How to Homeschool
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You made the decision to homeschool your child, so you’ve been past the decision making part. But now you want to know when to start. Should you start at the same place the local school district does? Should get your curriculum and start as soon as you can while you’re still energized about it? It can and should be as individualized as your child.

One of the first questions you need to ask yourself is how concerned are you about having to put your child back into public or private school. To be considerate of your child, if you think the odds are likely or you plan to enroll your child in a school that uses state guideline, which most do, use that as your rough minimum guideline. Most schools will allow your child to start into the school grade there age indicates until roughly 6th grade. Beyond that you can expect your child to be required to take an admittance exam. Some schools may require it at any grade. Using this as your guideline, formal education would start somewhere in the Fall between the age of 5 and 6.

But what if you want to start earlier? It is common practice for children to start preschool as young as 3 or 4. But in my own homeschooling experience, the joys of homeschooling started from the moment we welcomed our children into our family. One of the first things you do as a parent is teach your child that you love them. You’ve probably already started homeschooling before you even knew it.

Start by keeping up what you’re probably already doing. Spend time with your child, regardless of their age. Are they showing signs of wanting to know more? Kids tend to start asking questions at a never ending pace at some point. If your child is doing that, are they interested in the answer or do they just want to be close to you? Keep answering, because at some point their interest will be peaked by some subject. There’s you sign, start purposefully teaching!

Get some crayons, maybe a workbook, and a new pencil. Start setting aside some time each day dedicated to a little structure learning. It’s best to use a time that your child is normally in a good mood, maybe even a time that your younger children are napping. Remember to start out slow; don’t sweat it if your child doesn’t show interest right away. Just let it go and try again tomorrow. And if life gets busy or stressful, don’t be afraid to put things on hold and start again later.