Online Homeschooling Programs: A Guide for Parents

As a growing number of families choose to homeschool their children, curiosity about the Online Homeschooling Programs movement has grown.

Learn about homeschooling, including how homeschooling works, what the requirements to homeschool are, how to start homeschooling, what curriculum to use for homeschooling, how to make a homeschool schedule, and more.

What Is homeschooling?

Homeschooling is an education option in which parents direct their children's education rather than enrolling them full-time in a public school or private school. Homeschooling parents take charge of their children's education through learning at home, joining co-ops, hiring tutors, participating in academic clubs, taking community college classes, and much more.

Homeschooling is parent-directed and/or child-directed education that allows for a personalized education plan. Some homeschoolers may take advantage of part-time enrollment offered through public or private schools while others may entirely opt out of institutional education.

As formal preschool has become more popular, more parents who do not send their kids to preschool also refer to this as "homeschooling" in preschool or pre-K, but the term usually refers to students educated at home from kindergarten through Christian Homeschooling Curriculum in high school.

What are the pros and cons of homeschooling?

Homeschooling is widely known for its flexibility, allowing parents to help children learn in the ways that work for each child. Parents and kids do not need to follow the conventions of school when they're Online Homeschooling Programs; they can customize, choosing their own curriculum or approach. Homeschooled kids are widely accepted at colleges and in the workplace.

There is a wide range of advantages of homeschooling, from building positive family relationships to homeschooling through illnesses and challenges. Families often find that the advantages of homeschooling include:

academic benefits
mental health benefits
benefits in social development
benefits in physical health
benefits in special circumstances
and even homeschooling benefits parents!

Be sure to check out our extensive discussion of the benefits of homeschooling.

Families do need to consider that Christian Homeschooling Curriculum may affect specific situations, particularly in high school:

The Virginia High School League (VHSL) prohibits homeschooled students from participating in high school athletic programs in the state.
New York's "preliminary education requirements," which do not prevent homeschoolers from graduating from high school or enrolling in college, but are required in some form before a student can graduate from college. Since at least one of the options must be completed while the student is still of compulsory school age, it is imperative that homeschoolers know the education laws of their state and of any state where they may wish to attend college.
Transferring homeschool credits into a public high school may not be possible. Most families commit to Online Homeschooling Programs through high school graduation if they plan to homeschool high school.

For families who want the flexibility, academic benefits, efficiency, and opportunities that home education can offer, homeschooling is a natural choice.

Homeschooled graduates can be admitted to college, join the military, get good jobs, start businesses, and live creative lives.

How do I get started homeschooling?

Typically, Christian Homeschooling Curriculum starts with notifying the local school district of the intent to homeschool. Like public schooling, homeschooling is regulated by the state so parents need to know what is required (if anything) in your state.

Getting connected with local homeschoolers is the best way to learn more about local requirements as well as find out what activities, classes, and events are available nearby.

To start homeschooling, jump in with our Quickstart Guide to Homeschooling.

What are the requirements for homeschooling?

Homeschooling is legal and accepted in all fifty states in the United States and in many countries around the world. In the United States, homeschooling is regulated by the state, so homeschool laws are unique to each state.

Some states have no requirements; others might have requirements such as:

Keeping attendance to show compliance with compulsory attendance law
Notification/letter of intent to homeschool to the school district or superintendent
Achievement tests or evaluations
Naming your homeschool

Find more information about your state homeschool law through your state’s Online Homeschooling Programs organization.

What about planning and choosing curriculum for homeschooling?

Parents can choose their homeschool curriculum, taking into account their overall approach to learning, their children's strengths, the amount of one-on-one time they can provide, their children's age and stage of development, and what their child enjoys doing. Some homeschoolers use a curriculum similar to what is found in schools, but many do not. Parents are free to choose the curriculum resources that best meet the needs of their family.

Homeschoolers have the freedom to do what works. They don't need to follow the education laws for public schools, and in the U.S., they don't need to follow any one specific approved or accredited curriculum.

Some states and countries have more regulations than others regarding what parents have to do to meet the home education law; however, in general, one of the benefits of Christian Homeschooling Curriculum is that parents have the freedom to customize how their children learn. This includes freedom to choose their approach and the resources that will be used.

Homeschooling families can typically learn on any schedule that works for them.

How do I create a homeschooling schedule?

Some families have weekly schedules that look like school schedules, but most Online Homeschooling Programs families use the flexibility of homeschooling to create a weekly schedule that is customized for them. Take a look at some of the effective homeschool schedules that Jeanne Faulconer has seen in her work as a homeschool evaluator (you'll also find printable examples of common schedules).

Can someone else homeschool my child?

What if you want your kids to be homeschooled, but you can't or don't want to be the person who is personally homeschooling them? Laws vary on this depending on where you live, which parents should consider, but many homeschooling parents outsource parts of their kids' Christian Homeschooling Curriculum, since the kids take classes, participate in co-ops, and work with tutors and mentors.

If you're looking for someone to provide part or all of your children's home education, read Can Someone Else Homeschool My Child?

Are there grade levels in homeschooling?

Grade levels were developed for schools, where numbers of students have to be moved through years of curriculum. While school is standards-based and grade-level-based, homeschooling can be potential-based.

Online Homeschooling Programs allows parents to optimize the resources based on the child’s potential and aptitude, rather than on grade placement. It offers students the ability to step out of an environment focused on “appropriate grade placement” and into an environment where institutional goals give way to engaged learning at the right level of challenge.

It is not unusual for a homeschool student to work at different grade levels in different subjects. Students are able to excel where they are ahead and work at a relaxed pace where they need to spend more time on a subject.

You can read more about grade levels in “Homeschooling and Grade Levels (Or … Relax)”, as well as about "When Grade Level Matters."

Online Christian Homeschool

Online Christian Homeschool