How to start homeschooling after a family decides to begin homeschooling can be very overwhelming initially. However, it does not have to be. The decision to homeschool itself is one of the hardest parts. What comes next is the setting up of the school and coming up with the curriculum and plan that works best for all family members.
One should keep in mind that every homeschool is different. What works for one family may not necessarily work for another. Many things have to be considered, such as number of students, working or stay at home educator, curriculum, lifestyle and more. Start with a list of ideas and work it into a list of priorities.
Choosing Homeschool Curriculum
One of the first things to be considered is the curriculum. Determining the learning method that best fits the family can save lots of time online or at a local bookstore. Being familiar with the different learning styles is the key to finding the right curriculum.
Different learning styles include:
- Auditory
- Visual
- Kinesthetic and Tactile
Once a learning style has been established, the next step is to determine a teaching style. Every educator has a different way of teaching. To be more successful in homeschooling, the learning style and the teaching style should complement one another. The teaching style should also be flexible and balanced as learning styles can change.
Different teaching styles include:
- Formal Authority
- Demonstrator or Personal Model
- Facilitator
- Delegator
After having determined the learning and teaching styles, the next step is to find the curriculum that best fits the learning and teaching styles. There are almost as many curriculums as there are books. Ideally, home educators could visit a homeschool convention where they can look at, pick up and flip through different curriculums so they can choose the best one. Home educators should be aware that they may change curriculums several times the first couple of years before they find the one that works best for their situation.
Creating a Homeschool Plan
The next priority ,after deciding on a preliminary curriculum, is to create a homeschool plan. A homeschool plan is a daily plan that covers every hour in each week of a typical homeschool day. This is not a lesson plan, that comes later. The homeschool plan details and schedules out the day. The plan should include meals, snacks, naps or quiet time, reading time, lesson time, playtime or outside activities, chores and time the educator can take for himself or herself.
You can find customized calendars and preprinted schedules made especially for homeschoolers. During the first year, utilizing a premade schedule or one that lists the most common elements of a homeschool week is a good idea. After the first year, one may opt for a less expensive generic scheduling option with which the educator and family are comfortable. In either instance, at some point one will not have to even look at the schedule to see what comes next. It will be an established habit.
Creating Lesson Plans
Once the homeschool plan is finalized, the next plan is the lesson plan. Even in the most organized, planned curriculum needs a lesson plan. Many of the all-inclusive, multi-subject curriculums come with printed lesson plans. However, the longer one homeschools, the more one will realize that even the best plans will need tweaking to specific needs.
A typical lesson plan consists of the subjects to be studied each day, a list of materials for each subject and the page numbers of the content for each day and a list of activities or assessments. A seasoned home educator knows that creating a lesson plan further than a week out is overkill and will most likely change. Creating lesson plans for a week is ample preparation.
These easy preparations will make homeschooling go smoothly and will help alleviate undue stress. Once the homeschooling family gets comfortable with the new schedules, curriculum and plans then the homeschool day will get easier and even enjoyable.
