Homeschooling Through the Years
Birth – 3 years old
Welcome to Homeschooling! What an exciting place to be!
The Elementary years have always been my favorite! It’s full of excitement & discovery! There are roughly 3 stages in this age group: the early years, preschool & kindergarten years, and the elementary years. What you want is a gentle progression. In the early years, your main focus is encouraging joy in everyday learning. You are developing a routine & learning your child. This is a great time to read all the wonderful homeschool books & build your own personal tribe. Find a mentor. Find friends. Notice, I did not say buy curriculum. Wait. See what’s out there. Instead, establish a morning basket to start your day. Lots of great books, lots of talking about the world around you, lots of cuddles. Add in lots of creative play which includes blocks, playdoh, moon sand, arts & crafts and nature study. As they become bored with an activity switch it out. Little minds love to learn!
As time goes on and your child grows into a preschooler, you can begin to introduce more learning gently. Number sense, letters & sounds. Around kindergarten, you can introduce curriculum for phonics & math. Continue creative play. Upgrade it as they grow. It’s about time to add in games. Once your child has completed phonics & is reading well. Then you can begin to add in science & history on a regular bases. So much fun! You can do it!
By: Deven Vasko; homeschool mom for 15 yrs; Mobile County, AL
The most popular school of thought on preschool is to keep it primarily play-based. Songs, arts and crafts, outside play, pretend play, the library, and field trips, with very little sit-down work. Many families purchase no curriculum for preschool, and use dollar store books and free printable websites to practice dexterity and “do school” a little throughout the day.
Kindergarten – 3rd grade
Welcome to Homeschooling! What an exciting place to be!
The Elementary years have always been my favorite! It’s full of excitement & discovery! There are roughly 3 stages in this age group: the early years, preschool & kindergarten years, and the elementary years. What you want is a gentle progression. In the early years, your main focus is encouraging joy in everyday learning. You are developing a routine & learning your child. This is a great time to read all the wonderful homeschool books & build your own personal tribe. Find a mentor. Find friends. Notice, I did not say buy curriculum. Wait. See what’s out there. Instead, establish a morning basket to start your day. Lots of great books, lots of talking about the world around you, lots of cuddles. Add in lots of creative play which includes blocks, playdoh, moon sand, arts & crafts and nature study. As they become bored with an activity switch it out. Little minds love to learn!
As time goes on and your child grows into a preschooler, you can begin to introduce more learning gently. Number sense, letters & sounds. Around kindergarten, you can introduce curriculum for phonics & math. Continue creative play. Upgrade it as they grow. It’s about time to add in games. Once your child has completed phonics & is reading well. Then you can begin to add in science & history on a regular bases. So much fun! You can do it!
By: Deven Vasko; homeschool mom for 15 yrs; Mobile County, AL
The most popular school of thought on preschool is to keep it primarily play-based. Songs, arts and crafts, outside play, pretend play, the library, and field trips, with very little sit-down work. Many families purchase no curriculum for preschool, and use dollar store books and free printable websites to practice dexterity and “do school” a little throughout the day.
4th grade – 5th grade
Welcome to Homeschooling! What an exciting place to be!
The Elementary years have always been my favorite! It’s full of excitement & discovery! There are roughly 3 stages in this age group: the early years, preschool & kindergarten years, and the elementary years. What you want is a gentle progression. In the early years, your main focus is encouraging joy in everyday learning. You are developing a routine & learning your child. This is a great time to read all the wonderful homeschool books & build your own personal tribe. Find a mentor. Find friends. Notice, I did not say buy curriculum. Wait. See what’s out there. Instead, establish a morning basket to start your day. Lots of great books, lots of talking about the world around you, lots of cuddles. Add in lots of creative play which includes blocks, playdoh, moon sand, arts & crafts and nature study. As they become bored with an activity switch it out. Little minds love to learn!
As time goes on and your child grows into a preschooler, you can begin to introduce more learning gently. Number sense, letters & sounds. Around kindergarten, you can introduce curriculum for phonics & math. Continue creative play. Upgrade it as they grow. It’s about time to add in games. Once your child has completed phonics & is reading well. Then you can begin to add in science & history on a regular bases. So much fun! You can do it!
By: Deven Vasko; homeschool mom for 15 yrs; Mobile County, AL
The most popular school of thought on preschool is to keep it primarily play-based. Songs, arts and crafts, outside play, pretend play, the library, and field trips, with very little sit-down work. Many families purchase no curriculum for preschool, and use dollar store books and free printable websites to practice dexterity and “do school” a little throughout the day.
6th grade – 8th grade
Did you ever think you’d make it this far!?? Homeschooling your middle schooler! Whew. Seriously, the hardest parts are behind you: Your kids can read and write; they know their basic math skills; they can – hopefully – work self-directed for at least a short time; and you are all in a rhythm. You’ve answered “But what about socialization?” the mandatory 2,864 times and you’ve smiled and nodded at “Oh! I could never homeschool my kiddo!”. I promise that homeschooling actually gets easier from here on out, although it may start looking different. Your elementary-aged student may have enjoyed several field trips a week, play dates, and park days. Your middle schooler, however, is going to need to spend more time “hitting the books”. The time has come to be sure he will be ready to check off those boxes for high school needed for college admission. It’s also time to start developing those skills he will need for college: note-taking, time management, and self-discipline.
There’s no need to make a 180* change in every subject; just pick one or two subjects at first. Math is an excellent choice as it lends itself to independent effort so well.
(1) If your child is not already doing so, have him work alone – without you hovering nearby. No offense meant because I was a Hover-mom until I saw the damage it was doing my daughter. We won’t always be “right there” to pick them up; they have to learn how to “struggle”, how to find the answer on their own, and, yes, how to make and correct mistakes. They need the confidence that comes from working alone – not the immediate validation of you shaking your head “correct” before their pencil leaves the paper.
(2) Use a weekly planner to assign your student’s lessons. Even better, schedule the assignments with your student so that he sees the process of dividing the workload among the school days. I like the weekly planner free to print at The Homeschool Mom. Use one sheet for each subject. So MATH, Monday, week of 4/1 might look something like this:
READ pages 3-5 in your textbook
COMPLETE questions 1-15, Section A, page 4 in your textbook;
FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS COMPLETE questions 5-15, Section B, page 5 in your textbook;
FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
When everything is complete, he is “done” with math for the day. Who doesn’t love checking off items on a “to-do” list?! It’s a great sense of accomplishment!
(3) Check the work and return it the next school day with items to be corrected. You can also make a note “SEE MOM” when it’s time to broach a new topic. They’re still young – so stickers and stamps or a drawn heart from mom still go a long way!
(4) If you aren’t using a traditional textbook, now is the time to start. Again, maybe for just one or two subjects at first; math is, again, a great choice. Your student needs to get familiar with traditional textbook formats: table of contents, sections, section review questions, skills tests, bolded vocabulary words, indexes, glossaries, etc. This is not to say that you can’t – and shouldn’t – still incorporate other resources into your study, like videos, other books, articles, field trips, etc.
(5) Now is also the time to work on your student’s note-taking skills. This skill-building activity is probably easiest with History and Science topics. To begin, you might want to create fill-in-the-blank note-taking activities to accompany videos or reading lessons. It takes time, but you can watch the video or read the book first and type out questions that follow along leaving blanks for your student to fill in. Another way to build this skill is to have your student outline while you are reading together. This gives you the opportunity to say “Hey. That word is in bold so it must be important. What does that word mean? Why is it important to what we’re reading? Do you think you might see that word on a quiz about this subject?”.
(6) It’s time for your students to take tests and quizzes too, if they are not already doing so. You can create a simple quiz for any subject. Your student needs to get used to working through test anxiety and what better and safer way than in your homeschool! Online quizzes are fine but don’t underestimate good, old-fashioned paper and pencil bubble tests. I love helpteaching.com for test creation.
(7) Along with quizzes and tests, it’s time for objective grading. I didn’t give my daughter a grade on anything in her elementary years. My philosophy was: she either mastered it and we moved on OR she needed more time and we kept going over it. There was no “C+” and we moved to the next topic. By middle school, however, your student needs to start seeing grades and you need to start getting used to keeping grades for his high school transcript. Now, there is still only “MASTERY” accepted in my homeschool, but, if she makes an 84 on the quiz, then that grade will stand on the official record even though we will go over it again until she is at 100%.
(8) Middle-school age, especially at the 7th and 8th grade levels, is a good time to get involved in group classes. Your student needs to learn to take direction from another adult; he needs to hear how others present information; he needs to experience a classroom setting with other students. Hopefully, you have some awesome co-ops around you and can participate in a class or two.
(9) For your student’s sixth and seventh-grade years, it is important to ensure your student is ready for high school-level work. Use these middle school years to prepare your student for high school-level classes. Start by checking the graduation requirements for your cover school. If your cover school does not have any requirements, you can use your state’s standards. For Alabama, those standards can be found here. Another helpful resource for helping in the high school years is found at Everest Academy in their High school Handbook.
(10) By eighth grade, your student *can* begin to earn high school credit for high school level work. You can find several articles for more information: HERE and HERE I realize all this is sounding a lot like “school” and, as homeschoolers, that’s probably what you’ve been trying to avoid. PLEASE keep enjoying the blessings that homeschooling affords us, while beginning to incorporate some of the ideas mentioned above. Colleges haven’t changed their ways of doing things and we want our students to be prepared for that setting.
By: Kristin Smith; homeschool mom for over 15 yrs; Madison County, AL
9th grade – 12th grade
Homeschooling high school always seems to scare people the most, when it can really be the best time of your entire homeschool journey. All the basics are out of the way, and you are building on concepts already learned. This is also a time to get to dig into your student’s passions and to start working towards their future goals.
Requirements for homeschooling high school vary by state. In Alabama, you have the freedom to shape exactly the track you and your student want. If your student is heading down a vocational road, you can start looking into vocational “early enrollment” programs at area colleges or internships at local businesses. If your child is college-bound, they can start preparing and even earning credits!
For planning out the year you cant beat the Alabama Homeschooling High School Handbook! Great info and diploma requirement checklist. The state of Alabama DOES NOT have requirements for us, but this is a great outline to help you make your high school plans. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlAk7Pawomzl_Q4K15kre5PACiXnerMm27pI4rU7iFk/edit
If you fall within certain income requirements you are eligible for a FREE ACT. You will need to take a copy of your most recent taxes to a local High School counselor so they can verify (they dont need to make a copy, just make sure you are telling the truth) and they will give you the code to put in.
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/FeeWaiver.pdf
FREE act prep! Start preparing for ACT by 9th grade if you are looking to early/dual enroll. The Alabama Public Library has a fantastic FREE resource for this. Learning Express: College Admissions Test Preparation Prepare for important exams like the ACT®, SAT®, AP® Tests, and more. They have 4 complete, timed, tests to practice on that pop up a score at the end. https://www.learningexpresshub.com/productengine/LELIndex.html#/learningexpresslibrary/libraryhome
Electives come into play in high school as well. You can get creative with these by taking things your child has always wanted to learn and turning them into credits! entrepreneurship, wood shop, environmental conservation, auto mechanics, cooking, sewing, photography, and so much MORE!
Scholarship Sites for after graduation Many of these scholarships are ones you need to be working towards before your senior year. Counselor tip: Look at the ones you want to try for and mark the deadlines on your calendar so you don’t forget. You will have a lot of things going on senior year and this will help you tremendously. https://www.scholarships.com/ https://www.fastweb.com/
Finally GRADUATION! A legally valid church school or private school diploma is recognized by colleges, universities, employers, the military, and more. When it comes to ceremonies there are a couple of options. If you are looking for a bigger ceremony with other graduates, several area church schools and support groups offer ceremonies. Others do simple, in-home, ceremonies for their grads with just close family and friends.
After 12th grade
Many veteran homeschool parents wish they had known more about cost savings much earlier than they did! This is one area where many wish they had had a high school counselor! On this page, we’ll share some tips and tricks we’ve learned in the last few years that hopefully will help you! In upcoming weeks we will add other schools from across the state to the listings of requirements and costs. This is a great place to start gathering information for your high school students to use to plan and compare their options!
When to start ACT prep:
Start preparing for ACT by 9th grade if you are looking to early/dual enroll. The Alabama Public Library has a fantastic FREE resource for this. You do not have to have an AL library card to access this. Learning Express: College Admissions Test Preparation
Prepare for important exams like the ACT®, SAT®, AP® Tests, and more. They have 4 complete, timed, tests to practice on that pop up a score at the end.
https://www.learningexpresshub.com/productengine/LELIndex.html#/learningexpresslibrary/libraryhome
FREE ACT under income:
In some states, you are able to get free ACT codes along with your public school counterparts. Alabama is not yet one of those states. One way to get a FREE ACT code is to fall into certain income brackets. You will need to find a local high school counselor who will verify your income from your previous year’s income taxes. (They don’t need to make a copy or keep them, they just need to verify.) At that point, they will give you a code to enter at checkout. BONUS: This code also includes a 6-month access to a $180 ACT Prep program! You will just add it to your cart at checkout. Here is a link to find those income requirements!
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/FeeWaiver.pdf
Dual enrollment vs. early enrollment:
Different colleges around the state have different terms for the type of Early or Dual Enrollment that they offer. These are terms that may trip you up and even lead to incorrect information when you are calling area colleges about this topic. Sometimes Dual enrollment refers to a program that is tied to the public school system, where college teachers go to the school and teach the kids there, and they receive college credit. Other times church schools can partner with local colleges for a Dual Enrollment program that may even provide free tuition and books for certain qualifying courses of study. When you call the college of interest, make sure you let them know that you are wanting to enroll your students while they are still in high school for college credits. It is very helpful if you make SURE whomever you speak to has successfully put a home school student all the way through the admissions process!
What are these for your transcript?
Early enrollment is when your high schooler takes college credit courses. The colleges aren’t going to “count” these for you as high school credit for you. You CAN use these as on your transcript, which makes them dual enrollment.
What’s in a name?
These programs go by many different names. A very small few will call them dual enrollment. They are also called early enrollment, accelerated programs, and at one, Freshman Academy. So if you are contacting a college not listed here, be sure to specify what you are looking for: classes that your high school-age student can participate in while earning college credits.
Make SURE whoever you speak to has successfully put a home school student all the way through admissions. You do not need to have followed “an accredited curriculum” but they might. Every single one of these schools I spoke to had nothing but good, encouraging things to say about homeschoolers. None even blinked at the idea of them attending, with many having glowing things to say about our communities and kids! Bonus: Scholarship Sites for after graduation
Many of these scholarships are ones you need to be working towards before your senior year. Counselor tip: Look at the ones you want to try for and mark the deadlines on your calendar so you don’t forget. You will have a lot of things going on senior year and this will help you tremendously.
*Tech/Vocational schools are turning out to be a totally different animal. No early enrollment at the three schools I called Fortis, Blue Cliff, and Remington. Also, if this is a path your child is interested in
after graduation start talking to them sooner rather than later. Call and take a tour, and then discuss what you need to have to be able to attend as soon as possible.
Blue Cliff is VERY homeschool friendly. If this us a path your child wants to take I highly recommend this for your homeschooled child. The owners homeschool their children and are very familiar and welcoming to our community!
Contact: Tammy Dunnam in Admissions
