Hello friends, I have been having so many awesome chats in my messages lately with people who are inquiring about homeschool, deciding to homeschool, or just looking for advice and encouragement as they homeschool. With so many people looking to join this growing homeschool movement, I thought it might be a good idea to have one post answering your most asked questions!
I love chatting homeschool! It is a topic I have become very passionate about. For me, it was a natural transition to being passionate about classroom teaching to being passionate about home education. Really they both boil down to my true passion, which is kids! I desire to see a positive educational experience for all. This space is used to advocate for and encourage homeschoolers since there are so many negative stereotypes surrounding this education choice.
I hope you find what you need here and if not, shoot me an email or message me on Instagram!
Answering Your Most Asked Questions
Without further adieu, let’s get on with answering those most asked homeschool questions!
Did you always know you wanted to homeschool? what made you decide to homeschool?
These are 2 different questions but I’m just grouping them together for the sake of simplicity.
No, I did not know I always wanted to homeschool. I dreamed as a little girl of being a teacher. I have a Bachelor in Education and I loved my teaching job. Truth be told, I was a believer in all those homeschool myths and stereotypes out there! Homeschooling wasn’t something even on my radar as an option for us until the summer before my oldest was to start homeschool.
Our reasons for homeschooling have changed so much over the years, but to answer this question on why I decided to homeschool, I would say it was two-fold. The first reason we even thought of it was just not being ready to send out first daughter off to school all day. We so enjoyed having her around and really enjoyed her playing with her sister.
Secondly, where we were living at the time, the teachers had to deal more with the physical and emotional needs of the students before they could deal with the academic. My first daughter is quite academic and was already beginning to read before kindergarten and I know that she was going to be way ahead.
Oh and I guess there is a third main reason! We were going to be moving in November of that year! She gets so attached to people we didn’t want her to form these tight relationships at school only to move 2 months later.
How much time does homeschool take in a day?
This is one of the most asked questions! It is also one of the ones that is highly criticized by people who don’t fully understand the homeschool world, or even the public school world! However there is not necessarily one set answer. Part of the beauty of homeschool is structing your days how you see fit! As well, different children work at a different pace; some more self-motivated than others. But I can offer some loose guidelines.
K-2 can be done in 1 hour a day.
(Maybe even less for your littlest). Kids at this age really benefit the most from connection and playing. Keep any formal lessons short. If you condensed what they do in a public school to look at just the formal, core lessons, it wouldn’t be much more than that. Especially when you factor in the interruptions and working at the pace of all the kids.
Grades 3-6 can be done in 1- 2 hours per day.
Math and Language Arts are the focus at this age. Attention spans are still small and play needs are so important. So much can be learned through read alouds as well, which is a good way to hit History at this age! The range between grade 3 and grade 6 is quite large. Your grade 3 student is going be around the 1 hour mark of structured work with your grade 6 student getting closer to the 2 hour mark. (As a reminder, these are guidelines. There isn’t a right or a wrong way)
In these grades in school, there is still a large focus on Math and Language Arts. And if you think about the hours spent in school but consider art, music, PE, recesses, lunch, fun activity times, computer time, free time, time waiting for classmates, etc…it isn’t much different really. Also remember, a student can often learn a concept much quicker at home with one on on teaching as opposed to in the classroom.
Grades 7-9 will take about 90 minutes to 3 hours per day.
This will vary widely depending on your style of homeschooling and long term goals. If your child has academic post secondary goals, they may want to incorporate a more rigorous approach to History or Science (or both) during these years. Also as concepts in Math and LA get harder, they do take more time. As well as longer writing assignments which take more time to do, it is natural that schoolwork takes longer at this age.
This amount of time still leaves them ample time to pursue their own interests, enjoy family time and maybe even play!
Grades 10-12 can take anywhere from 2-4 hours per day.
Again, this is a wide range of time and will vary greatly from student to student. By this time, your child will be making some decisions regarding their future and they may be ready to streamline their education. They may be looking for a rigorous load in one area. Or they may already know they are not pursuing post secondary education and continue with a gentle feast in a variety of subjects.
By this time, most students will work fully independently and be self – motivated. Some will accomplish their tasks swiftly and others will take breaks and be distracted. It is wise to have more than LA and Math available during these years, but you don’t need to stick to what public schools offer. You could consider entrepreneurship, consumer math, website building, graphic design, an internship with a local business of choice, or anything else you can think of.
Some students during these years also decide to dual-enroll and take some college courses.
Hopefully this is better than clear as mud! Please remember these are just guidelines! Every homeschool is different and the best choices for you are what works best for your family! I only hope to alleviate the “am I doing enough” stress with these guidelines.
What curriculum should I use?
This is really too open ended of a question to answer here in a blog post. Yet, this is one of my most frequently had conversations with new homeschoolers. Before I offer curriculum suggestions, I like to get to know your family vibe and goals as well as what your kids are interested in.
I do offer 1 hour homeschool consulting sessions where we can trouble shoot issues or discuss curriculum. Sign up for that on my website.
I will say, however, that it can take some trial and error. Sometimes you don’t know what you like until you find out what you don’t like. If you are new, I always recommend starting with just LA and Math and going from there. Don’t spend too much money until you get a feel for your style.
For instance, do you want to teach the material or have an online instructor teach? Do you want your students working together as a family or independently? Is your preference a faith based curriculum or secular? Do you prefer gentle or rigorous or somewhere in between?
These are just a few of the things we will discuss when we chat about curriculum.
What curriculum do you use?
Homeschoolers are always interested in what each other are using! I think we always wonder if there is something better out there that we don’t know about yet. Just be careful not to fall into the trap of constantly looking for something new when what you have already is working.
I will share what we are currently using, but it is subject to change.
For my grade 5 daughter we use Math With Confidence, The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts, Writing with Ease and Essentials in Writing. (not all at once).
With my daughter in grade 7 we use Horizons math and The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts as well as chapter books assigned by me.
We still do quite a bit of group work as well. Some things we have used this year (or recently) are First Language Lessons, Mystery of History, Generations Taking Asia for Jesus, my own North America unit, 30 days of copying the Psalms, typing.com, Canadian Government from Gather Round, Form Fitness online, Horizons Health, The Good and the Beautiful Science (done at our co-op), Gather Round Chemistry and Human Body units, Answers in Genesis Bible curriculum, and a wide variety of read aloud novels which I then often expand on in their notebooks.
Will you homeschool through high school?
In the words of one of my favourite Bible teachers, Phylicia Masonheimer, “I don’t plan for seasons I’m not in”.
“I don’t plan for seasons I’m not in”. – Phylicia Masonheimer
Do I have plans to put anyone in school right now? No.
Do I know that plans can change and life circumstances can change at any time? Yes.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility but it’s not something I’m currently planning on doing. It is always an open conversation with my oldest daughter though and if she expressed a desire to go to school, we would very strongly consider her wishes.
What about socialization?
People who are actually curious about homeschooling don’t usually word it this way, but we’ve all heard a question like this at some time or another.
Short answer, I have zero concern.
Long answer, we are far busier than I even want to be most of the time. Again, this isn’t your gramma’s homeschool! There is a large amount of families homeschooling now so it isn’t difficult to find group activities to participate in. Also, there are things like sports and church programs – both of which my kids are actively involved in.
If you think about public school “socialization”, kids are in the same room mostly all day with the group of students selected for them. Only at recess do they see kids outside of their class and still usually in their age range. Yet this is heralded as the gold standard for socialization.
On the other hand, homeschool kids spend time with adults, kids their age, and kids a variety of ages. Some spend time with grandparents. There are homeschooling groups with ages that range from baby to high schooler. (Our co-op has kids from newborn to age 15). I actually think that homeschoolers have a wider socialization and I don’t spend any brain power on worrying about it!
Final Thoughts
I could write page after page answering your most asked homeschool questions, but I think I will save more for another day! My aim is never want to overwhelm anyone or give them too much information at one time. Remember, I am always available by email (fromkristinhomeschool@gmail.com) or in my social media DMs if you have further questions!
I am so glad you are here and wish you the best in your homeschool journey!
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