Maybe you were already homeschooling and now find yourself shaken from your normal routine, or even displaced from your home. Or perhaps you were fine and dandy with the local school, but now you find yourself faced with the need to start to homeschool because your local school is not currently an option. If you are reading this, I hope it means you have access to power or the Internet somewhere, so let me share a few basics that I hope will encourage and equip you.
If This is All New to You
That first commitment to homeschooling is overwhelming and scary on a good day, even for those who have researched and weighed the decision for years. But when you make the decision to homeschool because it suddenly seems to be your only option, where do you even begin?
On a normal day, in a routine article, I’d suggest you join HSLDA and/or your state organization and then give you lots of links throughout the article so you can take some leisurely “side trips” through the Web as you research. But this is not a normal day, and while I’d love for you to join HSLDA and your state organization and read all that awesome web content, my main concern right now is serving you as you heroically tread water, both literally and figuratively. So I’ll put some links at the end for you, but for now, I just want to hit the basics.
First Things First
The first step is knowing how to comply with your state’s law. For a starting point, you can read a synopsis of your state’s law at www.hslda.org/mystate; additionally, members can call the HSLDA legal staff for help. Your state and regional organizations stand at the ready to help, as well — you can find the organizations listed at HSLDA or by a search for <yourstate> + homeschool.
What Does Homeschooling Look Like?
Usually I would suggest you ask yourself questions such as how can homeschooling fit in with your family’s unique dynamics? How much structure does your family want or need? What time will you start? How will you get dinner on the table the same day you homeschool? (You can find that sort of thing elsewhere on this site.)
But today, I know you are just concerned with keeping your family safe, feeding them, and looking toward re-building what has been lost. So for now, think of homeschooling as being purposeful, with a written plan of what you hope to cover this year, but possibly more of a learning lifestyle than school at home.
With younger learners, the basic goal is to give them lots of physical and creative play, discovery learning, and experiences – think of these as “hooks” on which to hang their future learning. Remember, what looks like play to us is work to them! (As they get older, our academic expectations increase with their maturity levels.) This may be easier to accommodate in your current circumstances, as not so much is required in the way of “book learning.”
Kids are more secure with a routine—a pattern to the day—so do be purposeful, even if you have to get in the homeschooling at less-traditional times or in small increments throughout the day. For others of you, having something to focus on for extended periods may actually be a relief.
What about Curriculum?
Remember that curriculum is more than just books – it includes activities and interests and everyday skills. So it’s okay to think outside the “school books” box. You can include games, story books, life skills, word games, field trips, map skills, memory work, read-alouds, nature studies. Have your child write (or tell, if not writing) a story, or a retelling of his day or adventures. Let your child help you measure for repairs, or help you cook.
Maybe you don’t have a choice – there’s no way for the mail to get through even if you ordered something. Online may be your best option. There are online academies, and there are online “put it together how you deem best” a la carte options (search for online homeschool science, or whatever subject you have in mind). Here are a few examples:
- Ambleside Online — includes an emergency plan
- Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool (online, free)
- How to Homeschool for Free
- Time 4 Learning
- My Fun Science (math and science for middle/high school)
- Supercharged Science
- Free Online History Resources for Homeschooling
- Free Unit Studies
- Rounded Schoolhouse
- Miacademy
- Beacon Online School
- Forest Trail Academy online elementary school
- Discovery K-12 online school
- Homeschool Academy
- Homeschool Connections Online (Catholic-based)
- and most of the major publishers offer online programs, such as Monarch (Alpha Omega), ABeka Academy, BJU Distance Learning (Bob Jones)
Another option would be a packaged course such as one from www.timberdoodle.com, www.mfwbooks.com, or www.heartofdakota.com – this may give you the structure and guidance you need, and you could then incorporate your own social activities.
Be Flexible—and Realistic
My friend Janice found herself in a position where it was a challenge to get through even a very basic math lesson and a little writing. But she realized that she herself had learned through independent reading, so during that crisis time, she made sure that her boys had lots of good reading material, audio books and music, and an occasional video documentary.
Even though the physical needs of the moment sometimes made it impossible to follow her previous lesson plans, her priority was creating a learning lifestyle in which learning could happen, with or without structure.
If you are in less of an emergency and more of a “trapped in the dry house” situation and just want to know what your child could be learning at his age, start with the article, “What Should I Be Teaching?” You may find that he already knows a lot of it, or you can teach him those things in less conventional ways or simply using the library and other community resources.
Regardless of what you choose, remember that your curriculum is simply a tool—use it, adapt it, modify as needed. The bottom line is that there is no ONE “perfect” curriculum—no one “right” way to home school. That’s the beauty of home education—you can tailor the plan to your child’s needs and your current family circumstances.
So, How Do You Find “Normal” Again?
My friend Vanessa, who struggled valiantly to homeschool for several years while her husband went through cancer surgery and treatments, shared this insightful bit of wisdom: “When life broadsides you, the most important – and difficult – thing to do is re-establish ‘normal.’ ‘Normal’ provides a framework for healing.”
We tend to think, “When everything gets back to normal, we’ll ___” – but it may be that things won’t ever be quite as they were before. So how do you establish a new “normal”?
Start with a routine
You may not even be in your own home. If you are, you may be trying to take care of your family in the midst of herculean clean-up efforts. Homeschooling itself is not the main thing; life is. When you feel so incredibly overwhelmed—just start with the basics of normal. What can’t get dropped? Meals? Bedtimes? Basic house re-building?
I don’t mean the sort of schedule that has you checking the to-do list every eight minutes, or dinging a bell to move from lunch to naptime. I mean covering at least the basics and having some pattern to your day. Knowing what comes next, without having to make one more decision, can be a relief. Children find security in routine, and we moms can find emotional freedom in having a basic structure for the day or week.
Make a short list of what has to be done.
Right now, this probably consists of meals, some semblance of hygiene, and clean-up efforts, with homeschooling coming alongside.
Make a plan, starting from where you are now.
Where are you right now? Where do you want to be at the end of the year? Don’t look at grade level – look at what is reasonable to expect to accomplish between now and June. The tests will most likely be fine, regardless of where the children are in The Books (or whatever you have chosen).
Anything that isn’t helping you achieve your goals is extra and should be included only if it doesn’t impede your forward progress. In most cases, your children have been learning just through the natural processes of life. You may be very surprised at the cognitive progress they have made, even if you’re not where you want to be, academically. Children whose parents have had to slow down on the textbook studies because of family crises often do remarkably well on standardized achievement tests. Not only do they usually do acceptably on the tests, they have learned valuable lessons in how to live through crisis, how to serve one another under stress, and how to trust in God for each moment.
I am not recommending that you never expect excellence and diligence in formal studies; but don’t let temporary circumstances make you quit or panic – you can all learn and grow through it. While your current homeschooling methods may not be what you will ultimately choose as the long-term lifestyle, children can still learn when given the tools.
For more information:
- Suddenly Homeschooling: The Basics
- So You’ve Decided to Homeschool…NOW What? (also on youTube)
- What About Socialization?
- You Aren’t in This Alone
- More homeschool articles
- Search for your state organization (state+homeschool) or HSLDA resources
- Need more personal attention?
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How to Give or Get Help after a Natural Disaster…
Those who wish to help can give to the Home School Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund. This is the fund through which HSF (the charitable arm of HSLDA) anticipates assisting the affected families who contact them for grants in the coming weeks/months.
When these disasters hit, they always hear from families wanting to donate curriculum, which they unfortunately cannot accept. But they do have a page on their website that offers some options of websites and Facebook groups where you can find a grateful family in need of the curricula they have. Visit Other Ways to Support HSF There are often some Facebook groups already set up specifically for affected families who are in need of replacement curricula; HSF will list those Facebook links when they have them.
Homeschool families in need can contact a grant administrator at info@homeschoolfoundation.org or 540-338-8688.
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(Part of this post originally appeared as “Homeschooling after Harvey” at www.blog.hslda.org.)
