Getting Started on Homeschooling

My husband and I have published creative hands-on science (and math!) activities for nearly 30 years. Check out our website at www.topscience.org for lots of free sample lessons. Our activities are easy to teach, and kids love them. They learn to work independently and become their own best teachers.

Almost all our labs use simple, cheap, easy-to-find materials, much of which you already have at home. We've been popular in public schools for decades, and now homeschoolers are picking up on TOPS bigtime!

Our best to you. I've watched the homeschool movement for years, and think it has much to offer the next generation.

When looking at programs & book sets don't buy if you can't preview them! We spent a lot of money trying porgrams that were no where near acceptable! We currntly use K12. It has been wonderful & is based mostly online so there are less books & paperwork. plus they keep track of all of your progress right online & offer great support just don't get it through Washington Virtual Acadamies! They don't know what they are doing! They are too new & have changed the rules over & over again as the school year went on! They use the K12 & it is great & affordable!

I am sticking with K12 & highly recommend it to everyone!

My first year was a learning experience. We were constantly adjusting. Depending on whether your kids went to public school, you may have to take time to "unschool" and "reschool" them. Something I didn't expect! =) Also, your attitude means everything. I "play school" with the kids (I have four) and we love it. I even ring a bell and have a flag on the table!

As far as curriculum, my teacher friends and Robinson homeschool loves Saxon math. If you're homeschooling you have the added benefit of doing the entire program! Something public school teachers can't. For phonics and English, we love the Evan Moore company.

I've helped a lot of parents get started, if you have any questions, please feel free to write!

Many ideas and helpful hints can be found at robinsoncurriculum.com. Even if you don't get his program or agree with everything, he is well researched and has a lot of information.

HI H.,
How comfortable are you at picking out curriculum and keeping to a schedule, etc.? I teach for Oregon Connections Academy, a public charter school that students do at home. The school provides the curriculum plus online support in the form of teachers (like me), a planner/calendar, and lesson plans for learning coaches (like you). I would be happy to talk with you about it. You can check it out at connectionsacademy.com
J.

Dear H.,

I think I was one of the people who replied to your previous homeschool advice request. Congratulations on your decision! First thing to always remember is the 1st year is always an adjustment year. The entire family needs to adjust to "School Time". There will always be good days and bad days. Second thing is every family and child is unique. You need to consider how your children learn and how you teach. Then the age, gender, and personality of the child needs to be taken into consideration. Next, choose a curriculum that works for you and your child, and don't be afraid to change curriculum if it doesn't work. Also don't be afraid to choose different types of curriculum for each child if necessary. I'd be happy to give you ideas to consider, but I would really need to know more about you and your children and where you live. Good Luck!

H.-
I have been successfully homeschooling for two years, going on three. I love the abeka curriculum. It is christian based and it ties many of its lessons together, for example while your student is working on writing, they are writing words they can read. While working on language and phonics, they are also reviewing rules already learned. I could chat about it forever, and you can certianly email me back and chat more. There are many great curriculums out there, many different price ranges, and there are options for help with the costs. I would also join a local homeschool group which you can ask about specific details with your group, but most of them teach special classes, have guest speakers, field trips and events in place for a yearly membership. Homeschool is very rewarding, fun, sometimes tough, my kids love it and do very well! I have a first and second grader and two younger!

Be kind to yourselves and allow for time to adjust to your new routine when the school year starts. The best thing to do is connect with other homeschool familes for activities and moral support. You may find someone who will let you sit in on a school day or show you how they organize curriculum and records. We try to do that for new homeschoolers now that we have been teaching at home for many years. The first year is the hardest, it gets easier as you get the hang of making lesson plans, find curriculum that suits each child and figure out each one's learning style. Send me a message if you have any other questions. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we do!

Where do you live? If you live anywhere in the Seattle area there is a wonderful bookstore for children called Children's Bookshop(www.childrens-bookshop.com)that has an incredible source of teaching supplies. Many teachers use it to enrich their teaching. There is also a similar book store in Tacoma, but I don't know it's name.

Next step, have you qualified to teach your children at home? There are some steps you have to go through (required by the state of Washington if you live in Washington, other states may be different).

Third step, you need to have some group activities. Otherwise both you and your children will go crazy. This includes sports and academics. Most states will list accredited Homeschooling groups. You can interview these groups that are near you and chose one and join the you like.

Also, this is a little known fact. If you want to take a guided field trip, you can find out when a small school group is taking the one you want and tag along. You don't have to ask their permission. But you do have to behave, of course.

Four--You have to be aware of the curriculum of the grades and make sure you cover it. But then you can enrich it. There is so much more in the world to know than the standard curriculum-history-science-literature-anthropology, culture,mathematics vs arithmetic! But hit that curriculum otherwise that learning won't show up on the tests. See if you can look at the tests at the beginning of the year or read last years tests. That will help a lot.

Five--Individualize as well as teach your boys together. Competition is good, but too much is not.

I speak as a former K-1 teacher at a alternative school for gifted young children. I helped plan the basic and enriched curriculum.

Good luck. Teaching is always interesting and never what you think it will be.

If you have any question, you can call me. W.

I'm not much help here because we're starting our first year homeschooling in the fall too. The only thing I can recommend is that you get in with your local homeschoolers group. They will be a great resource to you and I know mine plans all kinds of fun activities for the kids. It's really great! You might look on meetup.com Where do you live?

Hi H.,
I may have responded to you last request, congrats on you decision. We just finished our 1st homeschool year and moving into K this year. We are also going through the summer, although less intense and more field trips. I found it took about 6 months for us to settle into a routine and program that worked for us. We have learned to spend more time working on strengths and doing an acceptable time on required skills. For my son this means science and math years beyond his grade level and phonics and writing in remedial level (he is special ed). My little girl 2 1/2 loves doing art & crafts and doing a scaled down version of the lesion. Working with the 2 seemed to be the most challenging, but does work. We set a room in the house that is our learning room, and we don’t ‘play’ there. Although we may find ourselves there many times outside our normal school hours.

Give yourself this first year to figure out what works, and go in depth and explore your children’s strengths and interest. After all, that’s what homeschooling is all about; creating the love of learning. We found Singapore math to be awesome, Saxon works for many, but too linear for us. Look at your children’s learning styles and figure out what works from there. Good luck!!! T.

Hi H.,

I don't know how old your kids are or if this is the first experience with school so it's a little hard to be specific for me but in general - don't plan too much. It is so easy and it is so exciting to plan and see all the activities and learning that you can do together with your children that it can be very overwelming. There are so many options now and with the internet you will be bombarded with ideas and curriculum.

My oldest of 4 is 19 and we have homeschooled from preschool. It has been quite a journey - I no longer homeschool for a variety of reasons but it was the best thing that we ever did! My kids are very glad that they were homeschooled.

No matter how well you plan things, something may come up. In our family, we had many, many medical problems and one child with a major disability that necessitated many therapy appointments. There were days when no "schooling" got done, but my kids learned about how life really works and how to adjust throughout the day to whatever is thrown at you. They also learned about how much work goes into keeping the household going.

We were fairly unconventional given the hours that we did things and how we put our day together. We did not join a co-op or work with the school district's homeschool section but did a lot in the community and met other homeschoolers that way. There were classes put together by homeschoolers - for instance, one mom had a science teacher and then invited other families to go to their home for science classes. We had a terrific art teacher come to our house and had homeschoolers from the area come to classes. Other than that, we just picked our curriculum ourselves from what we researched and what would work for us.

I can tell you that my kids were very far ahead of their peers in public school even given the lack of a consistant schedule at home. We worked the academics into our day when we could. When my kids entered public school - they adjusted very well socially but did have some problems with the homework as we never had that. We just did the work and were done. Also, the meaningless homework and busy work from school has been difficult for them.

Saxon is the best - I think someone mentioned them already. I love their math program. It is easy to spend way too much money on things that you won't use or things that just aren't right - so be careful of that. So many things look so exciting. Use the library alot - I hardly ever bought story books as we live 2 blocks from our local library and it is a terrific resource.

I can tell you that when my oldest started public school as a Junior in high school, he got straight A's the first year and never opened a book the whole 2 years he was in school (I'm not proud of that fact but it does show how far ahead he was from homeschooling) He then transferred to a community college/construction program and graduated that way. He did like the community college atmostphere much better than high school as the people were more interesting and not "idiotic" like the kids at high school. He did continue to play on the Varsity Baseball team though through school. He started on that as a Freshman even though he was homeschooled.

I hope that helps some. Also, find time for yourself! It is so easy to get so involved in the kids and their education that you forget about yourself.

C.

H.,

Congrats! I think the best thing you can do is decide your child's learning style and choose what curriculum they will be using. There are guidlines as to what each grade level should know, so follow that. In most homeschool cases they work much faster than the kids in public education in most areas. I would make sure that the child gets used to the routines by starting off slowly and doing a little bit of everything to introduce the child to each subject that you will be studying. I would add electives that are based on the child's interest such as swimming, certain types of artistic expression (music, art, drama etc), and or outdoor activities.

The main concern most parents have is teaching their child everything they need to know, keeping their interest, and keeping them social with other kids their age. This is why it's important to connect with other homeschool groups to share resources and get together for activities. There are home school swimming, band, and outings to name a few in most local areas. If your child is really good in any particular area than you can join a group that supports their interests and talents, such as, music and art centers, symphony, or swim teams. The idea is to keep them growing and learning in all areas.

Have a great year and listen to your kids about how they are doing so you can work with them as well. Creating a different type of home can be a challenge, but once you all get used to it, it will be normal and easier.

Take Care,
G.