Second Semester Homeschool or Mid-Year Homeschooling
You can begin homeschooling your children at any time of the year. Many families prefer to make the transition during the semester break.
Here are some helpful ideas to make the transition go smoothly:
• Check state laws by contacting your state's homeschool association or the homeschool division of your state's department of education.
• Allow plenty of time for your children to decompress, to reconnect with the normal rhythms of family life, and to "find themselves" again.
• Don't stress over what "to teach" or be intimidated by Common Core Standards. The Standards only pertain to public schools. Your homeschool need not be governed by Common Core Standards. If you want to follow the Standards for English and Math, you may read them on the CoreStandards.org website. (Note: State standards have been around since the beginning of public schools and continually evolve or are changed.)
• Discuss your children's interests, then take a field trip to your local library. Check out armloads of books, DVDs, and educational games that relate to your child's current interests.
• Observe your child's best learning style, i.e., visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learning styles. Incorporate specific activities that best support or supplement your child's unique ways of garnering, processing, and absorbing information.
• Start a scrapbook at the beginning of your homeschool and allow children to be as creative with it as they want to be. Encourage them to add to the scrapbook regularly. This will become a type of "portfolio" or "record" of your child's daily or weekly homeschool experiences.
• For daily and weekly homeschooling, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy homeschooling!
