Resources for Homeschooling Parents!

As August approaches, parents across the country are thinking about school again, and for homeschooling parents, that means curriculum planning and/or activity scheduling! At the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, we work to support homeschooling parents in providing the best education possible for their children. With this in mind, we have created a variety of resources for homeschooling parents.

First and foremost is our guide to Getting Started Homeschooling. While this article is geared toward the first-time homeschooler, it includes advice and information of interest to returning homeschooling parents as well. Also of interest is our classic article, Advice from a Homeschool Grad Turned Public School Teacher. In this piece, CRHE board member Giselle Palmer gives positive and upbeat advice for the homeschooling parent.

We picked the brains of three homeschool graduates (myself, Arielle, and Jeremy) about what their parents did right and what made their homeschooling experiences academically successful. In addition to providing a retrospective analysis and practical ideas for homeschooling parents, these posts may offer encouragement and inspiration. You can read all three below.

• How My Parents’ Homeschooling Methods Empowered Me to Follow My Dreams
• How My Parents’ Homeschooling Choices Gave Me An Excellent Education
• My Parents Homeschooled Me Successfully (Here’s How!)

Finally, we offer several resources that may push homeschooling parents to consider blind spots and avoid problem areas that negatively impact some homeschool graduates. We have two articles on the homeschool math gap—“The Data” and “The Stories“—and two articles on socialization—“What About Socialization” and “Homeschooling and Social Interaction Q&A.” We encourage all homeschooling parents to pay special attention to their children’s math education, as homeschooled students often have a deficiency in that area, and to take their children’s socialization and and need for social interaction seriously.

As the new school year begins, we’d like to encourage homeschooling parents of all stripes to invest in their children without reserve and to carefully carry out the responsibility they have taken on as their children’s educators. Your children are depending on you to prepare them for adulthood and everything that entails. Listen to your children, value your children, and uplift your children, and don’t be afraid to take a break for some me-time as needed. Good luck!