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Homeschool Tips and Resources
Homeschooling can quickly become an overwhelming enterprise. There's so much for parents to learn before they can
begin to provide education for their child! But like any large and complex goal, breaking it down into
easy-to-digest parts makes it possible to swallow each one without stomach upset.
There's no one right starting point for everyone, since parent's skills and experience differ. But, most will be
faced early on with doubts about whether homeschooling is best for their child and their family. Only the
individual can decide, but homeschooled children, on average, outscore their peers on standardized tests. Within
the home parents can provide a safe, learning-friendly environment tailored to their child, something public
schools rarely do.
The Law
Learning about any legal requirements and restrictions is a good task to undertake early. The HSLDA (Home School
Legal Defense Association, http://www.hslda.org) can provide you with tons of assistance. They can make it much
easier to find out the law in your state. Though homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, the amount of paperwork,
local school district involvement and other factors does vary from state to state.
Support Groups
Modern homeschooling has been around now for over 40 years. Hundreds of organizations have been formed in that
time, covering every state and almost every area in America. To get a list for yours, you can check out:
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/states/index.php. Or, just use the Internet and search for others.
Books and Magazines
With the growth of the Internet, the resources available to homeschooling parents and students has increased
dramatically. Apart from legal issues, advocacy and support groups and the like, there are hundreds of books and
thousands of articles available to provide information and guidance.
To read about the originating philosophy of homeschooling, some may want to check out any of John Holt's books,
written from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Teach Your Own (http://www.holtgws.com/), updated in 2003 by Patrick
Farenga, remains a widely read book 20 years after Holt's death.
Classical Homeschooling magazine is available at: http://www.classicalhomeschooling.com/. It covers one popular
approach to homeschooling. Home Education Magazine is one of the oldest and most popular publications on
homeschooling. Details are available at: http://www.homeedmag.com/
Materials and Resources
Many parents choose the School-At-Home method initially. It essentially just takes the materials provided by a
local school district and moves them into the home, with the parent becoming the teacher. Many parents quickly find
out how much effort is involved, and how poor those materials sometimes are.
Alternative materials and curricula are available from a wide variety of commercial sources. Reading some of the
forums can quickly provide parents with better choices. One such is: http://forum.homeschool.com/forum/default.asp.
Another popular source can be found on the HEM (Home Education Magazine) site:
http://www.homeedmag.com/wlcm_netwrk.html. Still another is: http://www.home-school.com/forums/.
All of these will provide parents with helpful tips, suggestions for curriculum design and materials, and much
more.
Your preference for an approach may be structured or freewheeling. Your and your child's ultimate goal may be
college, or art school, or just a good foundation of knowledge and a keen mind. Whatever your concerns and issues,
there's a resource to help you get started and overcome any roadblocks to homeschooling success.
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