• Math tutors
• /
• Blog
• /
• How to Start Homeschooling in 10 Steps: Your Handy Guide

How to Start Homeschooling in 10 Steps: Your Handy Guide

For a parent, being new to homeschooling can be really challenging. As an experienced tutor, I know the pain. Lack of direction, a variety of options, and the number of issues to anticipate. 

Well, I’d admit, no homeschooling is perfect. However, it can be successful and straightforward for you and your kid. Read my guide to explore how to start homeschooling your child and make it a smooth experience for all.

Quick summary

• To start homeschooling, a parent should understand homeschooling laws, set clear learning goals, and carefully select an approach for teaching.
• There, personalization matters the most, whether picking a teaching method or the curriculum to follow. 
• To ensure smooth homeschooling, make learning consistent, set a routine, and combine core lessons with creative activities.
• Using appropriate resources, preventing burnout, and making education engaging are no less important, helping a parent keep balance.

How to begin homeschooling?

Starting homeschooling requires you to check the state laws, define the learning goals, find the right approach for children’s learning needs, and develop an adequate routine and environment for kids to grow at home. 

Yet, the process of homeschooling is quite demanding. That’s why you need structure, patience, and support. If we look at the pros and cons of homeschooling, the following three things will help you deal with time commitment and parental pressure.

• First, consider what you need for homeschooling in terms of laws, resources, and knowledge. 
• Next, it’s rather a long-term learning strategy, so focus on planning and organization of homeschooling curriculum and activities. 
• Lastly, remember that homeschooling is about personalization, so build a homeschooling curriculum around needs and fun.

10 steps to start homeschooling: Complete process explanation

• Learn your local homeschooling laws
• Determine learning goals
• Research and find a homeschool method
• Find homeschooling resources
• Determine the best curriculum
• Look for a homeschooling community nearby
• Set a rhythm and routine for your family
• Build a learning environment
• Wire kids’ brains via play
• Avoid pitfalls and burnout

#1 Learning local laws: Where to start with homeschooling

Before picking an approach or planning lessons, devote time to researching local laws and take appropriate actions. 

Why is it important?

In the United States, the laws on homeschooling may vary significantly by state. 

In this regard, I determined three levels of regulation for starting homeschooling: 

• No or low regulation. In states with this type of regulation, you may need either no or just little engagement with a state or local agencies to start homeschooling. For instance, New Jersey and Texas require no notice of intent, while Arizona and Missouri do request it.
• Moderate regulation. In some states, you’d need to do extra paperwork. In particular, New York and South Carolina request regular assessments for children.
• High regulation. Lastly, several states have specific legal requirements that make it hard for parents to start homeschooling. The states and districts may ask for additional reports, assessments, or qualifications.

Thus, don’t skip this part and make sure you follow the rules. You can check them on the HLSDA organization website or other trustworthy public resources.

#2 Determine learning goals to start homeschooling

Next, to set the foundation of homeschooling, set clear learning goals for your kid. They will allow you to focus on important things and ensure you’re on the right track throughout the whole journey of homeschooling. 

To navigate it, a parent should ask themselves:

• What is the aspiration behind homeschooling?
• How does it fit into the life of the family?
• Does homeschooling answer learning needs?
• What skills matter during the whole journey and each year?
• What role will I play?

These questions really help with getting started homeschooling, as they set priorities not just for days, but months and years. Also, they affect the choice of approach, resources, and curriculum. 

In the end, make sure you have an understanding of what’s to come and what you need to teach subjects. 

If you feel you lack expertise or time to teach children accordingly, a homeschooling solution like Brighterly can be of great help, offering customized learning plans, interaction, and affordable pricing.

#3 Pick a method to know how to homeschool 

From all the steps in this homeschooling 101 guide, this one needs you to do some analysis. 

Sure, you know what your child loves doing, but an approach gives structure. The more you know about them, the more flexible and personalized homeschooling can be.

The popular methods that parents use

• Traditional homeschooling to imitate a traditional classroom; great for starting homeschooling temporarily.
• Classical method to build the basic skills, focusing on reading, writing, thinking, and speaking, and later emphasizing logic and rhetoric.
• Montessori method to put creativity, hands-on experience, and play at the center of education; effective for kinesthetic learners.
• Waldorf method to develop the mind, body, and spirit of a child, not through textbooks but through play, art, and music.
• Charlotte-Mason method to use “living books” to develop a child’s world and bring subjects to life.
• Unit studies to teach several subject areas under one theme.
• Unschooling to make learning meaningful for kids through real-life experience and interactions.
• Online learning to start homeschooling digitally, and using one of the most flexible options for specific learning needs.

#4 Find resources for getting started with homeschooling

Resources are crucial to the efficiency of homeschooling. How? They shape the kids’ experience and thus their perception of information. 

There, your goal is to find and match resources to your teaching approach or curriculum. But first, look at learning needs and styles:

• For visual learners, prioritize worksheets and workbooks, illustrated books, video explanations, and visual models.
• For auditory learners, find the stories to read-aloud, consider tutoring, use podcasts or audio tapes, and look for songs that help with knowledge retention.
• For independent learners, put priority on self-paced learning tools, knowledge-check tests, and worksheets; that’s how to home school independent children and ensure their practice.
• For kinesthetic students, create a reserve of hands-on manipulatives like blocks and counters, provide whiteboards and tiles to write and create words, and think of interactive activities.

Why use Brighterly as a supporting tool

Finding the right resources can be overwhelming; that’s when you may need professional help or tutoring solutions.

Brighterly math and reading learning platform is one of them, offering personalized private sessions that focus on study needs and make learning fun for K-12 students. It can easily become either a standalone homeschooling option or a supporting tool to help deal with gaps or certain topics. 

Firstly, its reading tutors & math tutors are accredited and experienced professionals. Secondly, they put interaction and learning needs at the center of kids’ learning. 

That way, they can boost your children’s confidence, help them develop specific skills, or simply close learning gaps. 

• For instance, its homeschool reading program covers vital subjects from phonics, word recognition, and vocabulary to development of storytelling, writing, and critical thinking. 
• Simultaneously, its homeschool math program makes learning math engaging and helps boost confidence with math games and explanations.

#5 Starting homeschooling with the proper curriculum

Once you’re all set with the approach and resources to use, it’s time to switch to picking the best curriculum. Let’s say it’s a plan to start homeschooling with all the subjects you are to cover. 

• For early schooling, you should focus on reading, writing, and early math first to set a foundation for kids’ growth in phonics, spelling, grammar, and cognitive development. 
• Later, next year or the year after, you would integrate science, literature, and history to prepare kids for teen schooling. 

What are the best homeschool tips in this regard? 

• Look for a curriculum that corresponds to your goals and customize it to the needs of your child, yet meet state standards and programs.
• Find a balance between practice and understanding, especially if it refers to math.
• Evaluate and compare curricula, for example, the Singapore Math and Saxon Math curricula contrast a lot.

#6 Look for a community if you’re new to homeschooling

Importantly, don’t associate homeschooling with isolation. Getting started with homeschooling comes with lots of stress, doubts, and challenges. That’s why parents crave support. 

For this reason, you must find local co-ops, online groups, and tutoring communities.

What else can you do?

• Look for groups in social media and forums in your area. Simply googling “How to start homeschooling Reddit” can bring great insights to you.
• Cooperate with other parents who do homeschooling, they may share some outsourcing options.
• Approaches, values, and beliefs do vary from district to district; try different communities to explore options. 

#7 Set a rhythm and routine for homeschooling activities

Above all, successful homeschooling is about consistency. You may forget about strict school bells, but you should keep in mind the role of routine and rhythm. 

Why? They create predictability, reduce stress, and promote a feeling of safety. 

For parents, it helps to build focus, decrease emotional energy used, and manage schedules.  

Have you ever asked yourself, “How can I start homeschooling immediately?” If yes, then establishing a homeschooling routine can be an answer. Start with reading and do it regularly.

What are other crucial tips?

• Teach core subjects in the morning, when focus is higher.
• Use daily rhythm bundles.
• Try keeping lessons short; attention span is low nowadays.
• Schedule interactive breaks or quick games between one lesson and another to make kids more engaged.

#8 Build an environment before beginning homeschooling

Where to start homeschooling? At home, you don’t have a traditional classroom. A designated place or space is more than enough. It can be a separate room or a dining table. 

However, take into account that kids associate space with behavior. So, an environment can support the focus of a kid and prevent distractions. 

For this reason, think about how you can organize an environment to start homeschooling:

• Blend materials into decor and make the environment multi-functional so it can be used to teach multiple subjects.
• Ensure you have easy access to materials, keep a record of tasks, and arrange separate shelves for materials.
• Maintain order, but don’t make it boring, frequently question whether the space created is a homeschool where to start in your kid?

#9 Wire kids’ brains with fun and play

Another important step of any homeschool 101 guide is concerned with making learning engaging and fun. Yes, plays and games are crucial, especially for K-5 learners. 

So, making kids learn via play allows them to actively study at home. 

How you can engage with kids and support teaching

• Use math games to build number sense.
• Support reading comprehension with fun stories and anecdotes.
• Build weird and quirky forms with blocks to develop spatial reasoning.
• Act out and role-play to improve language skills and comprehension.

#10 How to homeschool smoothly: Avoid pitfalls and burnout

Sure, creating a homeschool comes with certain risks, and exhaustion is one of them.   Burnout is something that happens both to parents and kids. Tasks can be heavy, stress may build up, while motivation may drop.

In this case, it’s important to keep the balance between tedious tasks, busy schedules, and things outside of the homeschooling curriculum. How?

• Avoid overscheduling in a child’s calendar and provide room for exciting activities in your week.
• Do not compare your homeschool to others.
• Delegate and share responsibility using tutors, platforms, and family members.
• Take breaks if necessary.

Homeschooling 101: 5 accessible resources to use for your child

• Worksheets
• Songs, stories, and rhymes
• Knowledge-checking tests
• Hands-on manipulatives
• Online platforms for practice

How to homeschool with worksheets

Worksheets are crucial for homeschooling any subject, whether math or reading. Why? They offer routine and practice. They also help develop skills independently. Just regularly provide kids with worksheets after the lessons.

Besides, if you ask yourself, “How can I homeschool my child for free?”, the worksheets and their variety would give you the answer. Plenty of platforms and schools offer their worksheets on various subjects.

Brighterly is not an exception. Moreover, Brighterly’s reading worksheets, math worksheets, and storytelling handouts do stand out. Why? They are interactive, differ by level and grade, and focus on understanding. 

How to use songs, stories, and rhymes for homeschooling

• Use songs to teach phonics, introduce math facts, and support memory via repetition and rhythm.
• Resort to stories to help kids learn new words, understand text better, and improve listening skills. 
• Develop lessons around rhymes to teach early spelling and sound awareness.
• Sing with kids to encourage learning and boost their confidence.

How to do homeschool with knowledge-checking tests

Next, if you want to evaluate the results of homeschooling, consider where to start; knowledge-checking tests can do the job. They are crucial resources at the beginning of the homeschooling journey and after each module. Moreover, they show the gaps and indicate whether the subjects you teach are retained.

How to home school math with manipulatives and handouts

Also, resources such as manipulatives and handouts are pretty important for math lessons. They help turn abstract math into tangible concepts. That way, kids “see” numbers and understand them better. 

How to apply handouts in lessons?

• When explaining or showing math concepts, use blocks, counters, and fraction tiles, then ask kids to use numbers on paper.
• Combine hands-on activities and worksheets to connect understanding to practice.
• Ask kids to use a manipulative to explain their answers

Integrate online solutions into homeschooling

If you can’t limit the screen time of your kid, why not use it for good, let’s say, practice, or getting started with homeschooling? 

Online tools can keep kids’ attention and cater to their specific learning style at the same time. 

How to use online tools for good?

• Offer short interactive video lessons to explain concepts.
• Try online quizzes and knowledge checks to track progress.
• Use gamified math platforms for practice
• Try virtual whiteboards to play and explain subjects.
• Create stories together and develop imagination with specific storytelling games.

Homeschool guide conclusion: Can homeschooling be easy? 

Yes, it can, although homeschooling is a long journey with often a challenging start. This homeschooling guide shows how you can handle personalized and engaging homeschooling. 

There, focus on structure, rhythm, and the right resources. Use workhseets for practice, manipulatives and storytelling for explanation, and online tools to support you with workload. 

If you need assistance or guidance, resort to communities. Besides, there are tools like Brighterly, with personalized lessons and customized plans for your kid. 

Wonder how it works? Book free lesson to try!