5 Things to Do Before Starting to Homeschool

1.  Pray Before You Begin Homeschooling

The first thing that I would suggest anybody do before they start homeschooling is pray. Pray for God to affirm this decision to you in several ways. Write down these confirmations and meditate on them. Then later on when you have a rough day you can return to these affirmations and remind yourself of why you started homeschooling in the first place. Pray for God’s peace if this is something that He wants you to do. Pray for provision, as homeschoolers need to find ways to be thrifty and creative in earning  enough money to keep one parent with the children.  Pray for unity among your children and yourselves. Pray for God to guide you in the form your school will take, and the curriculum you should use. Yes, there is a lot to pray about. But homeschooling is no more difficult than starting and running a business, or a million other things that  people do. You can do this, and do it very well with God’s help.

2. Arm Yourself With the Facts

Before you get excited and start sharing your new adventure with anyone, and I do mean anyone, (ie, your mother, best friend, across the street neighbor,) you should do a little research. Otherwise these loved ones are going to rain on your parade. I know you don’t want to believe this, but it is true. Homeschooling is still unconventional, even though it is much more common than twenty years ago when I started. People still have wrong ideas about homeschooling and you must be prepared to squelch these as soon as they surface to avoid getting discouraged before you even begin.  Read the FAQ section of this website for starters, and google Dr. Brian Ray, homeschooling statistics. That should keep you busy for a while. Practice answering the questions, “What about socialization?” and “How will they go to college?”  (On that last one, tell them that my older son who was homeschooled K-12 received many scholarships and we did not pay a dime for his college education at Oklahoma City University, a wonderful private fine arts school.)  Sorry, but I had to brag just a little bit.

3. Forget the Way Government Schools Teach

It is very important to note here that the government schools are failing. Illiteracy is at an all time high. Look at the dismal ACT scores of government schooled children next to those of  homeschooled students. Don’t start your homeschool and then try to imitate the government school. (They are doing everything they can to make schools more “homey”. Have you seen the little comfy reading corners with pillows, etc? )Please don’t try to make your kids sit at a desk all day and be super-structured. Don’t sit them down in front of a pile of books for eight hours. There are many beautiful fun ways to learn, and at home the sky is the limit.

4. Think About Your Students’ Unique Learning Styles

Spend a little time thinking about the uniqueness of each of your students. This is one of the real beauties of homeschooling. If you have a boy that just loves motors and machines, then get him outside in the shed and let him tear up and try to put back together an old lawn mower. This is a legitimate part of his curriculum. Have a daughter that loves to cook? Start her in home economics (helping you cook and clean) when she is in elementary school.  If you have a son or daughter that is a good reader, then he or she can tolerate more independent book work while you work with the younger ones that are still learning to read. Ask your students what they would LOVE to learn this year. Then figure out how to incorporate that in to their curriculum. Remember, think outside the “government school box.”  Consider all of your resources: public and church libraries, familymembers, friends, community programs, unique family situations, travel opportunities and church work to name a few.

5. Plan the Curriculum

You should establish a framework or guideline for each of your students. You can get a scope and sequence from your state department of education that tells what skills should be learned in each grade. You can find these online also by googling “scope and sequence for elementary education (or whichever level you student is at), and the name of your state. There are also many homeschooling resources like this online. Don’t go hog wild and buy a million dollars worth of curriculum and workbooks. Take a deep breath, pray, and let God guide this part of your homeschooling as well. Write down the goals for the year for each of your students. Then work backwards in filling in how you will help your child reach those goals. What blessed children to have their own personal educational consultant, (their mother or dad), creating an individualized educational plan just for them! You will never be sorry that you invested this time and energy in your children. This is one of the things that will reap eternal rewards.

Q. What about highschool?
A. Highschool is a great time to homeschool! Highschool students can finish their studies in the morning and work or do community service in the afternoon. They have time to pursue special interests that are not available to public school kids. Another popular option for highschool homeschoolers is getting a head start on college by taking evening or correspondence courses.

Q. What about all of the fun they will miss during their Senior year?
A. Most support groups have Senior class activities and socials during the year. They have a graduation exercise and Baccalaureate Service, and a banquet to replace the prom. Interested Senior homeschoolers get to have a larger part of planning their activities, they can even design their own rings!

Q. Will they be able to get into college?
A. Colleges are soliciting homeschool graduates nowadays, and many are receiving full scholarships. Over one hundred-fifty American universities, including Harvard and Yale, have accepted homeschooled students.Homeschool graduates are proving to be not only academically superior, but also more independent thinkers and self motivated learners.

Q. Can you teach upper level math and science? (This question is a favorite of family members who remember your report cards!)
A. Actually, I’m looking forward to learning with the kids things I missed in government school. For now, there is no problem because I did learn how to multiply and divide. If there is something I don’t know, I just look in my teacher’s manual. Science labs are available through support groups, or they can be arranged by networking with other families and enlisting a tutor. Homeschooling is growing so fast that resources are springing up everywhere to service us.

Q. Are you planning to homeschool all the way through?

A. (Even if you think you are, don’t commit yourself. Why box yourself in?) We feel like we would like to, but we take it one year at a time.

More sound-bytes next time.

One of the most important parts of presenting yourself to the inquiring public as a homeschooler is to not try to convert others with evangelical zeal. My experience has been that keeping responses to questions short and sweet is usually the best way. If someone is truly interested in homeschooling, you could suggest getting together sometime when you both have time to talk. For the next few sessions I will be sharing some of my homeschool sound bytes that I developed for the “Inquiring Minds” in my circle.

READY RESPONSES FOR INQUIRING MINDS
Q. I could never do that!
A. It’s not for everybody.

This response immediately lowers defenses and catches the other person off guard. Your inquirer was expecting you to say, “Oh, yes you could, blah blah blah” She had already thought up a bunch of reasons to tell you as to why she couldn’t. So you just saved her a bunch of time, and presented yourself as a confident and together person who realizes that homeschooling really isn’t for everybody. If you don’t have the love, dedication, and true grit to be a homeschooling mom, then it’s really not for you. (But you don’t want to come out and say that now do you? Answer: No.)

Q. Is it legal?
A. (Research the laws in your state to be prepared for this one.) Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states, although the requirements differ.

Q. How do you stand to be around your kids that much?
A. If you are in charge of your children’s discipline, they are usually much nicer to be around. That’s not to say that we don’t have our moments, but that’s one reason we chose homeschooling. It gives us the chance to teach our values all day long.

Q. Are you qualified to teach?
A. The main qualification for a good teacher is a genuine concern for the student. I have a dream job and small class size! Nobody cares for my students as much as me!

Q. How do you know what to teach? Aren’t you afraid you’re going to leave something out?
A. There are scopes and sequences that tell what should be learned in each grade. Packaged curricula and correspondence schools are available for those who don’t want to build an individualized course.) Teacher’s guides have directions and answers in them, so it’s not as difficult as you might imagine.

Next time more Sound bytes for Homeschooling Skeptics

Granny always said, “There’s no education like adversity!” While you may enjoy teaching your children at home, there is another part of homeschooling that you may not have bargained for, educating friends and family about homeschooling. Honest inquiries and downright debate can be quite upsetting when you are just beginning to homeschool.

When you first became interested in homeschooling, you probably read everything you could find on the subject. Perhaps you talked to veteran homeschoolers, subscribed to a magazine and joined a support group. During this process you found that homeschoolers are a diverse bunch of folks who are pretty much like everybody else. The one characteristic they share is a willingness to sacrifice for their children’s education.

Your friends and family, on the other hand, may have formed their opinions of homeschooling based on what little they have seen on television or read in the newspaper, or heard as gossip. They may have never met a “real live homeschooler” before, and may have a skewed picture of this person in mind. This leaves you in the unenviable position of enlightening without alienating. Our problem is complicated by the fact that many of us only see our extended families on holidays. Even if you are a great communicator, it is hard to give a presentation about home education between setting the table and carving the turkey!

What we need is a portfolio of homeschooling sound bytes combined with simple public relations. Preparing the sound byte portfolio amounts to memorizing and practicing short answers to common questions. This will help you say what you mean in a clear, friendly way. People are generally more receptive to a single idea or small nugget of truth rather than a long sermon.

When we care about something, sometimes intensity is wrongly interpreted as harshness. Granny always said, “We have a right to disagree, but we don’t have any right to be disagreeable.”

When the conversation rolls around to homeschooling, allow others to voice their concerns without interrupting or becoming upset. Smile, wait, and earn the right to be heard. Use a soft tone of voice. Solomon said, “Pleasant words promote instruction.” (Proverbs 16:21a NIV ) Sweetness of speech coupled with ready responses can open the door for you to teach your loved ones about homeschooling.

Next time I will share my “Homeschooling Soundbytes” with you. Until then,

Do not grow weary in well doing, for in due time we shall reap if we faint not. Galatians 6:9 (My life verse.)

I am sitting by myself in my study, typing away. One of my sons is in the kitchen clattering around, but aside from that I am all by myself. I did not call out any spelling words today, or check anybody’s work. I’m done. After homeschooling both of my boys k-12, I came in on home stretch. It took about 2 years for my brain to stop spinning! It’s a miracle. I can actually go out to lunch with somebody if I want to. (Funny, I usually don’t want to. I thought I would!)

Now that my head has stopped spinning, I have reflected on how much I learned while homeschooling, and how dear all of those days really were. As my “thank you” to God, I want to help and encourage homeschool moms who are still schooling. We have lots to talk about! Let’s see, there’s curriculum, discipline, housework, teaching methods, activities, college, skeptical family members, recipes, crafts, co-ops and so much more. So I hope you stop by often and visit.

There are so many miracles when I look back on my years as a homeschool mom. First, God led me to an obscure book in our church library about a lady who homeschooled her kids in airports and hotels because her husband had a traveling job. That was the initial spark for my homeschooling fire. Mind you, I started back in the old days when everybody thought we homeschoolers were REALLY weird, when NOBODY else hardly on the planet did something so strange! : ) Then He led me to two other women in my church who were homeschoolers. Then I found Mary Pride books. I was hooked after reading Mary. She even wrote me a precious personal response one time to a question I sent her. (This was before email, friends!)

When I look back over my sixteen years of homeschooling, I have no regrets. I did not do everything perfect. But I tried. I prayed. I started over and changed my mind and didn’t follow through on everything. But God blessed my effort. My boys both earned college scholarships, (in varying amounts) and my eldest has even graduated. Whew! When he graduated, I really wanted to wear a t-shirt to his graduation that said: “Told ya’ so! I told you I could do it! I told you it would work! I told ya’ I told ya’ I told ya’!” But that would have been totally rude and nobody would have even liked it, but that’s what I felt like doing.

So, now I want to encourage you. I have been where you are. I have gone into the bathroom and locked the door and prayed for strength in the middle of a school day. I have called spelling words from my bed. You can do this. Keep on. You will be glad one day.