WALK YOU THROUGH ALL OF THIS
Step 4: SCHEDULE
Our family’s starting point is the Bible, and reading parts of scripture starts our every morning.
Next in importance is to prioritize math and reading, no matter what age children you have.
Most all homeschool math curriculums have free assessments that will tell you where to start your child if you are not certain what level they would need.
Choose a book to begin reading to your child and choose a book that they can read on their own or listen to independently.
The Little Years (3-6yo)
“Morning Time” (7-8am)
Breakfast, devotional, read-alouds, and memory work (poetry, scripture, etc.)
“Ready Time” (8-9am)
Chores (clean up breakfast, etc.) and get ready for the day
“Outside Time” (9-9:30am)
Take a walk or spend 30 minutes at a park
“Table Time” (9:30-11am, while the baby naps)
Accompanied by snacks: math (10-15m), reading lesson (10-15m), copywork (handwriting), coloring, and crafting.
Homeschool Schedule
The Kid Years (7-12yo)
“Morning Time” (7:30-9am)
Breakfast, devotional, literature read-alouds, and memory work (poetry, scripture, language, math facts, Shakespeare, etc.)
“Ready Time” (9-9:30am)
Chores (clean up breakfast, etc.) and get ready for the day in a timely manner (20-30m)
“Outside Time” (9:30-10am)
Take a walk or spend 30 minutes at a park
“Independent Time” (10-12pm, while the baby naps)
Accompanied by snacks: math (20-30m), language arts (20-30m), copywork (5-10m), typing (5-10m), geography (5-10m), language lesson (15-20m); rotate through children while others are truly independent
“Lunch Loop” (12-1:30pm, while the toddler naps)
Accompanied by lunch, this is where you add all the extras that you only do once every week or two: history, science, Shakespeare, music plutarch, art, current events, speech, language study, writing, coding, etc. (Make a list of all the things you want to cover, and each day at lunch, focus on the next one on the list, and then “loop” around again.)
The Teen Years (13yo+)
“Independent Time” (7:30-9am)
Breakfast, personal devotional, literature, math
“Family Time” (9-10:30am)
Read-alouds, memory work, family devotional (breakfast for the late-comers)
“Ready Time” (10:30-11am)
Chores (clean up breakfast, etc.) and get ready for the day in a timely manner (20-30m)
“Independent Time” (11-12:30pm)
Students should be taking care of their own educational goals by this stage, but we must remember to give them ample space to do this while still involving them with the rest of the family whenever possible.
“Lunch Loop” (12:30-1:30pm)
Accompanied by lunch, this is where you add all the extras that you only do once every week or two: history, science, Shakespeare, music plutarch, art, speech, language study, writing, coding, etc. (Make a list of all the things you want to cover, and each day at lunch, focus on the next one on the list, and then “loop” around again.)
“Independent Time” (1:30-?pm)
Students should be taking care of their own educational goals by this stage, but we must remember to give them ample space to do this while still involving them with the rest of the family whenever possible.