Ready to transition from public school to homeschool? We made the leap 5 years ago and it was the best decision we ever made.
My oldest son was in the 5th grade when we jumped into homeschool. We had no clear path in sight at the time. I just knew I couldn’t throw him into middle school when he needed extra help. Help that the public school system wasn’t giving him. So I took it on myself and never looked back!
Over the years I have a learned a few things about homeschool and I am happy to share with you my tips on how to transition from public school to homeschool. You must know first though that your child will be different from mine and your family is different from any other family. However, these tips are a good guide to get you started with your transition. I am excited that you are taking on this journey with your kids, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me, I would love to help!
10 TIPS HOW TO TRANSITION FROM PUBLIC SCHOOL TO HOMESCHOOL
1. Talk to your child about your decision to homeschool
If your child is able to communicate with you, talk to them about your decision as their parent to homeschool. While having this conversation with your child, remember that you are the parent and the final choice to homeschool is yours. You can explain to them why you want to homeschool and how you feel it will benefit them and your family. Don’t be surprised if your child says they don’t really want to homeschool. This could happen, but remember to explain that you are the parent and you believe this is what’s best. Tell them that you value their opinion and will let them help with the process.
2. Take a few months off to get rid of the public school mindset
The term for this is called de-schooling. Take a few weeks or months off before you officially start homeschooling. This will help get your mind off of public school. Remember your life will be different. Homeschool isn’t like public school and it shouldn’t be. Your routine will be different, your schedule will be different. A few ways to deschool and keep your child learning at the same time are:
- Play educational board games
- Visit Museums
- Read your favorite childhood books with your kids
- Watch free educational videos. You can find lots of them online!
- Play and explore the outdoors.
3. Complete a placement test to see where your child’s weaknesses and strengths are
This is not something you have to do, but it could help you when picking out the curriculum. If your not sure what areas your child needs the most help in, a placement test can help. Here is a good list of a free placement test. Remember when taking the test that the outcome is not wrong or right. Homeschool is all about helping your child succeed. Don’t focus on kids in public school and where they are academically. Every child is different, just focus on your child and his or her needs alone.
4. Start easy and work your way up to more subjects
Don’t overwhelm yourself or your child by trying to do every subject. Start off with the basics and work in other subjects as you go. To me the most important subjects are Math and English. You can work the others in. For example, you can do Math and Grammer the first month and add Science in one – two days a week the 2nd month. Remember, it’s your homeschool you can set your schedule the way that fits your family best. Just make sure you cover the required subjects at some point during the school year. You can check here to see what your state requires you to do.
5. Let them help pick the curriculum
Get your kids excited about the transition to homeschool by letting them help pick out their curriculum. Let them decided what they want to learn about for Science. Are they interested in bugs? Then study bugs. Would they like to learn about our amazing Solar System, then pick out a curriculum about the Solar System. Get there opinion and explore the different curriculums together. If your child seems undecided, come up with 3 different topics for science and have them choose one. You can do this for History too!
6. Stock the homeschool world, find out where everybody’s hanging out
Yes, one of the best ways to transition into homeschool is by having friends who also homeschool. You will need the support from other moms and your kids will benefit from having playmates who also homeschool. Your homeschool family/friends will be the people who understand your choice to homeschool the most, they will be the rock you lean on when times get tough. They will understand exactly what you’re going through every day. I am not saying your kids can’t have friends who are in public school, that would just be silly, I am just saying its always nice to have someone who understands you!
7. Explain the rules and expectations
Before you officially start homeschooling, it would be wise to lay out your rules and expectations for your kids. Do you want them to wake up at a certain time? Will you expect school work to be done before video games can be played? Do you want them to get dressed before school or is laying around in PJs ok? (we stay in our PJ’s a lot) Remember its’ your homeschool so you make the rules. There is no right or wrong way to do this, just whatever you think is best!
8. Don’t feel like you have to have the Pinterest perfect homeschool room
Trust me, this is unnecessary stress that you will put on yourself. Yes, it is nice to have a homeschool room but it really doesn’t have to be perfect. Make it work for you and your family. We do have a playroom/homeschool room, but honestly, we hardly ever do school there! Have a place to store materials and give your child the freedom to do school in any room they want. You can adjust this as you transition.
9. Remember that your opinion about homeschooling is the only one that really matters
When you’re transitioning to homeschool, you may get a lot of negative comments. This may be frustrating for you, but its normal. Some people just don’t understand why we do it, and that’s ok. Always remember at the end of the day, your the parent and your opinion is the only one that matters. It is important to have your husband on board, but other family and friends will eventually get over it.
10. If you haven’t yet, pulling your child from public school in the middle of the year is perfectly acceptable
If your planning on homeschooling and getting ready for the transition, there is honestly no reason I can think of that you should wait. (Unless your child REALLY REALLY wants to finish out the school year.) Especially if you’re pulling your child because of bullying or because they need extra help their not getting. Go ahead and pull them now. You can start the deschooling approach right away and eliminate the stress of sending your child to public school. Waiting until summer is not always the best answer, summer break is pretty short, you may need extra time to transition.
Transitioning from public school to homeschool is not difficult. In fact, I think you will find it quite simple. Talk with your kids, figure out where they stand and involve them in the process. Give them a good foundation by figure out what areas that truly need extra help in and lay out some ground rules. Homeschooling can be a joyful journey. Enjoy the freedom and the time you have with your children! It will go by so fast!
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