How we homeschool
Because I've had a lot of people asking me, I thought I would share
it here for those interested in homeschooling. I am NOT an expert on
all things homeschooling, but I can share what I know & what has
worked for me. Other homeschooling parents - please feel free to put
your recommendations or advice below. **I am not suggesting everyone
should homeschool, but I do think it's a great option for those who can
make it work!**
* You typically have to register under an umbrella school.
* You can do it thru your local public school for free, but I haven't done that so I can't tell you what it's like. I believe that they either require or strongly encourage regular testing like they do in public school.
* We registered thru HomeLife Academy as our umbrella school, and I highly recommend them. It costs around $120/year total for my 2 kids - totally worth it. They make sure we are legal.
* Depending on your state, you can do it yourself, but again, I haven't done that so I don't know how that works.
* By registering thru & reporting to HomeLife Academy, we can legally homeschool in TN.
* I report my "curriculum" to them for each semester (more on curriculum below).
* Twice a year I report grades to them (they can be A/B/C, pass/fail, acceptable/needs work, etc.)
* I report our attendance to them. One day of school = any day where your child has 6.5+ hours of learning.
* Check with your local state as these may vary.
* Once you have an umbrella school, you choose your curriculum.
* There are certain programs that give you a full curriculum so you don't have to worry about it. They give you exactly what you need for each grade level & you teach your child what they give you. These programs typically cost more. Some examples are Sonlight & Abeka.
* You can piece together your own curriculum on your own. It costs less, typically, and is more flexible but you have to do the work to create your curriculum.
* I do a combination of that & unschooling. We have a very loose "curriculum" which includes lots of reading, audio books, podcasts, documentaries, field trips, traveling, math games, etc. See previous post from Homelife Academy about how anything can be considered learning.
* You typically have to register under an umbrella school.
* You can do it thru your local public school for free, but I haven't done that so I can't tell you what it's like. I believe that they either require or strongly encourage regular testing like they do in public school.
* We registered thru HomeLife Academy as our umbrella school, and I highly recommend them. It costs around $120/year total for my 2 kids - totally worth it. They make sure we are legal.
* Depending on your state, you can do it yourself, but again, I haven't done that so I don't know how that works.
* By registering thru & reporting to HomeLife Academy, we can legally homeschool in TN.
* I report my "curriculum" to them for each semester (more on curriculum below).
* Twice a year I report grades to them (they can be A/B/C, pass/fail, acceptable/needs work, etc.)
* I report our attendance to them. One day of school = any day where your child has 6.5+ hours of learning.
* Check with your local state as these may vary.
* Once you have an umbrella school, you choose your curriculum.
* There are certain programs that give you a full curriculum so you don't have to worry about it. They give you exactly what you need for each grade level & you teach your child what they give you. These programs typically cost more. Some examples are Sonlight & Abeka.
* You can piece together your own curriculum on your own. It costs less, typically, and is more flexible but you have to do the work to create your curriculum.
* I do a combination of that & unschooling. We have a very loose "curriculum" which includes lots of reading, audio books, podcasts, documentaries, field trips, traveling, math games, etc. See previous post from Homelife Academy about how anything can be considered learning.
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