Homeschool 101
The Nuts and Bolts of How to Get Started
Start Here.
You’re interested in this homeschool thing. It used to be weird - now it sounds kind of interesting…maybe even freeing.
Your kids’ schedule (and your own) won’t be tied to anyone else’s demands…you can wake up when you want and leave the house when you want. You can take a weather day whenever and go on field trips - or real trips - when you want to. You don’t have to visit the big attractions when everyone else and their brother is off school too. You can go during the slow season.
So all this sounds great - but you don’t know where to start. You’re not a teacher (or maybe you are) but the whole concept of getting started is overwhelming.
That was my story. I was actually homeschooled as a teen back in the dark ages when it wasn’t cool at all after I had completed elementary school at a public school. Later I became a teacher and taught for five years - before I ever had kids and eventually started homeschooling them. But despite my background in education (M.Ed.) I was totally overwhelmed when I started trying to figure out what to do.
Even simple things like what supplies do I need and where do I start looking for curriculum overwhelmed me. Then I wondered, how do I organize all the supplies, and what kind of schedule should I create? All of these things whirled through my mind as I began doing the research to figure out how to run my homeschool.
So, over the past four years of homeschooling my own kids I’ve picked up a few things and am here to share what I’ve learned in hopes that I can help another parent just starting out.
Below I have grouped various articles and resources into sections to hopefully make your process a little smoother.
What’s Covered:
Planning & Prepping
Record Keeping & Organization
Curriculum Reviews
Planning & Prepping
When I started searching for how to homeschool, I found that there was SO MUCH out there - certainly so much more than 20-30 years ago when my mom was homeschooling me. And with all the choices there is so much FREEDOM to chose what is best for each of your kids - AND there is so much PRESSURE to “get it just right.”
We all want the VERY BEST CURRICULUM for our sweet babies. And the very best schedule and the very best - of everything!
First of all, just remind yourself that on this earth there is no such thing as perfect - no perfect education. BUT, there are options that work better for different kids.
So, some of my first suggestions about homeschooling are going to be - talk to your friends! And if you don’t have any friends who homeschool (or even if you do), join a Facebook group for your area to find out what’s available as well as what’s required. Other homeschool parents can be a wealth of information.
Now, check out the articles below detailing:
How to Start Homeschooling
How to Plan Your Year
Where to Buy Curriculum
Gathering Supplies
etc.
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How to Start Homeschooling
Starting homeschooling can be overwhelming - but it doesn’t have to be.
Here’s a step-by-step intro as I walk you through how to get started.
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How to Plan Your Year
When I began planning my first homeschool year back in 2021, I was overwhelmed. My background in education (B.A. and M.Ed.) should have ensured that I was a pro at this. Right? So, why did it feel so hard?
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Where do I Find Curriculum?
Simply put, you can find homeschool curriculum in tons of places. But, in reality, when you are starting your homeschool journey, the number of decisions to make and things to “figure out” can be overwhelming. And, curriculum is just one of those many things. First, take a deep breath. You WILL get this.
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Gathering Supplies
What are some of the things that you need to get started homeschooling? Here are my suggestions!
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Whiteboard Alternatives
Do I need to buy a whiteboard to have a “real” homeschool space? No you can just use paper! But if you’re looking for whiteboard options to fit your space or your budget, check out this list.
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Free Trello Planning Board
This is my go-to board for gathering ideas and keeping track of resources I want to buy as I prep for the coming school year.
Record Keeping & Organization
Now once you have an idea of what curriculum you might want to use and you’ve got your shopping list of books and other supplies, what else?
How do you want to organize your space? Do you have a dedicated homeschool space to work in? Or do you need to reconfigure your kitchen table to work in?
My homeschool has happened all over our house - actually, on a regular basis we move from room to room. However, I have some designated spots I tend to keep most of our books and supplies. There’s a basket by the fireplace where I keep books from the library and/or other books related to our history. There is a small cubby cabinet beside our kitchen table where we keep crayons and a few of our homeschooling books - like History and Bible stuff. And, the bulk of our homeschool “stuff” is in our bonus room - that —-’s as a playroom, school room, rec room, computer room, etc. It’s the hub of the house - aside from the kitchen.
But even within our homeschooling corner of the bonus room, we have changed that area around dramatically over the years. Originally we had some old cabinets that didn’t even have doors - and I made the best of it by putting some Sterilite drawers like these and other organizers in them. We also used a combination of a basic cubby system I’d bought from Target years before and 1-2 rolling drawer carts. (The linked items are similar to what I’ve used if not identical.)
About three years in, we were finally able to overhaul our bonus room with new flooring and tear out the old disgusting cabinets. We now have a setup mostly from IKEA. I absolutely love this giant KALLAX unit, which holds textbooks extremely well.
But, in addition to organizing all the “Stuff” there are papers and records and grades to keep track of. What do you do? How do you even start to create a system so it has some type or order to it?
Check out the following posts that help answer some of these record keeping type questions…
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How to Keep Records
Want some practical ideas for keeping up with all the documents and keeping track of the details? Here are my best suggestions!
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Set Up & Calculate Grades
If you have digital grade book like I used to as a school teacher, you may not need this. BUT - if you need to figure out grades by hand, here is a guide to get you started.
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Using Checklists to Simplify Records
I have found checklists to be one of my best friends as a homeschool mom. Check out (sorry for the pun!) these ideas for how I utilize them in my homeschool.
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Google Sheets Planner
I print out these sheets for the month and then write on them. But I love being able to adjust the columns and rows so I don’t have to constantly rewrite subjects each week.
Curriculum Reviews
And then there is always the big question of what curriculum to use - do you find an all-in-one program or buy it all piecemeal. Do you create your own or go with a packaged program? And then how much money do or can you spend on all of these books.
There are so many questions when it comes to curriculum.
As I continue to review more curriculum that we have used, I plan to add those reviews below. One of the most helpful things for me as a homeschool mom is reading other people’s reviews of curriculum that i am interested in. It has helped clarify my plans for our homeschool.
I’ve even found that what one person likes about a particular curriculum might be the very thing I dislike about it and vice-versa. Regardless of whether I share someone’s opinions, it helps to clarify it in my mind. So here are two of our favorite curricula that we have used and loved. All About Reading and Math with Confidence. I have done reviews of each (listed below).
There is other curriculum that we have used and loved, or has served a purpose for a specific time. And I will add those as I write them. For now, check out these two…
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All About Reading Review
We have used All About Reading for four years now, and I love it! It is a game-based and phonics-based curriculum that can be adjusted to work for young or older children.
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Math with Confidence Review
Math with Confidence is a hands-on, game-based math curriculum based loosely on the Singapore math style. With lots of manipulatives and games, kids are taught from the concrete to the abstract in a systematic way.
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