FAQ about Homeschooling

If you are new to homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, you may find some of your questions answered below. Please read over the following Q & A’s prior to contacting KHEA. If you need more information, go to our Support Groups page to locate a support group near you. All the information is merely the opinion of the author, and in no way is to be considered legal or professional advice.

1. I'm pulling my child out of a local school. How do I do it?
2. I want to homeschool, but I've never taught before. Can I do it without special training?
3. How much time does it take? I'm afraid with two (or three) children how will I do it all?
4. What about curriculum? How do I determine what is best for my child? What can I expect to spend?
5. My parent's/husband's parents are worried about social opportunities for my child. What do I tell them?
6. Does homeschooling work when you only have one child?
7. How do I handle the school district? Can they come into my home and inspect my school?
8. How do I tell how well my child is doing? Do I need to test every year?
9. How do I find a support group? (This link goes to support group page.)

1. I'm pulling my child out of a local school. How do I do it?

Before we answer that, we would like you to consider your reasons for wanting to homeschool your child. Homeschooling is a serious commitment, which will have a tremendous impact on your entire family. If you are considering homeschooling because of a recent conflict with a teacher, or school district employee, ask yourself if, given a few days to think it over: would you still be willing to make such a big change in your child’s life? Given some time to cool off, perhaps you might have thought of a new strategy to work the problem out. Consistency in your child’s education is important. If you are considering homeschooling, then you need to make a real commitment to undertaking it for at least a year, and probably longer. You certainly don’t want to take your child out of a school environment because of a conflict that might have been resolved, then place him or her in a homeschool, only to decide a few weeks later that you didn’t have the resolve to do it.

If you are sure that the present educational options are not working for your child, then the best time to change your child’s schooling choice is during a school break, preferably in the summer. By making the decision to homeschool in the summer, you will have ample time to prepare for the adjustments schooling at home will mean for your family. This will be less pressure for you and for your child.

Under the current laws, you will need to send a notice of intent to the local school board regarding your private (home) school. See the Home School Legal Defense Association Kentucky page. Also, see the Best Practices information on our Kentucky Laws page. The letter must be sent within two weeks of the beginning of the school year. For a sample letter, click here to download a PDF document. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.) Or, click here for an html file of a sample letter.

If you decide to homeschool during the school year, your decision may result in an inquiry by the school district’s director of pupil personnel to determine that you are operating a legitimate private school. (See our Kentucky laws page). This does not mean you cannot begin homeschooling during the school year, but it’s best to be fully informed about the responsibilities of director of pupil personnel, and your responsibility as a parent, to insure compliance with the compulsory education laws.

Once you make the decision to homeschool and notify the local school board, then you must decide on a curriculum and routine that is beneficial for your child. It is common for many families to experience a period of adjustment to the new schooling choice, so give your child time to make the adjustment, and don’t put an inordinate amount of performance pressure on him or her.

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2. I want to homeschool, but I've never taught before. Can I do it without special training?

As a parent, you taught your child during the most important, formative years of your child’s life: the preschool years. Homeschooling is a natural outgrowth of that parent/child relationship that exists for most families prior to formal schooling at age 5 or 6. As a parent, you have an advantage that no other teacher can have: you know your child’s individual abilities, weaknesses and strengths better than anyone else! As a parent, you also have a natural intuitive ability to discern when your child is needing extra encouragement or a new strategy.

Your child, like any child, has an eager, inborn desire to learn. Sometimes, if a public or other private school has been stressful for a child for whatever reason, that desire to learn can be frustrated for a time. But, after a short period of time, in a homeschool, natural curiosity always comes back. Your job is to respond to what your child is ready to do and to provide the opportunities for him or her to learn.

There are many choices in curriculum. Some of it is self-paced, where everything needed for a subject is contained in a series of booklets. For more experienced or adventurous homeschooling parents, there is unit-based curriculum which can be extremely fun and challenging for even gifted students. But it will require more parent participation. It’s all right to experiment the first semester or two. Most families eventually settle on something that is just right for their family situation.

For complicated, high-school level courses, many parents have found video courses or computerized curriculum helpful. With the incredible variety of materials available, homeschooling success has never been easier!

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3. How much time does it take? I'm afraid we won't get enough accomplished. With two (or three) children, how will I do it all?

Many homeschoolers find, that without all the distractions of public school (class changes, interruptions, waiting on the teacher to answer a question, waiting in line for recess, bathrooms, etc. ) children can get through a year’s worth of material very quickly. Choosing quality curriculum is very important. If children finish “book work” early on a school day, then you will have excellent opportunities to go for a nature walk, experiment with cooking, work on a craft project, or do a special science or history project. Even though this is class time, you can actually have a classroom without walls. That is, perhaps, the greatest benefit to homeschooling: these opportunities to share such wonderful times of discovery with your child.

Homeschooling also allows for more flexibility in handling different ages/grades than a conventional school will be able to offer.

In short, you will find your time very full, and very enjoyable, too! After a while, you will find yourself seeing the world as one big learning laboratory! Many a philosophy or civics lesson was taught around our dinner table, complete with very lively discussion from all seven of members of my family.

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4. What about curriculum? How do I determine what is best for my child? What can I expect to spend?

Please see our Resources page. Your best strategy is to do a search on the web; then talk to other homeschool parents about what they use and what has worked for their families. That’s one important reason to be a part of a support group.

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5. My parents/husband's parents are worried about social opportunities for my child. What do I tell them?

You will find that most of the socialization offered at school was not high quality time. Instead, there were too many children and not enough adults, which tends to create a peer-based culture. As a parent, you are the best socializer of your child, because you can teach the qualities, one-on-one, that make for healthy relationships. Many families with two or more children have found that participation in a church, 4-H club, music or dance lessons, or scouts offers plenty of social opportunities for a child. You will also find, over time, several homeschooling families to share experiences with, or go on field trips together.

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6. Does homeschooling work when you only have one child?

Yes! There will need to be a greater commitment on your part to provide age-appropriate socialization, with an only child, but homeschooling just one can give you plenty of opportunities for special and unique experiences.

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7. How do I handle the school district? Can they come into my home and inspect our school?

Please visit our Kentucky Laws page for more information, but, in short, you have constitutionally guaranteed protections on the privacy of your home. Please take the time to be fully informed. We also recommend that you become a member of Home School Legal Defense Association. You can request a membership application through their website. As a member of HSLDA, you will be fully informed, and provided with expert assistance in case of questionable contacts from officials regarding your homeschool.

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8. How do I tell how well my child is doing? Do I need to test every year?

Some parents prefer to test yearly, some prefer portfolio assessments, some prefer tests every two or three years. There is no one right answer, but as a parent, you know your child best, and you will be able to tell when he or she is having a difficult time with a subject and needs more time to complete the tasks, more assistance, or a change in curriculum or methods. Relax and don’t over-pressure yourself or your child. A child’s desire and ability to learn is so ingrained, that most parents find assessments to be not nearly as fearsome as they first imagined.

Some curriculum offers more frequent assessments, even self-assessments, so the child can gauge their own performance. If you feel unsure about assessments, choose a curriculum that offers more structured assessments, but don’t feel bound to this, if later on, you want to try a more creative approach. You’ll hit upon the right approach for your family.

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