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• Ready? Set? Go! - How to start in home education
• Advantages of Starting Before the End of the School Year
• Getting Started in Home Education - below

Introduction

As Christians, we are about the serious business of raising a Godly generation of people for Godly purposes, and it is becoming more important than ever that we begin on the basis of a sure foundation in God's Word.

Terminology can sometimes be a barrier here, but we have retained the terms "homeschooling" and "home training" because of their broad acceptance, whereas we would normally be more particular and use an expression such as "home training" to reflect the aspects of Godly character which are more significant and which go beyond academic educational subjects. Our fundamental approach is to consider our children as special gifts of God, and to ensure that we apprentice them to ourselves in what we do so that they learn from us in all things.

From the outset, I want to emphasize to parents that you need to be clear about why you are homeschooling. Husband and wife, you need to be united in heart and mind, as you lead your family in the paths of righteousness. This paper obviously presumes that both parents are Christian, that fathers are leading by submissive sacrificial love, and that mothers are obediently submissive to their husbands.

But even if this ideal is not possible, I want to encourage the Godly parent (mother or father) to seek the Lord and understand the difference between "homeschooling as a preference" and raising children in Godliness because of a deeply held conviction born of the spirit of God and resolutely planted in your hearts.

The Great Adventure

These notes cover different points from those on the "Ready, Set, Go!" page which concentrates on background issues and significant fundamentals.

For now, we will focus on some practical points.

Firstly, you will have a different approach depending on the age range of your children, distinguishing between:

• children who are under the "official school age" and therefore have never been to a formal school and
• children who have been at school for long enough (say more than a year or so), for peer-group influences to be a significant factor

1. Starting Beginners

Here you will need only to continue in similar vein with preschool and kinder concepts, laying foundations, building basic pre-academic skills: reading, numbers, shapes and colours for instance. Some factors to consider:

• avoid excessive bookwork
• read aloud as much as possible
• capitalize on a young child's ability to soak up vast quantities of information and to remember (with revision)
• apprentice them to yourself in everything (learning by doing)
• encourage Scripture reading and memorization NB: you can always teach the basics of the faith orally
• expect greater things from them than you think they can do and let them surprise you with their capabilities
• enjoy them!

2. Avoiding "school at home"

The key point is that we are teaching an individual, not a mythical average. Watch your children's eyes to see if they:

1. understand what you are saying (so that it's time to move on)
2. have had enough for today and have not really grasped the subject or
3. are "nearly there" (so it's worth continuing for a little longer)

3. Avoid thinking in terms of age-levels

4. Avoid thinking school hours.

Starting after some schooling

But remember that you are also subject to peer pressures.

1. You don't have to listen to people who imply that there is only one way to home educate - you are allowed to be different to them! We all have different needs, limitations, hopes, abilities, budgets, etc.

2. Read as widely as possible - get lots of viewpoints. You will find that your thinking changes from "How will I fill the time?" to "How can I fit in all that I would like to teach?"

3. Choose a few areas and begin somewhere - don't commit yourself too far ahead (especially in money). You have lots to learn about your best hours, your students' best hours, your teaching and learning styles, how the family will interact in these new circumstances etc. Also, you can change, as can your family's needs. Be prepared to learn.

4. It's a big responsibility - like cooking! Don't forget to be gentle on yourself:

• you are not overwhelmed when you survey the supermarket shelves loaded with food
• you don't feel guilty about past mistakes in nutrition; you simply change what you're doing
• you plan ahead but you don't necessarily worry about their health at age 20

5. Keep notes/records of what you've seen and tried. It will make sense after a while! Also keep notes of what you have looked at and put aside - especially note why you decided no, and be prepared to look at it again if the reason changes or becomes irrelevant.

6. Be careful of trying home education with one child (the one who "needs it") and staying with school education for the other children. It may work but it can also be a fast way to burnout - you are trying to cope with two incompatible approaches to education. Most often, the conflict between the two results in personal stress manifesting in you as parents.

Starting mid-term

• You get a chance to try routines and to test knowledge for a manageable length of time - discover any problems (e.g. work attitudes) and think them through during the next break.

• Your child gets to feel what it is like - no long weeks of holidays to wonder, worry, and/or mix up being home (holidays) with homeschooling (not holidays).

• The negatives that caused you to look into home education will loom larger as each day goes by, and it will become harder and harder to send your child/ren off each morning to endure them.

• Most people worry that the school would have completed subjects to some logical point by the end of the year, and that losing those last few weeks will "untie the ends." However, many schools actually waste the last weeks, with "play work." If you are prepared, you can use the time much more effectively.

• Some parents want to get their money's worth for things paid for at the school. This is a personal choice, but in the end, the money is gone anyway - will the benefit of staying to the end really outweigh the benefits of getting started?

• The worst impression to give is that of an irresponsible parent, by saying for example: "We're leaving but we are not sure what we'll be doing yet." You don't have to tell them what you're planning, but don't try to evade questions.

The best kind of leave-taking from a school is a clean break. Giving lots of notice makes it harder. Get things ready at home, then pick up all the child's belongings from the school, return any borrowed items, pay all debts, and give notice (we recommend a maximum of one minute), and go. The longer it takes, the more likely that the relationship with the school will become strained.

If you decide to take your child/ren out of school soon, please don't do it impulsively! Even if the circumstances dictate that you must make an immediate start, you can still do it in an orderly way. You do need to be ready, but if you can give this process priority, you can make the change in just a few days.

Making an URGENT Start

Help! What do I do today??

There is no massive pitfall to avoid, except ignoring your children. Everything you teach is a step forward in their life.

1. Choose ANY brand

• buy a term's worth of student books
• note price and accessibility of teacher books or answer keys
• get at least English and Maths.

2. Be sure to keep the atmosphere friendly, loving, encouraging at all times. Deal with bad attitudes without getting one yourself! This is the most important of all, and probably the reason God wants us to home educate (so that we can learn!).

3. Plan daily routines Morning routines are important - without some orderliness it's easy to fritter away a whole day without achieving much at all. Plan to teach new practical skills regularly, starting with your child's own bedmaking (done properly - even with older students who may have learned to skimp in this area) and room tidiness. Make it his responsibility. Insist on completion, then do something pleasant (e.g. eat a hearty breakfast).

A trial schedule may look something like this:

• Morning routines (rise, dress, tidy room).
• Take a break.
• English and Maths lessons.
• A joint activity e.g. baking, gardening, family reading of a historical novel.
• A larger chore (weekly)
• Lunch (or some other routine).

Get a good selection of books from your own shelves, libraries, etc. and just sit down and read to all the children. Cover "subjects" and discuss along the way - but mainly enjoy and relax. These can be listed as topics covered.

4. Don't worship your schedule! You may not be able to keep to the schedule exactly, but you should plan it so the most important things DO happen.

When you've got started properly, you'll be able to give each child a list and they can complete it in their own order, but they may not be ready for the responsibility just yet.

5. Remember that you've been teaching a long time: In a normal day you will automatically cover many topics which you may not originally have thought of as lessons e.g.. health, manners, social skills, faith application.

TV shows may help too - but be carefully selective: some are good, some are not worth breaking the day for. We also discourage the use of the TV as a substitute for thinking (both by parents "Oh, I don't care what you do for now!") and by children ("Mum, I don't know what to do!"). As with all of life, be clear about why you choose to do something and what you expect to achieve from it, and you can use almost anything to assist in your homechooling.

Later add other subjects more formally, if you prefer, or "run out of energy."

6. Get to know each of your children much better, and enjoy them!

Summary

Adventure: The details of getting started may differ depending on the ages of your children but there are some common factors, too.

Starting young is mainly a matter of continuing from home-based growing up into more formal lessons, without making "school in the home."

Starting with older ones represents a distinct break from a previous routine and requires careful planning and preparation, plus a serious battle against the peer group.

There is no advantage and possibly some disadvantage, after deciding on home education, to waiting for a "logical point" like end of term/year.

If you need to start urgently, pick the basics in almost any curriculum, set up a routine, get going with a terms worth of work, then review your progress and make any adjustments you feel necessary.

Remember, your children are blessings from God's hand! Enjoy these special years!