Ready, Set, Homeschool!

While homeschooling may seem overwhelming and confusing at first, you will figure out what works best for you and your children. Everyone goes through growing pains. If you don’t have a room to dedicate as a school room, don’t worry. Many of us don’t have actual “school rooms”. This is something that we play around with. Some days we do our work on the kitchen table. Some days we migrate to the living room. We have even taken our work with us to the park or the beach. As you will figure out, the opportunities are endless in each aspect of homeschooling.

You can go through a school program, like a charter school (they provide the materials and over see you) or private programs you pay for (such as online courses). Of course there is always independent homeschooling, where you are your own school and have the most freedom. There are pros and con’s to each of these choices. The best advice you can get, learn as much as you can about each of them and make the choice that best suites you and your family.

This would bring us to the subject of work material. If you enroll in a program, than you won’t have a lot of choice, but if you are independent….there is a plethora of material out there. Materials that range in mediums from books, CDs, DVDs, VHS, to web sites. If you are good with a computer and internet savvy, you can find an endless amount of resources in all these mediums. It does get a little more difficult to find stuff after middle school grades. The library is always the first place I go to for books, DVDs and VHS. Can’t get better than free! We have had good luck with reading books and science books from the library. Depending on what kind of mediums you use for teaching will determine how much room you will need in your home for material. If you like a lot of book work, you will definitely need a few book shelves. If you plan on using a computer, it would be best to own a computer. There is a lot of boxed curriculum out there to choose from as well. Boxed curriculum is a set that can be per subject or for the entire grade level. Though, most will find that your child will need subjects in more than one grade level. Don’t forget that the material you no long need can be sold and the proceeds can always go to buying more material. Again, growing pains will happen. You will find that some types of materials and mediums will work for one but not all children. This is why most publishers or companies will have demos for you to try. Please take advantage of these and don’t forget to have your children try it. You will find it can save you a ton of time and money!

As you embark on this wonderful family journey, make the most out of normal daily activities. Life is always a lesson. To save your sanity (and theirs) make sure that there is school time that is not interrupted. We have resorted to turning off the phone ringer and putting a sign on our front door. The sign reads, “School in session. Please do NOT disturb!” Have loads of fun! We do.