5 Things to Consider Before Homeschooling Your Children

If you have had the inclination to find out whether homeschooling might be the right choice for you, or if you are questioning whether you could even do it, then hopefully these 5 tips might help you along your way. These are things that I did when I embarked on my pre-homeschooling journey!

1. What is homeschooling?
   

This is the first thing that I would recommend doing before starting on your homeschooling journey. You need to be sure that you are making the correct decision and I find that by doing your own research beforehand can provide you with clarity and certainty.

I researched into what the homeschooling community is, the different types of homeschooling, I read studies and books about homeschooling, looked into colleges/universities and what their views on homeschooling applicants are (in case my children want to go that route), looked at successful people who had been homeschooled themselves and listened to podcasts, youtube videos and more to gather all the information that I could. I felt that at the end of this, I had a real understanding about what homeschooling is.

2. What is your why?

Why do you want to homeschool your children? This will be very different for each person and family. Some people consider homeschooling because they want to foster life long learning in their children, some want to provide them with more variety, some want more family time, some have had negative experiences in the school system, some have had positive experiences but want something different, some want to travel more... The list goes on. This is very personal to you and really finding out why you want to homeschool will help you along your way.

3. Will I be able to help my child maintain a social life?

The education part of homeschooling is one aspect, in that there are many homeschooling curriculums available, which I can discuss in a different post. The socialising aspect, is a factor to think about too. Will my children attend activities? Will they homeschool with a co-op? Will they have regular playdates? How will they make friends? Of course you will be going about regular life and they will be out and about with you and interacting with many people, but some dedicated time to make friends and spend time with other children (of all ages) is very important too.

4. Can I homeschool in my country/state?

Doing your research on your country/state laws regarding homeschooling is of the utmost importance. You want to make sure that you are adhering to any rules and regulations that are held and that you are aware of what they are. Every single country and/or state holds very different regulations. Some countries have very loose and lenient rules whereas some countries even ban homeschooling!

5. What are the financial implications?

There is a financial aspect to homeschooling, depending on how you choose to do it, but it needs to be considered. Firstly, there are many ways in which to homeschool your children, you might be a SAHM and then it is your full time job to homeschool your children. You may work part time and still homeschool them, but then require activities and forest schools/hybrid schools during the week. You may require a nanny to be hired part time so that you can work. Or you may be taking your children out of an expensive private school and be saving money. There are many variations as to how you can homeschool but making sure that you have considered how it can work for your family and your finances is an important step.

If you are considering homeschooling, it is a wild and wonderful adventure. I hope that these steps above help you decide if it is a path that you wish to embark on!