How do you get started with Home-schooling?

[Jennifer]

My oldest two are in public schools, but when we first placed the oldest in Kindergarten, we debated about issue. One of the things we didn't know was even how to get started. That was one of the reasons that they are in public schools now. Do you have to use a curriculum, do you register with the state that you live in, what ages do you start, would I be even able to pull them out of public schools now, etc? I would love some trustworthy information. I have always wanted to teach my children at home.

[Valerie]

Jennifer, you might check out this link

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/how.html

In Christ,

Valerie

[mommy to 3 duckies]

Hi, Jennifer,

I've been in the homeschooling community for 25+ years. You can start at ANY age, and yes, you can pull your older children out of public school at any time. I highly recommend going to

http://www.hslda.org

to find out what the homeschool laws are in your state. This will help you find out if you need to register, and what you need to do to do that. Also on that site there might be links to a local homeschool group in your state.

Finding a local support group will help answer your questions, give you answers to just about everything, and give you the encouragement we all need-especially when first starting out on a homeschooling adventure. You can also try yahoogroups and search for a local homeschool group too; that's how I found the group in my hometown.

As for curriculum, there are so many options. Most families go with traditional textbooks to ease the transition from p.s. to homeschool. Depending on your children's age/grade level, you can pick up textbooks at anywhere from Wal-mart, to a local teacher supply store, to ebay. Again, a support group can help with finding curriculum. Our homeschool group has a Curriculum fair every June, and we often have improptu get-togethers where a bunch of moms bring in what they use for new families to check out.

There are tons of free options online as well. From tracing pages to worksheets to online reading games.

Hope that helps,

Blessings,
Jasmine