How to Get Started Homeschooling

When I first started my search for homeschooling information and supplies, I was very quickly overwhelmed. Not just overwhelmed, but I felt like after reading hundreds of resources I still didn't even know where to start. Piece by piece though it all came together and I had a solid plan.

Before I jump into resources, I feel the need to lay down a disclaimer. As most articles will tell you, all children are different and you'll need to find a specific method of teaching. Since my child thrives on routine we are taking a structured route, but without the restrictions of "curriculum in a box". Basically we are far from unschooling, but we don't have the forced design of a classroom either.

Step 1 - State Laws
The first place I started was with my state laws. Before you even start looking for supplies or make the decision, you need to know exactly what your state law says. This is going to vary from state to state, so focus on that search first. Our state has two options - supervising teacher or test, which we opted for test.

Step 2 - Curriculum Standards
All parents who make the choice to homeschool automatically have that fear of "are my children going to learn what they are suppose to?". I wanted to take care of that fear by having some type of easy checklist in front of me. I used several resources for this, which will be explained below.

Knowing we were opting for the state testing option for assessment lead me to look into a layout of the test he'd be taking next year regardless. From that I got a basic idea of the areas they should know at his grade level, and how he would be tested.

I also stumbled on two very useful list of standards - one sorted by grade level from WorldBook, and the other Scope and Sequence for K-3 from Homeschool Share. With the three lists and guides in hand, I made a "master guide" of what I thought we should cover in an entire year.

Step 3 - Finding Curriculum
Armed with my very detailed list, I could now go on the search for materials. There is no shortage of worksheets and resources online, that's for sure. The real hard part is knowing what you'll need, but thankfully that should be taken care of if you did step 2. Instead of blindly printing stuff, you can now gather exactly what you need.

While there are tons of resources online for every subject and grade, you might still feel more comfortable with a "real book" in certain subjects. grammar, for example, is an area I am not comfortable teaching. However, since I had lists in hand I knew that he would need to know nouns, verbs, and adjectives by the end of next year. Proper punctuation is important for a 2nd grader as well, so I decided it would be best if we have a grammar book of sorts.

Reading comprehension, on the other hand, is something I don't worry about as much and do not think we need a "teacher book" for. While teachers have told me he has problems in this area they really aren't seeing the real problem - he doesn't WANT to retell the stories or answer questions. I realized this one night when I put him on the spot to "prove" he read the book. He proved it all right - told me the whole story in a matter of seconds. The reason he did it so quickly is because he wanted my attention for something else, and knew he wouldn't get it until he gave me a correct answer to the book. Just proof that this kid isn't given proper motivation in school to do well. Also proof that it's not the comprehension he needs to learn, but following directions instead.

This is where I'm going to end, because every parent is going to go in a different direction. What you'll need for curriculum and supplies is going to depend on the child and their grade level. But hopefully this article was detailed enough to get you started in the right direction and focus on one step at a time. Homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive or complicated, you just need to know where to start!

Good luck!