You are considering homeschooling – congratulations! Kudos to you for your willingness to consider every option for providing your children with the best possible education.
Whether you have just decided to homeschool or just decided to consider homeschooling, you may wonder where to start. Here is our recommendation for your first step: define your reasons for homeschooling.
It’s not uncommon for families to put a toe in the waters of homeschooling because they are unhappy with public school, unable to afford private school, or un-something else. While any of these legitimate concerns can certainly provide well-founded motivation to consider other educational alternatives, more is needed to set a family on track for establishing a successful home school, one built on a foundation of positive hopes, aims, goals, objectives, and desires.
At the root of your homeschool will likely be your family’s worldview and faith. You may find this to be the driving force in determining the character and vision of your home school. Of course, you’ll also want to clearly define your academic standards and goals. And finally, The Savvy Educator recommends defining relationship goals. Homeschooling offers such a unique and valuable opportunity to build family relationships; it’s worth the time and effort to consider how you would take advantage of these opportunities and how you would like your home school to cultivate and enhance family relationships.
Clarifying your worldview-related, academic, and relationship vision will allow you to compose a well-defined statement of purpose and direction for your home school. You will see your educational philosophy begin to take shape, which is of vital importance! If you take the time and make the effort to illuminate your unique reasons for homeschooling, the objectives of your home school, and your family’s educational philosophy, your next steps can be much more focused and efficient. You are poised to move forward without becoming overwhelmed or bogged down by the wide array of options homeschoolers face today.
Keep an eye out for our next post for more information on educational philosophies. In the meantime, get excited and enjoy the process as you take the reins of your children’s learning!
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