Getting Started With Homeschooling. Before jumping into all the decisions surrounding the actual teaching and homeschooling of your child such as: what curriculum, what books, what materials, the home school calendar, organize this, organize that…. Before you do any of that first get familiar with with this bit of homeschool information.....your states home school laws, rules, and other regulations. Some states are quite easy and others require much more work. The HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) is a great place to start. Legally you do have the right to homeschool your child. Just make certain you comply with the individual states regulations.

Homeschooling does require a huge time commitment on your part. And that commitment depends on the level of homeschooling you do. The subject that is being taught and even the ages of the children involved. One question that always seems to come up, particularly from outside influences, is whether the parent is

qualified to teach or not. If not the parent, then who? Who better to teach and homeschool the child? No one wants their child to be successful more than a parent. Plus, nobody would argue against a one to one teaching relationship between teacher and pupil and for the vast number of cases this is exactly the teaching environment in the homeschool classroom.

There is no right or wrong curriculum you can choose to homeschool. You have choices of anything from text books to home school computer software packages. The learning tools that you choose can be based on the childrens ages or even the subject matter that is being taught. You can get text or software directly through the publisher, or at book fairs, or even flea markets and garage sales. Homeschool learning material is everywhere. And dont forget your public library. Its free!

Although the cost of all the materials you will need and use does require a significant investment, I think, however, that youll find that homeschooling demands more of your time than it does your pocket book.

Be creative, and use your resources. Homeschool information is plentiful. Get out on the internet a just do some basic searching on homeschooling. You will find more information, ideas and support than you could ever need to use.

Mary Joyce is a former educator, successful homeschool parent, and has written many articles on teaching your child at home for the Homeschool-Curriculum-4u website. Please visit (http://www.homeschool-curriculum-4u.com) for more of Marys articles, resources on homeschool, ideas, and curriculum information.