FAQs - Getting Started

The transition from public education or Christian school to home education can be quite challenging for inexperienced parent/teachers. It can be difficult to organize your home school without a suitable model. The failure of many home schoolers can be traced to inconsistent and extreme approaches to organization.

We do not recommend trying to organize your home school exactly like a traditional classroom. The demands of such a rigid approach can quickly lead to home school burnout. Unfortunately, many home school parents overreact to this problem and decide to do away with structure altogether. This experiment in extremes seldom yields good results. A significant number of families do not survive their first year in home education because they feel they have failed to establish a reasonable school schedule.

We suggest you relax and allow yourself a realistic amount of time to transition from a traditional schedule to a more flexible home school schedule. Your goal is to develop a structured but flexible learning environment that promotes self-discipline and personal achievement. If your schedule achieves these objectives and seems comfortable to you, dismiss the critics—even those in your own mind. Your plan is the means to an end, not an end in itself. Planning your work and working your plan must be tempered with adaptability and flexibility. It may take some effort to relax at first—but you can do it.

There are many different aspects to this question, and no single answer addresses them all. Here are a few suggestions that might help.

Shorter Subjects

As you plan your school year (or within the first few weeks of teaching), you will find that some courses can be completed much more quickly than others. For these courses, we offer the following suggestions:

1. Work in all courses concurrently, planning to complete them at the end of your school year. If they are completed in less time, use the new available time slot to finish other subjects.
2. Work in all courses concurrently, but space out the shorter courses so they are taught on only select days of the week (e.g., MWF). The remaining days of the week can then be used as study periods, time for other subjects, or as an opportunity to supplement the subject with material of your own choosing.
3. Choose to complete some shorter courses during the first part of your school year (first semester courses), and complete other shorter courses during the second part of the year (second semester courses).

Smaller Portions

We do not recommend spending the entire day on one subject in an attempt to complete a week's work. You would be imitating the folly of a man who eats all day on Sunday to meet all his nutritional needs for the week. Difficult subjects, such as mathematics and grammar, are best mastered by studying a portion every day. Daily exercises and drill work aid in understanding and are a necessary part of the lesson. The principle of smaller portions holds true with learning. We need time to digest and assimilate facts so they can become true knowledge.

Mathematics and grammar in particular should be taught throughout the school year and not in a single-semester format. Because these courses constantly build on previous lessons, extended time off between lessons makes it more difficult for the student to learn new concepts.

Difficult Subjects

Difficult subjects should be studied first each day, while you are still fresh. It is a real boost to know that "Mount Everest" is behind you, and the rest of the day can be devoted to easier, more enjoyable material.

If you are teaching several students, we suggest you stagger the difficult subjects so that only one or two students are working on hard courses at a time. This flexibility balances your load and makes it easier to give individual attention when it is most likely needed.

Hours Per Day

For each weekday (M - F), we suggest that you plan a full day—similar to a traditional school day—for instructing older students. For kindergarten children, plan a half-day of class time (usually in the morning).

Listed below are school supplies that you may wish to obtain as they may be helpful while teaching. These are only suggestions; the list is not prioritized.

You may note that several of the items listed for classroom use also exist in electronic form (e.g., dictionaries and encyclopedias). During class time, we believe that using a traditional approach helps to develop additional research skills (students will have plenty of time outside of class to look up things electronically). Prohibiting electronic devices during class will also minimize distractions.

1. Daily planner (for example, the CLASS Lesson Planner or the At-A-Glance To Do Today planning pad that fits the average three-ring binder)
2. Teacher's grade book or class record
3. Chalkboard, blackboard, or dry-erase board (One can be made inexpensively with materials from a local lumber yard, or you may order one online.)
4. Blackboard erasers, chalk, etc.
5. Pencil sharpener
6. Large dictionary (Larger and more complete editions are better. These can often be picked up at used book sales.)
7. Small paperback dictionaries (one for each student at his desk)
8. Encyclopedias, art books, reference books, etc. (Check used book sales for inexpensive sets of these materials.)
9. Catalogs and website links from everyone and everywhere listing school supplies and text materials.
10. One large bulletin board, or several small ones
11. Charts and maps (Old National Geographic maps are ideal for most situations.)
12. For each student, depending on age: scissors, 6-inch ruler, 12-inch ruler, compass, protractor, notebooks, pencils, erasers, crayons, colored pencils for map coloring, etc.
13. Stars, smiles, and other stickers (for extra-good papers)
14. Paper clips, stapler, gummed reinforcements, colored markers, thumb tacks, rubber bands, colored pencils for grading papers
15. Tuning fork or pitch pipe for singing classes
16. Triangles and other geometry aids
17. Paper punch (a paper cutter is handy, but expensive)
18. Stopwatch with a second-hand for timed tests and physical education activities
19. "In" and "Out" baskets for homework papers
20. Clipboard for each student old enough to use loose-leaf notebook paper
21. Loose-leaf notebook with subject dividers
22. Chalkboard staff liner to make equally-spaced lines for work in music, penmanship, and math
23. Large alphabet cards for the wall—both manuscript and cursive (to help remind beginning readers how to make their letters)
24. A Bible (translation, not a paraphrase) for each student and the teacher (note that CLP products use mostly NKJV) (You may also want more than one version for comparing translations—especially for Bible classes.)
25. Bible aids, such as a comprehensive concordance (make sure it matches the translation of your Bible) and a good Bible dictionary
26. A thesaurus for your older students
27. Science laboratory equipment
28. CD player with earphones for phonics programs, foreign language studies, and music appreciation recordings
29. Art supplies, such as: paper, pastels, watercolors, tempera paint, old magazines for bulletin board displays, Elmer's glue, rubber cement, any craft or hobby materials, etc.

Most supplies can be purchased at a local department store (e.g., Walmart or Target) or office supply store (e.g., OfficeMax, Office Depot, or Staples). For other more unique school items, you may have to search online.

The following list of documents may be important if you come in contact with a party hostile to home schooling.

Founding Documents

Founding documents are those that apply to the creation of your home school. They include incorporation papers, philosophy statements, a list of the chief officers of your school, and official home school correspondence.

School Organization Documents

These documents pertain to the annual organization of your school. Documents relevant to an individual student may be moved to that student's cumulative records file once a school year is completed.

Attendance Records

We encourage you to keep attendance records in a permanent log along with a school year calendar indicating the general schedule for each year, including holidays, vacations, etc. Presently, none of the fifty states requires more than 185 days (six hours each day) of daily-attendance instruction each school year.

Standard Courses

You should create a written statement outlining the course materials, along with their respective publishers, which you intend to use for the upcoming school year. This statement must confirm the quantity of curriculum instruction in your home school. Be sure to consider the following courses since most are standard requirements in virtually every credible school.

Bible
English
Literature
Spelling
Grammar
Penmanship
Mathematics
Science
History
Geography
Physical Education
Art
Music

Also, keep a running tally of each book read by your students over the course of the school year.

Extra-Curricular Involvement

Home schooling should not be limited to just academics. Extra-curricular activities such as Sunday School, church and church youth groups; field trips to museums, the zoo, or nature hikes; and participation in sports and/or membership in the YMCA/YWCA or other similar organizations help to develop the socialization of your students. These activities can be incorporated into specific courses (e.g., Bible, history, and physical education) as additional requirements, or used as breaks from the academic rigors of your school year.

Local Ordinances

The Bible, as well as common sense, dictates that you should comply with basic health, fire, and safety codes. Few states require home schools to make arrangements for special fire and safety equipment, but you should obtain and store a copy of local ordinances should the topic of local inspection arise.

State Requirements

Some states have one or two special courses that are mandated for all schools. The state of Texas, for example, requires that private schools teach a course in good citizenship during the elementary grades. If you have similar mandated courses in your state, you should obtain and complete this course material with your students on a supplemental basis.

Additionally, several states require children to take a course in either state history or agriculture during their elementary grades. Sources for obtaining state history courses can often be found in local libraries and colleges. Upon completion of your state history coursework, we suggest that you place this information into your student's cumulative records.

Achievement Testing

Achievement testing should occur annually as a method of evaluating the basic skill development of your students. Further, we recommend you use the same test series (e.g., California Achievement Test, Stanford Achievement Test, or Iowa Test of Basic Skills) as long as possible. Remaining with one testing series year after year provides a more accurate evaluation of your student's development.

Achievement test results should be placed in your student's cumulative records file

Medical Records

You should have on file a copy of each student's immunization records, and have access to your children's other health and physical examination data. Though you may not intend to ever place your child back into a public or private school, unexpected circumstances may force this to happen. Many families who have home schooled for years have run into problems in this situation if confirmation of immunization cannot be made.

Lesson Plans

When you organized your school year, you completed the bulk of your lesson planning. However, you should remember the following three components as you plan your specifics for each day's lesson.

Review Old Material

1. Never present new material if the student has not demonstrated an understanding of the previous material.
2. Discuss the important points from the previous day's lesson.
3. Correct homework together, and rework any material not understood before introducing new lessons.
4. Use flashcards or drill problems where appropriate.

Introduce New Material

1. Present new material and explain all concepts presented in the lesson until you are sure the student understands it well enough to work independently.
2. Read directions carefully to the student, or have the student read them aloud. Thoroughly explain all directions and processes before beginning.
3. Assign class work. Work not completed during class time may be assigned as homework.

Verify Understanding of New Material

1. Check completed schoolwork before the student is dismissed. If he still does not understand, explain the material once again. You may choose to check the homework assignment later that day or during the review period of the next lesson.
2. Point out any errors. Repeat the explanation, or explain it in different terms, to be sure that the student understands.

Test Preparation for Submission

When the time comes to test your students, the following steps will maximize their probability for success and reduce the number of simple errors.

Review Before Testing

A good teacher will quiz a student on the concepts and facts being presented in each lesson before administering a test. Oral quizzes are an excellent means of identifying any weak or misunderstood areas. It is also important to review any definitions of terms.

You should never administer a test until you are satisfied that you, the teacher, have presented the material adequately and that your student has mastered it. In addition, scan each lesson to make sure everything has been presented. If something was missed, go back and cover it before giving the test.

Also, you should never teach "to the test." Tests by their nature contain a representative sampling of what a student should have learned. Teaching "to the test" will invalidate the test as a tool in assessing your student's real mastery of the course material. Instead, you should help your student review everything in the particular lesson or unit for which he is responsible.

Read All Directions Carefully With Your Student

Once you hand a test to your student, make sure all directions are thoroughly explained. Point out any multi-part questions. On grammar tests, make certain your student knows when to circle or underline. Finally, remind students to check their tests to ensure they are complete before returning them.

Supervise All Tests

Students should not have access to their textbooks and workbooks while taking a test, and they should never have access to teacher's keys. Administer tests in quiet surroundings and monitor to see that all directions are being properly carried out. Parents may help their first graders read or spell difficult test questions when necessary.

The instructor should never allow a student access to test or daily work answer keys.