{"id":70,"date":"2004-05-10T07:56:00","date_gmt":"2004-05-10T13:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/me-and-my-house.org\/blog-led\/2004\/05\/10\/off-to-a-home-ed-start-part-1\/"},"modified":"2013-03-27T20:59:01","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T02:59:01","slug":"off-to-a-home-ed-start-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/off-to-a-home-ed-start-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to a Home Ed Start – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of what the articles on this site contain is learning how to give our children a\u00a0“Lifestyle Education through Discipleship” – how to home educate in\u00a0this specific way, which is very “non-conforming” to the ways of\u00a0institutionalized, government education. But many times I get asked a\u00a0<\/em><\/em>much more basic question, where to start home education AT ALL!<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Most of you on this list are probably already home educating your
\nchildren, and are not asking this particular question anymore. Some of
\nyou aren’t yet, and are just “looking into it,” desperately seeking
\nanswers to this question. Those that are already home educating
\nprobably get asked the questions these next few posts will cover.
\nRather than saying, “Call Mrs. Z, our support group leader,” perhaps
\nyou can glean from these posts and pass the info on.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\nSo you are interested in homeschooling your child? More than likely
\nyou have asked, or want to ask, if you could just find someone to ask,
\n“How do I homeschool?” Let me tell you, that’s an impossible question
\nto answer, without asking you many, many questions in return. It is
\nalso not a question that can be answered in 5 minutes, or an hour, or
\neven in an all day seminar or lengthy article.<\/p>\n

But let me use this article to attempt to point you toward some
\ndirection that may help you BEGIN to answer that question. Actually
\nonly YOU can answer that question for yourself\/ your family – but not
\nuntil you answer many other questions. Perhaps your question is better
\nrephrased, “How or where to I begin to learn about homeschooling?”<\/p>\n

There are 3 main things you are probably asking with the question, “How
\ndo I start homeschooling?” They are: “What does my state require?”
\n“Where do I get my curriculum?” “What else do I need to know to get
\nstarted?” Some parents may not even include the last question, but I
\nconsider it the most important and by far the most extensive. In fact,
\nI consider the order of these 3 to be in the opposite order as I’ve
\nlisted them above. I can give you a quick answer to finding your
\nstate’s legal “requirements”. I can give you a list of websites or
\naddresses of curriculum providers, but it would be FAR from exhaustive.
\n(Actually, I will only give you a few for each of a few different types
\nof curricula.) There are many thousands, I’m sure. It is an area that
\nhas virtually exploded in the last 10 years or so. But to know which
\nof these thousands to choose from, that will be the right choice for
\nyour family, will take careful exploration, time, research and prayer
\nto answer the last question in the above list.
\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

#1) Again, I do not consider this to be the most important, nor the
\nfirst thing you need to know about home education, but it’s the one
\nmost people want the answer to first. “What does my state require?”
\nPeople are so used to the government or other “experts” telling them
\nwhat they “need” or “have” to do, that they immediately want to know
\nwhat the state says they have to do. This is the first misconception
\nmany have, and they feel more obligation to what the state “requires”
\nfor education than what God does. The truth is God gave your children
\nto YOU, not the state to raise and educate. The state has no valid
\nauthority in education. But since this is an easy enough question to
\nanswer, and probably the first you thought of, I will answer it first.<\/p>\n

a) WHERE TO FIND OUT THE HOMESCHOOL LAW FOR ANY STATE –
\nHome School Legal Defense Association – http:\/\/hslda.org\/ is a great
\norganization for home educating parents to join, and has information on
\neach state’s home school laws on their website. Go to this page, and
\nclick on your state. http:\/\/www.hslda.org\/hs\/state\/default.asp<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

b) WHERE TO GET INFORMATION AND THE NECESSARY FORMS FOR NEBRASKA –
\nFor more info on home education in NE, go to the Nebraska Christian
\nHome Educators Association (our state homeschool organization) website:
\n http:\/\/nchea.org\/ <\/span><\/a><\/span>There is a link to the Nebraska Department of
\nEducation website where you can print out the law and the forms.<\/p>\n

c) BASIC OVERVIEW OF NE HOMESCHOOL LAW – in layman’s terms – IOW, you need to read over the actual law before you file, but these are the
\nbasics of what you need to do. Home School Legal Defense Association
\ngives a “legal analysis” at their website.
\n http:\/\/me-and-my-house\/led-nelaw.htm<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

_____________________________<\/p>\n

#2) Where do I get my curriculum?
\nA second, major general misconception, of those new to home education
\nis that there is some set standard of books to use, information that
\nneeds to be learned, etc. But there is no such thing. God has
\ncertainly not ordained that every child of age X must learn Y material
\nor they will be “behind”. And neither is there a set governmental
\nstandard, though some are pushing for such. Each district has its own
\nset of “requirements” and texts and (or not) – but that’s another issue.<\/p>\n

But it leads to the answer to this question. It could be any
\none of thousands of places. There are other questions YOU need to
\nanswer before YOU answer this one. Here are some popular answers as to
\nthe TYPES of resources you can use, that may or may not work for you.
\nI only know of resources for Christian textbook\/workbook curricula, for
\nnon-Christian resources you will have to do your own research. See
\nquestion #3 for help in deciding which of these types of curriculum is
\nright for your family.<\/p>\n

a) TEXTBOOKS\/ WORKBOOKS
\nThese are probably the types of curricula you are most familiar with,
\nmore than likely even the ONLY type you know of. They are the type
\nused in government and most private schools. One text or set of
\nworkbooks for each grade level in each subject. If you plan to return
\nyour child to the “system” very soon, and if it is very important to you
\nthat your child follow the lock-step regimen of a government type of
\neducation, and you want to continue teaching your child in the ways and
\nmethods used by those institutions whether it is the best way for your
\nchild to learn or not, you probably need to look no further than this
\ncategory.<\/p>\n

Can you tell I don’t think much of this approach? Although I can’t
\ndeny that there can be some good information in these Christian texts,
\nI do not believe this method is the best way for children to learn or
\nparents to teach. I have many reasons that I haven’t the time or space
\nto go into here. But a primary one is this is not a family-friendly
\nway to fulfill our God-given responsibility to “train up our children”
\nin the “education and admonition of the Lord.” But for those of you
\nthat prefer to stay on this same path, here are some of the most
\npopular. These all come from a conservative Christian viewpoint.<\/p>\n

ABeka – http:\/\/abeka.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/span> – Christian grade-level, subject specific
\ntextbooks. Even has an Academy, DVD program where your child would be
\nenrolled in their school, and they would receive teaching via DVDs, and
\nthe academy would keep records and issue grades.<\/p>\n

Bob Jones – http:\/\/www.bjup.com<\/span><\/a><\/span> – another Christian grade-level,
\nsubject specific textbook curricula. Bob Jones also has a “satellite”
\nprogram for distance learning in a “nationwide classroom.”<\/p>\n

Alpha Omega – http:\/\/aop.com<\/span><\/a><\/span> – this company uses “LifePac” worktexts
\ninstead of textbooks. There are generally 10 LifePac workbooks per
\nsubject, per grade-level. Alpha Omega also now carries other
\ncurricula, Switched on Schoolhouse, which is computer-based instead of
\ntextbooks, and Weaver, which is a Unit Study curriculum covered in part
\n2.<\/p>\n

These are 3 of the most popular. There are many, many more.<\/p>\n

b) REAL BOOKS – Here I am using this term a little more loosely than I
\nuse it in describing L.E.D.’s 4 Real Resources. Here I am using it in
\nthe context of, as opposed to textbooks. There are 2 (or more) very
\ndifferent categories of “real books” users. Using “real books” can be
\na more loosely structured type of curricula, or VERY structured,
\nsometimes more rigorous than a textbook approach. There are MANY, MANY
\nvariations of using “real books” for your curriculum. This can be as
\nunstructured as just checking out library books on any topic you are
\ninterested in or as structured as following a “Classical Curriculum”
\nbased on great classical literature. I will define some of the
\ndifferences in the philosophies or “approaches” (thoughts and ideas of
\nwhat education should be and what methods should be used) that
\ndetermine which way “real books” are used, when I answer the next
\nquestion. Also, I cannot give you specifics on “where” to get the
\nactual plans for using these books (which is all a “curriculum”
\nactually is – your plan for teaching) – until I answer question #3.
\nFor now I’ll give you a few ideas of the VAST AMOUNT OF PLACES where to
\nfind various types of “real books”.<\/p>\n

libraries – your local public library, university library, interlibrary
\nloan, church library, “friends’ library” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

bookstores – general bookstores, Christian bookstores, “educational”
\nbookstores (though not as many “real books” at these), used bookstores, online bookstores – check out the Resources and Recommendations<\/span><\/a><\/span> on our website, for ordering through CBD at great discounts.<\/p>\n

online – the text for many books, especially older “classics” can be
\nfound online. Also much general information about nearly any topic can
\nbe found there.<\/p>\n

We don’t generally recommend, this newest type of “curriculum” – the
\nInternet Hodge-Podge. Granted, there is much information available on
\nthe “information highway”, but indiscriminately forming a curriculum
\nbased on whatever you can find on the web will not give your child a
\ncomprehensive nor cohesive education, just a “hodge-podge” of unrelated
\ninformation. There are many different worldviews, biases, and ideas
\nabout education out there. If you utilize “free” curriculum from any
\nwebsite you can find with information on the topic, your child will
\nreceive a very confusing education. That said, there is much very good
\ninformation on the “net”. But you must use much discernment and
\ndiscretion in choosing “what” to use, and do much research to find what
\nis worthy.<\/p>\n

Part 2<\/a> will answer our 3rd question – and give you an idea of the
\ndifferent “methods” of home education, that will determine the types of
\nresources you will use (and the specific places you can find them).
\nWell, I’ll give you a very brief start on it anyhow.<\/p>\n

For more detailed information on the types of curriculum and methods of
\nteaching, and just plain differing ideas (philosophies) of home
\neducating, order our workshop audio, “Introduction to L.E.D.<\/span><\/a><\/span>”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much of what the articles on this site contain is learning how to give our children a\u00a0“Lifestyle Education through Discipleship” – how to home educate in\u00a0this specific way, which is very “non-conforming” to the ways of\u00a0institutionalized, government education. But many times I get asked a\u00a0much more basic question, where to \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[204],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc-education","tag-starting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1848,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/1848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frommeandmyhouse.com\/blog-led\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}