Beginning the Homeschool Journey: The New Homeschooler's Questionnaire Cheat Sheet

Thanks for stopping back by on day three of my how to start homeschooling posts!  I mentioned that yesterday was my most important post, but I believe that today will actually give you the most information.  What I want to do is to go more in depth with the questions I gave you yesterday, in case you need more help with your answers.  And, even if you know your answers, this will maybe give you some addition ideas to help you on your way.

1.  Why did you decide to homeschool?  There are a million and one reasons for why families decide to homeschool, so I won't give you the list.  What I DO want you to do is write it down.  Maybe, you just liked the idea and so you don't have a good 'reason,' but I would still challenge you to dig deeper into why homeschooling sounded better to you then sending your children to a public or private school.

This information is very important in setting the ground work for your homeschool environment.  If you are homeschooling because you want your children to be more academically challenged, you want to be sure you are finding curriculum to do that.  If you want more time with your children, you may want to choose a curriculum that is well planned out so you can focus on your kids and not lesson planning.  If you are a family on the go with sports or other activities, you will want to find one that is easy to travel with-maybe that uses a DVD or CD that can travel with you in the car...the list goes on, but be sure to take the time to set out this foundation for your homeschool.

2.  Have your children been in public school (or private for that matter)?  If so, for how long? This is going to make a difference in your homeschool at the start.  Depending on your child, there is going to be a 'deschooling' time that is just a normal part of bringing them home.  The average amount of time is one month for every year they were in public school.  Even if it seems all they wanted to do was come home, they will still be used to school and have some withdrawals.  For the years they have been in school, home has been playtime, so doing school when they think they should be playing will be a bit of an adjustment.

Another thing to consider, especially with slightly older children, is that the school system has to make themselves seem just a little bit smarter and more authoritative then mom and dad at home in order to keep the peace and the kids listening to them at school.  This WILL come into play when you are teaching them at home, so be prepared for it and understand where it is coming from.  It will take sometime for your children to accept that you do know enough to teach them, and they need to listen to you.

3.  Are your children at, above, or below grade level? This is, again, for the child coming home from school.  Sometimes, families choose to homeschool for a non-academic reason.  So, they pull out their child from 3rd grade, and buy 3rd grade curriculum, only to find out that their child is really only reading at a 1st grade level, or needs math at a 5th grade level.  While, you may still have this happen, I would suggest having your child take a placement test before you make any decisions or purchases.  One place I like to recommend is Calvert's placement tests.  They are free, and available for immediate download.  Mom and Dad grade the tests form K-3 and you can send in the tests for 4-8th to be graded (but you could look over them yourself if you would rather).

4-7.  What are your goals for the year?  These include your academic goals, extra curricular goals, your CHILD's goals, and your spouses goals.  Homeschooling should be a TEAM effort.  So, get together and find out what everyone on the team (Mom, Dad, and child) are hoping to gain for the year.  Be sure to set realistic goals, but be willing to at least discuss the lofty goals to see if they could become long-term goals.

If you don't know what you are aiming for, you will not succeed in hitting them.  And, you will be forever running around picking up all the things that look fun and educational.  Next thing you know you will have a room full of books and no one will be learning anything!

Breakdown into as many areas as needed.  Math goals, reading goals, science goals, etc.  Get as specific as you can.  Saying 'I want Joe to be better at math' will not help you write lesson plans.  But, 'I want Joe to be able to do 2 digit addition and subtraction' will give you the direction you need to write your math goals.

And, sometimes, there will be one goal-'teach Beth to read' that will trump every other thing on your list.  But, again, break it down so that you can see success in your journey.  'Our goal is to teach Beth to sound out CVC words.'  Then, you will know when you have achieved your goal so that you can write a new one :).

8.  What do you want school to 'look like' at your home?  For so long, school has been a place that you go to.  Away from your home.  We have a stereotypical impression that school is a large room with many small desks, one big desk, a black or white board, books, windows, some bulletin boards, maybe a few carpet squares...you've been there, right?  So when I say school at home, people are trying to figure out how to make an area of their home LOOK like a school.  But, the fact that you are now 'homeschooling' means that you have already changed the meaning of school all together.  Remember that schools are simply buildings that have been used to accommodate the teaching of LARGE numbers of children.  So, unless you have 20 kids (which very few us do) you likely do not need to recreate a school in your home.

Now, it doesn't mean you can't have desks or bulletin boards, many of us like the way that looks and feels.  But, you are trying to accommodate the teaching of only YOUR children in your home.  So-base your school around your children and your space options.  I love looking at this collection of school spaces.  Be careful, some of these moms have been schooling for a loooong time, and have worked on these spaces forever.  So, it's not something to easily recreate.

But what school 'looks like' goes so much farther then just a classroom.  Do you want your children to learn from textbooks, or picture books, or the internet, or do you want them to just go out and touch all the flowers and learn about them by looking?  Do you want school to start at 8 and end at 12 and then go about your other life commitments, or do you want school to be just 'part of life' students picking up a book that interests them and then they pursue it?  (or somewhere in the middle)  The options are endless.  But, in order to give your family some direction, you need to figure out what you think will work BEST for them.

9-10.  Do you like schedules, do you like planning?  Flat out, homeschooling takes some planning, but some styles of learning take a lot more planning then others.  You can avoid some planning by simply buying a box of curriculum that tells you when to teach what.  Some others give you some direction and then you plan the rest.  But, if you know if you want help teaching and planning, you will want to look for curricula that has some of the ground work already done for you.

11.  What are your state's requirements?  While this is *technically* the most important question on this list, I purposefully waited until last.  There are going to be some rules in your state that you have to abide by. But, figure out how to make your family's goals and ideas fit with the guidelines rather then using the guidelines to set your goals.  To find out what the laws in your state are, check out the HSLDA's website.  They have a nice list for each state.

I know I have really just scratched the surface of all the questions and information available to you.  But, I wanted to give you some starting points.  With these goals in hand, it can really help you to narrow down not only which curriculum to purchase (or not), but help you with deciding which co-op activities to join and which other things to incorporate to your school, home, and lives.

Have you come up with more questions? Feel free to ask away! I have a burden for new homeschooling moms and families.  I really want to encourage you in anyway possible, so if you have questions, need help or what ideas, please comment or feel free to email me!!

Also, be sure to check out our Schoolhouse Crew blog hop, there are so many great articles to help you on your homeschool journey!!

Thanks for stopping by!
God Bless,
Lisa

5 Days of Beginning the Homeschool Journey: Why You SHOULD Homeschool

This week I am participating in the Schoolhouse Review Crew's five day blog hop.  I chose to do my series for the brand new homeschooling family, or the family who wants to homeschool, but doesn't know where to start.  If you missed my intro post, be sure to go and check it out here.

My very first post is one, specifically, for those of you who are on the fence about homeschooling.  I'd like to make my case for why you should go ahead and take that step and begin your journey.  My opinion on why you should homeschool.

So, yes, I said it, I think that families everywhere should homeschool.  And, before you go thinking I am including the parents who neglect their kids and don't care about them, let's be honest, those people aren't reading blogs about how to be a good parent...so I'm not talking to them.  Everyone else, I am talking to you.

And, no, I'm not going to give you a laundry list of things that are wrong with the public school system.  Nor am I going to give you all the awesome statistics for how some homeschool students performed against some schooled children on a test.  I'm not even going to promise you that your children are going to turn out to be perfect saints that behave 100 times better then all the rest of the neighborhood, because they don't go to school all day.

Why not?  Because, honestly, I'm not a statics kinda girl.  I really don't pay attention to all the articles.  And, because my children are not perfect saints (though I'd like to tell you they are).  But, mostly, it's not about that.  It's about you, your family, your children, and your future.

I want to take a step back to the birth of my first daughter, Mustang.  From day one, I was drilled in that 'breast is best.'  Yes, I ignored them and gave her formula and went back to work...so lets fast forward to Mini Cooper.  With Mini Cooper I was now a stay at home mom. I was able to breastfeed her and did so until she was 18 months old.  I was always hearing how nursing her was the BEST option out there for my babies.  It didn't mean I would be a horrible mom for using formula, but if given the choice I should breastfeed since God had given me the perfect mix of all the good things she needed to grow.

When she was born, and as she grew through the toddler years, it was accepted that the BEST option for her care was to stay home with me-her mom.  Lots of babies have to go to daycare (I sent my first two until Mustang was 3 years old), and it doesn't make you a bad mom if you have to send them, but if given the choice, people will generally say that a baby's mother is the BEST caretaker for her child.  This is because she is the one who cares about the baby the most, she knows her child better then anyone else, the stable environment is good for the child, and overall mom is best.

So, now mom has FED the child, she has taught the baby to WALK, to TALK, to USE THE TOILET, you know some of the most important building blocks the child will need in life.  She has created a solid foundation of trust and routine for the child, and produced the best 3 year old that she can...

But, now that the child is 3 (or maybe 4 or 5 depending on where you live)...all of a sudden Mom, you are no longer good enough.  NOPE, you are not educated enough to teach your child their shapes, colors, and ABC's.  Really?  Now, some communities are much more supportive of moms, but the concept of preschool being there to help your child to 'get ready' to go to school always baffles me!  First of all it IS school, it isn't helping your child get ready for school, it is putting them in school.  But, secondly, why can't mom 'help' her child get ready for school?

Now, as I mentioned before, this is NOT a public school bashing post.  This is, however, a post that will hopefully make you rethink the roll the public school should have in our society and in your home.  Just like breast milk is BEST and formula is the back-up plan, and just like Mom caring for the child is best and daycare is the back-up plan...Mom should be the first option for helping her child get ready for school and preschool should be the BACK-UP plan.

And, YES, I feel this goes beyond preschool.  Mom (or Dad), you are given the right skill set to teach your child.  You know your child more then any teacher ever will.  You know how to encourage your child, what their interests are.  You know what will make them shut-down.  You know what they look like when they are not paying attention, and you care enough to work past their major academic challenges.

I totally get that there are going to be some areas that scare you about teaching your child.  I know that one is how to teach your child to read.  Some claim they don't know anything about math, or they hated science. Keep in mind that primary school teachers have strengths and weaknesses, too.  They still have to teach all the subjects, even the ones that scare them (except maybe Art and PE, if your school has separate classes for those).  What the teachers have done is to look for extra resources to help teach subjects that are challenging for them.  They have stuck straight to a curriculum, or taken extra classes on how to teach that subject.  But, these are things you can do, too.

When teaching your child, all you have to do is stay ONE DAY ahead of your child.  This is easier in the younger grades, but if you have a subject that scares you, you will just need to find a curriculum that works for you and then be sure and understand the lesson you are to teach the day before you are to teach it.  So, as long as you have the drive to figure it out, can read, and are willing to push yourself to find out answers you don't understand, you can certainly stay ahead of your child's learning.

Our general society today believes that teachers and schools are better equipped to teach students how to become useful adults then their parents are.  This is interesting because, they do not trust the students they turned out to then teach a new set of students to be a useful adult.  This school system TAUGHT YOU, and if they did their job, then you CAN teach your child.  If you add that ability to the love, respect, and dedication that parents have for their children, you now have the perfect combination for the BEST teacher for your child.

So, that's why I think you should homeschool.  Not because the public school is going to teach your child to hate your religion, or because I think that they won't learn anything if they go there.  Public school is a GREAT option for your child.  But, it should be just that...an option.  The back-up plan.  Because there is no place BETTER then home.

I'm so glad you stopped by!  I hope you will come by to checkout the rest of my series.  Tomorrow, I will be going over the 'new homeschooler's checklist.'  And, no, it's not a list of things to buy :).

Also, be sure to check out the other 89 blogs that are participating in this blog hop!!  That should keep you busy all the way until tomorrow!  You get to them by clicking the banner below.

God Bless,
Lisa

5 Days of Beginning the Homeschool Journey

I am so very excited to be participating in the Schoolhouse Crew 5 day blog cruise.  I get a lot of people asking me about how to homeschool, so I thought I would create this 5 day series to answer all of the general questions I receive.  This way, I can direct them to these answers when they ask :).  You may be considering homeschooling, or know someone who is, so I hope that this series will be of help to you, too!

This week I will be answering questions such as Where do I start? What do I buy? What curriculum do I use?What about socialization? plus a lot more things you probably haven't even thought of.

The line up of titles are:

1.  Why you SHOULD homeschool (for those of you on the fence)-the non public school bashing reasons to keep your children home.

2.  The new homeschooler's questionnaire.

3. The new homeschooler's questionnaire's cheat sheet.

4.  Just begun is half done.  Mary Poppins on homeschooling.

5.  Debunking the myths of homeschooling, and accepting the truths.

I do hope you will join me this week!  If you don't already, you might want to consider subscribing to my blog to be sure you don't miss any of the series.  But, either way, please pass on this info to anyone you know looking to start their homeschool journey.

Thanks so much!!

God Bless,
Lisa