Welcome to the wonderful, sometimes crazy, and often scary world of deciding to homeschool. Taking that big step to homeschool is scary for a lot of people, it was terrifying for me. I want to walk you through it.
Deciding to Homeschool Your Kids
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The hardest part of homeschooling is deciding to homeschool your kids. You know in your heart that this is the right choice for your child right now. The hardest part is making the decision that your gut is screaming at you to make.
Research what you need to do, legally, to homeschool in your province/state and then do that. Send the letter, fill out the forms.
Once You You have Decided to Homeschool: Take time to Deschool
If your child went to a brick and mortar school, take time to decompress from that. Deschooling is the adjustment period a child goes through when leaving school and beginning homeschooling.
The general rule of thumb is one month of deschooling for each year that your child was in school.
Try to limit your recreation of school at home. Homeschooling is an educational lifestyle, not school at home with a strict schedule.
Don’t Buy all the Curriculum
There is this thing called shiny-new-curriculum syndrome. As you can guess it’s seeing new curriculum and wanting all the new curriculum. But when you are first starting out you don’t know exactly what is going to work for you and your kids.
Questions to Ask Before Buying Curriculum
Secular Homeschool Curriculum – How to Choose One
Boxed Curriculum Isn’t for You If…
Best Places to Find Curriculum
Accept Change, and Accept Change to Happen Again
You will second guess yourself all the time, especially during the first year. This is normal. Every aspect of your homeschool can and most likely will change, repeatedly through your homeschool journey.
Your reason – your why for homeschooling.
Curriculum – this could change repeatedly through a year as you learn what works for you and your children.
Find Your People
Look for people like you, find a community to support you and support. You can use Facebook to search for groups in your local area, this has been the easiest way in my experience to find groups of like-minded individuals.
These people can provide you with support when you are feeling down and stressed about homeschooling. They can help by giving you tips, and sharing their experience with curriculum, and homeschooling in general.
If you can’t find local homeschoolers, think about creating a group at some point. Not right away, but make it a goal.
Accept that You are going to Freak Out
Accept that at some point or other, especially in the first year, you are going to freak out and feel like you aren’t doing enough, or aren’t doing the right thing. Or one of many other things.
You are going to feel like you don’t know enough to teach your child – but you can learn along with them.
How to Include Delight-Directed Learning in your Homeschool
How A Homeschool Mom can Earn Money