Before you begin homeschooling your children, there is one very important step to take. You must do your research. I recommend three critical areas that you need to examine: your state's homeschooling laws, the curriculum you are going to use, and the amount of expenditure you can afford.
Every state has its own laws for homeschooling. Some are fairly lenient, while others can be rather restrictive. All of them have established rules concerning compulsory ages, required number of days for attendance, required subjects, teacher qualifications, and standardized testing or evaluations. Here in Florida, for example, I don't have to be a certified teacher to homeschool K-12, but my friend in Tennessee had to stop homeschooling after the 8th grade because the state required certification to teach high school. While Florida technically does not have any required subjects, we did discover that they wanted every student to take a course in the history of Florida. When it comes to standardized testing or evaluations, we have several options here. We found a certified teacher who works strictly with homeschoolers. She does an evaluation half way through the school year, and administers the Stanford Achievement Test at the end of the school year. You can discover your state's laws at the website of the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Most of your research will be concerned with choosing a curriculum. You are going to want one that fits your family's needs and your lifestyle, but it must also fit your child's learning style. Talk to other homeschoolers in your area to find out what they are using. Go to homeschool curriculum fairs to see the many different varieties that are available. Look online to get descriptions of the different curricula. I suggest you check out both traditional and non-traditional courses. My wife and I used a mostly traditional approach, however, we often added to it. For example: when we discovered that our son had a particularly strong interest in the history of WWII, we backed off from teaching and switched to un-schooling, a method of student led education. This allowed him to pursue the subject to his heart's content. Our only involvement was to lead him to new sources of information.
In your research, you may have some sticker shock. Homeschooling can get very expensive if you let it, but that does not have to be the case. You will have to decide what you can afford and what you are willing to spend. If you need to cut costs, I have some suggestions. Make use of your local library whenever possible. Go online to look for sites that carry discounted homeschool books or used books. There are also sites that offer free homeschool resources. Let your child help in this search. You will be giving him a lesson in fiscal responsibility. He may need that later on in life.
As you can see, there is a little bit of homework involved, but if you do your research, everything should be fine.Please do not try to bypass this step. Remember, you do not want the state coming after you, the wrong curriculum could delay your child's progress, and you could easily put your budget in the red. A little well spent time now will save you from a lot of headaches later. Happy homeschooling!
Every state has its own laws for homeschooling. Some are fairly lenient, while others can be rather restrictive. All of them have established rules concerning compulsory ages, required number of days for attendance, required subjects, teacher qualifications, and standardized testing or evaluations. Here in Florida, for example, I don't have to be a certified teacher to homeschool K-12, but my friend in Tennessee had to stop homeschooling after the 8th grade because the state required certification to teach high school. While Florida technically does not have any required subjects, we did discover that they wanted every student to take a course in the history of Florida. When it comes to standardized testing or evaluations, we have several options here. We found a certified teacher who works strictly with homeschoolers. She does an evaluation half way through the school year, and administers the Stanford Achievement Test at the end of the school year. You can discover your state's laws at the website of the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Most of your research will be concerned with choosing a curriculum. You are going to want one that fits your family's needs and your lifestyle, but it must also fit your child's learning style. Talk to other homeschoolers in your area to find out what they are using. Go to homeschool curriculum fairs to see the many different varieties that are available. Look online to get descriptions of the different curricula. I suggest you check out both traditional and non-traditional courses. My wife and I used a mostly traditional approach, however, we often added to it. For example: when we discovered that our son had a particularly strong interest in the history of WWII, we backed off from teaching and switched to un-schooling, a method of student led education. This allowed him to pursue the subject to his heart's content. Our only involvement was to lead him to new sources of information.
In your research, you may have some sticker shock. Homeschooling can get very expensive if you let it, but that does not have to be the case. You will have to decide what you can afford and what you are willing to spend. If you need to cut costs, I have some suggestions. Make use of your local library whenever possible. Go online to look for sites that carry discounted homeschool books or used books. There are also sites that offer free homeschool resources. Let your child help in this search. You will be giving him a lesson in fiscal responsibility. He may need that later on in life.
As you can see, there is a little bit of homework involved, but if you do your research, everything should be fine.Please do not try to bypass this step. Remember, you do not want the state coming after you, the wrong curriculum could delay your child's progress, and you could easily put your budget in the red. A little well spent time now will save you from a lot of headaches later. Happy homeschooling!
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