Will you or won't you homeschool this year?

*affiliate links are used in this post*

I am not going to lie - you have a HUGE decision ahead of you in the next couple of weeks. What are you going to choose for your children's education for this semester? There is so much uncertainty out there about if in-person classes will happen at local schools, will parents be able to continue e-learning and still keep their jobs, and how will you balance it all?

There are choices, but there is also help! If you want to try homeschooling your children this fall, I'm going to cheer you on, point you to helpful resources, and try to answer as many of your questions as I can. If you choose e-learning - I'm going to cheer you on and support you as best as I can. If you send your children to class - I'm going to cheer you on, pray for their health and safety, and try to hold you up as you balance all those deadlines. Whichever option you choose: I support you!

I know homeschooling is not for everyone. It was tough, but we found it worth the effort. I worked anywhere from 15-35 hours outside of the home the entire 16 years we homeschooled our girls. And by saying "we homeschooled" I'm, really saying "I homeschooled" while Kurt went to work 40 or more hours a week to make sure we could pay the bills, and then made sure no one burned the house down while I slept on the weekends. ;)

If you are considering homeschooling, or wondering if e-learning will be enough, I encourage you to check out your options. There are full curriculums in a box you can purchase, or you can use an online resource like SchoolhouseTeachers.com that offers either full curriculum or single subject choices all for one price per family. If you love printed books, look to purchase as many of them as possible as used copies to save you some money. Many (most) homeschooling families sell their curriculum at a significant discount once they are finished with it. We always preferred printed math books, so I would budget to purchase them, then sell the teacher's books and DVD's to other homeschoolers once both girls were finished. A savings to the new owners, and a little cash to put towards the next year's books for us - a win-win! We used SchoolhouseTeachers to fill in the gaps between our printed resources, but I know many families use it exclusively.

Want to know more about how we homeschooled? There are dozens of posts here in the blog archives that you can read. Lots about field trips, many about different curriculum we used over the years, quite a few about being different than everybody else - and how that is perfectly okay, and most importantly, some timely posts about God's faithfulness to help us through both the good and bad times. God gave you those precious children for a reason - it is important that you find out why that is!

If you ARE considering homeschooling, but not quite sure where to start with curriculum, I suggest a family membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com. If you are certain you're going to homeschool, you can get their once-a-year Shark sale special of $179 for two years for the entire family. That works out to less than $8/month for two full years of curriculum for all grades. Use coupon code: SHARK20 - this offer is non-refundable. 

If you're still sitting on the fence about homeschooling, why not try the quarterly payment of $49.97 for all grades, or only $37.97 for PreK-8th grade? One of the best features of SchoolhouseTeachers is that it has helps for parents, streaming videos and world book access for families, and a truly helpful "Start Here" section.

Not sure homeschooling is really legal? It is - in ALL 50 states and Washington, D.C. You can do a quick web search for the requirements for your specific state in less than five minutes. That gives you a great perspective on what will be needed both to get started, and to follow through with homeschooling. 

And because I know your next question might be this one: what do I need to buy? I want to point you back to this ever popular post of ours about school supply lists for homeschoolers. 

Check it out, ask questions, and know I'll stand by you whatever educational option you choose for your children for this fall!