Elements

Start Homeschooling

STUDY YOUR CHILD

WELCOME TO NICHE

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Styles Offered

Next, let's prayerfully consider you as a teacher.

What are the common homeschool teaching approaches from which you can choose?

Which of these best fits you -- and your child?

A thoughtful study of these parameters now will help you greatly when you prepare to select curriculum.

Even though I was talking to myself, I’m not crazy. I am a homeschool mom. That was just a parent-teacher conference.

Organization for Your Home School

Set up a place for your child to keep school work, books, and supplies. This can be a plastic storage tub, a drawer, a cabinet, or a shelf on a bookcase.
Create a place for you to keep your daily tools and supplies. Invest in some bookshelves. (We have yet to meet the homeschooling mom who says she has enough bookshelves!) Filing cabinets can be helpful storage tools as well. Assign locations for all regularly-used materials, such as reference books, art supplies, math manipulatives, science equipment, educational games, etc.
Designate a place to store treasured samples of your child's work. Realize that you will not be able to save every item your child produces. Sort and keep only what is important to you.

Which one sounds like you?

Which one would best fit your child's stage & style of learning? Check our links below for more information.

Read what veteran homeschool mom, Ellyn Davis, says about the various approaches.

Or, visit NICHE's Homeschooling Styles & Approaches.

Logistics for Your Home School

Seek wisdom and strength from God as you discipline yourself to take on the responsibility of your child's education.
Seek wisdom and direction from God as you evaluate your child's behavior, set goals for your child's character development, and carry out your plans.
Realize that, if you have more than one child, there are times when you will wish that you were more than one person!
Children need to learn how to be patient, wait their turn, and go on to something else while they wait. Schedule one-on-one time with each child. Group-teach subjects like Bible, history, or science. Make it your goal teach your children to be independent learners.

If you have toddlers and/or infants, don't despair!
- Plan to do concentrated school work during the little one's nap times.
- Collect special toys that you only make available during times you are teaching the older children.
- Schedule times for an older child to play with the little ones while you are working with another child on schoolwork.
Make plans on how you will deal with interruptions -- they are inevitable.
- Inform family and friends that you will be unavailable during school hours.
- Carefully consider each request to add an outside demand upon you or your child.
- Set some ground rules for your own cellphone and computer usage during times you want to devote to instruction.
- Expect days with unexpected emergencies (the basement floods) or unforeseen maladies (the flu strikes), and use each as an opportunity to learn and teach.

Logistics for Your Home School

WHO will teach your children?

Mom? Dad? Both?
Outside tutors or teachers?
Cooperative group teaching?

WHERE will your child work?

Does your child need a lot of assistance and direction?
Does your child need a quiet location with few distractions?

WHEN will you teach?

As long as you meet the minimum legal requirements (CPI requires at least 148 days per school year, at least 37 days each school quarter), you can design any plan that works for your family.

HOW scheduled will you be?

Every family has a unique level that works best.
No matter how scheduled or relaxed you are, you'll find daily established routines are helpful tools.

Find Your Place

Meet and connect with other homeschool families in your neighborhood.

See Regional Groups