How to Start Homeschooling

Firstly, we must begin with our Foundations.

As you can see in the chart on the left , the Foundation is the starting point for everything else. It contains the overarching reason to the questions of why you teach and what you teach. The Foundations are the beliefs and values you hold as a family which determine the goals for your family. Making Foundational statements and Goals are Step One of the Homeschooling Design Process. This is Step One of knowing how to start homeschooling.

Consider Your Educational Goals

In Step One you will re-think Educational Goals and Set Goals for your family;

Step Two is choosing your Course of Study or Curriculum. Perhaps, the first thing you have thought about after making the decision to homeschool is, "What Curriculum do I buy?" If you want to know how to start homeschooling, you need to take it more slowly than that. You will make curriculum decisions based on what your goals are.

Step Three gives you an overview of The Subjects- the WHAT In this step you will investigate many subjects - what skills are being taught, ways to teach the various subjects, resources available and so on. Knowing what Subjects you want to teach will help you in the process of working out how to start homeschooling. It will help you to design your own homeschool curriculum.

Step Four gives you an overview of the Homeschooling Approaches- the HOW. Here you will investigate the variety of homeschooling approaches. You will find that most people use bits and pieces from a variety of approaches - textbooks, unit studies, Charlotte Mason, Classical approach etc . The approaches are not mutually exclusive from one another, rather you will find that they often overlap and as you learn how to start homeschooling, you will probably find that you like to teach in an eclectic way. 

Step Five helps you Design Your Homeschool after considering Steps 1-4. You have spent time working out the goals for your family, decided on a course of study, investigated subjects and approaches and you can now plan how you will uniquely bring it all together.

In Step Five I have ideas on how to

• Design Your Own Unit Study Approach;
• Design Your Own Homeschool Textbooks Approach;
• Design Your Own Delight-Directed Approach;
• Design Your Own Living Books/Charlotte Mason Approach

and so on.

There are also tools to help you choose materials and resources that will help you flesh out your course of study.

In Step Six, we arrive at The Details. Here you will write a more year-specific program which includes your foundational statements, skills which will be taught and the materials you will use to achieve the goals. This Step includes how to record their learning experiences - writing weekly assignment checklists for your child and other ways. 
This Step Six of Homeschool Organization is the nitty gritty of schedules, checklist and any other organizational tools.

Step Seven is for you to find homeschool groups which support and encourage you. Here you will find a group which suits your religious convictions, your homeschooling approach, teaches subjects together such as a co-op situation, or just meets up socially for picnics. If you organize a homeschool support group, feel free to add your details in the homeschool groups page.

Those who are beginning homeschooling - may like to read advice I would give to my younger self... Beginning Homeschooling - How to step out in Confidence