Our Top 10 Tips for New Homeschoolers

We’ve had several requests for tips lately. Most come from new parents who are homeschooling for the first time and are a little nervous. So we decided to put together a list of our top 10 tips for new homeschoolers.

1. Deschool

Deschooling is the first thing your should do if you are leaving the school system. It’s a chance for you to “un-learn” everything about school and a chance for everyone to adjust to your new normal. If you want more information on deschooling, you’ll want to check out this post, Deschooling 101.

2. Find Your Why

Understanding and clarifing for yourself why you are deciding to homeschool is so important. The answer to this question of why will the the foundation for you homeschooling. It influences your choice of approach, curriculum and schedule. It will also be a guiding light, something to help remind yourself of why you are doing all this when you have a tough day, week or month.

3. Don’t Re-create School in Your Home

The focus of homeschooling should be on “home” not on “school”. You don’t need to do 8 subjects every day, sitting in a desk for hours. You get to make learning and education what you want and what’s best for your child. And homeschooling takes a lot less time that public school so you can really allow interests to lead your learning a lot more.

4. Start 1-2 Subjects Max

There is no reason that you need to teach 6-8 subjects from the get go. Start with 1 or 2 max and then once you are more comfortable with your flow, schedule and your child’s learning style, you can add another. This will help you from becoming overwhelmed and give everyone time to adjust.

5. Try a Unit Study

A unit study is a great way to dive deep into a topic and learn all you can about it. When you do this, you actually cover several subjects at once. For example an oceans unit can cover geography, science, art, reading and writing. So pick a topic your child or children are interested in and dive in. Building a unit study is actually really easy and makes the learning so much more personalized.

6. Establish a Routine

We’re not talking about a daily schedule that’s scheduled down to the minute. It’s more of a routine or a rhythm to your day and your week. We have meal times and quiet times in our day. But I also have certain things that happen on certain days. I know that on Wednesday morning, we go to playgroup or have a playdate. On Thursday morning, we’ll do some baking. It makes it a little easier knowing what will happen in the week. It fills time and give purpose to your days.

7. Include Mini Fun Things

We do Waffle Wednesdays. And Friday night pizza/movie night. These little mini celebrations during the week make for great traditions, it’s fun for the kids and it’s one less thing you as a parent really need to think about.

8. Quiet Time

We highly recommend having a quiet time during the day. A time when the kids can play/rest/nap independently and you as a parent get a little break. Our girls do 1.5 hours every afternoon where they can play in their activity room or bedroom. It’s a great time to you as a parent to reset and it gives them a chance to be independent. It even gives them a chance to get away from each other if they need it (they go to separate rooms). And don’t use that time to plan or anything like that. Take that time to fill your own up. Have a cup of tea, watch a show, read a book. Do what you need to take care of yourself.

9. Get Outside

When you are stuck inside the same 4 walls, you can start to go a little stir crazy. So get outside. Go for a walk, a hike, play in the backyard, to to the park. It’s good for burning the little ones energy and it’s great for everyone’s mental health.

10. Read, Read, Read!

A lot of people underestimate the power of reading. Reading aloud to you kids is one of the best educational things you can do for them. Read picture books, poetry, biographies or novels. Or even put on an audiobook. When you are starting homeschooling, make an effort to read every day to your children, even if they can read themselves.

That’s it! Those are our top tips for newbie homeschoolers. Hopefully, they can help you establish and build you homeschool into one that is as unique as your family!