Sunday, January 31, 2010

Advice for New Homeschoolers

Country Schoolhouse







The first thing to do, is get a copy of your state listing of educational requirements. This can be found at the Home School Legal Defense Association's website. From there, choose your state. Next, choose "Laws." On this form, you will find the number of days your student needs to have school, the hours they need to be in session and the exact subjects you need to teach.

In most cases, the subjects are as follows:

1. English Language (reading, writing and grammar)
2. Math
3. History
4. Science
5. Art
6. Physical Education
7. Geography
8. Music

My favorite source for homeschool curriculum is through Christianbook.com. They have an entire catalog devoted to homeschool resources at discounted prices.

As a new homeschooler, the best way to teach all the subjects is to buy a boxed curriculm based on grade level. For instance, Christian Liberty Press sells an entire kit for all grades. This is the company I first started teaching with. I bought my daughter a kindergarten kit and we loved it. The price was reasonable and it gave me the confidence I needed to teach in subsequent years. Later, you will have the ability to create your own curriculum, using a variety of resources - if you want. Many homeschoolers just use a box kit every year until graduation and that's okay too.

This is such an exciting time! It is a delight to be able to teach your own children! May you have peace and joy in the process!

Blessings,
Mrs. White

Every Tuesday, TOS Homeschool Crew, on Facebook , is featuring a question of the week. This post is my answer to next week's upcoming question: "How do you know what to teach?" If you have a question about homeschooling, please feel free to ask.

0 comments: