Homeschool Where to Start
The beginning of your homeschool journey can be daunting. The first place you should start is the Homeschool Legal Defense Association or the HSLDA for short. Once on the site you can look up the laws and requirements for your state. Then read through all of the other information that is available there. It is really not as difficult as it may seem. There are co-ops, support groups, facebook sites, and lots more. It doesn't have to cost a fortune either. I don't claim to be an expert. I am just sharing what I know.
Curriculum
One of the awesome things about homeschool is that you get to choose the type of curriculum. Some states do have required subjects, but that being said, you still get to choose what form those subjects take. For instance, you could combine science with history or combine reading, writing, spelling and language all together. Essentially the combined subjects become one subject, which then meets all of the requirements needed for those individual subjects. Again, it doesn't have to cost a fortune.
Free Curriculum
There are so many FREE resources available. Here are a few to get you started. I will list them by type.
- Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool - Uses all FREE online resources, 180-day lesson plans for PreK-8th. Plus parents can add their own subjects. They have a separate High School 9-12 site with 180-day lesson plans plus electives, addons, and extras.
- Old Fashioned Homeschool - 40 week schedules they use mainly free resources, textbooks, and living books K-12th.
- CK-12 - Books, lessons, and interactive videos. They can be put on an eReader. This site is a little more complicated.
- LessonPlanz.com - A searchable directory of free online lesson plans for all grades and subjects.
- There are tons of websites with lists of links to various school subjects and/or worksheets. A search on google will result in multiple pages of such sites. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. I will post links that I personally find useful.
- Typing.com - They offer typing, coding, digital literacy, job prep, and more. You can use their lessons or create some of your own.
- Homeschool Life - This page has a huge list of free resources for homeschooling. Multiple subjects and grades.
Virtual School
Online schooling or virtual schooling is an alternative to homeschool. Students/parents have access to certified teachers and professional learning materials, some of these are tuition-free for all grades K-12 in most states. Some also have students meet with their teachers and other staff in online classrooms for instruction, and help when it's needed.
- Connections Academy - Tuition-free online public K-12 school.
- Fusion Global Academy - A Personalized online instruction K-12 program. There is one teacher for each student.
- IXL - Personalized, comprehensive K-12, with individual guidance, and real-time analytics.
- ThoughtCo.com - State-by-State List of Free Online Public Schools, K-12
- Again there are tons of websites with lists of links to various types of schools or subjects.
Support Groups, Coops, Etc.
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Support Group Search | Search by State |
| Homeschool Buyers COOP | Save money on homeschool curriculum |
| State Homeschool Organizations | An alphabetical list of homeschool organizations |
| Run a search here on homeschool |