Welcome to Homeschooling

Welcome to Homeschooling Guide

Time4Learning has put together a guide for new homeschoolers.

Here are some excerpts:

Chances are, if you are just entering the world of homeschooling, you are feeling a little exhilarated, a bit unsure, and probably somewhat overwhelmed. You are not alone! Many parents who make the decision to oversee their children’s education have similar feelings at the beginning.

We at Time4Learning understand your concerns, and we hope that this introduction to homeschooling will help you feel more confident about getting started on this educational adventure....

Click to download the entire guide

...Understanding Your Child Academically

When starting to homeschool, many parents’ first instinct is to go shopping. Often parents start buying expensive curriculum prior to having a good understanding of what might actually work for their child. This turns out to be one of the most common errors that parents make.....

...Learn the laws.

Be sure to know and follow your state's legal requirements. Many have a choice of rules under which you can homeschool. For instance, Florida’s compulsory education requirement can be met by homeschoolers in a number of ways such as by enrolling in a private “homeschool cover school” or notifying your local school board that you're establishing a “home education program”. You should seek competent legal advice if you have questions.

...Learn about “Learning”.

“Learning” is a broad encompassing concept that includes: learning styles, memory access and usage, metacognition (learning how to learn), as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Along with the aspects of learning, there are many teaching methods available to homeschool families....

...Get connected.

Find some mentors and friends. Speak to some like-minded homeschooling families and ask them what they do and recommend. Try to find local families with whom you can share ideas and activities on an ongoing basis...

...Go online.

Over the past ten years, the web has exploded with information about all-things -homeschooling. There are fantastic websites with oodles of homeschooling articles, recommendations, and forums...

...Plan your year.

Once you’ve identified the courses or materials you want to cover, come up with a logical way of working through them in a school year....

...And plan your day.

Most children do best with diverse activities, but a predictable schedule. Younger children will particularly want to know which times will be set aside for one-on-one work....

...Use the right materials at the right time… and for the right child.

We suggest avoiding any program which claims to be THE COMPLETE SOLUTION for your child. Each child's needs are different. NO program, either online, video, or text-based should be the sole homeschool curriculum, especially for younger children....

...Learn the lingo.

As you are beginning this journey, you have probably already noticed that homeschoolers have a language of their own. Here are some terms and definitions that will help you make sense of this new lingo....

...Have fun!

Homeschooling is unlike any other adventure you will embark on with your child. You are sure to have successes, failures, frustrations, and victories....