This is the fourth, and final, post in my four-part series on “Getting Started in Homeschooling.” 

In bringing up the “when” of homeschooling, I could actually be talking about  a couple of different things.  When do you homeschool in terms of a “school year?”  What time of day do you homeschool and is this the same time every day?  The answers to these question will depend, at least in part, on what the laws are in your state in regards to homeschooling.  I live in the state of Florida which (thankfully) does not have any regulations that delineate a certain number of hours per day or days per year during which “schooling” must take place.  However, many states do, and I would advise you to become familiar with your state’s requirements.  You can find more information about your state’s homeschooling requirements at the Home School Legal Defense Association. 

If your state does have laws specifying a required numbers of hours/days that schooling must take place I would then encourage you to talk to veteran home-schoolers in your area who can give you ideas as to how you can best comply with these regulations while still allowing for flexibility in your home-school program.  The Home School Legal Defense Association’s website also has information on state (and international) homeschool support groups.

As a veteran homeschooler of over two decades I will point out (as other veteran home-schoolers would I’m sure) that education is not limited to a certain place and time.  Our thinking has become so entrenched in an institutional model that it takes a real paradigm shift to begin to recognize that opportunities to educate and to learn are all around us.  Don’t be limited by a schedule that looks oddly similar to the one the public school down the street practices (see my first post in this series “What is Home Schooling?” for more on this subject).

I think it would be safe to say that most people function best in a situation where there are generally outlined parameters that allow for flexibility.  Given that, I would encourage you to set up certain days and times where you will focus on certain subjects or courses while allowing yourself the flexibility to shift focus on days when mom is sick, or kids are sick, or dad has a day off that you want to spend doing a family activity, or relatives are in town, or some life event has happened that requires your immediate attention (such as a death in the family).  If you allow up-front for that flexibility then you will stress-out less when the unexpected (good or bad) happens, and you will find it easier to get back into a routine once life returns to “normal.”

I want to point out here that when I say “normal” I mean normal for YOU and YOUR family.  Over the course of homeschooling these twenty-plus years, the schedule I use in terms of what months I school, when I take breaks, and even what our daily schedule is, has varied widely.  At this point in time, my 17-year old son works almost entirely independently and he works on his schoolwork at all different times of day (including very late at night) depending on what works for him.  My 9-year old requires very little sit-down time “doing school” and we work with him whenever it works for us.  So when I say that I am a “relaxed homeschooler” or that I am flexible with my homeschooling program – I really mean it!

Just as I think it is helpful to have a general idea of “when” you will homeschool, it is also helpful to have a general “where.”  I strongly encourage new homeschoolers to set aside an area of their home where all their homeschooling supplies will be kept: texts, paper, pencils, crayons, art supplies – whatever you might be using for that year – find a place for it and then be consistent about requiring that at the end of the day, everything goes back in that place.  It will make your life that much simpler when you don’t have to start out each day hunting for what you need.

You might also want to set aside a certain place where you will conduct the majority of your schooling.  I did this for many years – using (for instance) a small formal dining room as our schoolroom in one house, and a fourth bedroom for our schoolroom in another house.  When we built the house we are living in now we built a large school/family room where the walls are lined with shelves full of books, toys, curriculum, you name it.  For many years my kids actually did their schoolwork in this room but in recent years I found that my middle son (now 17 years old) does not work well with distractions so he does his schoolwork on his bed!  And we work with my youngest wherever it happens to be convenient.  Again, structure plus flexibility is the key!

What suggestions would you offer to someone just starting out as to the “when” and “where” of  home-schooling?  Please share your experiences and if you are a homeschooling veteran, tell us if (and how) your homeschooling experience has changed over the years.

This post is the third in a series of four posts on “Getting Started in Homeschooling.”  Disclaimer: I do not know how to teach your dog to get more biscuits.

Given that the subject of “How to Homeschool” could encompass pages and hours of writing, what I am going to do here is give a brief overview of the more commonly used teaching methods and resources.  I plan in future blog posts to spend more time on each of these methods specifically.

While the following is by no means exhaustive, here is a list and brief overview of the curriculum choices that most homeschoolers use and/or are familiar with:

1) Traditional: The traditional (or conventional) methodology involves the use of the types of textbooks and workbooks we are all familiar with.  It may also include correspondence or online courses.  There are any number of textbook publishers that you could purchase your curriculum from but some of the most commonly used are: ABeka; Bob Jones; Alpha Omega; Saxon; and Sonlight.  These programs follow a specific scope and sequence and can be very beneficial for those whose time restraints prevent them from spending a lot of time in preparation.  They can also be useful for parents (like myself) who like to use textbooks for core courses (such as math) while utilizing other methods for other coursework.

2) Classical: The classical method is based around a revival of Greek and Roman learning where the emphasis is on something called the Trivium: grammar, logic and rhetoric.  The concept is that the student progresses from learning facts in the grammar stage, to learning the “why” of things in the logic stage, to applying what has been learned in the grammar and logic stages to express themselves in a forceful and elegant manner (hence the “rhetoric” stage).  The classical method is language-focused and integrates subjects for enhanced learning.

3) Unit Studies: The focus of unit studies is two-fold.  In the first place it is an integrated form of learning which studies a concept across several disciplines.  Secondly, it is designed to be used with students of varied ages so it is especially well-suited to large families and co-operatives.  Some unit studies (such as KONOS) are focused around a character trait that you want the student to acquire.  The study will integrate a variety of subjects: science, history, fine arts, language, and math all revolving in some way around that particular character trait.  The study can also include various levels of those disciplines so that, for instance, while a high school student might be writing a research paper a grade school student could be painting a picture to illustrate the same concept.  This is a method of learning which I have used myself with my own children and in co-op situations with great success (and I might add it can also be a very fun!)

4) Living Books (also known as the Charlotte Mason method): Charlotte Mason (January 1, 1842 – January 16, 1923) was a British educator who believed that children learned better through exposure to real books, nature, and life.  She eschewed textbooks in favor of great literature; her students spent a large portion of their time outdoors studying and recording nature; and creativity was also emphasized.  One of the advantages of this method is that it can be applied in conjunction with other methods that you might want to use.

5) Unschooling: Unschooling is commonly known as “child-directed learning” i.e. what the child studies is guided by the child’s interests.  It has proven to be a very effective homeschooling option for some.  I look forward in a future post to sharing information and resources that you can use to explore this option.

6) Eclectic: This method encompasses some of all the methods above, and more.  Though I have not taken a survey, two decades of interaction with homeschoolers would make me inclined to say that this is the method employed by the majority of homeschoolers.  I will give you an example from my own life.  I use textbooks for math from kindergarten through high school.  I also use them in the elementary grades for reading (not, however, to teach phonics).  For science and history I use unit study methods.  I use workbooks from a variety of sources to teach anything from map skills to vocabulary.  My kids have used 4-H, art lessons, co-ops, music, dance, sports and many other activities as part of their education.  As I said, “eclectic.”

There may be other methods used by homeschoolers but I would venture to say these are the methods used by the vast majority of homeschoolers.  As I said, my approach is very eclectic so I have used some facet of every method described here.  Most of all, I want to say that there is no one “right” approach to homeschooling.  One of the most wonderful aspects of homeschooling is that, as parents, we are the ones who know and love our children the best and are therefore motivated to find the methods by which they will learn best.  What methods have you used?  What have been your successes AND what things have you tried and decided were not best for your family?  Please share your experiences with me and my readers in the comments section.

This post is the second in a four-part series on homeschooling.  I hope after you have read it you will leave a note in the comments telling me why YOU chose to homeschool or are considering homeschooling.

The reasons that drive home educators to begin homeschooling are probably almost as numerous and diverse as homeschoolers themselves.  In addition, the reason why someone may decide to start homeschooling may not be the same reason(s) why they continue to homeschool.  Here is a list of many of the common reasons why people choose to home-school:

~Many (though certainly not all) homeschoolers are Christians who made the decision to homeschool because they feel that the public education system is teaching values that are contrary to what they are teaching their children at home, and they don’t want those values constantly called into question.  This is certainly a valid reason to homeschool.  Our children are impressionable.  Anyone that has kids knows that they are like sponges that soak up every experience around them, for good or for bad.  Those that want to be the primary educators of their children in order to promote their own values are following in the footsteps of men and women of past generations who chose to give their children very individualized programs of instruction.  For those that are not familiar with this concept, one place you could look is Greenleaf Press’ “Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation .”  When I was using this course with my middle son I was astounded to see how many of the leaders of that era – whether their area of expertise was the political or the artistic or the scientific arena – were almost invariably “homeschooled.”  Frankly, I think you will find this to be true of almost any time period save the last 150 years or so.

~ Another reason many choose to homeschool is they simply believe they can give their child a better educational experience than can be found in a traditional school setting (whether public or private).  Studies have borne out that home-educated students DO supersede their public- and private-schooled contemporaries in every area of academic achievement and even in areas of social growth.  Check out the National Home Education Research Institute for more information on homeschool research.

~Many homeschoolers choose to educate their children at home because they feel it will foster a stronger family unit.  I have certainly found this to be the case in my own family.  When children “go to school” the tendency over time is for their peers to replace their family members in terms of who they want to spend their time with and whose influence they value most.  In fact, we have been told as parents to expect our children to eschew our company by the time they are in their “tweens” (don’t you love how society has to keep finding new labels for children so they can buttonhole them into certain expected behaviors!)  I have four children whose ages vary widely yet they are all very close.  I would even say that my children are each other’s best friends.  And my older children have had a very influential role in the teaching and training of their younger siblings (which in turn prepares them to be parents themselves someday).  Personally, I refuse to accept the popular view that my children will inevitably come to a place where I am just a postscript in their lives.

~For some home-schoolers it is simply logistically easier to homeschool.  If there is a parent in the military or a parent’s job requires frequent moves, home education provides a continuity and stability that is unmatched.  In 1992 when my family was forced to move from our home because our community had been ravaged by Hurricane Andrew, it was certainly an advantage to be homeschooling.  Over the course of several weeks my children and I lived at my parents’ home and then, later, at my sister’s home, but all I had to do in order to keep up with my children’s education was bring the books along.  School went with us.  In the meantime, families in the areas affected by the hurricane whose children attended traditional schools were scrambling trying to figure where their kids would be going to school and when school would be re-starting.  While I had to deal with a lot of stress at this time, that was one less stress I had to deal with.

Those are just a few reasons parents choose to home-school their kids.  I would like to summarize by adding what the reasons were that influenced me to begin homeschooling and what the reasons have been that have influenced me to continue homeschooling for over 20 years.

My introduction to homeschooling was through listening to a “Focus on the Family” radio program where James Dobson was interviewing home education pioneers Raymond and Dorothy Moore.  This was probably back in 1986 or so.  My oldest child (and only girl) was around 2 years of age and I loved having my little daughter home with me.  Hearing about homeschooling for the first time was exciting – the idea that I could keep my child home with me for even longer than just her first five years was very appealing to me.  About the same time I became involved in a women’s Bible study and one of the other members turned out to be a homeschool mom.  We became fast friends and, as a result, I started attending the weekly park meetings of a local homeschool group.

However, by the time my daughter turned five and was ready to go to kindergarten I had had another child, a little boy who was a non-sleeper and just generally a handful.  As a result, we decided to put our daughter in a private Christian school.  Overall, it was a positive experience.  Our daughter made straight A’s and was her class “valedictorian.”  But by the time she “graduated” kindergarten I realized that teaching a little kid was not rocket science, and the couple hundred we were spending in tuition every month could be used for other things.  In addition, we were thinking of moving and I thought it would be better for her not to have to change schools in the middle of a school year.

Well, here we are more than twenty years later and my little girl is 27 and has a Master’s degree.  Her “troublesome” little brother is now 23 and has a Bachelor’s degree in business which he completed at the age of 20 with a perfect 4.0 GPA.  I homeschooled both of them through high school.  I also have two children, ages 17 and 9, who are still in my “home education program” and I wouldn’t change the choice I made to homeschool for anything in the world.

Over these two decades I have seen so many benefits of homeschooling: from the superior academic achievements of my kids, to the fact that instead of being influenced by their peers they have had the active influence of their father and I to make good choices for their lives.  My kids are amazing people.  Just ask their mother.

Hello and welcome to the genesis of Homeschooling911.  This post is the first “official” post of my new blog and is also the first post of a four-part series on “Getting Started in Home-Schooling.”

Though the intent of this post is to tell you what homeschooling is, I am actually going to start out by telling you what homeschooling is not.  Say what?  Well, the fact is that I have found that when most parents start out homeschooling they often end up trying to replicate their own educational experience (usually a public school education).  Ask any home-schooling parent.  Most will tell you that when they started out homeschooling they had this idea that there was something called a “typical school day” and their job was to stick as close to that script as possible.

Think about a “typical school day” for the typical child.  School starts at 8:30 am or so with the Pledge and announcements and admonitions of “everyone sit down and be quiet”.  The day will progress with very clearly delineated times for math, reading, science, etc.  There will also be a time to go to P.E. and lunch, which requires an extra 10 minutes minimum for lining up and marching forth.  Typical curriculum allows for lots of busy work because a classroom of 20 or 30 students will inevitably have children of various levels of ability, and you have to keep the “quick” ones busy while you urge the “slow” ones to speed it up a little.  Frankly, there is just a lot of wasted time in a “typical school day,” and there is no reason why as homeschoolers we should try to replicate a system that we have decided is not the best for our children anyway!

So if homeschooling is not what I have described above as the typical educational experience, what is it?  It is a journey, like life.  It is a fluid, ever-changing experience, like life.  It is education, in the wonderful, challenging, and rewarding realm of REAL LIFE.

It is interesting that many homeschoolers will find themselves accused of sheltering their children in such a way that their children do not know what “real life” is like.  First of all, I am absolutely in favor of parents sheltering their children; that is one of our paramount jobs as parents: to protect our children!  However, to think that homeschooled children do not experience real life, or that children who go to institutional schools ARE experiencing real life, is ludicrous.  What is real about spending your formative years with people who are always exactly your age?  At what other time in life do we do that?

Homeschooling is an educational experience for your child that you control.  It is an experience where you get to choose among a vast array of educational materials and experiences (and these days your options are innumerable) and pick what YOU think it is best for YOUR child.  Wow.  Imagine that.  Do you think it is possible that you as the parent can actually know what is best for your kid?  Well, in my house at least, the answer to that would be an unequivocable “Yes!”

In future posts I will be exploring the other questions homeschoolers have when getting started: Why am I doing this? How do I home-school? When will I fit this in to our family’s lifestyle.  Please come back, and also tell your homeschooling friends about this site.  If you have questions about getting started in homeschooling, leave them in the comments below or fill out my contact form.  And if you would like to be notified when new posts will be coming out, you can sign up for e-mail notification or receive posts via RSS feed.  I look forward to helping you with your own homeschooling journey!