Photo by Antoni Shkraba Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-smiling-while-thinking-5306419/
It can feel rewarding to homeschool, or at least to begin flirting with the idea. After all, if you have the time to dedicate, spending most of the week with your child (or children) can feel like reason enough. Moreover, there are unquestionable benefits to homeschooling over conventional schooling. For example, you only have one or two children to focus on, whereas even the best teacher might have twenty or more.
Moreover, some curriculums, like this secular homeschool curriculum, give you a great deal of wriggle room on the topics you could cover and the learning measures you take. That’s not to mention other benefits, like how taking a “field trip” for education more often than not is entirely valid. A trip the local museum isn’t a huge affair with parental donations and volunteering, risk assessments and heavy planning or booking. You just go with your child, learn, and have a fun time. As long as it’s structured, there’s a huge amount to love here.
However, as with any huge life choice, there are questions to answer. These are for you to answer of course, but we can certainly help you prompt them. In the post below, we intend to do that:
How Much Time Can You Dedicate?
Homeschooling can easily become a full-time role, and we’d recommend it becomes your main focus. As such, it’s worth thinking about what that might look like across a typical week. You won’t need every hour mapped out or rigidly planned, but there does need to be enough consistency for your child to keep learning and progressing.
That might involve mornings of focused study, afternoons of practical tasks, reading, project work, or occasional meetups. The important part is knowing if you can carve out those regular chunks of time and energy, even around other responsibilities. Always prioritize regular, engaged effort that suits your routine.
Do You Know The Curriculum, Courses & Testing Requirements?
Different regions can have different expectations, so it helps to know what’s legally required and what’s flexible. Some places could ask for structured progress reports, or another state may need exam entries or formal assessments, while some leave things quite open.
There’s usually room to personalise the learning approach you do take, especially with secular curricula, but it’s still helpful to have a framework in mind. It doesn’t need to be formalised from day one, but having a rough idea of what's needed, what your child enjoys, and how you can track progress makes everything feel more manageable in the long run.
Are There Any Homeschooling Communities In Your Area?
Homeschooling doesn’t always need to be a solo effort you focus on alone, as many areas have small groups of parents who organise meetups, outings, or shared lessons now and then. It could just be a few people who chat online and arrange things as they go. It can help to ask around locally or check social media to see what’s out there.
This kind of casual connection makes the whole thing feel more natural, with your child gaining the ability to meet other kids in their age group. Not every week has to be planned with others, but having a few familiar faces around can give the whole experience more of a connection, and that addresses the main insular downside of homeschooling.
With this advice, we hope you can start the homeschool process with care.
