Homeschooling - What Works Best for Your Family?

There are several things I have learned over the years as a homeschooler. To be honest, most of these are common sense, but some of us do not realize this until it is too late. I have talked with other homeschool families and modified the way I do things almost every year. Now I feel I have finally found a system that works for our family. That is what homeschooling is all about, doing what works for your family.

We began by using Christian Liberty Academy as our first form of homeschooling. I must say I did enjoy using that type of format. I was a bit disappointed that not all the student materials had a teachers guide, and since it was our first year, I felt I needed one. However, we did get by and everything worked out fine. I was impressed with the way they kept records, and that I simply had to mail them the test scores and such. I also appreciated the fact that we were able to make payments instead of pay the full tuition up front, which was a tremendous help at the time. CLASS is a fairly inexpensive program, it is less than $500 for a full year of materials and their services. The only reason we did not continue using them is we couldn't even afford that much after that first year.

So what did we do next you ask? Well, I used the knowledge I gained from that first year as to how to structure a day, and what subjects needed to be included, and how to implement them into our daily schedule. I acquired a copy of our state curriculum standards, and purchased books from Borders, Learning supply stores, and any other place I could find books that contained the material needed to be learned. I took them home, looked through them, wrote up teachers notes, made up tests to cover each section, made lesson plans, decided on activities that would reinforce the learning, and we began school. That year I believe I spent less than $250 on learning materials. Paper, pencils, etc. were extra expenditures and purchased as necessary. I had a teachers grade book, got a basic report card template from an online source, and kept records in that manner. I kept all of their original tests in case there ever came a time when we would need it.

This is how we have done things since. I enjoy doing it this way for several reasons. First and foremost, I love the planning and research that goes into designing my own curriculum. I also love the record keeping. Second, I am very familiar with the material when I do it this way and I need little preparation for each daily lesson. Third, because my 3^rd grader is disabled and her curriculum needs to be designed specifically for her because of her multiple disabilities. She is blind, has cp, autism, and epilepsy. So she has to learn in a completely different manner than a regular correspondence program would provide. I have also found, that to make things even cheaper for us, we can purchased used texts, workbooks, and teachers editions several places online. We also use the library now more than ever since the boys are in high school. We almost prefer the library method to textbooks. It is more fun, there is more information, we can get more than one point of view, and it's free.

Now, I do realize that there are a lot of folks out there that do not feel they know how, or are capable of designing their own curriculum or making their own forms and test, and such. I want you to know that there are ways to work around all of this. In my subsequent articles, I will walk you through step-by-step all that is involved in process of designing your curriculum, making forms (or finding them online), and everything else you might need from the beginning of your school year to the end of your school year. I will even include samples and extra information regarding children with disabilities. I am sure you will find that it is not that daunting of a task, much like myself you just need to realize that you are capable, and have confidence in yourself. Most importantly you must trust that YOU know your child and what he/she needs more than anyone else.

For now, take a deep breath and look forward to your journey of educating your child in the best way possible, by their own private professional. You and only you, can give your child exactly what they need to succeed in life.