Getting Your Family Ready for Homeschooling

After you’ve made the decision to homeschool, you may feel excited about this new venture and ready to jump right in. While it’s understandable that you’ll want to start immediately, it’s important to know that homeschooling is a big change and can take some time for your family to adjust. This is especially true for children who have been used to public school programs. It may be best to gradually ease your way into the process, particularly if this is your first foray into teaching your kids at home. Homeschooling should be a fun, minimally stressful way of learning for both you and your children. Running in full tilt may be overwhelming for you at first and might even tempt you to give up.

If this is the case, don’t consider giving up before you’ve even really started! The majority of quality curriculums offer homeschool textbooks and supplementary materials that encourage children to learn at their own pace, as well as to be less stressful for parents. For more information, click here.

De-Schooling Your Children

Switching from a public school environment to schooling at home can be upsetting at first for children. Trying to jump in right after pulling the kids out of school may lead to arguments, confusion and frustration for everyone involved. Instead, give your children some time to unwind. This is known as "de-schooling." The de-schooling process is different for each child and may take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Let your kids sleep in. Let them have access to plenty of fiction books and books about fun science facts. Give them time to get out of the classroom mindset. Look for signs that show your children are ready to learn, such as being curious about things or even saying they’re bored.

Starting out Slow

Gradually get back into the learning process by having children do a worksheet or two on each subject, and maybe work on just one or two subjects each day. Have your children work with you on creating a schedule. Or, if schedules are not for you, just pick a good time to learn and concentrate on one lesson at a time. Be flexible and allow each child to work at his or her own pace.

Having Fun

Remember that children learn best when they’re having fun. Worksheets and textbook lessons are rarely fun for anyone for very long. Get outside more often to learn new science facts. Research experiments that you can do at home with ingredients on hand. Visit local museums and art galleries, and take advantage of classes and activities at your library. Join a local homeschooling group and go on field trips with them, or participate in play groups or activities. Consider finding out if the public schools will allow your children to participate in sports or attend elective classes, such as art, acting or music programs. When you and your children are all having fun doing homeschool, it will hardly seem like school at all!

Homeschool textbooks are only a small element of successful homeschooling. Remember that your children should learn at a pace that is comfortable to them and to keep it fun and interesting.