These success tips for new homeschool moms will help you create a successful and fun home education journey for both you and your child.
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The homeschooling journey can be both exciting and challenging.
I started homeschooling my daughter when she was 2.5 years old and had just been diagnosed with Autism.
I didn’t feel comfortable sending her to preschool if she couldn’t tell me what happened while she was away.
My husband and I decided to homeschool using the Mommy and Me Preschool play-based curriculum while also going to play dates 2 times per week.
I’ll be sharing some of the tips and strategies I’ve learned from 3+ years of homeschooling a neurodivergent child.
Whether you’re just starting or you want to improve your homeschooling experience, I think you’ll find these tips insightful.
1. You don’t need a homeschool room or designated area
One common misconception I see is that parents believe they need a homeschool room with posters, a dry-erase board, and other things you would see in a traditional classroom.
We don’t have a homeschool room, we just use the kitchen table.
I’ve learned that you want to keep the homeschooling process as simple as possible so you don’t get burnt out.
I don’t want my child to have a traditional school experience which is another reason we’re homeschooling so we don’t do a lot of things you would see at a traditional school like having a classroom.
You don’t have to create a traditional school experience at home. There are many types of homeschool styles.
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2. Look into the different homeschool styles
When I was researching homeschool teaching styles I was surprised to find so many different approaches.
Here are the most common homeschool teaching styles:
Traditional or School-at-Home
This method mirrors the traditional school environment. It often uses structured textbooks and follows a set curriculum.
Charlotte Mason
Based on the teachings of Charlotte Mason, this method emphasizes “living books” over textbooks, nature studies, journaling, and the importance of cultivating good habits.
Montessori
Developed by Maria Montessori, this method encourages self-directed learning in multi-age groups. It uses tactile learning materials and emphasizes respect for a child’s natural psychological development.
Classical Education (Trivium)
This method divides learning into three stages: the Grammar stage (focusing on facts and basics), the Logic stage (focusing on reasoning), and the Rhetoric stage (focusing on self-expression). It emphasizes literature, history, and critical thinking.
Unit Studies
Rather than studying subjects separately, this approach integrates multiple subjects around a central theme or topic. For instance, studying Ancient Egypt might include history, geography, art, and literature lessons.
Unschooling or Child-led Learning
This method is based on the belief that children learn best when following their interests. Parents provide resources and guidance, but there’s no set curriculum. The learning is driven by the child’s passions and curiosities.
Eclectic or Relaxed Homeschooling
Parents who use this method pick and choose elements from various homeschooling methods to create a custom educational approach for their children.
Roadschooling
This is homeschooling on the move, often while traveling. It incorporates real-life experiences into learning.
Worldschooling
Similar to roadschooling, but with a global focus. Families travel internationally, allowing their children to learn from diverse cultures and environments.
Online or Virtual Schooling
Students use online platforms or virtual schools to complete their coursework. Some programs offer full curricula, while others supplement traditional homeschooling methods.
Waldorf (Steiner Education)
Developed by Rudolf Steiner, this method emphasizes creativity, rhythm, and the integration of art, music, and movement into academic learning. It seeks to educate the whole child – head, heart, and hands.
TJEd (Thomas Jefferson Education)
This method, based on the educational model of many founding fathers of the U.S., divides learning into phases and emphasizes leadership skills, classics, and mentorship.
There are many different ways to homeschool your child. You can choose one style or mix and match. The choice is yours.
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3. Don’t be afraid to mix and match curriculum
When you’re new to homeschooling it can be difficult to find a curriculum that checks all of your boxes.
There are so many options and it can feel like one company has a great language arts curriculum but the math curriculum isn’t that great.
It’s okay to combine different curricula so you can tailor your child’s education.
4. Do one lesson from each subject
We use The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts and Math kindergarten curriculum.
We only do one lesson from Language Arts and one lesson from Math. We do them back to back because that’s what my daughter prefers.
Each lesson is laser-focused on a specific learning outcome so doing more than one lesson from each subject per day isn’t necessary.
Of course, if you want to do multiple lessons daily, it’s your choice, but we’ve been making great progress with the slow and steady approach.
Traditional schooling has to complete a certain amount of lessons in a school year. With homeschooling you can go at your child’s pace.
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5. Check the homeschooling laws in your state
Use the HSLDA website to learn about the homeschool laws and regulations in your state.
It varies from state to state so you want to make sure that you’re compliant with the laws in your state.
In Arkansas, we have to submit a notice of intent so our local school district will know a child won’t be attending school.
But in the neighboring state of Texas, they aren’t required to submit a notice of intent.
Use this homeschooling website to make sure you’re following the law to legally homeschool your child.
Make sure you’re legally homeschooling so you don’t face any trouble with your local law enforcement.
6. You don’t have to join a co-op
My friend paid $1600 for her kids to join a co-op and she only went 3 times.
She said it was like a daycare. The parents were assigned a classroom that was divided by age group.
Her 5-year-old daughter was “the new kid” and didn’t talk to anyone because everyone already had friends.
I didn’t join a co-op because we’ve found that doing activities like gymnastics or going to circle time at the local library is just fine.
Plus I’m in multiple Facebook groups for homeschool families where they post meetups.
Although co-ops can be great, you don’t have to join one.
7. Don’t compare
When I’m scrolling through Facebook I always see parents asking things like “What age did your child start reading” or “My child is 7 which curriculum should I start with”.
Your homeschooling journey is unique and everyone is learning at their own pace (kids and parents).
Many of the curricula have a placement test so you can see where to start your child. Their age doesn’t matter.
When we switched from Mommy and Me Preschool to The Good and The Beautiful, I chose to start with the preschool Language Arts curriculum because I know how important it is to know letter sounds.
I didn’t want to jump into the kindergarten curriculum and have her struggle with reading.
I’ve learned not to focus on whether she’s keeping up with a grade level because I want to make sure she’s learning and not just memorizing.
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8. Establish a homeschool routine
We struggled with homeschooling in the beginning because we didn’t have a set routine (not a schedule).
Let me clarify the difference between a routine and a schedule.
A schedule is time-based meaning you would homeschool at the same time each day.
A routine is task-based. We typically homeschool in the morning when I finish working out.
Sometimes that’s 9 am and sometimes it’s 10 am. But our day has a predictable flow that isn’t based on the clock.
Decide when you’re going to homeschool whether it’s at a certain time (example: 3 pm) or after a certain task (example: when your baby takes a nap).
When you have a simple routine, everyone knows what to expect and homeschooling naturally fits into your day.
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9. Stay organized
Each subject may have multiple books and accompanying resources.
If you’re unorganized you can easily feel overwhelmed.
I like to use a cart to keep all of our homeschooling supplies organized.
Things I have on our homeschool cart include:
- Curriculum
- Colored pencils
- Crayons
- Scissors
- Glue
- Construction paper
- Paint
- Paint brushes
These are items we use frequently so I like to keep them handy.
Being organized will make homeschooling less stressful.
10. Adapt your teaching style to fit your child
One thing I didn’t pay attention to was that people learn in different ways.
Here are the 4 different types of learning styles.
- Visual Learners: Learn best through images, diagrams, and spatial understanding.
- Auditory Learners: Prefer information delivered through sound and are effective listeners. They may benefit from lectures, discussions, or recordings.
- Kinesthetic/Tactile Learners: Learn by doing, engaging in physical activities, or using hands-on approaches. They benefit from hands-on experiences.
- Reading/Writing Learners: Thrive on written words, whether in books, articles or through note-taking. They often prefer reading and writing as primary learning methods.
Your child may exhibit a combination of these learning styles and their learning preferences can evolve over time.
Being able to adapt and stay flexible with your learning approach can improve overall comprehension and retention.
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11. You don’t have to copy the traditional school schedule
Whenever you’re getting started you may be like me and put too much pressure on yourself to homeschool 5 days a week like traditional schooling.
I had to remember that my daughter is always learning even when we’re not using a curriculum.
Sometimes we’ll only homeschool 2 days and other weeks we may homeschool 6 times.
We keep our schedule very flexible so I don’t have to force my child to homeschool and then she ends up hating it.
We also don’t take a summer break. We homeschool year-round so she doesn’t forget what she’s learned.
12. Emphasize life skills
One thing I think is severely lacking in traditional schools is the importance of teaching life skills.
I still know the Pythagorean theorem but I had no idea about paycheck budgeting, sinking funds, or investing.
I understand that parents are responsible for teaching kids these things as well, but we learned so many useless things in school that could be replaced by more helpful things like emotional intelligence.
3 life skills we focus on are:
- Cooking and cleaning: We teach our kids how to do chores as soon as they can walk. At that age they’re excited to help so we give them the opportunity to help as much as possible.
- Emotional Intelligence: We focus on teaching our kids how to react when they’re in difficult situations. We teach them that it’s not okay to hit someone just because you’re upset and we provide them with the skills to calm themselves down.
- Financial literacy: We involve our kids in our budgeting process so they will know what to expect. We don’t panic about our finances or scare them, we keep the conversation very matter-of-fact.
We’ll continue to teach important life skills such as homemaking, financial literacy, and emotional intelligence.
13. Get feedback from your child and work together
I’ve learned that it’s very important to include your child in the homeschooling process.
I want my kids to love learning and I never want them to feel like it’s something that’s being forced on them.
In the world we live in it’s important to continue to learn new skills especially if you don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck.
As an adult, I’ve learned new high-income skills like sales funnels, social media marketing, and online course creation.
When my daughter was going through a phase where she didn’t want to homeschool, we figured out a way to make it more fun.
Sometimes we even skip a week or two so she can take a break.
The homeschooling process is much easier when it doesn’t feel like a struggle.
Talk to your kids and see what they would like their homeschooling journey to look like.
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Quick recap…
Homeschooling can be as easy or as hard as you make it.
I choose to make things easier for myself and my kids.
It’s important to be flexible and adaptable so you can evolve as your child gets older.
Grab the Homeschool Starter Bundle with more strategies that include organization tips and mistakes to avoid.
