For Homeschooling Noobs/Hopefuls/Contemplaters - Things You Probably Didn't Ask Me to Tell You

I'm going to begin by apologizing.  Much like when you scour the internet for a simple recipe for, say, homemade hamburger helper (or something fancier for my more-gourmet friends) and you end up reading the entire irrelevant life story of the recipe developer, I fear I may end up straying from my original intentions for this post.  With all humility possible, I thought it might be moderately helpful to offer a few thoughts to anyone considering homeschooling this coming fall, for whatever reason you might be thinking about it.  

Homeschooling is simple, but it's not easy.  There's no right way to do it, but there are a million different ways.  I believe God equips parents to educate their own children, but I also believe it's a calling not to be taken lightly.

Early in 2012, about a year after I lost my civil engineering job and just months before our fourth child was born, I was lounging around one evening, probably feeling sorry for myself because door after door had been closed to me on the job front, when Sam casually said, "Have you ever considered homeschooling?"  That was easy to answer.  I chortled and said, "Nope." Not even a little.  That was basically the end of the conversation, but over the next few days and weeks, it turns out that I did consider it.  A lot.  All it took was the simple mention of it, and it infiltrated my thoughts.  I did two of the nerdiest things possible: (1) I made the mother of all pro/con lists, and (2) I went to the library and checked out all the books I could find about homeschooling.  There may have been more, but I specifically remember three.  I also remember the fear and trepidation that came over me when I took them to the counter.  I did not want the librarian to think I was a homeschooler, because, obviously, those people are weird.  I guess people select books on stranger topics because she didn't bat an eyelash or give me the side-eye.  I dove straight into "The Well-trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.  Long story short, the road map in that book empowered me.  I found the scales falling off of my eyes, so to speak, and suddenly it became crystal clear how a parent could successfully educate their child at home.  I admitted all of this to Sam.  Upon Ben's completion of second grade and Abby's completion of Pre-K, I withdrew my babies from public school and brought them home.  The rest, I guess, is history.  (Some yet to be written.)

A lot has changed since then, including my answer to "Why do you homeschool?"  We started because we felt like our eldest was coasting and hoped we could challenge him.  We wanted to be able to travel during the off-season, sometimes for weeks at a time.  I felt like I was being urged by God to do it, in spite of my lifelong vehement opposition to all things homeschooling.  Those things are still true, but we keep doing it because I love what it's done for our family.  I love spending this time together.  I love being able to go at our own pace.  I love that we can spend extra time on some things and gloss over others.  Though exhausting for these introverted ears, I truly love the conversations. Your "why" might be entirely different.  And that's okay.

The best thing about homeschooling is that there aren't any rules.  Okay, there are a few, but in Georgia, there aren't many at all.  (More on that later.)  Perhaps a better way to say it is that with homeschooling, there are a million different ways to do it, and there's no single "right" way.  This might be frustrating to the planners who want a cut and dried schedule or exhilarating to the free-spirits who are more prone to winging it, but either way, the biggest gift is the flexibility.

Lest it sound like I'm lobbying, let me be clear that I am not.  School choice is a personal one, and regardless of where your kids are learning, I hope that you, as parents, are involved in their day to day education.  That said, here is my spiel to people who reach out to me with the general inquiry, "Tell me a little bit more about homeschooling."

I used to recommend "The Well-trained Mind" and Cathy Duffy's Top 102 Picks for Homeschool Curriculum as the two go-to books for beginners.  These are both great resources, but because my focus has shifted from academic rigor (which you most certainly find in The WTM) to living life together and loving learning, I now recommend "Teaching from Rest" by Sarah MacKenzie.  This short book reinforces what our family is doing and why - and offers practical suggestions on how-to.  

People ask me what curriculum we use, and it makes me cringe a little.  We still largely use the recommendations from "The Well-trained Mind," but I won't say that what we do is the best or perfect or even right.  We're doing the best we can, for us.  There are literally a million options for curriculum from workbooks you pick up at Sam's Club to complete box sets from dedicated homeschool vendors to free online options to online public school.  What I'm saying is that what we use isn't necessarily what I recommend everyone else use.  Maybe that's a cop-out.  It's just too broad a question to provide a singular answer especially if the inquiry is meant to be used as a recommendation.  How do your kids learn?  How do you want to teach?  How involved do you want to be?  These are questions to ask yourself.  Then go find Cathy Duffy's book, thumb through some curriculum at a homeschool fair or a friends' bookshelf or a used book store, and take a chance, but keep it simple. Worst case, you scrap it and try again.  (There's that flexibility thing I mentioned earlier.)

In Georgia, there are very few actual requirements.  Summed up, you must:

1.  File a Declaration of Intent to homeschool before September 1 each school year with the GA DoE.  

2.  Include five core subjects in your studies: Math, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Reading.

3.  Have your student tested every three years starting at the end of third grade by a national standardized test.  (There are multiple ways to accomplish this.  I got approved as a tester so that we can do it at home.)

4.  Provide 180 days of instruction.

5.  Keep annual progress reports for each student.

None of that is too complicated.  

I'm typically hesitant to offer firm advice, but I'll try to wrap this up with a few tidbits specific to things I've lived and learned.

On having babies & toddlers while homeschooling older kids:  Utilize nap time.  Encourage independence on the part of your older kids.  Hold the baby while you work through schoolwork.  Just let the littles be near you.  My favorite joke is that I'm training bomb defusers and air traffic controllers.  A lot of times, the big kids have quite a few distractions around them.  They adapt.  And if they can't, we table it and come back to it when things have calmed down (i.e. - nap time).

On homeschooling preschoolers and kindergartners:  Let. Them. Play.  Read them books.  Get them outside.  Do not feel pressured to structure things or use formal curriculum.  That's the full extent of my advice, but I hold to it.  If your two or three year old wants to learn to read, absolutely let them.  Do not make your two year old learn to read if they would rather chase butterflies and make mud pies.  They'll learn to read soon enough.  It's not a race.

On high school:  Keep in mind that transcripts will be required for graduation and it's to your benefit to keep good records (if not before) beginning in ninth grade.  Also, do not be afraid!  You can do it!

A few resources:  Rainbow Resource (favorite curriculum vendor), Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers (fun blog with practical homeschooling advice across the ages), The Smiling Homeschooler (Todd Wilson "The Family Man", great podcast on homeschooling but also offers me the greatest hope that everything is going to turn out okay for my kids)

What have I missed?  Tons.  Ask questions and I'll try to give you a vague enough answer that I can't be held accountable if things go terribly wrong.  But seriously, I'm here to encourage.  If you decide to take the plunge, I'll be your biggest cheerleader.  Happy Homeschooling, friends!