by Angie Garcia-Guerra
Homeschoolers: How do I start?
Embrace homeschooling - it is an opportunity to educate in a manner that suits you and your family. Homeschooling offers the possibility to be as flexible as you want to be. Deciding to homeschool is often a difficult decision to reach but one that will provide an opportunity to provide a tailored education. An education that is perfectly suited for your child.
There are different approaches to educating your child. Some choose a traditional route. Others choose less traditional routes like unschooling and others fall somewhere in the middle. Homeschooling lets you follow an approach that works best for you and your child. For me and my child, we typically find ourselves somewhere in the middle. We both seem to thrive with a certain amount structure. In my experience as a classroom teacher and Mom, most kids benefit from structure because it helps set expectations. While I believe in structure, I also know that when working with kids you have to be flexible. Some days we won’t accomplish everything I planned to get accomplished and that’s okay because homeschooling gives you that flexibility.
So how do you start?
What do you need to create a learning space?
It is important to create a dedicated space for homeschooling. It may be a room, a desk in the corner
of a room, or a portion of your dining room table. But ideally you have a table or desk since your
child will be writing, drawing and crafting during your homeschooling time. Whatever the space, try
to keep it free of distractions while homeschooling and make it kid friendly so the space will be an
inviting space for you and your child.
What do I need?
The good news is that you don’t need very much to start homeschooling, especially for those whose
children are in lower elementary (K-2). Most of what you will need you probably already have like
pencils, crayons, paper, and scissors. You will be able to use a lot of household items as you go like
legos, blocks, popsicle sticks, beans, etc which can all be used as manipulatives for math and art crafts.
How do I know what to teach?
Knowing what to teach can be daunting but the good news is that there is a lot of information out there.
Most of your child’s curriculum can be found online. As a NYS resident, I find everything on
www.engageny.org. There I can find the curriculum for English Language Arts
and Math. It even includes lesson plans, activities and worksheets to go along with each lesson. You should
be able to search the web for your state, "standards", and a grade level (i.e. "NY + standards + 1st grade")
in order to find the state website for your state. Most states follow the same core standards.
There are a variety of websites that offer lesson plans and activities for all grade levels. Search the web based on the topic, book title and grade level and you should be able to find a variety of appropriate activities. There are also sites like www.teacherspayteachers.com, www.pinterest.com, www.funbrain.com, www.brainpop.com, and so many others. Some sites require payments for lessons but not all do. Many teachers post their lesson plans with activities on the web. A little time searching the web should yield results. The task of educating your child may seem daunting but you can do it. It takes a village but it can be done!