getting starteds

(Lowry House, 1991), by Grace Llewellyn.
"The Teenage Liberation Handbook" is undoubtedly dog-eared and sitting on a close bookshelf of every veteran homeschooling family. Grace Llewellyn presents good reasons for teens to "drop into life", by leaving school and reclaiming their natural ability to learn. The book is filled with great advice and personal stories like how to design a real-life education, how to find volunteer positions, and how to get into college without going to high school. The Handbook was written with teens in mind. Yet, its message is true for all ages of homeschoolers; self-taught and self-directed children are our future leaders and entrepreneurs.

Find out about the homeschooling laws in your school district.
Talk to the superintendent, and the principle of your school.
Fill out an affidavit.
Make your objectives for the year, or for the rest of the year.
Hand in your affidavit and objectives and you are set to go.

The first step is a must if you are a student. If it is the parents looking at this page, then I must congratulate you for making the choice to homeschool you children.

The second step is strongly recommended. This is a great book and it tells you everything you'll need to do, and how to do it in much more detail that I can.

The third step can be done in parallel with the second. The homeschooling laws are different across the United States. A few states have very strict laws for homeschoolers; other states are very relaxed about it. This is the real dice roller for homeschoolers-to-be.

The fourth step is just about informing the school system about what you are going to do. Hopefully you will have the book by Grace Llewellyn and you'll know better what to do at this time.

The fifth step is so the state knows what you are doing and to make your homeschooling official.

The sixth step is just about what you are going to do over the year. This is quite easy. More on objectives later.

The final step is when the game begins. This is when school goes away and you're set free from the standard routine that starts with waking up at 5:30AM.

When can I start?

You can start homeschooling at any time. Even a month before school ends. I recommend starting just before school starts. That way you can see how it goes. Then, if there are any problems, it isn't too late to jump back into school.

Who decides what I study?

Basically, you do. You can't just make them up as you go along though. You have to make a list of things you going to study at the beginning of the year, called objectives.

What do the objective consist of? How do I make them? What do they look like?

The objectives are a list of subjects and topics you are going to study in the next school year. For the high schooler, you'll want to keep up or surpass what your high school is doing. While you don't have to study in detail that which you are not interested in, you should study everything at least to the level at which the schools teach it.

For the objectives, you take a look at the basic courses for the next year that you would be taking, and just write out what they are (in a longer descriptive format so that your objectives looks nice). Then you hand that back in to the school district.

Homeschooling has a few interesting effects. It makes you more excited about subjects that you interested in. It allows you to go deeper in those subjects. It also has the effect of allowing you to like subjects that you didn't like at school. For me it was History, Spanish, and English. Now I like Spanish, and love History and English.

Who direct me when I homeschool? Who helps me study?

This is an easy one. You do. Not the school, or your fish, or your cat, or your dog. You and your parents make sure you’re on track. You do your studying on your own.

What a minute... What happens if there is a problem that I can't solve and my parents can't solve? Who can I bounce my work off of?

Well, at least with me, you can go over to school in between their classes or after school and talk to teachers.

You can have your parents examine your work; you can have the teachers examine your work, your neighbors, and your friends, just about anyone!

Don't forget about the great support groups that are available at Nethomeschool.com

Click here for the support groups

What about languages?

The best thing to do is to get a tutor that you like. This makes it a lot more fun, and you can still go at your own pace.

This is beginning to sound sketchy... What about grades, tests, and finals?

You don't get any grades... you don't have to take tests or finals. You may have to pass some of your states test.

So, how do I get credit for the school work?

Throughout the year, you keep a logbook and a portfolio. The portfolio has all the things you do that is material (or visible) in nature, for example self-tests you have taken, math/physics problems you have solved, the artwork you have done, outlines, essays, etc., etc. The logbook is for the work you have done that can not be expressed. Such as visiting a museum, reading a book, watching a documentary, and things like that.

The logbook and portfolio should be inversely proportional. Meaning the larger the portfolio the smaller the logbook can be, or the larger the logbook the smaller the portfolio can be. I suggest that you keep both of about the same size. But this depends on your personal preferences.

At the end of the year, I have my logbook and portfolio check by a certified teacher. What they do is write a recommendation to the school district saying that I should pass. Then I take the logbook, portfolio, and recommendation to the school district. They proceed to tell me if I pass or fail for all my subject for the whole year. This is a pressure point. You don't know pressure until you have had this impressed upon you.

If I don't get grades then how do I get into college? What DO colleges think?

Most colleges think highly of homeschoolers.

Because colleges look at grade as the basis of whether you are in or out, and homeschoolers don't have grade, they put more emphasis on SAT scores, and other standardized testing scores. You need to get take many standardized test and do well on most of them. Those way colleges will see that you are doing very well. In fact, you can even get college credit for the SAT II's and the AP tests. So take the tests seriously.

If you have any doubts whether your college or any college will accept you, just call admissions and ask them. They will gladly answer any question you may have.

What about after school activities like Theater, Sports, AD, Science Olympiad, etc. etc.?

This, again, depends on the school in question. My school district lets me partake in these activities. From what I know, many do. If they don't let you, you can always start pushing for it. You can get the homeschoolers in the area come together a fight to let the local schools take part in after school activities. I mean, after all, your parents are still paying property taxes for the schools right?

When does the school day start and when does it end?

For the homeschooler, school start the second you wake up and ends the second you go to bed. Everything you do during the day is not only interactive, but is a learning experience. When you homeschool you actually begin to put your time to use in a productive way. You'll find that TV is a bore, and so are all these computer games. You'll also find that you have much more "free" time to do what you want.

The average homeschooler works on school subject only for 40% of the time the average schooler does. You spend 8 hours a day working on school, about 6 hours at school and 2 on homework, so you only spend 3.2 hours to do the same exact thing that it takes everyone at school to do in 8. You can reduce that to 2 hours a day and then work on the weekend too. Two hours may not sound like a lot, but when you concentrate you can get a lot accomplished!

This apparent free time that new homeschoolers have usually vaporizes after your begin to get into groove of homeschooling. Established homeschoolers spend their "free" time on things that are important to them like ballet, music, computers, working, etc., etc., etc.

What do I do with all my free time?

There are many things. I say the best thing to do is get into hobbies. There are many things you do right now, but there are many more things you can do. If you are a scientific mind, take up art, philosophy, psychology, or something like that. If you have an artistic mind, take up something in the sciences, like electronics, chemistry, or local stream biology. Have fun with you hobbies. Dabble in as many things as possible, for you won't have this much freedom much longer.

Another thing you can do it go to the library and spend the day there, or read. You can always go to parties, or dance clubs. During The day, you can go visit school during lunch and say hi to all your friends. You can hangout after school ends and talk. There are many things you can do, just use you imagination!

What if I still want to take a class or two at school?

This depends on the school district. I know mine does and it shouldn't be much of an administration problem because they don't have to do anything. All you have to worry about is getting there and the back home and then make sure you do the homework.

If you do this, you'll find that you don't really care about grades. You just care that you learn it. Forget about just memorizing it. You will want to KNOW it and know how to use it. You'll also care about having fun in the class. So you may not get the highest grade, but you'll know it, and you will have had fun. You won't get a low grade, either.

Are there any unexpected results of homeschooling?

Yes, there are many. The first thing is something you'll never see until you start. It is freedom. It's great to do what you want, when you want. Last year, in the middle of school, I decided I'd go visit my sister for a few weeks. So, I did! I took some reading stuff with me, and relaxed with my sister. (This was a big deal. I left my parents behind, in Atlanta, all the way across the US.) One thing you want to do is test the extent of you freedom. I think it's great, but warn your parents before hand so they know what to expect.

Another result is the tendency to grow up, mentally at least, faster than your peers. After about a year, you find many of the people at school acting a bit childish. Well, this also depends on you and your personal nature.

Teachers go from being the authoritarian to being a friend. This helps tremendously. Teachers usually make great friends. They are great people usually with good personalities. Get to know at least one teacher from each department very well. This way, you can go to them for help. They will offer help to you in many ways. In recommendations, offer help in school subjects, and even help you out with mental, moral, and social development predicaments. They are a great resource.

The last effect is a great one. Everyone at school thinks you of as really smart, and they think that you are "special" in the most awesome way possible. But you don't need homeschooling to know that yourself, now do you?

What about friends?

At school, you are stuck with 400 to 3000 people just like you. They are the same age, have the same attitude about school, and are same in many respects. If you think about it, most of the people in school aren't really your friends; they're just there and say hi when you walk by. But you do have a few close friends.

When you homeschool, you find that the background "noise" relationships that the people at school have just drop out of the picture. Your relationships get stronger with the people that you are close to. Besides this, you aren't limited to the same group of people day in and day out. You've got the world to play with. You've got a world full of people to make friends with. Your newly found freedom also allows you to maybe even visit them.

What about the prom?

What about it? You should hear from the grapevine that proms aren't that fun. They are just a minor official celebration of graduation. You can find and go to better parties at other peoples houses. They are more fun, and don't cost $300 to go to.

Won't anyone think I'm weird or stupid actually going through with homeschooling?

Well that's the chance you are going to have to take. One thing people are afraid of is the unknown. You've got to educate yourself, your parents, your neighbors, your friends, your parents bosses, your school, your teachers and just about everyone else about homeschooling, what it does for you, what is has done for you, and why you do it. One thing you can't say to the schools faces though is that school is boring and that it basically it stinks. But you can say "School isn't the place for me. I need a place that allows me to be me, and that isn't forceful and so structured."