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We are already into the second week of July and school will be starting before you know it. Maybe you are just beginning to homeschool or maybe you are starting the last year of your homeschooling. Either way, everyone needs to plan what they will be doing for the year. So, I have three things for you to consider doing over the next few weeks.

• Pick a curriculum- What will you be using this year for school? This requires some investigating on your part. If you are new to homeschooling, I recommend that you find something that is already planned out. This can be traditional textbooks, online programs, distance learning opportunities, etc. It is much easier to modify a curriculum instead of having to create your own. After  you have that first year under your belt you will have a better idea of what works for your child and what does not.
• Consider your home and classroom work space. Where will you have school? I think having a dedicated area to do school is great, but it may be that you work at the kitchen table. Do what works best for your family. We began with a schoolroom and ended up migrating as the year went on. After a couple of years I just had all of us meet at the kitchen table. 🙂
• Complete the Home Education Notification Form. (<- Click on the bold words to get a copy.) It is only used to notify the school that you are going to homeschool your child for the school year. It must be completed and turned into the superintendent no later that the first day of when your child’s school building begins the academic year. I would suggest you send it by registered mail with a return receipt. This is so you have record that they received it. It gets very busy for the superintendent’s office and your paperwork could get lost. If that should happen, you have a record that they received it.

Item #6 is for you to just list a few general topics of what you intend to teach your child for the school year. For instance, in math you can list for your child who is of first grade level the topics of single digit addition and subtraction, counting money and telling time. This is for informational purposes and you can change your mind as the year progresses. Your daughter may sail through addition and subtraction and you decide to add multiple digit addition. That is great and there is no need to contact the school and let them know your topics have changed. She may struggle with telling time and you decide to wait until a later date to teach this. This is perfectly fine too. The superintendent is just seeing that you have some topics for your child to learn.

Item #7 on the form is for informational purposes as well. You can list resources that you will be using, but you do not need to make an extensive list of every book you are going to use. You may not have even come across a fabulous resource yet and discover it as the year continues. That has happened to me on several occasions. You can list the textbook (if you are using one) as well as other resources or programs. For instance, in Social Studies you might use Story of the World, various videos, maps of the world and United States and  and app such as Stack the States.  Again, the superintendent is looking to see that you have a plan of what resources you would like to use.

Have a great week! ~Lisa~