Coming into homeschooling for the first time can be terrifying. Are you wondering ‘what do I teach’? Well, with homeschooling, you have a lot of flexibility with the ‘what’. State curriculum will define a baseline but you can teach more than what the curriculum outlines. More importantly, you can teach it in whatever manner best suits the needs of you and your child. Children, as you well know, are sponges and they are eager to learn. You can turn any moment into a teachable moment. For example, if your child asks why do we see fog in the early morning; you can explain science behind fog. You can use this opportunity to do some research on weathering and find experiments to reinforce the lessons. You have been teaching your child from the very beginning. You are your child’s first educator! In other words, you got this!

There are plenty of resources at your disposal to help you educate your child. You can start by looking up the standards for your state on the web. Every state will have a website where it outlines the state standards and grade appropriate material. You can then narrow your search by subject and find a variety of resources for guidance to start your curriculum. There are also plenty of box order curricula that you can purchase. The internet offers endless amounts of free and paid subject content so do your research to find what best suits your needs.

There are also plenty of resources to help you in your physical village. One of the best places to find resources and get support will be your local library. Local libraries are filled with plenty of resources and offer classes that can complement your homeschooling. They are usually filled with educators that are more than willing to help you get the resources necessary for any subject content. You can also use your library card to access thousands of resources from e-books to magazines to additional resources.