Little Tyke

Open letter to new homschooling parents

First of all - take a deep breath! You’re doing fine. You WILL find a way of homeschooling that works well for you and your kids and everything will work GREAT!

Everybody has their own homeschooling style and they vary greatly - from very strict “school at home” to the very natural “unschooling” and everything in between. So, first I’ll give you my advice, then I’ll include my own opinions.

1. Read about the different methods of homeschooling. Some common ones are “distance learning”, “Charlotte Mason”, “Classical”, “Unit Studies” and “unschooling”. There are also several others. As you learn about the different methods, one or more will jump out at you as
something you’d like for you children and family. You can find GREAT, books that outline these at the library. Also, you can do an internet search for “homeschool methods” and see what you come up with.

2. Read other people’s homeschooling stories. There are entire books of people’s stories along the lines of “a day in our life of homeschooling” type things. They’re extremely helpful to actually “see” what homeschooling looks like in all sorts of other people’s homes. No two homeschooling families are the same. You’ll find little tidbits here and there that you would like to incorporate into your own home.

3. Join a local homeschool support group. This will get you in touch with people who are homeschooling right now, who are really nice and welcoming and more than happy to share their insight! There are all different types – religiously based, area based, co-ops (you get
together to give little “classes” and have your kids join some too, given by other homeschool parents and even teens), activity/outing based. Find one or two that sound good and join in! They’re INVALUABLE! Here is one site I found for groups in your state. I’m sure you can find more with internet searches.

All of these things will give you many, many ideas that will start to shape your schooling style. Your style will also adjust as you actually start to DO it, and as things change in your family
(additions, crises, moving, aging, etc.)

My own family’s homeschool has looked very different each year as we’ve gone through changes and even some major crises. But as we grow, our schooling grows, and adapts naturally to fit us. I started out with absolutely no money to spend on school stuff. We did that for 5 months and loved it. We’ve gone through a phase that included many text books and worksheets. And, now, this year, we’ve really finally settled into the groove that’s right for us. I really wish we’d been doing things this way all along, but you know, those first couple years were just a learning experience! The kids are better off for it than they were when they were in public school, and we’ve all grown together and are happy with what works for us.

You’ll start out somewhere, and it will be good. And as you continue, you will gradually change things here and there, and you’ll find your family’s niche too. And it’ll all be a wonderful journey.

Oh, I said I’d give you my opinions too. For my family, I LOVE the Charlotte Mason method! To practically use Charlotte Mason in your home I HIGHLY recommend the book “Real Learning” by Elizabeth Foss. I really liked the Classical ideas too, but it just didn’t end up being for us. I’m greatly intrigued by unschooling after hearing a talk by a man at a conference who unschooles his children. But it’s not entirely for us either, although I do believe it can work perfectly well.

I like to think we use mainly the Charlotte Mason method with a bit of my own stuff here and there and a whole lot of unschooling throughout the rest of our days. I personally, do not believe in the public-school-at-home type of programs. I definitely believe in catering the subject matter and ways of learning toward each different child.

That’s about it. Feel free to ask me any more questions you may have. I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with all the info! Just follow those 3 points I numbered above and you’ll find a wealth of info you’ll get
really excited about.