My Best Homeschooling Advice.

I'm almost done with homeschooling and I have joined this facebook page for homeschoolers.  Every day, someone comes on there and asks about curriculum, often for preschoolers and kindergartners. Most of the time I give my opinion, knowing that no one will pay attention to it.  Nonetheless, after years of reading and researching and homeschooling for 11 years, here's my advice.  Keep in mind that over the years I have become more radically pro-homeschooling.  It's just been so wonderful for us.

1.  Do it.  Plan to do it this fall and use the summer to get ready.  Homeschooling is good for kids and it's good for families.

2.  Don't over do it.  This is the most important thing and I see the older homeschoolers giving this advice over and over and over again and the younger new homeschoolers ignoring it.  It's flying right on over their heads as they begin to emulate everything that the public schools are doing wrong, overdoing it and making their kids hate school and burning themselves out.  Seriously, do the minimum and then have fun with your kids the rest of the time, reading, playing and cuddling.  This is how kids learn.  Please, if you never listen to anything else I've ever said, go read this blog.
Freedom to Learn.

3.  Have fun!  I'll say it again, read, play, cuddle, go out and do things in the community, volunteer together, get to know extended family members, go to the library every chance you get and check out as many books as you can carry, go to the park.

4.  Support Your Kid's Interests.  We had this speaker come to our homeschool group one time.  She talked about how her daughter's curriculum for several years was tailored around her love of horses, she wrote about horses, planned a business involving horses and did the math for the business and all kinds of things, on her own. The internet is full of stories about homeschoolers who follow their interests into careers.

5.  Don't Rush.  There is some evidence that pushing kids to do things before they are ready is harmful.

6.  Don't Panic.  Your kid is going to be okay.    If you feel you need a checklist, here is one.  The Checklist.

7.  Read These Books.  Free Range Learning:  How Homeschooling Changes Everything, Free to Learn,