What is the best advice you can give to a new homeschooler?

This is a question for experienced home schooling parents.





What are the top three best tips you could give to a parent who is just beginning to homeschool their kids (of any age)?What is the best advice you can give to a new homeschooler?
1. Chuck the idea that homeschooling should look like institutional schooling.





2. No two people learn the exact same way or at the same exact speed.





(Sha_lyn, I think there is an echo in here!)





3. When faced with a dilemma, follow your intuition, not the experts.What is the best advice you can give to a new homeschooler?
Hi!


You already received great advice. Follow them.





One book that really helped me (and still does) is: ';100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum'; by Cathy Duffy. You can find it at your local library. But I had to buy it, it was too much information. It is a book I review once in a while, especially when it's time to choose curriculum for next year.





Another good thing to do is join a homeschool yahoo group. Look for one in/near your city. So you can participate with them on local activities. If there is none in your city, then look nationwide. Just make a search: ';homeschool'; in yahoo groups and start choosing.


Better yet, look for more homeschoolers in your area and start your own group.





Trust yourself.





Wishing you the best.
The best advice for a newbie is relax and just let it happen. Read what you can and when you get advice, smile, nod your head in all the right places, store the info away and go about your day.





When I started homeschooling my daughter 6 yrs ago, I was told everything from I wasn't qualified ( I taught for 13 yrs), to she would wind up anti-social ( and all that was from family). Here we are 6 yrs later and my daughter runs circles around her cousins and their friends. Her goal is to be a Paleontologist, so we are heavy on the math, science and history.





We do not use any particular curriculum. She is a very tactile child and many curriculums do not factor that in.





No curriculum is created the same and no child learns the same. Go with what works for YOUR child, not what works for the Smiths.
1. Join a local homeschool group. There are so many opportunities that you have will a homeschool group. In my homeschool group we get together and talk about what works in our homeschool and what hasn't worked. You get new ideas from other homeschool moms. Our homeschool group also plans fieldtrips.





2. Join Homeschool Legal Defense. This is a group of lawyers that fight for homeschooling rights. It is a yearly membership but is worth it. If some one (neighbor, familly member) who causes trouble for you(like reports to the school district that your kids are not in school) these lawyers will help you fight it.





3. You don't have to use the same curriculum. Find curriculum that will work for you. Mix and match curriculum. Also look for used curriculum book sales (usually through your local homeschool group). I saved over $200 buying used curiculum this year verses buying it new.





This is my fourth year homeschooling and my boys and I love it. Find your childrens interests and incorportate that into your homeschool. My boys likes to read, so I have set up a little reading nook in our home with bookshelves for thier books, and bean bags to sit in. They love it! Also you can get the educators discounts at some stores. I have the educator discount at Barns %26amp; Noble and at Office Max. Some stores will give homeschoolers the discount.





Hope this helps.
1. Kids learn in different ways and what is good for one kid is not good for the other.





2. Keep your kids socialized, people say homeschooler do not socalize enough but parents who do it right their kids are super socialized so you need to keep them around kids their age.





3.Have a schedule. Homeschoolers think oh since I am homeschooled I can sit in my pjs all day and do school work at the last minute but no! if you keep a schedule( not even a super strict on but a schedule) you will be fine but you have to keep some kind of back bone in your house during this time.





4. Keep your kids in physical activites. there are many kidns but with so many kids becoming obese it is not a good idea to let them just sit there.











I know you said 3 but as I was typing my #3 I thought of #4 and had to add it.
You've already gotten some good advice here. I'll add a few more...





1. Try to have multiple children learn the same subjects i.e. Science and History. They can all study the same area and go into more depth if they are older. Saves money and stress for you.





2. Use the library as much as possible. If you're thinking about ordering a certain book, request it from the library first to see if you like it. Use picture books from the library to teach Science and History for younger children.





3. Enjoy your children and play games and do experiments with them, but don't let them push you around. No computer, TV or video games until their school work and chores are done.
Relax! Take time to enjoy your children. Don't try to do everything in one day. Give them time to play and explore the world around them.





If the child has been in school for a while then let them have time with no lessons of any kind. Let them learn to love learning again.





Learning is a natural process. It does not need to be forced. Children want to learn.





Read all you can about home schooling and the many different methods.





Learn the child's style. How they learn. Not all kids are successful when they copy notes all day long.
Personally, I think it all boils down to one rule: take advantage of the flexibility of homeschooling. There are so many ways to do that. Don't want to use a pre-packaged curriculum or an online school? Then don't do it. Don't want to use textbooks? Don't do it. Want to use textbooks but the popular ones aren't working for your kids? Don't use them. Your kids are especially interested in something? Find creative ways to make it central to their education. Find out something isn't working? Toss it and find something that will work. That goes for everything from curricula to your daily schedule.





I would also say that it's important not to freak out about things like finding out that the awesome science kit you bought isn't actually as awesome as you thought, or that your kids didn't do much (or any) formal work on a given day (assuming your kids usually do formal schoolwork). This sort of thing is especially important if you have removed one or more of your kids from the mainstream school system. Kids entering homeschooling from mainstream school often need some time to decompress and figure out their own learning styles and needs. After all, several years of being forced to learn in a certain way can put you out-of-touch with your own needs, and it takes a bit of time to realize that you actually DO have the freedom to do what's best for yourself now and then to go out and figure out what ';doing what's best for yourself'; actually means. If you're homeschooling kids who have never been in school, I would suggest not pushing a particular learning style on them right away. Just as with a kid who is decompressing from mainstream school, you probably have to experiment a bit and find out what works, especially if you yourself are still in the ';education = sitting at desks in a classroom and doing schoolwork'; state of mind.
Get rid of the idea that homeschooling should look like institutional schooling.





No one learns the exact same way or at the same exact speed.





This 3rd one has been the hardest thing for me:


Don't feel like you have to continue with something if it isn't working. Don't worry about the $$ you spent on it, or the time you put into it. If it is not working for your child, find something else.
Here are mine:





1. Be persistent. There are going to be things that are harder and easier about homeschooling for you. You'll work through it. Make changes if you need to.





2. Don't think you have to do things like other homeschooling families you know are. We are individuals.





3. Making alone time for yourself as the parent is OK. It's important to be able to relax and take a little ';adult'; time when you're with your kids most of the day.