How to Start Homeschooling: New Homeschooler FAQs!

Recently, homeschooling has come into the spotlight as parents are starting to turn away from public schools and consider all of the options for their child’s education. For many families, teaching your kids at home is the ideal educational solution.

Trying to find all this information on your own can be overwhelming, especially for someone who is entirely new to homeschooling. There are massive amounts of information and suggestions available, which can be confusing for first-time homeschoolers.

We’ve broken down the main questions parents ask about homeschooling so you won’t have to spend hours doing it yourself:

Am I qualified to homeschool my child?
What do I need to get started?
What laws and regulations do I have to follow?
How do I find a curriculum?
Who can I turn to for support?
What homeschool style should I use?
How do I homeschool multiple ages?
What about recordkeeping?
What about socialization?
How do I start homeschooling with Miacademy?

We want to make it easy for you to start homeschooling, so we are answering all those questions for you right here in one place!

Am I Qualified to Start Homeschooling?

Generally, yes — in many states, the only qualification you need to homeschool is that you must be the child’s legal guardian. Aside from that, who better to teach your child than their very best advocate? You know your child’s interests, unique needs, strengths, and weaknesses better than anybody. You are looking into the option of homeschooling because you want what’s best for your child. In other words, who could be better?

Also keep in mind that you don’t have to be perfect. This will be a learning experience for both you and your child, and know that it’s ok to make mistakes and change course (even mid school year!) if things aren’t working.

Remember too that homeschooling doesn’t have to be “school at home” if you don’t want it to be. In fact, lots of families don’t have the dedicated space to set up a classroom in their home. Successful homeschooling can happen basically anywhere! Your kids will be just fine learning beside you on the couch, laying in bed to read aloud together, and studying nature in your backyard. Or, if you’re a family on the go, the wide world is a great classroom!

What Do I Need to Start Homeschooling?

Before you begin homeschooling, be sure that you have a thorough understanding of your state’s homeschool laws.

If you are thinking about homeschooling your child, you probably have a reason behind making that decision. It may be for the huge educational benefits of the homeschool environment, or the chance to provide your child with personalized support. Whatever your reason is, there are people and resources that can help you through every step along the way. This is even true when it comes to understanding your state’s homeschool laws!

There are many resources to help you follow your local homeschool laws, which we will talk about later in this article. These laws may require you to keep a portfolio of your child’s learning and progress. However, even if your state doesn’t require it, a portfolio can be a useful tool to discover your child’s strengths and weaknesses. There are many ways to keep a homeschool portfolio. The important thing is to find a process that works for you.

You may be thinking, “Don’t I need a curriculum”? Many families are surprised to find that you don’t need a comprehensive curriculum to start homeschooling. Every family homeschools differently. You can even use the library and other free resources to create your own curriculum! The options when homeschooling are endless, so remember that there is no one right way to homeschool!

What Homeschooling Laws and Regulations Do I Need to Follow?

As stated before, one of the first things you’ll need to consider is your state and local homeschooling laws. In order to find out exactly what these are and what is expected of you, we recommend checking with your local school district office. Ask them what you need to do to pull your child out of public school and start homeschooling. Many times, this includes filing an affidavit. Each state also has their own regulations on recordkeeping and curriculum your family needs to follow. To find out what your state’s laws are (and to make sure your local school district is in compliance with these laws), we recommend visiting our Homeschooling Laws by State page, as well as your state’s educational department website.

How Do I Find a Curriculum?

There are a lot of homeschooling curriculum options out there. You can start your search on Google or inside homeschool groups. You can look for a boxed curriculum that gives workbooks for the school year, a customizable online curriculum, or put together free resources you can find on the internet.

Before you commit to any single curriculum, test it out first if you can! This is also a really great time to sample around with other materials as well.

You can dabble in online learning, book work, or a combination of curriculums and resources. Many resources have low-cost trial periods so you can see if it’s the right fit for your child. You may even find that each of your children have different needs and preferences for their learning material. This is okay! It’s very easy to fall into the trap of comparison while homeschooling. Know that your children’s learning journeys will all look different, and your family’s homeschool journey will look different than others’ as well! This is part of the beauty of homeschooling.

The options and combinations are endless for how, where, and when you teach your children. You can do projects and field trips to your heart’s content, or do the bulk of your work online and learn the rest in nature. The details of your curriculum should be based around your family’s needs.

How Do I Get Support When I Need It?

If you’re just starting to homeschool, it is highly recommended to connect with your local homeschool co-op, group, or find an online homeschool community for your area. These groups are often full of other first-time homeschoolers like yourself, as well as seasoned homeschool parents who are more than happy to provide support and advice!

Many counties have their own homeschool groups that meet to share encouragement, teaching responsibilities, field trip planning, and so on. You will quickly discover that there are more people homeschooling than you thought!

What Homeschool Style Should I Use?

One of the best things about homeschooling is tailoring your child’s education to meet their specific needs. This is where homeschooling methods come into play. A homeschool style is really just the philosophy or structure that guides your child’s learning. You may be surprised to learn how many different homeschool styles there are!

The homeschool style you choose should depend on your child’s learning preferences and your abilities as a homeschooling parent. You may decide on one method and find that it’s not going as well as you planned, so feel free to switch it up at any time! You can even use these styles as inspiration, then mix and match your favorite aspects of each in order to create your own personalized learning experience.

A few of the most popular homeschooling styles are:

Traditional / “School-at-Home”
Montessori
Charlotte Mason
Waldorf
Project Based
Unschooling
Roadschooling
Eclectic
Reggio-Emilia

How Do I Start Homeschooling Multiple Children?

If you’re planning to homeschool more than one child, it’s highly likely you’ll need to adapt for their different learning needs.

You may need a different approach for each child, and this will be a learning process for you, too! It doesn’t matter whether your kids are all in the elementary grades, or if you have a kindergartener and a middle schooler learning side-by-side. Homeschooling across grade levels is as possible as it is rewarding.

Here are a few tips to successfully start homeschooling all of your children:

Use a multiple-age curriculum if possible.
- Many curriculum options cover grades K-8 or K-12. Having all of your children use the same curriculum can be a great financial choice, and make things easier for you to manage.
Stay organized.
- Organization is always key, but especially so when you have multiple homeschoolers under one roof! Keep separate binders or folders to hold report cards and other important documents.
Start the day by working one on one with your youngest, and let your older kids work independently if possible.
- Then, while your youngest is taking a break, you can check in with your older child and see what they need help with. It’s also helpful to have your kids help each other when they can. Teaching is a wonderful way to reinforce their own learning!

What About Recordkeeping?

Keeping records is an important part of staying organized as a homeschool family. Your state may require report cards, final grades, or attendance reports. Even if you live in a state without reporting requirements, it’s good to keep track of these items anyway. These records will assist in tracking your child’s progress, and help to determine whether or not your method of teaching and curriculum are the right fit for your family.

There are many free gradebook and report card templates available online to help take the stress out of record-keeping! Some online curriculum programs will even record your child’s attendance and grades. If your high-schooler is interested in applying to college, you can (and should) absolutely create your own high school transcript.

What About Socialization?

One issue you may be worried about when it comes to homeschooling is socialization. Avoiding isolation as a homeschool family is a valid concern, but luckily, there are so many groups and co-ops to help! Homeschooling co-ops and groups help children socialize through field trips, talent shows, parent meetings, and even formal dances. Connecting your student with other children is important for their development, but as a homeschooling parents, it’s also helpful to communicate with other like-minded adults.

Homeschool families can also socialize through programs like scouting groups, local intramural teams, and lessons in activities like dance, art, or music! Some public schools will even allow homeschoolers in their district to join school sports teams and clubs. Plus, high school students can not only socialize with their peers but also earn college credit through dual-enrollment programs. There are so many avenues through which homeschoolers can mingle with their peers beyond being in the same classroom every day:

How Do I Start Homeschooling With Miacademy?

Here are just a few of the many ways that our sites can help you start homeschooling with success:

1. Ensured Quality

Our K-12 sites have been accredited by one of the most reputable accreditation organizations in the United States, the ASC WASC. For years, only traditional in-person schools were eligible to receive accreditation, but in the last decade, it moved to recognize the value of programs reaching “beyond the traditional classroom”.

2. Engaging Learning

Your student will typically watch an engaging learning video, followed by plenty of practice to master the topic, and take an assessment to evaluate how much they have learned. We also offer printable PDFs with extension activities that will help expand the learning beyond the screen. In other words, you don’t need a fancy classroom – just a computer or tablet (or any smart device) that your child can use to access the site.

3. Parental Support

We offer stellar customer service and a great online support group on Facebook. This group is made up of a large cross section of our team members as well as other homeschooling parents who are in the trenches just like you. They use our site and are happy to share tips and tricks they’ve learned to make the most of our Miacademy curriculum. There’s always someone available to answer your questions. Of course, you are also welcome to e-mail our customer support staff at any time or take advantage of the live chat option on our site.

4. No-Pressure Trial

You can try our site to see if it’s a good fit for you and your child before you commit to it. You can test drive our K-8 site for $1.99 and our high school site for $9.95. Every child and family is unique, and our flexible curriculum can meet your homeschool needs.

5. Complete Flexibility

You can assign your child lessons from the entire range of grade levels available on the site (either K-8 or 7-12) to build a curriculum that supports them. From your parent account, you can choose the start and end date of your school year, along with your child’s grade levels for each subject, and our site does the rest! Everything is scheduled out automatically for the entire term, and your child knows exactly what is expected each day.

6. Automatic Reporting Tools

You can print reports directly from the parent portal for your homeschool portfolio. Check with your state and local laws to ensure you’re keeping track of everything you need to.

7. Safe Student Community

With your permission, your child can interact with other members on our site. Our moderators closely monitored all correspondence ensure a safe, positive, and friendly environment, while still giving students a chance to interact with other kids their age. Your child can also write articles for our on-site newspaper, design clothing and furniture, and start their own business! These features are completely optional and can be controlled in your parent portal.

If you have any questions about using Mia as your homeschool curriculum, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our friendly customer service reps in the chat box on the home page or by email at [email protected].

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