You may be interested in homeschooling but have no idea where to start. If you're new to the idea, I can imagine it feeling overwhelming. I'd say to start by taking a step back and asking yourself why you want to homeschool. I was homeschooled through the 9th grade, had a wonderful experience, and have dreamed about homeschooling my own children for as long as I can remember. There's more to it than just a dream, however. I love the freedom that homeschooling provides. Not only am I able to teach my children from a biblical perspective and teach in ways that match their learning styles, I also have the freedom to create and change schedules as needed. I'll get more into that later--how I run Serr Homeschool and how it looks different each year.
Once you know why you want to homeschool and have decided it's either the best choice for your family (or at least worth trying), look at your state's homeschool laws. I can only speak for the State of CO, as that's the only state I've homeschooled in. While there have been some recent changes to homeschool law here (these changes do not currently affect me), and while homeschool freedom is always being threatened, I feel CO has been an easy state to homeschool in. There are three legal ways to homeschool here. If you have a teaching license, you don't need to report to the Public School System with a Notice of Intent (NOI) or enroll under an independent school; you're free to homeschool your children. If you don't hold a license, you have options to either submit an NOI or to enroll under an umbrella school.
I chose to enroll under an umbrella school once my daughter was legally required to be "in school." I'd been homeschooling her up to that point, keeping records, etc. so that I would be prepared for the school year that required us to report somewhere. There're different options out there, but I chose one I was familiar with and that's faith-based.
Okay, so you've decided to homeschool, and you're going to do so one of three ways. What now? You might be asking yourself if you have to use a certain curriculum, if you have to do school for a certain number of hours per day, etc. Things might also be made more complicated by both parents working, which has often been the case in our family. I started this homeschool journey back in 2020. We started out doing preschool roughly two days a week. Thankfully, I was no longer working full-time at that point and had those two days free to focus on school. Here's a sample family schedule for when my daughter was in preschool:
Sunday: Attend church as a family
Monday: Both parents working; daughter with family or friends for babysitting
Tuesday: One parent working; homeschool day
Wednesday: Both parents working; daughter with family or friends for babysitting
Thursday: One parent working; homeschool day
Friday: One parent working; other parent with daughter
Saturday: Both parents off; family day
This is one of many schedules we've had over the years. It hasn't always been easy. Okay, it has NEVER been easy. I was more recently working five mornings a week and then homeschooling in the afternoons. That was harder to manage, but we made it through. Once you start the homeschool journey, you find ways to make things work.
Generally, homeschoolers are required to do an average of four hours of school per day. However, not all independent schools have an hourly requirement. You need to do a minimum of 172 instructional days each school year and cover required subjects. One of the things I love about this journey is the freedom to use different curriculum (or create my own). We've tried a variety of faith-based curricula, including Rod & Staff, My Father's World, Master Books, Abeka, and BJU Press. We've done one to two extra-curricular activities at a time, planned play dates, and we prioritize and protect our family day (Saturday) so that we can all connect as a family.
I haven't always had a separate homeschool room but have for the last few years. It has been wonderful and well-used! However, we also homeschool at the park, by the water, at the library, in the car, etc. You're not limited to when or where you can get things done. While I do have a schedule, I love the flexibility I have to change it as needed.
Our lives and schedules are constantly changing. We now have two children, so I'm homeschooling my daughter (3rd grade) as well as my son (preschool), and it has been a blessing to see them learn and grow. They've helped me see firsthand what having different learning styles can look like, and homeschooling all of these years has helped us find an overall "flavor" for homeschooling (a blend of traditional and living education).
I hope to share more of my homeschool journey here. I also hope that if you've considered homeschooling, this has helped you see that there are many ways to make it work! I homeschool for so many reasons. Being involved my children's education is important to me. One day, they won't be little anymore, and I don't want to miss more of their lives than I have to!
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