Five Things To Do When Homeschooling

In my last post, I shared with you what not to do when you start homeschooling. This week I am going to give you five things you should do.


Trust

You are homeschooling (or seriously considering it) for a reason, and no one knows your child better than you do. Trust that you can do this, and take your time getting used to home education. It will be a learning process for you and your child. Trust yourself!


Discuss
We all have our doubts and fears when we start out especially. You aren't alone! Talk with your husband about your feelings and help him help you. Pray about this new path with our Father in heaven, He wants you to succeed!

Find other homeschoolers, whether in your town, or online, and start a relationship. You will certainly find a ear willing to listen, and words that will calm and assure you.


Ask
When you find another homeschooling mom who seems to have a similar path that you see your family on, ask if she can take you under her wing. Ask her what has worked and failed in her family's homeschool and why. You may be able to avoid some disappointments with scheduling or curriculum.

If she has a blog, take the time to read about her homeschooling philosophy, curriculum choices, and hopefully, honest posts about the ups and downs of homeschooling.


Read
Read as many homeschooling books and articles that you can get your hands on. Even the smallest libraries have at least a few books on homeschooling, or you may be able to borrow one from a fellow homeschooler in your area.

The more you read about it, the more you will start to see what path you are most drawn to as a home educator. Most books clearly define what each method looks like in a day of school.

Perhaps you will be like our family, taking a little bit of a lot of the styles. I like to refer to our style as :
Eclectically Biblical with a splash of Classical Charlotte Mason- home education.


Lists

Make your list of the things you think you want to accomplish this year- your family mission statement, or goals to have met.

Write down a rough curriculum list, and then read as many user reviews as you can. Every company feels as if their product is the best, but homeschool moms are very willing to share with you why the product worked or didn't for them.

Try to keep a list of what worked and didn't for you personally. It has been my experience, that even products that get glowing recommendations sometimes fail our particular needs. If you record why a product didn't work, you can make sure to either avoid it in the future, or that perhaps you can revisit that product in a different season of your homeschool.