hello everyone so today I'm going to be
talking about how to start homeschooling
so if you're new to homeschooling or you
have been homeschooling for a short
period of time and you want to improve
on your current system I hope to provide
some insight today I am a homeschool mom
of five and I make educational videos
for parents and teachers and so a lot of
you that have been homeschooling through
the coronavirus you now want to pull
your kids out of school and you want to
start homeschooling them in September
and you don't know what to do you're a
little bit lost there's just so much
information out there and you don't know
how to really apply it to your lives so
today I'm going to be doing like a quick
start to homeschooling video and I hope
that it isn't really enriching for you
so first of all let me commend you for
your decision to start this homeschool
journey it is a wonderful thing to be
the main influence in your child's life
you know when you send your child out to
school someone else for seven to eight
hours a day is pouring into your
children someone else is their main
influence and you don't really get a
resume from these teachers you don't
really know who these people are you
don't really know their inner state and
you don't know what they're really
pouring into your children but you now
as the main influencer in your child's
life you're going to have a very unique
opportunity not only to bond but you're
going to be able to observe your child's
character and academics and when it
starts getting out of track you're going
to be able to amend any issues that you
see along the way so it's a very unique
opportunity you're going to be able to
pour into your children a lot of amazing
values knowledge character building and
beautiful priceless experiences that you
will be able to build together and so I
really commend you on starting this
journey it's a very selfless decision to
put everything aside and decide to
educate your children and homeschooling
has so many benefits and one of the
benefits is that you're going to be
providing a superior education than
public school
in a lot of instances if you provide a
well-rounded curriculum homeschool
students are known to score higher on
standardized testing you have to create
a well-rounded program for each child
and so today we're going to talk about
that and so the first thing that you
want to do is that you want to research
what your homeschool state laws are so
every state has different laws and some
states require standardized testings
some states require portfolio reviews
some states require certain amount of
hours some states require a certain
number of subjects so you have to really
do your research and find out what is it
that your state requires some states
don't require anything at all and so
once you have this information you're
going to be able to know exactly what's
needed from you and from your homeschool
and I'm going to be linking below in the
description box a link to where you can
learn what is required from your state
is going to be a list and it's going to
list all of the states and what is
required from each state so once you
have done that now you're ready to move
on to the to the next process so if you
intend to start in September you want to
write a letter of intent to your School
District letting them know that you're
pulling your child out of school and
that you intend to soar homeschooling
September 2020 and I'm going to provide
a sample letter a free sample letter
that you can model after to write this
letter
it's basically letting them know that
you are you will be homeschooling their
child won't be going to school in the
next fall and you want to do this
ideally latest by September first before
that because you want to let them know
that your child won't be attending so
that your child is not account
so once you've done that once you've
done your research and once you've let
the school know that you and tend to
home-school now you can really start to
delve into other things so one of the
first things I say to start doing is to
join some type of group or network there
are so many homeschool groups that meet
in libraries I meet in parks I meet in
other places it is really important
because through these groups you're
going to be able to find fellowships
support and guidance I'm number when I
first started homeschooling and I joined
a local homeschool group and it was
beautiful for us because I was able to
learn so many things from these families
and these moms were so wonderful
they're they're willing to take you
under their wing and teach you all the
ways so I was able to get an inside view
of the curriculum I was able to learn
about the local resources that I have
available to me in my community I was
able to learn how to set up a routine
and how to make sure that each of my
children were on track with their
schoolwork and it was really a enriching
experience for me so I really recommend
that you do the same and you can do this
by just googling what is available in
your local communities Google up
homeschool groups in so-and-so area you
can look for Facebook groups there's so
many out there you can look for Facebook
groups that are by county and you'll be
able to find one for your county and I
really recommend one special thing then
when you go to these groups that you try
to become friends with at least one or
two homeschool families it is really
important that in your homeschool
journey you have one or two homeschool
families that you meet with on a monthly
basis at least this is for support for
fellowship and for accountability you
know home school can be a very isolating
journey and if you don't have support
then it's going to be so much harder
also your kids grow up and they get to
grow up seeing the same friends so it's
really important to do see if you can
find one or two homeschool found
say you become good friends with and
that you can see on a monthly basis the
next step is your curriculum how to
choose curriculum that curriculum could
be a daunting thing because there's so
much out there and you're gonna see that
there's thousands of options but
depending on your family size depending
on your child's learning style you want
to develop a curriculum that's targeted
for that child's particular need and
particular ability so it's really
important that in the beginning you
assess what type of learners you have
kinesthetic visual learners auditory
learners there's different types of
learners I'm going to link down in the
description box a way that you can
assess your children this is going to
provide information so that you can give
the curriculum towards their particular
learning style for example if you have a
kinesthetic learner someone who learns
hands-on then you may want to provide a
math curriculum that uses manipulatives
like math you see for example if you
have an auditory learner you might want
to provide audiobooks or read aloud to
them their lessons because they learn
through hearing and so knowing the type
of learner that you have is going to
help you create a particular program for
that child that's going to be very
soothing for their abilities so once
you've done that then you want to start
picking the curriculum that you want and
like I said once you have established a
connection with a group or with families
you can start looking at the inside
views of some of these curriculums so
one book that I have loved and that I
started off with was it's called a
well-trained mind the water in mind is
using the classical approach using the
Trivium which is the natural way a child
learns and it's a great book because it
tells you what to do for each grade and
it gives you the different types of
curriculums that you can choose from and
it helps you create your own curriculum
I really recommend that book has helped
me a ton another book that I recommend
is home learning year by year and this
is another wonderful book is going to
you from preschool to high school what
children need to learn and for example
so it will tell you for kindergarten
what they need to learn from math for
writing for reading for everything all
the way up to high school for all of the
subjects and in that it tells you the
different types of curriculums that you
can use to be able to teach the children
everything that they need to learn it's
going to be a wonderful way for you to
create your own curriculum and the third
option that I have for you is Kathy
Duffy's website it's it's a wonderful
website it's been around since the 80s
and she reviews homeschool curriculum
showing the pros and the cons for the
curriculum she also has a list of the
102 top curriculum that she recommends
and I think it's a great resource for
families when I first started
homeschooling I went to the library and
I started doing a lot of research about
early childhood education and learning
how the mind works how children learn
and everything like that and I really do
recommend that because it's really
important that you do learn all of these
things also learning about the different
methodologies you can get books to learn
about the different homeschooling
methodologies so there's the classical
education there's Charlotte Mason
there's Montessori there's Waldo
earthers Reggio Emilia there's so many
and you may want to delve into one of
these paths and you might just want to
be a Charlotte Mason home or you might
just be a Montessori in' or you might be
like me where I pick a little bit from
each methodology and I incorporate it
into my home school so you just see what
resonates with you and what resonates
with your family so once you have
created a curriculum then you want to
move on to creating a schedule it is
very important that when you homeschool
you have a routine and you have a
scheduled home schooling is not for the
lazy and it's not for the disorganized
I always say this because this is not
something that you just buy a bunch of
books and you just roll out of bed and
you try to figure it out it requires a
lot of sacrifice it requires a lot of
order and it requires organization if
you're not this way this mind
be the path for you but you can change
if you don't change these ways then you
you you will do your kids of the service
if you put them out of school and you
don't have an organized routine for them
so it is very important that you do
realize that homeschooling will take a
lot of sacrifice and that in order to
provide it will run the curriculum you
need to have a system without a system
you will not be successful in
homeschooling so you want to design a
schedule for your home you want to
design a plan for your home school you
want to plan the year out and I can go
more into depth about planning in
another video but definitely start off
with having a schedule when are you
going to home-school do you want to
home-school in the morning to your core
subjects in the morning and then maybe
do some electives and hands-on things in
the afternoon or maybe you're not a
morning person you might want to just
have a relaxed morning go for a walk to
some exercise and then do some work in
the afternoon I found that children
learn best in the morning that is when
their mind is the most fresh and I do my
work with the kids in the morning all
the core subjects reading writing and
math and then in the afternoon we do the
electives which are more like hands-on
and with experienced parents and stuff
like that so you just have to figure out
how is it that you're going to organize
your way and you want to have a routine
and you want to have a space set out in
your home for homeschooling and it
doesn't have to be a homeschool room it
can be your dining table but as long as
you have a dedicated area where you do
your home school every single day the
mind is gonna know okay when I sit down
so - I sit down here at this time I'm
ready to learn I mean I'm ready I'm
ready
so you design your schedule you want to
design a plan as well so you want to
know how long it's going to take how
many lessons are in your math book you
want to know how long is it going to
take for you to finish it for the end of
the year so you want to plan all of
these things out let's move on to talk
about all the other questions that I
have written down here that you have for
me so you want to know how to socialize
your children and this is a valid
concern
so socialization is something that is
valid in that you should pay attention
to and in order to provide socialization
for your kids there's so many options as
a home schooler there are many
cooperatives there's educational there's
recreational there's fine arts coops
there's social co-ops there's many many
coops you just have to determine
according to the plan that you've
determined for your home school which
co-op what is the the coop that is going
to need meet your need it might not be
an educational co-op you may already
have everything you need educationally
but you might need some social
opportunities there are coops that
provide socials and activities and
events for children
there are also coops that you can use
for fine arts for example we use a co-op
for fine arts and the kids go and they
take all of their instruments there so
there they do instruments and drama and
chorus and things like that
but you just have to see what is it that
you need you don't want to just jump
into an academic co-op and then that
co-op really doesn't it's not in line
with your with your learning methodology
or maybe those subjects are really not
something that you really need for your
home school you don't want to go waste a
day of the week just to go there for
socialization because in in reality you
don't socialize when you go to classes
you socialize when you make connections
with people and when you talk to people
and you make friendships with people and
you do that by doing what I told you you
want to have 1 2 3 homeschool families
that you meet with and a monthly basis
where your kids are friends when you do
events and activities together you do
trips together you do arts and crafts
together this way you are really helping
your kids socialize with the same kids
every single month now there are other
things that you can do for your children
to bring them out and to provide
enrichment for them so libraries I'm
known to be a library junkie and I will
get a calendar and I will write down all
the things that are
in my local community one of the classes
that libraries have so I'll go from one
life I go to the library in my town but
I also go to the neighboring towns and
library there's so many library classes
from stem to cooking to so-and-so
gardening all types of classes for kids
and they're free and so I go I got a
little calendar and I write down all of
the classes that I think my kids will
like and I ask them you want to go to
this class
there's also Michael's arts and crafts
classes which are like two dollars per
class
there's Home Depot classes which are
free there's community events find out
what's in your local community there's
museums that offer classes for home
schoolers there so so much so providing
all of this is really for enrichment
when they go to these things they may
make a friend but in reality you you
make these friends with your own family
with your cousins with maybe people like
Church with the homeschool families that
I talked to you about you want to have
two or three homeschool families that
you make good friends with that is key
to your homeschool journey you may want
to have your kids participate in sports
there are certain states that you can
participate in sports and being a home
schooler you can go play high school
sports there are some states that don't
allow that but either or you could still
join your community leagues and have
your children participate in sports if
that's something that they're into it's
not something that's mandatory you have
to follow your children's interest
moving on to your other questions that
you have is this my child need a high
school diploma
does my child get high school diploma
with home schooling a lot of people are
concerned about that that's something
that I was concerned with when I first
started and yes your child gets a high
school diploma you as a parent issue the
high school diploma so when you targets
the high school you create a transcript
for that child and each course has a
different number of credits and you
issue grades and as part of their high
school course they can take dual
enrollment credits in the local
community colleges and what this does is
that it helps a child for example like
if they're taking a science course
or high school they can take that
science course at a community college
and it serves as a high school course
and it serves as a college score so by
the time they're done with high school
they have a lot of courses a lot of
credits that they have under their belt
and it gives them a head start for
college if you want an accredited high
school diploma you can enroll in an
umbrella school and on brenell schools
they either meet physically like once a
week or there are also virtual
correspondence schools that you could be
a part of and you receive an accredited
high school diploma they provide a
curriculum and they provide the testing
and they provide everything that you
need they grade your work the only
downfall to that is that you cannot you
can't target the curriculum to be a
certain way you can't you have to follow
their curriculum the way that they have
it because they are the school and so
you don't have the flexibility of having
your own individualized curriculum for
these types of schools but I've never
seen a problem with home school children
getting into college
in fact colleges a lot of times favor
home schoolers because they do so well
in testing and they do so well overall
and so another way that you can have
your child get a high school diploma is
going through your community college
they offer these courses where the kids
take a course and they take a test and
they got their high school diploma if
that's something that you really want to
have for your peace of mind but you but
you don't need it you don't need it
because you as a parent issue that
diploma to the child
let's moving on to the other questions
that you have how do you teach multiple
children I have multiple children I
don't know how how to teach all of them
at the same time you don't have to teach
all of them at the same time so what you
do is you have your children and you
work with them one at a time doing
rotations with them while you're not
working with the others they're working
on independent work such as writing and
spelling and reading things that they
can do on their own if they're just too
small to do things on their own you have
them play or do something else and then
you will take in with each child and you
do their core subjects you grade their
work
and you go successively child by child
on so they have finished her work and I
have made a video on her on a morning
routine and how I do my rotations and
maybe you can get some ideas from that
and I'll link that video below in the
description box
standardized testing do I have to test
my child it all depends on your state
there are some states that require that
you take standardized testing but there
are some others that have a relaxed
approach to homeschooling and they don't
required size of your evaluations so
again you have to see what is it that
your state requires as your children get
older you may want to give them these
Saturdays so see with where they stand
this is sort of a way to assess your
children to see where they stand and
it's something that I plan to do when my
kids get older virtual classes so some
of you asked can I just have my child
take virtual classes and yes you can you
can have if you work and you can't
home-school your child you can have your
children take virtual classes where they
could take all of their classes online
absolutely a lot of you ask me if you
can home school and work yes you can
absolutely all you need to do is have a
sec ridiculous child and then have an
overseer like a grandparent or a
caregiver and then when you get back
from work you can grade that work you
can go over the work with the child
it is definitely doable it just requires
a lot of sacrifice and it requires a lot
of organization on your part I
personally don't have my children - all
of their classes online because I like
being the teacher I like interacting
with the child I like giving them
hands-on things bringing learning alive
but I do understand that there is a lot
of you that are on different
circumstances where you do need to have
your children online but also you can
outsource different subjects that you
don't want to teach for example you can
have your child take just science
virtually or just math for example my
third grader my fifth grader are taking
math online this year and
everything is online the lectures are
online and they everything they learn it
online and it's self grading and also
they user notebooks or write down all of
their work and then they put their
answers into the computer and everything
is done on the computer and it's
wonderful way it takes weight off my
shoulders and children are able to work
independently which is a wonderful thing
so you can make your homeschool to be
however you want it to be depending on
your needs and your circumstances and so
I think that is the book of the
questions that I wanted to answer today
I don't want to make this video too long
coming up I have a video on how you can
create an independent course study for a
children that are 8 and above or 7 and
above and I'm going to be talking about
the independent curriculum that I have
from a third and fifth grader and how
discovery learning and independent
learning is it's crucial actually for
the child's development and I'm going to
share with you what resources I'm using
for our independent curriculum so please
stay tuned I make videos about education
for parents teachers for grandparents
and I have a lot of videos here on my
website go ahead feel free to to scroll
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here on YouTube alright so happy
homeschooling welcome onboard to this
beautiful homeschooling journey to all
of you that are starting homeschool I'm
so excited for you and I know that you
are absolutely going to love love this
journey and so the next time bye-bye