Earlier this week a friend of mine who is considering homeschooling asked me something I hear quite often: "Where do I even begin?" I offered her a few suggestions, and I'll repeat those here in case you have the same question as well. 1. Get familiar with the lingo. Charlotte Mason? Classical education? Eclectic? Traditional? What does it all mean? The Curriculum Choice has an excellent summary of many of the most common philosophies of homeschooling. Although you'll likely feel drawn to … [Read More...]
Homeschooling 101
The Basics
Learn how to choose curriculum, schedule lessons, how to use (or not to use) a scope & sequence, and more.
Printables & Downloads
Free Resources
Unique and helpful printables for many subjects, recordkeeping spreadsheet, planning worksheets, and more.
Strategies & Tips
For Parents
Learn strategies from a veteran homeschool mom to help you homeschool from preschool through high school.
How to Start Homeschooling: Your First 3 Steps
Keeping Up With The (Homeschooling) Joneses
I'm sure you never compare your homeschool with other homeschools.You are always satisfied with what you are doing and accomplishing. But.... You know the Joneses. They're the perfect homeschooling family that lives down the street from you. Ten kids, all well-dressed and perfectly well-behaved. The mom wakes at dawn every morning, bright-eyed and cheery, to fix a nutritionally-balanced hot breakfast for her family. When she teaches her children, they listen attentively and she never … [Read More...]
Where to Buy Homeschool Curriculum
Buying homeschool curriculum can be a task you dread. Here are a few helpful ways that might lighten the load and save you some money. I would venture to say that most homeschoolers start buying curriculum for the following school year in the spring or summer. More often than not this is a daunting task, and the cost of the various curricula can be overwhelming. Over the last few years I've purchased curriculum from a variety of sources. I try to buy used curriculum and books whenever … [Read More...]
How to Homeschool Your Kindergartener
Many new homeschooling moms stress out about teaching their kindergartener. What curriculum should I use? How many hours a day should we do school? How in the world do I teach my child to read? Some how-to-homeschool books will try to offer you definitive answers to those questions. But then, to your chagrin, other books will say something completely different. So which book do you believe? Well, there's no one right way to homeschool. Every child is different, so there's not a … [Read More...]
Homeschooling: What About Socialization?
Socialization for the homeschooler is always one of the hot topics. In fact, when we first considered homeschooling four years ago — well, when I first considered homeschooling four years ago — that was one of my husband's first objections to the idea: "What about socialization?" Now that we've been homeschooling for four years, I think I can fairly pass judgment about whether homeschooling has hindered them socially. They've been in the homeschooling "system" long enough for them to be … [Read More...]