Best Homeschool Advice for Newbies

I’ve been homeschooling a loooong time. I wish I had a time machine to go back to the beginning and tell myself some advice. I can’t though…I write this blog so I can tell you all my best homeschool advice for getting started.




I also thought it would be interesting to find out what advice other veteran homeschoolers would have liked to know in the beginning. I asked my friends and blog followers for their best homeschool advice:
    • what was the best advice they had when they started out?
    • what advice do they WISH they had?
    • or what advice would they go back and tell themselves now?

I’m wishing I had the telephone booth time machine from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I realize I’m showing my age with this reference to this movie. For those of you who don’t know the movie, I’ll try to sum it up real quick.

These two guys travel thru time in a telephone booth time machine. They’re collecting historical figures for a history presentation in school. But, there’s a moment in the journey when the telephone booth lands back at the beginning–and they have a conversation with themselves.




They tell themselves to trust their guide and have an excellent time along the way. And don’t forget to wind your watch. As they get back into the telephone booth after that conversation with themselves, they say, “that conversation made more sense this time.”

Things are always clearer in hindsight. I suspect that this homeschool advice will make a lot more sense later on. Here goes our best homeschool advice as you start out on this excellent adventure.

Best Homeschool Advice: The Do’s

      1. “Your homeschool environment doesn’t need to look like a public school classroom. Your child doesn’t have to learn the same information at the same time as there public school peers.”
      2. “Play more. Let them play more. Unstructured, free play counts as valuable learning.”
      3. “I wish we had deschooled. I feel like I didn’t give her time to acclimate to homeschooling when we pulled her just before fifth grade.”
      4.  “Buy stock in Ticonderoga pencils.” No, seriously.
      5. “Chhhhhiiillllll out!”
      6.  “Keep calm homeschool on. “
      7. “Take it easy in K-3. Read lots and lots of books, explore everything, spark creativity and problem solving, and above all relax and enjoy them while they’re little.”
      8. “Breathe. Everything is and will be just fine. Breathe.”
      9. “Trust yourself and your child to figure it out. You know what’s best for your own child.”
      10. “Play more. Guard the time for lots of playtime.”

Best Homeschool Advice: The Don’ts

  1. “Don’t compare the kids educational journey, they’ll get it at their own pace.”
  2. “Don’t commit to any style of homeschooling or buy any curriculum until you know how your child learns. Things that work for other people    may not work for you.”
  3. “Don’t jump full in until you’ve tried things. Take your whole family into account and do what works best for your life.”
  4. “Don’t make decisions for all your children based on what works best for the first child.”
  5. “Don’t have a formal curriculum for K-3. Take it easy on the worksheets and workbooks. Get outside, enjoy nature, learn through playing, math through everyday applications like measuring cups for cooking, grocery trips, and take lots of field trips.”

Things are always clearer in hindsight. This conversation will probably make more sense later. In the meantime, trust yourself to guide you, have an excellent time. And don’t forget to wind your watch–or at least go watch the movie!

What’s your best homeschool advice to add to the list? 

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About Kim Andrysczyk

Homeschool veteran, Association Director, coffee addict, sarcasm expert, and accidental blogger. I'm here to encourage you thru the tough times and inspire you toward excellence. If I can make it, so can you!

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