How to start home-schooling

My good friend and cousin asked me "how do you start home-schooling". I thought to my self that is a very good question. Seems so natural to me guess some people wouldn't know how to start so here is my answer.

One - Make sure you really want to home-school. You are taking sole responsibility for the education of your child. Society will hold you accountable for your choices (not that I advocate bending to the whims of society). As a naive child I used to think that everyone should home-school, but now have come to realize that it is just not the right choice for a lot people. People who are emotionally or mentally unstable should not home - school. Like wise if the home is not safe environment which will encourage learning, children will most likely do better in school. Home-schooling takes time, work, and dedication. Lets face it you will be dealing with those crazy kids ALL DAY LONG!

On the other had home-schooling is extremely rewarding. You are able to cultivate exactly what you want to in your child's environment. Children who are home-schooled are typically closer to their siblings, and parents. I have even found that most home-schooled kids don't go through what is deemed as a "rebellious teenage phase". If raised in a loving supportive home most home schooled kids just don't have the desire to rebel.

Two - Find out the home-school laws in the state in which you live. Some states have very strict laws, others have very few laws or none at all. Click here for a list of the laws by state, hlsda (thanks Nicole). Depending on the state you may be required to take yearly tests to asses you level of education, or you might be required to record of all of the "school" that you have completed. In Utah the state in which I was home-schooled the only requirement was that you turn a release form into the county school district declaring that you will be home-schooling your child. Other states require that you operate your home-school as a "private school", California I know does this. This is accomplished by filling out some forms, provided by the state, and in some special cases may even require a lawyer.

Three - decide how you want to home school. There are three main methods of home-schooling those being

1. Traditional, or what we growing up loving (or not so loving) called "Public School at Home" - this type of homeschooling most closely resembles public school, and is most logically what most people try when they pull their kids out of school, knowing no other form of education. While there are some families successful with this method (typically mothers with type A personalities). A lot of families struggle with it. Parents feel pressured to As you can tell I am not a huge proponent for this method. In my opinion this is to much work for the parent and does not cultivate a love to learn in children.

2. Classical - In this method parents don't rely on texts books to get there curriculum. They use good (classical) books to educate the child. It focases more on what the child want to lean and what level they are at, as opposed to what the should know or what level they should be at

3. Unschooling - This is more or less what it sounds like. Families who have chosen this method do not have any formal education in their home. The idea is that children are bright and will learn on his/her own. (quite frankly the idea of unschooling scares me)

There are several methods which fall under these categories. Such as K-12 curriculum, Charlotte Mason method, Classical Christian Method, and the Thomas Jefferson Education just to name a few.

You can also pick and combine parts from each of these methods, creating something completely unique to you.

Four - Start, pick one thing to do a start doing it it doesn't matter if your child is 5 months old. Education is a life long process and the more we learn the more we grow, don't be scared about making mistakes, because you are going to make them. Keep learning your self and take your child along with you. There is no day like today to change your life.