Five Tips for Beginning Homeschooling

Are you new to homeschooling?

It can be intimidating: It’s your first homeschool conference, and you’re standing in that vendor hall surrounded by dozens of booths offering a wide range of curricula. Or you haven’t made it to a conference yet, so you’re sitting at your computer wondering where to even begin a search for textbooks. If you’re brand-new to homeschooling, where do you start?

I’m from a homeschooler family (so is my husband), and we’ve been homeschooling our children for five years now. As a relatively new homeschool mom, here are my five tips for getting started:

1. Define a philosophy of education. Homeschooling is simply schooling at home . . . right? Well, not so much anymore! The homeschooling movement is now old enough that there’s been time for clearly defined subgroups within the larger homeschool community to develop. Each is characterized by a philosophy of education, such as classical education, Charlotte Mason Method, unschooling, traditional, online, and more. Sound a bit overwhelming? Don’t worry—it doesn’t have to be. Find an article (like this one) that lays out the different styles to see which one gets you excited or would work best in your home.

“There’s no one right way to homeschool!”

Still not sure? Many parents choose the “traditional” style because that’s what they are comfortable with as it’s similar to a traditional classroom (think textbooks and distinct subjects, which is what I did growing up). With this style, you simply order grade-appropriate textbooks in the core subjects (math, science, history, literature, etc.) for each of your kids and follow what the textbook lays out. There are also online Christian homeschools that teach everything for you with teachers your kids can interact with if you want to go that route. As Dr. Georgia Purdom, a former homeschooling mom, said in one of her articles, “There’s no one right way to homeschool!”

2. Don’t overcomplicate it. It’s easy to get really excited about homeschooling, buy everything, and want to try everything all at once (I’ve been guilty of this!), but I’ve been warned by moms with experience—and I’ll echo the advice: Keep it simple as you begin. It might take a few “false starts” to figure out what works for you and your individual kids. Don’t get discouraged! Keep plugging away or trying something different that may work better.

3. Don’t force it. A veteran homeschool mom once advised me not to force schooling with my kids. One of the perks of homeschooling is, if you’re having one of “those days,” you can take a break! Go outside and go for a nature walk (or just play in the backyard). Stop and make a snack together. Call it a field trip day and go on an educational adventure. Or just stop for half an hour and try again when attitudes (perhaps including yours!) have had a reset. This is especially true as you just start out—it’s a big adjustment for you and your kids. It’ll be much more enjoyable and productive if you don’t force it on days where, for whatever reason, it’s just not working.

4. Watch out! Just because a curriculum is a “homeschool” curriculum doesn’t mean it’s Christian. And just because it’s “Christian” doesn’t mean it’s biblical! Dig a little before you invest money in a curriculum to make sure it’s really what you want shaping your children’s hearts and minds. And when concepts you don’t agree with do arise, either in your curriculum or outside it, be sure to have Bible-centered conversations that help teach your children discernment, critical thinking, and how to apply a biblical worldview to what they’re learning.

I was listening to a podcast once where the host mentioned a very popular homeschool curriculum that is produced by Mormons. She said some people she knows don’t like that curriculum because they’re worried some Mormon theology will creep in. The podcast host said she’d never noticed anything Mormon, everything about God was kept rather generic to avoid that issue, so she didn’t see the problem. But do you see the problem?

Homeschooling is a wonderful opportunity to pass on a biblical worldview to your children. Perhaps they aren’t getting any Mormon theology from that particular curriculum, but they aren’t getting biblical worldview either. Instead they are getting watered-down, surface-level teaching anytime the Bible is mentioned. If you choose to use a curriculum like that, be sure you are supplementing with biblical worldview, apologetics, and a very good Bible curriculum. God’s truth is the most important “subject” of the Christian homeschool!

5. Pray. Bring your new venture before the Lord. Trust that He has given you what you need for the hard job of parenting, discipling, and yes, schooling your child(ren). Homeschooling is hard. But it’s also very rewarding. (But don’t just take my word for it! Take my mom’s word for it—she’s successfully graduated 14 homeschoolers, with one more working toward the big graduation day!). If this is what the Lord has called you to do and you’ve prayerfully decided that this is best for your family, be encouraged that God will give you the grace to do it and do it well. Keep coming before Him with your worries, setbacks, victories, and questions, remembering “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

Bonus Tip! Resources to Help You Get Started

If you’re looking for textbooks and curricula to help you get started with homeschooling, Answers in Genesis, and our publisher Master Books, offers a variety of material, all of which teach a biblical worldview. You can be confident the worldview woven throughout these resources is one you want your children to be absorbing.

Here are some suggestions either from our online store or Master Books’ (please note they are divided into rough categories, but many of them overlap, e.g., science textbooks also contain apologetics material):

Science

• God’s Design for Science. Designed for grades 3–8, this science curriculum meets all your elementary and middle school science needs. Bonus: it’s designed to be multilevel, so it’s easy to use with multiple children of different ages, saving you time, teaching, and money. A God’s Design for Beginners is also available through our publisher for kindergartners through second graders.
• Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology. Explore the marvel of the “fearfully and wonderfully made” human body with this intro to anatomy and physiology by the late Tommy Mitchell, MD. This curriculum is designed for junior high.
• Intro to Astrophysics. Study God’s universe and the principles that keep everything in order by diving into astrophysics, taught from a biblical worldview perspective. This curriculum is designed for upper high school.
• Intro to Forensic Science. Learn from a real forensic scientist as you discover keen observational techniques, the disciplines that make up forensic science, and how to apply them to seek first the kingdom of God. This curriculum is designed for upper high school.
• Survey of Astronomy. This curriculum pack takes your student out of this world to explore the heavenly bodies, starting with Scripture. It’s designed for high school students.

Bible/Worldview/Apologetics

• Answers for Kids Bible Curriculum. Discover the truth of God’s Word, biblical history, and more with this curriculum designed for kids aged 8 through 11.
• Elementary Apologetics Curriculum Pack. Our publisher has turned our popular Answers Books for Kids series into a curriculum. Kids will look at answers to 100 questions and find that God’s Word is true. Designed for grades 4–6.
• Apologetics in Action. How do we know the Bible is true? And what about those contradictions in the Bible? Equip high schoolers to defend the truth of God’s Word with this curriculum pack from our publisher.
• Comparative Religions Curriculum Set. Discover the history of world religions, how they answer the ultimate questions, how they are similar and different from a biblical worldview, and how to share the gospel with others in this high school curriculum based on our three-volume World Religions and Cults book set.
• One Race, One Blood DVD Curriculum. In a world where racial tensions are extremely high, it is imperative that Christians address the racism issue from a biblical perspective. Equip your high schoolers with the biblical solution to racism with this curriculum.
• One Blood for Kids Pack. It’s not just high schoolers who need answers on the race issue—kids do too! Help kids understand biblical history, that we’re all one race, and the gospel message with this fun pack.
• Answers Bible Curriculum for Homeschool. This four-year chronological Bible curriculum is unique in the world. Many Bible curriculums are extremely fluffy or just moralistic. ABC for Homeschool features biblical authority teaching, apologetics, theology, history, and more. And each lesson includes a fun video featuring AiG’s Avery Foley and Bryan Osborne (kids love these videos).

Mathematics

• Principles of Mathematics. Transform how your students see math with this biblical worldview mathematics curriculum for grades 6–8 from our publisher.
• Math Lessons for a Living Education. This is math made fun in a Charlotte Mason–style curriculum for Levels 1–5. Available from our publisher.

History and Geography

• Elementary World History—You Report! This Charlotte Mason–style history teaches critical thinking, organizing ideas, and presenting information in oral and written form. Available from our publisher.
• Elementary Geography and Cultures Pack. Travel the world in the comfort of your own home as you learn about the 4,000 years of history and culture since Babel.

Supplemental

• Answers TV. All of our video content is available on our streaming platform, Answers TV. It’s a wealth of supplemental resources for the homeschooler. For example, studying geology? Go outside, look at some rocks, collect a few samples, then watch presentations on Answers TV from real geologists who approach the rocks and layers with a biblical worldview. Answers TV also has hands-on science teaching, art lessons, music appreciation, animal encounters for zoology, biblical worldview in movies, and more! With over 7,000 videos, there’s something for everything!
• Explore Days, Explore Jr., and High School Labs. These hands-on programs are offered on-site at the Creation Museum and are fun days of exploration from a biblical worldview perspective. They make a great way to add a hands-on element to your homeschool curriculum.

Bonus Resource!

• Master Books. As mentioned above, our publisher, Master Books, offers a variety of homeschool curriculum and packs, and many of the packs feature our resources coupled with teacher guides, student guides, quizzes, and more. Explore their website to get tips on homeschooling and find all the curricula you need.

Happy homeschooling!