Homeschool Facts

Perhaps you’ve thought about homeschooling, because the schooling your kids are getting isn’t a good fit. But you aren’t serious about it. After all, you aren’t a superwoman!

As a homeschooling veteran, I can tell you this: you CAN do it IF you love your kids. That’s what it takes: dedication to your kids. You will develop the skills you need as you need them. It’s like juggling. When you first learn to juggle, you juggle just one thing. Then you ad another. Then you add another.

You’ll be happy to hear this. Homeschooling may actually be easier than not homeschooling. Soccer moms are constantly driving, getting their kids to lots of different same-age activities. If you were homeschooling, you’d be able to find and do activities that work for all of you together.

Instead of spending evenings helping with homework, you will spend mornings going over academic subjects, using curriculums that are tailored for self-study. Your evenings will open up.

If you have a large family, you’ll probably want to rely on unit studies. These are studies of large topics, such as ancient Egypt, which can be treated differently for kids of different ages. You can read all of them a novel about ancient Egypt, for instance Mara, Daughter of the Nile. A younger child would write a sentence about it, and an older one a three-page paper with bibliography. The kids can do art projects and learn about measuring the height of pyramids using similar triangles. The unit might last a month or so. There are many available for purchase on the homeschool curriculum market.

Other options include using workbooks and curriculum so that each child has something to work on that is appropriate for his age. These all come with an answer key–you don’t need to be a college graduate to make sure your kid is getting the right answer. In fact, many homeschoolers do almost no direct teaching–their kids learn from the book or workbook. (This is a great study skill for college!)

Correspondence schools will teach your child, too. These can take the form of videos, workbooks, or online.

You probably wonder what homeschoolers typically do during the course of a day. Many do the studying in the morning, and spend the afternoon playing or doing projects. Sometimes they sign up for daytime classes for homeschoolers, which are becoming more popular these days. You can even send your kids to organized sports with the local school teams in the late afternoon. But be careful about signing up for too much. It could lead to burnout.

People who don’t homeschool always ask about socializing. Are the kids getting enough socializing? One of the best things about homeschooling is that you get to choose whom your children socialize with. You can make sure the socializing is well supervised. Bullies are not a problem. In fact, you can even choose adults. I have observed that most homeschooled kids are very comfortable talking to adults, much more so than schooled kids.

Your kids will enjoy a homeschool co-op. These might meet once a week for classes, or go out for field trips periodically. Kids learn appropriate social interactions because they are well supervised. You can find a co-op by networking with other homeschoolers. Your local homeschooling convention might be a good place to start. Keep networking until you find the co-op that is right for you–or start one.

You will need support as well. Homeschooling provides unique challenges, and it helps so much to have others to talk to who are doing it too. You can find plenty of homeschool moms online, in discussion forums and email groups. You should try several!

The answer to the homeschooling question is simple: yes, you can do it.

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