There are many ways to learn about and how to homeschool. You can read, drain your friends’ and acquaintances’ brains, and surf the web. Join a co-op or support group to help you on your journey. But remember most of all to be kind to yourself, flexible, and ready to change if you decide what you’re doing at the moment is not the best fit for you or your family!
To find out more about what homeschooling style and curriculum will fit your family, read the article What Curriculum Should I Use? on this website.
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Where can I learn how to homeschool?
Join a local co-op or support group
Read (recommended books)
Drain their brains
Surf the web
Join a local co-op or support group
Homeschool support groups can really help you on your journey. It’s nice to share with adults and get a jump on stress and burnout — especially while your kids are burning off energy playing at a park!
Check out the list of local homeschool co-ops and support groups on the LHN web page, Find a support group. Some groups offer classes and field trips, while others offer fellowship and play-dates. In addition, there are community-wide opportunities, such as rollerskating on Fridays at the Skate Ranch, which are open to all homeschoolers.
Read
Take time to read! I highly recommend starting with these two books:
- Homeschooling for Dummies by Jennifer Kaufeld (hey, with a title like that, I knew it was meant for me!!!). This book is like taking a class on homeschooling. Jennifer covers different homeschooling styles, deciding what age to begin, discovering your child’s learning style, joining or starting a coop, teaching special needs children, developing your own curriculum, finding free resources, and tons more. Don’t be put off by the “for Dummies” title, this one is a keeper – and keep an extra one to lend out to friends!
- Things We Wish We’d Known by Bill and Diana Waring. In fact, I wish I had known about it and read it before I started homeschooling! It contains 50 short essays by veteran homeschoolers. They’re short enough to read in a few minutes, are incredibly inspiring, and can help you decide what your style of homeschooling will be. I could have avoided several missteps by reading this book first! I keep multiple copies to lend or give to new homeschoolers that I meet.
There are many other incredibly helpful books out there, including The Well-Trained Mind, A Charlotte Mason Education, Educating the WholeHearted Child, You Can Teach Your Child Successfully, and many, many more. These books are indispensable tools that will save you time and sanity.
Drain their brains
Ask your homeschooling friends what books really helped them. Ask them what worked for them and what hasn’t, but remember your mileage may vary. They can tell you what worked for their family, but you’ve got to decide what works for yours.
Surf the web
There are so many resources now out on the web, from homeschooling advice to free full-blown curriculum, such as the Charlotte Mason style curriculum available at Ambleside Online. Listing all the homeschool links and maintaining that list is beyond the scope of this website and others, such as Donna Young, already do that task far better than I ever could.
