My Tips for a Great Homeschool Start!
Reasons we "homeschool":
I could never list all the reasons I’m over-the-moon happy that we homeschool. My husband and I NEVER considered private school, let alone homeschool, for our kids until it was nearing the time for our first child to go to school. We even registered her for kindergarten at our zoned public elementary with her little BFF. The thought of her going off to school was such a big eye-opener for us that homeschool suddenly came into discussion.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure I was more for it than my husband, but nonetheless we had a “trial” homeschool year. The next year came with the same dread of sending her to school, and loving the flexibility of our schedule, we continued into first grade…. and here we are with a 5th grader, 2nd grader and a preschooler! It wasn’t the easiest decision, especially with toddlers or a baby on the way for much of the time, but it was just RIGHT for us.
Now, beginning our 6th year of homeschool, we’ve found ourselves doing nearly half of our school on the go! My husband travels a lot for work so, thanks to homeschooling, instead of staying at home, many times we just go too!
We also get to spend months of the year staying with family in other states and living life with cousins that my kids may otherwise hardly know!
And my favorite PERK: My kids see that they are part of a gigantic world full of people with different needs and hopes, different backgrounds and family definitions, but still PEOPLE all the same! I truly believe this will change how they approach situations in the future and help them see the value of human life. I hope they are humbled but empowered by the experiences we have together!
Just a few photos of getting school done wherever we are!:
I can’t imagine not homeschooling at this point! I love our travel life, our days at home together and the flexibility to teach my kids focusing on their individual needs and goals.
Homeschool bonus: If we want to stop and learn Yoga or sign language, or how to make balloon animals, watch live cams of the African Savannah, or focus on the awesomeness of 90’s alternative for the afternoon…. we do!
However, it’s not a cake-walk (does anyone remember those?), it’s a balance. Sometimes it seems like one more giant, wobbly plate to keep spinning among everything else that’s already making you feel like a circus act!
It’s also like a binding that ties all the rest of life together. We get to have amazing experiences TOGETHER! Life skills, story time, art, building, crafts, music and on and on… all part our life’s big picture, all done as a family.
One thing I will never have regrets about is the time I’ve gotten to spend with my kids instead of them being away for 7 to 8 hours every week day.
This post is in NO WAY to say that homeschool is right for everyone or that you should feel bad for sending your kids to school. Both experiences have positives and negatives! Just do what’s right for YOUR family!
Side note of straight-up honesty here: the idea of sitting in school car-line alone, makes every homeschool day worth it for me!
Now let's get started!
**Save your hands, furious note-taker (just me?) -Freebie Homeschool Start Checklist at the end of this post!**
Check your state's laws FIRST:
See if you are willing and able to do what you will be required to do. Here’s one website where you can find information about your state’s laws. The site is clear and thorough!
Think about WHY:
Talk through and write down the reasons WHY you want to homeschool. By talking it out with the whole family, you can see who’s on board and maybe who is not – and see why!
Many times my kids refuse something because they have unanswered questions. When these questions are answered, many times they are relieved and even more excited about trying something new. Not that our children get to make all the big decisions, but this is a BIG part of their lives too!
I also think it’s a good idea to listen to and record all the pros and cons for homeschooling from each member of the family. This way, you have a visible way to balance out what your family wants and expects from the homeschool life.
Get your "umbrella":
Next, find a cover school, umbrella school or create you own depending on your state’s laws. Even if a cover/umbrella school is not required, many times being a part of one helps parents with instructional guidelines, keeping track of paper work and making sure everything is legit and legal!
Make sure you find out exactly what records you are expected to keep and if you are required to turn in attendance, grades, curriculum, plans, field trip reports etc. Every state and cover school is different! Our state is a “low regulation” state and we aren’t REQUIRED to turn in an incredible amount of information about our year.
However, I keep thorough records of everything we do just in case! For example, we aren’t required to turn in field trip reports (see my printable pack!), but I have my kids fill one out after each one to share what they learned, I write it in our “Daily Work Completed” book (see more about that below), and I take photographic “evidence”.
I think you’ll find I’m kind of a gigantic rule-following worrier the more you read! I always have been, I don’t think it’s going to change anytime soon.
Contact the school you children are zoned for. They are expecting your children to attend school there once they are school-aged (also different for every state). Our cover school does this step for us once we are registered with them and have paid our fees. It’s such a blessing to know the legal stuff is taken care of! Our fees also include a membership to HSLDA – Home School Legal Defense Association.
Subjects to Cover:
Again, always check YOUR state’s laws and regulations, and consult with your cover school (if applicable) about what subjects you should be covering with your students. Our state doesn’t give much in the way of guidelines (which some find a relief, but I find TERRIFYING!).
When I started homeschooling, I consulted some friends that are teachers at public and private schools, as well as other homeschool moms to see what typical expectations were for each grade.
Make a list of subjects for each student that you hope to cover for the school year. Your state may give you clear expectations on what to cover.
*Here is an example of our subjects for each child. (Just for reference – not necessarily what you should be covering for your school day).
Once you have a list of subjects for each child, you have to do some research for curriculum. This seems daunting and I can’t lie – it’s definitely hardest at the beginning, but it gets easier every year! When you know what you like, it’s easy to toss the next year’s level into the cart. But we always have one or two subjects that need a change up – so research ensues!
Once again, talk to any teachers and homeschool parents you know, and search online for great reviews. I love to use Youtube to find videos of real parents trying out curriculum with their own families. It’s so helpful to see them flip through the books and give pros and cons for each book that I may be considering.
Compare Prices! You may be surprised to find that Amazon (swoon) is not always the cheapest. Read the review there, but my favorite supplier so far (and least expensive I have found) has been RainbowResources. Check out Timberdoodle as well. It’s a great site for “full package” curriculum.
Use this curriculum comparison printable to keep track of curriculum costs and compare prices between different sites.
Planning the year out with your Curriculum:
I am like giant-nerd excited when it comes to new school curriculum arriving in the mail! Once they arrive, I (giddily) sort books by student (some are shared) and begin to list each resource/book and its number or pages or lessons.
Some books will have a guide to direct you on how many pages or lessons per day/week to shoot for. Some will have lessons with clear-cut time guidelines.
If not, for daily subjects, I take the number of pages and divide it by the number of days required (175 days per year for our state) and that’s how many pages or lessons we schedule in for the week.
For weekly or biweekly subjects just divide by how many weeks of school you will have. For example: Math, Spelling, Language Arts, Handwriting, Reading Comprehension are daily subjects for us. If our math book has 275 pages, I divide that by 175 and you know to shoot for 1-2 pages per day. Sometime we do more, sometimes less. Don’t stress!
Once, I get an idea of how many pages or lessons to cover each day/week, I like to put a post-it note inside each book or inside the drawer. After a few weeks, everyone just knows what to expect.
I will share a list of our favorite resources and some that have not worked for us in another post!
Estimate school SUPPLY costs:
It’s a great idea to know what you’re in for money-wise before you jump in. This amount varies for each family based on expectations and requirements. We have a closet full of clearance supplies from years ago and I don’t have to buy much for each school year, but if you don’t you may have some money to spend to get started. But honestly, I don’t think it’s ever been more than any public school supply list.
Use this Homeschool Cost Estimator chart to guide you towards a no-suprise budget. Keep in mind you would encounter many of these same costs if your children were not homeschooling.
Write all expected costs down to get a better idea of the actual cost of homeschooling in comparison to other school alternatives. Be honest with yourself for less regrets!
Just for an example: We probably spend more money on food and snacks because our children are home ALL day, but we may save that much not driving back and forth to school five days per week. Again, write it down to see for yourself!
Connect!
Find other homeschool families in Facebook Groups: I have gotten LOADS of information and helpful tips from other parents in these groups, not to mention fantastic learning opportunities, field trips and a plethora of used resources.
To keep up with newly-found contacts and helpful groups and sites, check out some helpful pages in our Homeschool Planning Pack!.
I will share some field trip tips and ideas in another post! Also, I have a great printable for Field Trip Planning and Field Trip Journals for several different learning levels -all included in the Planning Pack!
Decide if you want to be part of a Homeschool CoOp. CoOps are a phenomenal way for kids to homeschool and experience class-style learning with other students. Usually joining a CoOp means that your children will learn some subjects weekly from another parent or teacher, and in turn, you are responsible to teach a subject that you “specialize” in. I am not an expert on CoOps! We have never joined one due to our travel-lifestyle. It’s something that requires more regular commitment than we can offer.
We do, however, love to get together with other homeschool families as much as possible! We even started a “Quarantine CoOp” group on facebook to share our lessons and ideas with other families during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I’ve learned so much from other parents while our kids are playing or even picking pumpkins together.
Scheduling your day/week:
The more you plan ahead, the better the school year goes for everyone!
Homeschool life is like following an old recipe. You have several clear guidelines (ingredients) that you can put together over and over by heart, but you are always free to add in “chocolate chip” activities or “coconut” days.
Fun opportunities arrive and unexpected appointments pop up and they don’t have to destroy your homeschool plans. When I had younger children that napped, our school day was almost completely during the afternoon “napping” hours. Now, we get up and ready for the day to get started on school by 8:30 each morning.
A general schedule is vital – you and your kids know what to expect from day to day. This way no one is totally caught off guard or shocked at the amount of work that day or the fact that Monday IS indeed a school day.
I’ve found the more regularly you stick to the schedule, the better we all feel about our days that don’t go as planned! For my kids, this means they know what to expect when we are schooling at home and what to expect when we do school on the go!
Our scheduling "steps":
- More on scheduling and the steps I take to plan our entire school year:
Step 1: Print out a yearly calendar and monthly calendars for each month that you plan to homeschool.
Step 2: Go through each month and make a mark on the days that you should be able to do school. Take into account holidays, appointments, travel plans etc. when “picking out” your school days. Since we do most of our school between August and May, we have ten months to work with. That would mean (with our state’s 175 days/year requirement) that we would need to shoot for 17 to 18 days per month. EASY! This is where the awesomeness of homeschool really begins to get exciting – I like to be finished in the beginning of May, take off ALL of December and leave time for a few trips per year that we don’t take our school books (we take school almost every where we travel but school work and Disney World, for example, aren’t a great mix).
Step 3: Taking all of my preferences above into account, I adjust my 17 to 18 days per month accordingly until I have 175 days “scheduled” to do school. I do this by doing a few days of school and some educational field trips during the summer before the typical school year begins, and adding a few days to each month that we don’t have a much going on (in most months we can complete 20 or more days), and we’ve even done a few school days on the weekends as a trade-off for an upcoming “school book-free” trip.
Step 4: Print an Attendance Chart for each student (also an available printable in my Homeschool Starter Pack!). At the bottom, write how many days you expect to be able to do a school day in the “Monthy Goal #” box. As you complete each school day, put a mark in that day’s box. At the end of each month, total the days and write the number in the “Monthly Completed #” box. This way you can see if you’re ahead of your goal days for the month and can take a few days off of another month, or if you’re a little behind, you can add some days to future months. This way, you don’t get to March and realize you are WAY off and have to do school 7 days a week for the next 3 months. The thought of that sends chills down my spine!
Here is what our attendance chart looked like for last year!
Add some special days to your school calendar like 100 day, themed weeks, “school spirit days”, silly holidays, seasonal activities, testing days, etc. ahead of time so that you know they are coming and you can plan for them!! We have had entire lessons come out of celebrating days like “National Underwear Day” and even designed our own underwear! Ha! Homeschool can take you down some crazy roads some days and we never forget those days!
Daily/Hourly Schedule:
For younger students, you will be in charge of making and following a schedule. A daily and hourly schedule like one in the Planning Pack is easy to use and follow.
For older students that can handle a schedule of their own and could use some training in self-motivation, a student planner may be a good choice!
My FAVORITE part of the student planner is the Personal Learning Goals section at the bottom. Here, your student can think of some skills or habits that they’d like to grow in and chart the days that they made time to work on them! I see my kids work so much harder on their goals when they are written down and they see more progress the more they work on them!
Once you know what to expect for each day, I recommend a drawer system. We have several of these colorful rolling carts (I would suggest having a least one cart per student) and I love them!
Each drawer has a subject label and is filled with whatever is needed for that specific subject. I like to start at the top with our “daily work/morning work” and go down from there. I fill the bottom drawers with subjects that we do on a weekly or biweekly basis. I also like the large drawers at the bottom for subjects that we tend to have more resources for like Art, Geography etc.
My kids know to go from drawer to drawer completing each subject (with help whenever they need it, of course) then, books and completed work are returned to that drawer so nothing gets lost!
I recommend keeping a labeled folder for each subject inside each drawer for completed work making the end-of-year record filing so much easier! Once my kids are familiar with their expected subjects, we can throw it into a backpack for school-on-the-go at a coffee shop or an unexpected road trip!
Here’s a photo of our drawer system:
Record-keeping:
Once again, every state’s requirements are different but you are going to need some way to track or record what you’ve completed during your school day. In the past, we have used a lined notebook but this year we have some super cute recording sheets (Surprise, it’s another printable! Haha!) to keep track of our daily work completed.
In a separate book or binder for each student, I number each day so I always know how far along we are in the year and write the date. Under, I write each subject we worked on with page or lesson numbers and a little about the lesson for that day. If it’s a graded assignment, I write the grade beside the lesson.
I only write down what we ACTUALLY COMPLETED that day! I do not write plans for each day (you really don’t know what is going to get done until it’s done!), we use our daily schedule (above) as a guideline and the drawer system when we are doing school from home. If I’m ever asked to turn in our work for the year, I would be able to hand over that notebook/binder (and maybe some write-in workbooks) with completed work listed not just a book of work we hoped to do but never completed.
Filing your schoolwork:
I use a plastic file box for each year or even two years worth of work. I file each student’s workbooks, artwork and folders with any other completed work in the box.
I also put in a copy of our attendance and book of daily work completed.
If anyone needs to know what we did for the school year, it’s ALL in the box!
Don’t overbuy or collect too many resources! It’s nice to have some supplements especially for subjects that you know your student may struggle with or ones that he/she may finish early.
I find myself feeling overwhelmed and even guilty for not finishing books or even taking them out! Just get what you need! You can find so many resources and supplements online IF you want or need them. If we can’t fit them in a backpack to take wherever we go, we probably don’t need it!
In Conclusion:
Organization and planning ahead will take 1,000 pounds off of your shoulders for the rest of the year!!
I LOVE to learn from others experiences, so I hope that I can do the same for you and maybe help you breath a little easier and sleep a little better!
I would love to hear back from you about other ways that I can help you get started or continue your homeschool journey!
If you have any requests for printables or would like to share what resources are helpful to you, I’m listening!
Best of luck!! You CAN do this!!
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