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Basic Homeschooling Information |
Before Getting Started Pray God loves your children and cares about their
education. Pray for God’s guidance in how
and where your children should be educated.
If He directs you to homeschool your children (or to homeschool one of
your children while educating another of your children in a different
manner), pray for guidance in selecting the most appropriate materials for
your learners. Gather information Visit the public library and borrow all the books in the
homeschooling section. This will
expose you to a number of different homeschooling theories. Only purchase those books that you find
yourself borrowing repeatedly. My
personal favorites: Why Gender Matters, by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. Homeschooling for
Excellence, by
David & Micki Colfax Homegrown Kids, by Dr. Raymond Moore A Charlotte Mason
Education, by
Catherine Levison Charlotte Mason
Companion, by
Karen Andreola The Way They Learn, by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias The Well-Trained
Mind, by Susan
Wise Bauer All Through
the Ages,
by Christine Miller Contact homeschoolers in your area. The internet is great for research, but
sometimes it’s nice to meet someone 3D.
Good meeting places include public parks, fast-food restaurant play
areas, public libraries, and homeschool support group meetings. If you don’t know any homeschoolers, look
on the bulletin board at the public library, phone churches to ask if they
know any homeschoolers, or ask your state homeschool organization for a local
contact (links to state homeschool groups can be found on HSLDA’s website). Know Your State Law Local homeschoolers can give you their interpretation of
your local law and give you hints on dealing with your school district, but
only lawyers can provide legal advice.
Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)’s website provides a summary
of all state laws. Write Goals Your children’s best education will only be attained if you
have a plan. Prayerfully determine
what your priorities are, then commit your goals to writing. Vague goals are difficult to assess; written goals
can easily be reviewed. Every family
is unique, so will have unique goals.
After goals have been written, plan how to achieve them. Preview Curriculum Request catalogs from suppliers of homeschool
materials. Consider them carefully,
keeping in mind that these catalogs are advertisements for products. The products are supposed to sound good; the company is trying to make sales. My favorites: Others: www.christianbookdistributors.com (good, but slow shipping) www.timberdoodle.com (lots of fun extras, discounts, but the Pathway books are basal readers to be avoided imho) When you meet homeschoolers, ask what materials they have
and if they’d be willing to show them to you.
Every family is unique; the best thing you can do is to pray about your
curriculum selections. No matter how
good a product looks, do not get it if it does not tie into your goals. Your selections should be made so that your
children achieve the goals you have written. Point to ponder: if
you are praying about your curriculum selections and really hearing from God,
it should not be necessary to actually see
a product. If God is telling you to
use something, by all means, use what
He says to use, whether you’ve previewed it or not.
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