How to Homeschool in 10 Easy Steps

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Are you thinking about homeschooling your children and you don’t know where to start? Well, this place, right here is where to start! I will tell you how to homeschool right now. (See also my homeschool supply checklist!)

We all have different reasons for choosing to home education. Maybe your kids had a poor experience at school. Maybe you don’t love the school system. Maybe your kids are not learning enough, or you don’t like the things they are learning.

Whatever your reasons, I want to show you the many different homeschool options and resources available to help you get started.

Here is a video with 10 Tips for Brand New Homeschoolers

 

If you have not yet discovered my homeschool podcast, Called to Homeschool, this is really a great resource that will likely answer most of your questions! 

No matter the reason, if you want to homeschool your child, you will likely have some questions, doubts, concerns, worries, and fears along the way. We all have fears and concerns when we start out. Hopefully just having a few simple steps will help you know what to do and help ease some of those fears and unknowns on your homeschooling journey.

I’ll have you successfully homeschooling in no time at all.

Take a peek at our homeschool room.

How to Homeschool in 10 Easy Steps!

1.Read some homeschooling books. I wrote a post about my favorite ones here. There are so many different books on this subject.

There are books about the different styles and methods of homeschooling. There are books full of ideas and resources and there are even books for the very beginner.

This is how I figured out how homeschooling works. It helped me see the big picture and get an understanding of all of it.

2. Find a support group online. Sometimes an online support group is the best place to start. That’s where I began. I didn’t know anybody locally who homeschooled, so I started online.

 Online support is good because there are lots of different voices and opinions to help you find the ones that work for you. There are some amazing groups on Facebook to help.

3. Be ok with your choice and have faith in yourself! Sometimes the hardest part about homeschooling is having the courage and confidence that you can actually do this. There are all kinds of fears. I wrote a post about homeschooling fears here.

I also wrote a post called How to Start Homeschooling When You’re Terrified. Homeschooling parents always tend to think they are not good enough, smart enough, or qualified enough, but that is not true. You are uniquely qualified to teach your own children. They are lucky to have you.

4. Find a local support group. We are part of an amazing homeschool co-op that has been a huge support for our family. Not all places have that option. If you can’t find something like that, create it!

Or, maybe just find one or two good like-minded friends who can help you along the way.

Homeschool groups have helped make our experiences better in so many ways. Knowing other homeschooling families helps my kids feel like they have a place where they fit in. It helps me feel that way, too.

5. Learn about your local state homeschooling laws. The state laws and country laws all vary, so you will have to do a little bit of research and studying. You can research that on the Homeschool Legal Defense website. I wrote about Homeschooling in Utah on my site.

6. Research and choose your curriculum options or style of schooling. Read my Quick Guide to Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum book for tips!

There are so many great options for homeschool curriculum. From online homeschool curriculum to scripted lesson plans that walk you through all of it. You can just get some books and start reading. You can make it look like school at home, our you can do it unschooling style.

Read some of my Homeschool Curriculum Posts.

Listen to my podcast episodes on choosing your curriculum- 100 Ways to Homeschool.

7. Attend a homeschool conference or curriculum fair. There are conferences and fairs all over the country. You can learn so much from attending one of these. It is also a great place to look through different books to help you know what curriculum to choose.

There are even some awesome virtual homeschool conferences now!

8. Outsource subjects you are terrified of! You don’t have to do it all! Find city classes or teams, online classes or local tutors if needed.

Involve grandparents (my favorite) or friends. It’s ok! No guilt required.

When your kids get to high school age, this may especially be important.

9. Plan your day. Do not over plan and don’t try so hard to model the public school or the perfect private school down the road. Here is a simple homeschool schedule to help you with that part! Here is another easy one.

Or grab my full printable Ultimate Homeschool Planner!

10. Be flexible. Don’t stress too much about things not going perfectly. They never go perfectly. That’s the honest truth.

There are hard days and hard months. There are times that are awesome and feel like they are going really well. There are days when you have doctors appointments to squeeze between math and piano lessons, but it all balances out.

Here is some support for when you feel like you are failing at homeschooling.

Flexibility is also one of the best parts of doing school at home. You can go on field trips whenever you want. You can learn in the car or at the park and you can study whatever you feel like.

Now you are a pro! You can do this, I promise.

 

Want MORE Homeschool Resources?

Check out my podcast Called to Homeschool. I have a whole bunch of information on starting this process. It’s not as hard as you think.

 

Here is Episode #1: So You’ve Decided to Homeschool, Now What?