So…What Does it Take to Homeschool? (aka, Wow, I Could NEVER Homeschool…)

Well, fortunately, the state of Florida makes it “easy” to homeschool. I’ve heard some states are pretty tough on homeschoolers. (Some states require a college degree to teach children at home…and some make you have your child “tested” on a regular basis…)

(If you’re interested in homeschooling, please check into YOUR state’s guidelines…)

Here in Florida the PARENT pretty much has the reins (and can make ALL of the decisions) about how to school their child.

Now, you may say, “Well, what good is that? How do you know that your child is up to par (where they’re supposed to be) in their studies?” Again, it’s totally up to the parent in the state of Florida. (And why would anyone in their right mind try to “cheat” their child out of a good education?)

So, the first piece of advice that we got was this: After a child has been in school, and before they start learning at home, it’s a good idea to give them time to “de-school.” And how do you do that? For every year that the child was in school (public or private), give them a month off. For example: Becca was in school for almost five years. So I needed to give her five months off. (I actually ended up giving her about eight months off!) This gets them out of the “school mode.” (And for a child like Becca, there’s not a thing wrong with that!)

And my most amazing discovery during this time of de-schooling? I found that Becca still wanted to learn! But when she had the desire to pick up any kind of school work, it was on her terms (and there wasn’t any pressure).

Again, for someone like Becca, this was an absolutely necessary step. We needed to re-think our ideas on education. (And we’d find, in time, that we’d end up re-thinking them yet again…)