So you are new to homeschooling, but obviously not new to blogging. We're a perfect match because I am not new to homeschooling, but this is my first blog post on my first blog EVER!  So, while you are reading my homeschooling advice to you, feel free to share your blogging advice with me. 

In this post, I will assume you are merely an investigator.  I remember that stage.  You are wondering:  Can I teach my own children?  Am I smart enough?  Educated enough?  Brave enough?  What material do I use?  Where do I get it?  Is it legal?  Where will I get the time? 

First of all, take a deep breath.  You can teach your own children, you are smart enough, you are educated enough, you are brave enough, it is legal, and you can find the time.  As for materials, I will help you find what will work for your family.

Here is my first sermon to new homeschoolers:  There are as many ways to homeschool as there are families on the planet.  What will your way be?  Rest assured, you can change your methods as you go along, and you most likely will.  Kids change, and your methods will too.  So don't feel like you only get once chance to make this decision.  For now, ask yourself why you are considering homeschooling.  What is it that you want to change or improve about your children's education?  Do you want your children to have less structure or more?  Are you looking for more family time?  Are your children having ADD issues that the public school is not addressing to your satisfaction?  Do you want your children to get on the fast track to Harvard, or to have more time to explore their inner selves?  Remember, there are no wrong answers to these questions.  It is all about what is best for your family's situation.  Here are some options:

You can recreate public school at your kitchen table.  If you want a lot of structure, I recommend a 'boxed set.'  This is a curriculum set that has everything in it you will need.  It is possible to have the publishers also grade the homework and tests, keep academic records, and provide you with state-mandated tests and transcripts.  This is how I started, using Christian Liberty Press Curriculum.  A friend of mine loved Calvert School and used it exclusively.  However, I quickly found that there were just too many books for a 6 year old.  Reading, writing, math, history, science, language arts, religion . . . I felt a 6 year old should focus more on being 6 years old.  Nonetheless, many people are very satisfied with this type of home education.

Most homeschoolers are 'ecletic,' meaning they use a hodge podge of materials.  (Future posts will address how to find both new and used materials.  Homeschoolers are nothing if not frugal!)  I've used Alpha Omega Lifepacs and Switched-On-Schoolhouse. The are essentially the same product, except one is a set of workbooks and the other is a set of CD-ROM's.  I like them, but do not use them currently.  I have used Abeka and liked it.  I currently use, as do most homeschoolers, Saxon Math.  I started my 5year olds out on Math-U-See, and I wish I had never let them stop it.  If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed with that exclusively.  If you starting out with a pre-reader, my absolutely all-time favorite curriculum is Explode the Code, although in my day there was not an on-line option.  Here is a Homeschool Curriculum Index.   On this list you will find terms you may never have heard before, but that you will become very familiar with as you investigate home education:  classical, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, unit studies, unschooling, and my personal favorite, A Thomas Jefferson Education.  I'll be devoting several posts to this philosophy alone.  If I could start over again, this would be my model.

As you search the links I've posted here, you will likely find yourself hyperventilating. That is perfectly normal. Remember this: you do not have to do all, or any, of what is suggested here. You are looking for the model that fits YOUR FAMILY. Public schools do not teach everything there is to know, and you don't have to either. By the time you start breathing again, you will have ruled out some ideas, and that will narrow down your options. The next step is to start researching the remaining options and see how they 'feel' to you. But that is for future posts.  For now, just sit back with a cup of herbal tea, open up your mind, and just breath!!