You GOT this!! Getting Started with Home-school

by: Crystal Young

Two months ago the world was a different place. There is a good chance you thought of homeschooling as the last option, or maybe you were just a little intimidated by the whole idea of being solely responsible for your child’s education. Then you read the CDC recommendations for re-opening schools and began rethinking school this fall, or perhaps you have enjoyed being connected with your children during quarantine. Now you are considering home-school and BIG questions loom. How does a person “register” to home-school?? Will I have to buy an expensive curriculum? What can I do if we only home-school one semester?

The good news is there are answers to those questions and it’s a blessing to have home-school as an option in these uncertain times. To begin the Omaha HAVEN website has links to all the information for Nebraska home-school law and multiple suggestions for curriculum, also we encourage you to fill out our contact form and join the network so we can create support systems for like minded parents. You can begin by filing paperwork at the Nebraska Exempt School Program (Home School) website. Part of the information required in the State home-school paperwork will be a declaration of the curriculum you plan to use to progress your child in five subject areas: Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science and Health. Don't let that intimidate you, you can list what you intend to use now, but it is OK to change your mind later.

Once you start looking into home-school curriculum it can feel completely overwhelming because of the vast number of options on the market. We have created a shorter list of recommendations at Omahahaven.com from our combined experience. There is no one “right” curriculum. Each child is different, learning styles of children and parents differ and one of the great strengths of home-schooling is that you can meet the individual need. Home-school is flexible and that's a good thing! Home Education maximizes our opportunity to use a philosophy that fits your family culture and the needs of your children.

Overwhelmed? Don’t be. No need to panic. Health can be easily covered in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet. Minute Physics and dozens of other online resources can accompany nature walks, sketching and observing the world around us to make science come alive. Gratefully there are several curriculum available to help cover all the bases in language arts, math, and social studies.

Home-school needs not be expensive. There are several programs that offer FREE curriculum. In Easy Peazy Home school Curriculum the Parent Representative selects which subjects and the desired time frame. The Program spits out a schedule for each subject. The Good and The Beautiful is another excellent curriculum available in free PDF downloads if you prefer not to buy the student workbooks. Eureka Math by Great Minds offers a free PDF curriculum that I felt comprehensive and manageable. These three examples offer K-12 in all subject areas. As a parent you can pick and choose which subjects by which provider fits your child best. Learning becomes accessible, and comprehensive. Both the student and the parent feel empowered and successful.

From my perspective most children will be able to navigate back to the public system successfully from a home school experience. The key to success is to nurture a love of learning while encouraging personal responsibility for his/her education. Education should not imprison us; it should empower us.