Ask Jeanne: Answers to Your Homeschool Questions
Jeanne Potts Faulconer answers your homeschool questions in this ongoing series from TheHomeSchoolMom. A popular speaker at homeschooling conferences, business groups, and parents’ groups, Jeanne has homeschooled her three sons in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Virginia. She is a former college faculty member, former editor and book reviewer for Home Education Magazine, a long-time editor for VaHomeschoolers Voice, and a recent news correspondent for WCVE, an NPR-member station.
Jeanne teaches writing and literature for her youngest son’s homeschool co-op, and she is a student of how learning works – at home, in the music room, in small groups, in the college ...
Benefits of Homeschooling
The many benefits of homeschooling mean more kids and teens than ever are learning at home. Families want the advantages of homeschooling, with the flexibility, academic benefits, efficiency, and opportunities homeschooling can offer. They seek an education and even a lifestyle that's not based on minimum standards and a one-size-fits-all approach.
Charlotte Mason Method
Charlotte Mason was a 19th century educator who believed "the souls of all children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living." Some of the characteristics of a Charlotte Mason education are using living books, keeping a nature journal, and introducing music, art, poetry, and great literature among other resources.
Classical Homeschooling
Classical homeschooling involves teaching based on the three stages of learning: the Grammar stage, the Logic stage, and the Rhetoric stage. The Grammar stage involves learning facts, memorization, and knowledge gathering. The Logic stage is when reasoning and logic begin to be applied to the knowledge. The Rhetoric stage completes the Trivium and is when the student learns the skills of wisdom and judgment.
Contests for Homeschoolers
Academic contests can be powerful outside evidence of student accomplishments and learning. Remember that most contests run on the academic year with registration in the fall and winners announced in the early spring. If you find that there are no current contests when you check, please check back in the fall for the new deadlines.
Eclectic Homeschooling
If you find yourself combining several of the homeschool methods you are probably an eclectic homeschooler. Eclectics tend to gather what works for them from multiple styles of homeschooling and leave what doesn't fit with their family. Unlike a Classical Education, Charlotte Mason homeschooling, or the Moore Formula, eclectic homeschooling is not a style itself but a combination of styles that work for an individual family.
General Lesson Resources
Sites helpful for finding lesson plans and answers for a variety of subjects
Gifted Education Resources
Raising Poppies Facebook Group
"Parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children often feel isolated, alone, and like others just don't get them or their kids. We do. We get it. And we're right there in the trenches with you, raising our own poppies, hoping we're getting it right. This is the group you've always needed. Grab a cup of coffee, some chocolate, and bring your questions, concerns, and successes -- bragging about your kids is encouraged. We can't guarantee that others will ever 'get' what it's like to raise a kiddo like yours, but we can guarantee that you'll find support and ...
Going from Homeschool to College: What You Need to Know
Homeschool graduates can and do go to college—all the time. Homeschooled teens who are prepared for college-level work and who can submit strong applications are often admitted to multiple colleges, just like their public school friends and peers.
That said, homeschooling parents and their teens benefit from learning more about the college admissions process and the best practices they should follow as they prepare for higher education and submit their applications. There is no official guidance counselor in every homeschool family, so parents take on that responsibility and need to stay on top of what is expected of prospective college students.
While ...
Helpful Homeschooling Websites
Over the years homeschooling websites have come and gone. These are some of the best that we have found -- not all of them have fancy designs, but the resources are excellent and encouraging.
High School Course Planner
Tracking all courses taken for high school credit helps eliminate surprises before graduation. Our simple high school course planner is a spreadsheet used to track courses taken for credit from 8th through 12th grades.
Although not printer-friendly (it is wide), the High School Course Planner is designed to keep up with course selections and credits over the period of 8th - 12th grade for a single student. Each grade has columns for the course selected (& the provider), the cost of the course, the number of credits, and the final grade.
If you wish to duplicate the spreadsheet in a new tab, ...
Homeschool Discounts {Updated}
Below is a list of some companies that offer discounts and/or educator appreciation receptions for homeschoolers. I have linked to the website if one exists, but that does not necessarily mean that the discount is honored online. Most of the sites have a store locator where you can find a brick and mortar store near you.
Homeschool Discount Programs
Apple Computers - The full line of educational products are available to homeschoolers who meet their state's requirements for legally homeschooling.
Adobe software up to 75% off for students, teachers, and schools
Microsoft software - up to 75% off for students, teachers, and schools
Office ...
Homeschool Teacher Resources
If you are looking for homeschool resources that will help you plan your year, implement new learning strategies, or just want to read encouraging articles by homeschool moms like you this is the place to browse. Below you will see links to topics that will give you ideas and information resources for your school. Although lesson plans for specific topics are located in the Help by Topic area, the links below will offer some general information sites where you can look up your own subjects or find answers to topical questions related to your teaching.
Homeschool to Military
Information for homeschoolers considering entering one of the military academies or a branch of service
Homeschooling a Child on the Autistic Spectrum
Many parents have found that homeschooling their autistic child is rewarding and productive. If you decide to bring your child home, here are some resources that can help.
Homeschooling FAQ
Answers to questions frequently asked homeschooling questions
Homeschooling Freebies
Animal Learn.org  (Y,M,O,T)
Animals, Ethics, and Education
The Science Bank  (Y,M,O,T)
Alternative to animal use in education
Science Museum Travel Passport Program   (T)
As a member of a science center or museum participating in the ASTC Travel Passport Program, you are eligible for benefits such as free general admission when you travel outside of your local area.
The Basic Cozy Spelling Course  (M)
This free, thirty lesson spelling course has been made available courtesy of Marie Rackham, author and producer of The Basic Cozy Grammar Course and several other language arts courses. The curriculum for the free spelling course was personally used by Marie in the public school system at the ...
Homeschooling on a Budget
Homeschooling does not have to break your budget! The range of families who homeschool varies from the wealthy movie stars to low-income families that must be careful with every dime. Keep in mind that although you may be spending money to homeschool, you will save money by not having your child in a public or private school.
Homeschooling: A Guide for Parents
As a growing number of families choose to homeschool their children, curiosity about the homeschooling movement has grown.
Learn about homeschooling, including how homeschooling works, what the requirements to homeschool are, how to start homeschooling, what curriculum to use for homeschooling, how to make a homeschool schedule, and more.
Get started right now with our Quickstart Guide to Homeschooling.
Homeschooling is an education option in which parents direct their children's education rather than enrolling them full-time in a public school or private school. Homeschooling parents take charge of their children's education through learning at home, joining co-ops, hiring tutors, participating in academic ...
How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum
Choosing curriculum is important to new and prospective homeschooling parents, as well as those who want to improve homeschooling or adjust to a new phase, such as kids starting high school. Many parents start with the question, "What's the best homeschool curriculum?" A more productive question is, "What homeschool curriculum is the best fit?"
How to Homeschool
Although the idea of homeschooling can be overwhelming, know that you can do it. Learning takes place all the time, and just as your child learned to walk and talk with you as their teacher, they can continue to learn at home in a relaxed, loving environment. Homeschooling is not public school at home. As Rebecca Capuano says in her post about the differences between public school and home education, "It is a completely different way of thinking about education, and a completely different way of approaching education. It is teaching tailored specifically to individual children rather than according to ...
How to Homeschool High School
Even parents who have homeschooled for many years sometimes question homeschooling high school. Many are surprised to find that homeschooling high school is often even easier than the younger grades. Students are more mature, often have better study habits, and take more responsibility for their own learning.
Lapbooks
Lapbooks are paper manipulatives using file folders in which the student stores creative summaries of their work. The concept is similar to notebooking and some notebooking resources can be used in lapbooks, but the concepts do differ. Lapbooks are more than just notebooks with collections of worksheets, they are diagrams, minute books, and other paper manipulatives customized to emphasize the subject of the lapbook.
Moore Formula
Raymond and Dorothy Moore are often called the grandparents of the homeschool movement, and their foundation has provided support and guidance for parents for many years. The Moores are best known for their theory that formal school is better started later than early, with very little or no formal schooling taking place before age 8.
That does not mean that children are left to their own devices during the early years; instead, they focus on service as well as playing. Chores within the home and volunteering with their parents outside of the home are emphasized in the Moore Formula, which says:
...
Textbooks
Many new homeschoolers feel most comfortable replicating school at home. The use of textbooks is most common the first year or two of homeschooling while the parent builds their confidence. Many homeschoolers continue to find the textbook method works for their family while others may continue to use textbooks for some subjects and branch into unit studies or relaxed learning for other subjects.
Timelines in the Homeschool
Timelines offer students the ability to visually process overlapping and chronological events in history, relating them in a way that is more difficult to perceive through reading. Timelines in the homeschool are a valuable tool to relate subjects together and view historical events as interrelated.
Unit Studies
Unit studies are a popular homeschooling method because they can be hands-on, literature-based, or even geared towards the Charlotte Mason method. Unit Studies typically encompass all of the scholastic subjects through the study of one topic (Weaver units or KONOS character units, for example), although they can be specific to a specific subject (like Evan-Moor science units or Teacher Created Materials units). Since it is easier to teach different ages the same topics with multi-level unit studies, they are popular among homeschoolers wanting to keep all of their children on similar topics at the same time.
Unschooling
The range of homeschoolers claiming the unschool label vary from "radical unschoolers" who disdain any form of curricula or textbooks to those who prefer child-led learning but might also be called eclectic. All homeschooling was originally called unschooling by John Holt, one of the pioneers of the movement. Gradually the term has come to mean those who use no formal curricula but make liberal use of the learning opportunities that present themselves in daily life. Without outside intervention in the form of forced teaching, learning naturally happens. Unschoolers attempt to provide the best environment to allow that natural learning to ...
Waldorf Homeschooling
Learn more about this holistic liberal arts education method where subjects are not separated from one another, and education covers body, mind, and spirit.
