Starting A New Year

We took about five weeks off for our break, it was mostly for me to do planning. We officially started back to school on July 5th. From our previous experiences, I recommend not jumping in full-schedule at first!

It is really hard to go from this:

to this:

It can be a bit of a drag, quite honestly.

We are easing into our school year with these steps~

• School is downstairs, not in the classroom.
• We are doing one week with only History and Science {plus leisure reading & phonics for K}.
• We will add 1 or 2 subjects each week until we have a full school load.
• We will  adjust the our schedule as needed.
• I am not ringing any bells. School will start when all are awake and fed.

I used to just jump in and do it all from day one. Hopefully with this plan, we will be able to avoid homeschool burnout from setting in! 

How about you? What do you do to ease your family back into home education?

So you want to homeschool...Now what?!

Here are some steps to consider if you have decided to go ahead and take the plunge into educating and learning with your children at home.

First and foremost, read about the requirements for homeschooling in your state. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has this handy reference on their site. In our case, we submitted a simple form online to our state's Department of Education, and then provided a copy of it to the school we were withdrawing from.

Next, although I'm sure you've read everything you can get your hands on, You will want to do some more reading about different homeschool styles. Tracy wrote a great post about defining your homeschool style. I remember reading this simple list of styles when I first got serious about the idea of bringing the kids home. There will not be only one that will fit your family (probably!) but knowing what all these terms are referring to will really help you decipher a great deal of the information you are going to encounter when you get serious about choosing curriculum. It will also give you a general idea of the direction you are interested in taking with your family's homeschooling journey.

Once you feel you have a good understanding of your state's requirements and the basic homeschool styles, you will want to look deeper into curriculum. Here is a site that has reviews written by homeschoolers who have actually used the product being reviewed, which I found to be very helpful when I was first considering curriculum. I also highly recommend going to any used curriculum sale or swap you can - this is a great opportunity to put your hands on copies of the materials you are interested in, and speak with someone who has used them as well.

It's important to consider your budget when you are looking at curriculum. I had some pretty serious sticker shock when I began pricing them! Then I started thinking about the things we had been spending money on that we would no longer need - school uniforms, textbook/technology/enrollment fees, school lunches, snacks/party items supplied to the class, gas to and from school each day, four different fundraisers each year, gifts for teachers and holiday exchanges, tickets to the school play each year...you get the idea. Pretty soon I realized we could afford the curriculum I had fallen in love with. There are lots of great resources for homeschooling for less or for free, like this book, or this one, if you are working hard on saving money while homeschooling.

Most importantly, take some time to decompress as a family. Read a bit about deschooling. You are getting ready to embark on a great adventure; a fantastic journey. It is a very big leap to move into homeschooling if you have been in an institutional setting, and it requires courage to do so. Spend time just having fun together in the ways your family loves best - no planning, no pressure, just being yourselves. As you plan your first year, take a moment to write down your reasons and goals for homeschooling. It will be a wonderful memento to look back on, as well as a source of great encouragement on the days that are tough. Best wishes!

A Dollar Saved... Great Discounts Offered To Homeschoolers!

So, being fairly new to the world of homeschooling, I am learning all kinds of things as I go along, talk with other homeschoolers, and research… Recently, I stumbled upon some amazing information that I am SO excited to share ~ because maybe some of you out there, like me, are not aware of this: Did you know that many retailers, vendors, etc… offer homeschoolers the same discounts they offer to school teachers??!! Some even offer special programs strictly for homeschooled children as an incentive to work hard.

I had NO idea!!

I was so excited to learn this bit of information! I mean, as I’m sure we all know, buying books, curriculums, supplies, etc… can really add up over time, and while there are many resources that are free or, at least, inexpensive, such as libraries, sometimes, there are certain things, resources, etc… that you just need to own. That’s where many of these discounts come in. Don’t worry; I’m going to get to the list of discounts soon. First, I want to touch on the requirements of receiving such discounts.

Most of the vendors and retailers require that you first register as a homeschooler/educator in order to begin receiving the discounts and perks they choose to offer. While some do not require any proof that you are a homeschooler, most that I have seen do. In some states, you are required to register with the state as a homeschooling family, and are given “credentials” or a “license” so to speak in order to be able to legally home school. In those states, usually those certificates will serve as your proof. However, if you live in a state like I do which allows significant freedoms to homeschoolers, not requiring any formal testing, checking in, registering, etc… (they only require that school goes on at least a minimum number of days per year), you won’t have access to such “certificates” - or proof – of your homeschooling status.

If this is the case for you, then I have good news ~ you can still get proof! If you haven’t already, research homeschooling groups in your area. Many of them, especially if they have been established for a significant amount of time, will issue a type of “membership card” (usually upon request), which will serve as official verification of your homeschooling status, and as proof for the vendors and retailers. Once you have registered and provided your proof, you should be able to receive the “educator discounts” available! I have seen these save anywhere on average between 10% and 40%, though there are some places, such as amusement parks, that offer programs where you can get a free pass, or your students/children can earn their own free passes by participating in educational programs – often associated with reading an assigned number of books and such… It’s wonderful!

SO, I’ll stop rambling (for now) and get on with the part you’ve been waiting for: The retailers and vendors offering these amazing discounts and perks!!

In order to give credit where credit is due, I am going to link to the blogs where I actually found these wonderful resources of information. I will, in fact, create a post on here listing all of the discounts individually, and I promise that any more that I find, I will let you know ~ because, again, this is AWESOME!! But, in the meantime, I just cannot take credit for finding all of these fabulous discounts and such myself… Without further delay, the first site I stumbled upon which enlightened me to this fabulous world of discounts is The Frugal Girls blog. Secondly, while some of the discounts listed on the next site are duplicated from the first, there are a few different ones that are pretty significant! You can find these at The Homeschool Mom's site.

I know there are countless more resources out there both offering and listing discounts that could be beneficial, but these are some to get you started for now. I'll keep researching, and look forward to sharing my findings with you guys!! Happy Discount Shopping!! :o)