5 Steps to Start Your Homeschool Journey on the Right Foot
If you’re wondering where the heck to begin, you’ve come to the right place! Making the decision to homeschool is so exciting, but also completely overwhelming for some. Here are 5 first steps you can take to ease some of your anxiety and start off your homeschooling journey with confidence and purpose.
- Learning Styles. Reflect on your child’s learning style. Is he/she more of a kinesthetic learner who needs a lot of activity and physical movement? An auditory learner who would benefit from audiobooks, music and discussion? Or maybe you have a visual learner who needs to see the information in a diagram, chart or graphic organizer? If you have more than one child at home, you may have a mix of learning styles which means you’ll be providing a little bit of everything. If you’re not sure how your child learns best, think about what activities they gravitate toward during free play time. For example, my oldest has to touch everything. He wants to know how everything works, loves taking things apart and rebuilding, working with different materials to create his own structures, and always has to be on the go. He’s a kinesthetic and tactile learner, so I know having activities where he can be moving around, jumping from one vocabulary word to the next, using his hands to experience scientific concepts and making sure we have plenty of time outside will suit him best. My daughter on the other hand is more of a visual learner. She will catch on to new math concepts after I show her the same math problem using a variety of manipulatives and visual representations. She will see an equation written out on the white board, then with the abacus, math tiles, and place value cards before she feels confident enough to try on her own. My youngest is only three, but I have a feeling he’s a mixture of a kinesthetic learner and an auditory learner. He loves music and rhymes, and he catches on really easily to what he hears and repeats it over and over. We’ve been working on some beginning letter sounds this year, and curriculum from The Good and the Beautiful has little tunes for the preschoolers to help remember letter sounds. When I ask him what letter “b-b-bear” starts with, he recites the song to me and ends with “B!” As your children come into their own in your homeschool you will get a clearer picture of how they learn best so you’ll be able to tailor instruction to them more easily. Most children have a mixture of learning styles, so keep in mind that providing a well-rounded blend of activities will help them to develop all the skills they will need as they grow and learn.. Having an idea of how your children learn best will help you direct your daily flow, activities, and curriculum choices.
- Teaching Methodology. What education style are you leaning toward? Again, there may be more than one! With so many to choose from, it may be worth it to spend some time learning about each style’s theory, philosophy, and what it looks like in practice. I’ve yet to find another homeschool family that does things exactly the way another person does – it’s so individual! Our family has an eclectic style of homeschooling that takes bits and pieces from a bunch of different methodologies. Some days we are complete un-schoolers because we’re out hiking with members of our co-op and there’s no agenda, just playing in nature. When we meet with our co-op there’s a mixture of activities that are Waldorf (manipulatives for independent play, art projects, looking at paintings and poetry) and also Charlotte Mason (copy work, exposure to living ideas and scientific concepts). At home we are often doing unit studies together as a family or practicing skills at each child’s own level, so it varies throughout the week. In fact, next year we’re joining a new group that is classical, so it will give my children an additional way to think and learn with others, rounding out our homeschool year. Thinking about methodology and your educational philosophy for your family’s homeschool and gathering information about all the styles that are out there will help you find inspiration. There’s a fantastic website here that not only describes all sorts of styles that are out there, but it has recommendations for websites and books where you can learn more about each style. Whether you feel that Classical, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, or one of the many other styles speak to you, it’s a great way to begin learning about the possibilities that are out there!
- Routines/Schedules. Figure out a daily plan that will work for your family. Does everyone wake up early? When are they most focused for academic time? Do the kids go to sports and activities in the afternoons? How much outdoor time do you plan to have each day/week? These are all questions that you will probably take a while to answer for your newly established homeschool. Depending on your child’s age, interests, what kind of learner he/she is, and other commitments you may have, develop a daily routine that will work for your family. For example, you may start right in with read aloud time in the morning after breakfast, then try to get through a couple of academic assignments before having lunch and then playing outside for a while. For us, our days spent at home have a similar feel to what I just mentioned. When we have activities or meet ups in the afternoon, our morning work is condensed and I’ve noticed everyone is more productive. I’ve tried to schedule activities and meet ups throughout the week to start after lunch because I know it will incentivize my kids to stay focused in the morning and finish what we need to before lunch. Don’t be afraid to switch things up and try out new routines – you won’t know what works best if you don’t take risks!
- Curriculum. Choosing curriculum is probably one of the hardest parts of jumping into homeschool – and aren’t we lucky that there are SO many resources out there?!? Depending on your educational philosophy and style, there are so many options for you. To ease this process a bit, it’s a great idea to join some homeschooling groups on social media, whether they’re based in your area or they’re nationwide. Searching the archives for groups like this using keywords that define your homeschool style will yield you some excellent ideas and jumping off points that you can research further. Scanning through the comments on posts about different history curriculums, for example, will give you an idea of their lesson structure, what they cover, what ages they work best for, if it’s family-style (everyone can learn together), and how much prep work is needed before instruction. Some curriculums out there will be multi-disciplinary, meaning that they cover a variety of subjects all together, and others you will have to piece together to curate a thorough educational experience for your child that covers everything you proposed in your ed plan to the school district. Keep in mind that you don’t have to stick with the very first thing you pick if it ends up not being right for your family. Our first year of homeschooling we were going down a path that was completely different than the one we’re on now. Just because you thought something looked great for your kindergartner doesn’t mean that you are stuck until they head off to the middle school years. Jumping around a little bit to figure out what first best for your learners is part of the homeschool learning curve. If you’re interested in seeing what we are currently using in our homeschool, check out my Homeschool Resources page – I’ll be sharing all the details there about what we’ve loved most!
- Be Social. Attending a few homeschool meetups in your area is one of the most encouraging things you can do as a new homeschooling family. Not only is this a great way to connect socially with other moms and your kids with other kids, but it’s also a fabulous arena for networking. What do they do to make their homeschool run smoothly? What activities or workshops are in the area for homeschoolers that you haven’t heard about yet? Are there any co-ops that they’re a part of that may be looking for new members? Check with local libraries, on social media and any community centers in your area to see if there are any homeschool social hours. Some groups meet up at playgrounds each week or in library meeting rooms to play games, do crafts and activities and make new friends. My family found a Wild+Free group that meets close to us that has been an amazing blessing to our homeschool. Even if you don’t end up meeting up regularly with any group in particular, putting yourself out there and making connections face-to-face with other homeschoolers will help reassure you, give you ideas and provide you with some reassurance that we all need every so often.
Now that you’ve done some research, you’ve gotten your feet with with curriculum ideas and educational philosophy, you’re ready to narrow it all down and make some decisions. With social connections brewing and ideas swirling in your head, take some time to reflect on what your family’s homeschool will need to be successful. Putting in the time to consider your ultimate goals for your children throughout the homeschool process will help you prioritize the most important pieces to this puzzle. With these in mind, you can organize your family’s time so you are able to meet everyone’s needs, even yours mama. Take it a step at a time, and remember that you can always make adjustments and move things around, especially as seasons come and go. There is a bit of a learning curve when you first start, and I’m excited to hear where this journey will take your family!
