I love the conversations we get to have every day. I love watching them learn and grow.

I love being able to be there for them if they fall and scratch their knee.

Those are moments I would miss if they were away from me.

I’m a BIG believer in being educated, and being smart.

However, I really reflect a lot on what education is most going to serve our children growing up.

In a world where AI is taking over- the strength in our children is not going to be in remembering facts ( we can ask Siri to do that).

I believe our kids will benefit the most from being great at forming relationships, holding conversations, working through problems, being resilient, delegating, and problem solving.

Their creativity is what wil help them flourish.

School is reflective of a work-life that doesnt exist anymore.

More than every people are contractors, entrepreneurs, working remotely, and managing their own time and their own social schedules.

My kids have a flourishing social life, so many friends, and a ton of sports and activities.

They are busy, thriving and being exposed so the real world daily.

Being a home school mom (or parent) takes a LOT of research and I’ve spent hours and hours, trial and error and testing to discover what works for me and our family, and I’m going to break it all down here, and give you a guide that gives you everything you need to know.

Laws and Logistics

This is an essential part of your homeschool journey. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble- so it’s important to read through the laws and regulations of homeschooling in your vicinity and district.

• “Am I even allowed to homeschool where I live?”
• “What do I need to keep track of?”
• “How do I meet the education standards- if any?”
• “Do my kids need to go through any testing yearly?”
• “Do I qualify for any grants or scholarships?”

Every single country, state, city is different, so make sure to do your research.

A great website to look up the answers to many of these questions is: https://hslda.org/legal/

You can enter in where you live (in the drop down) and it will bring up so many answers for you.

For example, where I live, I have to mail in a “Letter of intent” when my child is 6 to our school district, letting them know I intend to homeschool.

Every year my kids will complete a qualification test, and I must also keep records of our homeschooling progress, what they are learning and a sample of their work.

It is really important tofind out what you need to implement so you dont file, complete or start tracking things too late!

At the bottom of this blog, I’ll share what I used to create my kids’ progress trackers and link what I used to create them.

Learning Style and Curriculum:

Once you know that you’re allowed to homeschool, it’s time to choose what path to homeschooling works for you.

• Some people choose worldschooling – schooling your children while travelling the world
• Some choose Homeschooling- Bringing education home
• Some choose Unschooling- Releasing curriculum or educating your child based on their needs and wants

My family inadvertently did some world schooling as we were travelling back and forth while working on our Visa application to the US.

I found that my kids craved more structure. It’s good for them, especially at this young age, to have a solid foundation of their home, seeing the same people they can get to know better and form real relationships with.

Now we have a great routine in between their sports, homeschool co ops, workshops, and pod at home.

We also chose to live where it’s ‘endless summer’ so we dont really have the ‘craving’ for a vacation since we are a 20 minute drive from the beach, there are lots of wonderful parks, and outdoor adventures for us to go on.

The boys live a really active versatile life.

We will still travel, of course, but since we live in a great climate we dont feel the need to as much as we did when we lived somewhere it was winter, gloomy and cold 8 months out of the year.

For Curriculm and Learning This is what we are using:

• Schoolio App: https://schoolio.com/
• Reading.com: https://reading.com/?via=reese (we use the app but signed up online)
• ABCMouse: www.abcmouse.com (we use the app but signed up online)
• Reading Eggs: https://readingeggs.com/ (we use the app but signed up online)

I explain the apps we love in this video:

Paper Curriculum- Good and the beautiful:

I also liked to get these Posters to review with the boys:

https://amzn.to/47NSa5C They’re great for reviewing subjects, you can write on them with whiteboard markers, and post them on the wall to help them memorize.

Posters for Older Kids: https://amzn.to/3X2EihK

I love this educational music playlist on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5t25opcZR34qvhjtEUA2Cz?si=0d7d7c77483e473a

And these playlists for learning languages: French: https://open.spotify.com/album/41wfgIKMNaqEO1XC2fyjqu?si=0uX_pDjTTHuiJSSoz4EFTw

We love magnatiles for play, and I also love them to use for simple addition math: https://amzn.to/47xogl1

Books: We read SO many books, but these ones stand out in my mind:

• Geography: Lift the Flap Atlas https://amzn.to/4qx39Yr
• Countries of the World: https://amzn.to/4nuaOEs
• Anatomy and Health: https://amzn.to/4oNN8fo
• Mindset Books For Kids: Seven Habits of Happy Kids: https://amzn.to/47twx9p

I am starting homeschool from the beginning I have been homeschooling my kids their whole life, even before they were ‘technically’ in school.

I started with songs, crafts, and reviewing these posters with the kids to get familiar with the alphabet and couting, and inviting them to trace letters and numbers.

These are the major subjects you may want to consider covering.

You could review mainly subjects every day (Like reading and math) or choose certain days of the week for 1-2 topics.

For example:

• Monday: Math
• Tuesday: Reading and Language
• Wednesday: Science
• Thursday: Social science and history
• Friday: Art and Emotional Skills
• Saturday: Physical Activity and Nature
• Sunday: Faith

My kids have a LOT of energy so they get physical activity every day.

Whether it’s hours at the park or their structured activities like Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Soccer, Skating etc.

Community:

Social life is something that homeschool kids are rumoured to not get enough of, but my kids have a great social life and get a lot of time with their friends every week, and seeing lots of kids at their activities.

I searched on google to find a lot of great activities for my kids to join, and many places offer trials so your child can get a chance to see if they like it.

I also found a lot of great activities and connections in Facebook groups.

You might want to search facebook groups for homeschool moms, homeschool co ops, and scroll through the groups until you find good events and gatherings.

When you’re at the events, make sure to network, get to know other moms and share information.

I find homeschool moms really want the best for our kids, and know how much research goes into it so they’re really liberal at sharing information.

Make sure to share some of your best links and tips too- I find through the real conversations you have, you’ll build friendships, and share great info on what’s working for your kids in terms of learning and curriculums!

Also check in your area to see if there are kid-friendly coworking spaces.

I’ve found some great coworking spaces, especially for little ones, where the kids can play and moms can grab a coffee and get some work done on a laptop!

What to Teach My Child?

If you’re wondering “What do I even teach my child?”

One great way is to follow one of the curriculums you purchased.

I also love to search to find out what level of education and academics they should be at, to make sure I’m teaching my child what they need to know and giving them the opportunity to succeed.

For example, you could type into Google or Chat GPT- My child is Age what level should they be at academically?

What should they know?

If you google, you can look through the image searches to see lesson rubrics they would be learning at that level.

I have asked Chat GPT tp print out a checklist, and then I check off and date each milestone my child reaches and the date they reached it so I can keep track.

How to Track Progress:

I researched the best ways to track progress, and while some people use books and paper journals, I thought the best way to do it would be to use a binder- that way I can add clear sleeves to put in materials and it’s easy to add in papers, or take papers out when it gets too full.

Here’s what I bought to put together my Progress Tracker:

• Binder: I like this binder because it’s lightweight and easy to carry wherever we go- In case I want to track on the go.
  https://amzn.to/4o9fznX

If I don’t track on the go I make a note in my phone of what we learned and then transfer it to the binder so it’s easy for me to remember what we worked on.

• Dividers: I use these to divide up different sections of my binder for my sons https://amzn.to/47hNEw4
• Clear Sleeves: I can put art projects, drawings, and samples of their work in these sleeves: https://amzn.to/4qxEbbx
• Hole Punch: https://amzn.to/3LlXh4h
• Printer: https://amzn.to/4oMF8ew (To be honest, it can be tricky to set up, and reset- so I dont think I would buy it again- but this is the one I use.)
• Storing Binder: When the current binder I use gets too full I’ll put the tracking documents and papers in here: https://amzn.to/47x86bd

I might change how I do it in the future, but for now I print out this weekly planner I found in Canva and then fill in what we worked on each day and for how long: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG3MmvFnsU/nBkFVF5BDYZd_eSftEy1Iw/edit?ui=eyJBIjp7fX0– or https://www.canva.com/design/DAG3Mhd4mZM/dySsXE1e67Mm5awHGUJSag/edit?ui=eyJBIjp7fX0 I make sure to date it at the top.

*Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and I earn an income when you purchase through my links

I’ll continue to add to this blog as I learn more so book mark this as a resource you can come back to again and again.

Materials That Make it Easier:

• Pencils for Preschoolers to Hold: https://amzn.to/3LfDDXB
• Flip Chart Paper (You can plan lessons on here ahead of time):
• Flip Chart / White Board Easel: I cant recommend the one I use because it’s not super stable!

Outings and Field Trips

• When I go out to busy places, I put airtags on my kids so I can keep track of where they are (just in case) and I use these to pin onto them: https://amzn.to/3L6ioYq
• I love these cause it keeps their drinks cold all day and it’s a large size: https://amzn.to/4qA2wxr
• I live somewhere hot, so I love these lunch boxes with a built in ice pack so their lunches stay fresh: https://amzn.to/432EqRT

They’re perfect for going out for the day, or heading to a co-op.

If you have any questions on how I make it all work, let me know in the comments and I’ll keep adding to this post!

Thanks for reading and I send you so much love on your homeschool journey.

There are definitely ups and downs, but the extra time you get to spend with your kids, really get to know them, and help them cater their journey to their needs and personality is priceless.