Homeschooling is what it sounds like—school at home—but it’s much more than that. Homeschooling is organic. It’s stepping out of the traditional classroom box of 30 children all learning at the same rate into a one-on-one, flexible, individually paced education tailored to your child’s learning style. If your daughter is flying through her math assignment and wants to go on to the next day’s lesson, she can. There is no class holding her back. But if another day she struggles to remember a foundational concept that was covered three weeks ago, you have the flexibility to go back and review it till she is confident again. Organic education lets you take advantage of your child’s natural interests throughout the course of real life, every day.
People homeschool in many different ways. Some use a correspondence-type curriculum, others like to design their own, others pool their talents in local co-ops, and still others create their own variations on these themes. You are unique and so is your child—homeschooling lets your child thrive in the environment that’s best suited to him or her.
How to Get Started
Welcome to the wonderful, exciting world of homeschooling! Here you’ll learn more about the opportunities, resources, options, and support available to today’s homeschooling families. You can homeschool!
A great way to begin is by attending a homeschool event during School Choice Week. In addition to these helpful get-to-know-homeschooling events, there’s a wealth of resources already at your fingertips:
- Check your local library. Chances are they have a shelf on homeschooling ready to browse.
- For online resources, search for homeschooling plus these terms:
- learning styles
- preschool
- high school
- special needs
- curriculum
- State & local support groups exist to encourage and support homeschooling. It’s great to be able to talk to people who are already homeschooling and can share their experience and advice with you.
- Find your state law.
- Plan to attend a convention—most states have one or more.
As you’re doing this research, you’ll quickly realize there are a lot of resources. The abundance is wonderful, but it might start to feel overwhelming. Paying attention to the educational philosophies that resonate with you, keeping in mind your goals for your child, and staying flexible as you move forward will give you a great start.