The Ultimate Step by Step Guide to Homeschooling: Top 10 Tips for Success

Top 10 homeschooling tips for beginners

1. Cultivate curiosity
2. Create an atmosphere for learning
3. Establish a daily rhythm
4. Read together
5. Learn through play
6. Let Nature be your teacher
7. Leave space for child-led learning
8. Choose the right educational pathway for your child
9. Explore different educational philosophies
10. Craft your own unique family culture for learning

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Succcessful homeschooling

Are you looking for homeschooling tips?

Do you want homeschooling tips that are both useful and easy to action?

Do you want some ideas on how to homeschool and ideas on what to include?

Do you want learning to be a joyful experience for both you and your children?

Then breathe . . . you are in the right place.

This post is full of tips and ideas to help you make your homeschool both successful and happy.

Homeschooling help from an experienced homeschooling parent and teacher

I have been home educating my 5 children for nearly two decades and currently homeschool from primary right up to A level and every key stage inbetween.

Prior to homeschooling I was a primary school teacher. However, although my training and experience have been useful, I certainly do not feel that you need teaching experience to homeschool your own children successfully.

So many people I have met complain that their children hate learning: homework is a chore and they couldn’t think of anything worse than having to teach their children at home. They worry they would fail their children as they don’t have the skills to teach them.

Well, what if you could get your children to actually love learning AND do so without needing the skills to teach?

Help your children to blossom

I have a confession: although I am a qualified and experienced teacher I rarely have to teach my children. They are thriving academically and it is because they are curious about the world and love learning.

But I do have to put in the ground work first. I feel as if I am more like a gardener than a teacher. To me education is similar to tending flowers. A gardener tends their flowers by providing the right conditions and seeking solutions to remove pests and diseases. Similarly, we nurture our children, enabling them to grow and blossom.

By following these homeschooling tips and ideas you can not only make learning fun, but also help your children to love learning and thrive.

These homeschooling tips and ideas for successful and joy-filled learning will help you get started on your homeschooling journey. If you are already on it, then they will help you add that little bit of magic that will refresh your days and help to build precious memories.

Homeschooling Tip #1:

Cultivate curiosity

Teaching and learning are two very different things.

 “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Just as a young child sometimes needs to be spoon-fed when they lack the fine motor skills to do so themselves, or the knowledge to discern what is safe or good to eat, some things do need to be taught or gentle guidance given. But, many things don’t necessarily need to be taught. Just as a child learns to walk and talk without being ‘taught’, they can also learn so many other things just through trial, error and general curiosity.

My top homeschooling tip would be to focus on cultivating a culture of curiosity and a love of learning.  Let your child follow their passions and learning will naturally follow. 

When a child is forced to learn something, then learning may be slow; the child may get upset and the parent/teacher frustrated.  If done repeatedly then learning could have negative connotations for the child and they may become reluctant to have anything to do with ‘school’ or ‘learning’.

. . . knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”

― Plato

Let your children ask questions and rather than just answering those questions for them, enable your children to answer those questions themselves by asking more questions, providing resources and supporting as required.

Be a facilitator of learning

Become a ‘facilitator of learning’ rather than a teacher. Encourage your children to be curious about anything and everything. Demonstrate curiosity yourself. Look at things from unusual perspectives. Wonder about how a problem can be solved. Learn something new yourself and share what you are learning with your child. Let your child talk. Listen to your child. Give value to what is important to your child. Marvel with your child. Explore with your child.

You could create a ‘Wonder Board’ where you record their questions and use these as a springboard for future projects. Enable them to explore concepts at a deeper level by helping them to make connections and if you don’t know the answers yourself that is fine . . . explore the topic alongside them and learn together. Be passionate about learning and your children will become passionate about learning too.

It is important for children to realise that even adults make mistakes and don’t know everything. The important thing is that you are showing them the skills to be able to work things out. This skill is probably more important than the actual concept you are trying to teach. It is a skill that will set them up for life and enable them to learn pretty much anything they want to throughout their life.

Homeschooling Tip #2:

Create atmosphere

Creating the right atmosphere helps set the mood for learning, helps to make learning so much easier and will help to foster a love of learning in your children. To me atmosphere is about both attitude and environment.

Demonstrate a positive attitude

If you are stressed then your child will most likely feel stressed too.  If you show a positive attitude to learning new things then your children will probably pick up on that and become more engaged in their learning. Make learning fun and your children will want to join in. How you approach learning will make a huge difference to your child’s attitude to learning.  If you sell it as something to get through or as something that has to be done then they may begin to view it negatively, akin to a chore.  If you approach it as something to enjoy, something fun, something that can help them pursue their hobbies and passions and something to savour then learning will become a joy to them (and you). 

An un-pressured atmosphere allows your child to have time to be free, to discover and learn things when they are ready.  Time to go slow if need be. 

“ Children need time …
time to play,
time to explore,
time to learn,
to experiment,
to be themselves.
time to be wild and free.”

Unknown, from the Wild + Free community

Add some spark to bring the learning alive and make leaning fun

Add some spark to your learning. Learn in an unusual environment – at the beach, under a tree in the park, snuggled up in bed, behind the sofa or even under the kitchen table! Use fairy lights to create a magical setting to learn in. Or make learning more fun by bringing it alive: dress up for the day as a Roman, knight or pirate and make some food to match the historical era you are learning about.

Turn a bad day into a good day

If you have had a bad day and everyone is frazzled and nothing much seems to have been achieved, try not to fret about it.  Tomorrow is a new day and with it comes opportunities to learn something new. 

A fresh start. 

If nothing else try to add just one activity that is likely to bring joy to you and your children.  Something as simple as a few moments to snuggle up together and share a story; or lighting a candle and putting on some calm or cosy music whilst you eat lunch together. Something as little as this can sometimes be enough to turn your day around and foster an atmosphere where children are more receptive to learning.  Creating a positive and happy atmosphere lays the foundations for future learning.

Weave a learning environment

I would love to have a pinterest or instagram worthy looking house, with perfectly arranged resources and beautifully presented décor, but I have to admit my house is not like that and yours doesn’t need to be either.  Mostly it is full of the messes of each day – unfinished projects, piles of papers, toy bricks and games strewn across the floor and muddy boots by the front door.  Although it would be lovely for it to be nice and tidy I have resigned myself to the fact that, with 5 children at home full time, that just isn’t going to happen anytime soon. 

But that’s okay. 

We are living life and collecting memories along the way. 

I know that one day when they have flown the nest I will no doubt actually miss all the messes of our busy homeschooling life. Children don’t stay little for long. These times are so fleeting and precious and should be treasured and savoured.

Enrich your learning environment

Your learning ‘environment’ doesn’t have to look amazing, but it is helpful if you arrange it so that opportunities for learning are maximised.  This doesn’t need to cost lots of money or take lots of time to organise. 

To enrich our learning environment I like to weave together the following 5 key areas:

• Somewhere to snuggle up and read
• Somewhere to play
• Somewhere to write
• Somewhere to access resources easily
• Somewhere outside to play, learn or relax in

Homeschooling Tip #3:

Create a Rhythm

We have found that having a rhythm or a loose structure to our day makes our day flow more happily.

Strict timetables made us feel like we were failing miserably – not finishing things on time and rushing onto the next thing before we were ready.

No timetables, made us feel aimless and disconnected from each other.

So now we try to have a gentle rhythm to our days.

This can change with the ages and stages of the children and vary according to unexpected opportunities that arise and we always try to be flexible.

Currently our rhythm tends to look like this:

• Breakfast
• Chores
• Walk
• Snack
• Table time (Focused work)
• Morning Basket
• Lunch
• Topic work
• Outdoor time
• Tidy up time
• Teatime
• Bath, story and bed

We don’t have strict times that these things happen, just an approximate time and sometimes we will just spend the entire day or week immersed in one particular project or will spend all day outdoors, but on the whole my children tend to like having a loose structure to their day. It helps them know what to expect next and helps them to feel more settled.

Create a Balance

I try to follow something busy with something calmer, a bit like the ebb and flow of a tide. This helps create a sense of balance and enable my children to have the opportunity to learn more holistically using the heart, hands and head. This is one of the key principles of the Waldorf Steiner philosophy that we incorporate into many aspects of our homeschooling activities.

Homeschooling Tip #4:

Read, read, read!

The more that you read,

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

The more places you’ll go.

Dr Seuss

My children’s general knowledge is astounding: both in how wide it is but also in terms of depth. This is due, in the main, to how well read they are. They love learning new things and constantly have their heads buried in a book.

How to foster a love of books

• Make books a part of your every day life. . . right from when your children are born
• Have piles of interesting books all over the house
• Visit the library regularly
• Incorporate Morning Basket into your daily routine
• Spend the afternoon browsing in a bookshop
• And most importantly . . . read with your children

I have always read with my children. There are so many wonderful picture books out there. We often spend ages beyond the actual re-telling of the story just exploring the pictures. Children love the warmth and security of snuggling up on the sofa for a story.

And then as children get older you can delve into read-aloud chapter books and more complex non-fiction that help your children develop their interests. From these you can create spin off projects.

Some of our Favourite Chapter and Non-Fiction Books

Some of our favourites over the years have included A Year Full of Stories, The Story Giant, The Never Ending Story, The Phantom Tollbooth and Little House in the Big Woods.

Non-fiction that we have loved include The Travel Book (Lonely Planet Kids), Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Margaret Erskine Wilson and The History of Britain by Usborne.

Reading together creates bonds, builds relationship and helps calm frayed tempers. It allows you to escape into fantastic imaginary worlds through fiction and explore our amazing real world through non-fiction.

Homeschooling Tip #5:

Play . . . a lot!

I can’t emphasize the importance of play enough.

Play is fun for children.

And when children play they learn – without even realising it.

Many parents worry that their child is ‘just playing’ and needs to settle down to do some ‘proper work’ but the thing is, as many educational philosophers agree:

‘ Play is the work of childhood.’

Piaget, Montessori, Rogers

From the moment children start interacting with their world they do so through play.

Through play children:

• copy and imitate
• experiment, fail and succeed
• explore, discover and create
• learn how to walk, talk, run and jump
• develop fine and gross motor skills
• negotiate, interact socially
• develop strategies and problem solving skills and evaluate risks through play
• develop a sense of self and self-worth

All of these things and more can all be developed through play. And yet, despite having learnt all these things society persists with the common perception that learning is not proper unless it is written down and learned from a textbook. Tests need to be passed to ‘prove’ that learning has taken place.

Stages of Play

From observing my children I have noticed that the type of play naturally matches the stage of the child enabling them to learn at a pace that suits them. For example, young children can often be seen ‘testing out’ their environment, learning to recognise dangers and discovering what works and doesn’t work. This helps to lay down the foundations for future learning. Teens still play, just in a different way. They can often be seen working on developing a sense of self identity (for example through learning to play the guitar, apply makeup, chatting with friends and so on). All of these things are freely chosen, so not classed as ‘work’ and yet they all facilitate some sort of learning.

Learning through play

Practically every subject can be taught through play. And it makes learning fun for children. It can easily be used to ‘teach’ core skills in Maths, English, Science and many other subject areas through play activities such as:

• baking – to develop maths skills (measuring) and science (physical changes and experimentation). We regularly have baking afternoons where we make treats ready to share in our Poetry Teatimes
• mud pie kitchens – to develop scientific skills of experimenting
• damming streams – to develop understanding of design and engineering
• dressing up – to develop creative drama experimentation, social and story telling skills
• making twig boats to race down a small stream- to develop design and technology skills
• role play – to develop language and social skills as well as empathy. Mine have all loved their play ‘shop’ which is now quite old and battered but still in regular use. I can’t find the same one we have but this role play shop is the most similar. Ours has been used as a traditional shop but has also been transformed into a post office, travel agents, airport, doctor’s surgery, storytelling shop and space rocket to name just a few uses. I would also recommend a play kitchen. My children have all loved ‘cooking’ up meals in their kitchen and then serving them in their cafe.
• small world play – perfect for developing story-telling and language and social skills. All my children absolutely love Playmobil. There are so many brilliant sets to choose from, but we have found the ones with the best play value and monetary value to be the Treehouse, Camper van, Camping lodge, Playground and the Pirate treasure island
• building with construction kits – we love Duplo bricks. Although I hate having plastic around Duplo is one toy I think is definitely worth investing in. It is robust and the play value is enormous. My children have all played with it since they were toddlers and I still catch my teens making constructions out of it now. Construction kits help to develop problem solving skills as well as engineering and design skills. Keva pine planks and Kapla blocks are also brilliant for both constructing with as well as creating landscapes for small world play, or for a perfectly good, but cheaper, alternative that can still be used in a similar way you could try this. Zoob has also been popular and provides an alternative way of building
• creating wooden railway tracks – helps to develop imagination and problem solving skills
• playing (and inventing) board games – they are educational on so many levels as well as being fun to play with. We love board games in our family and those of you familiar with the magazine Wild + Free may have read my article about board games. We have so many favourites I couldn’t possibly list them all here. But perennial favourites include Splendor, Tantrix, Monopoly, Ticket to Ride and Fits

Building Independence

Children that have had plenty of time and opportunities to play are well equipped to become independent learners and to follow their natural curiosity, thus paving the way for future learning.

I try to get a balance between a bit of structure altogether as a family and independent play opportunities and have found this to work well for my children. Sometimes we will do focused table time activities altogether and at other times I will spend focused time with one or two of my children whilst the others play or work independently. You will have to see what works for your family and adjust as necessary. Often little ones need time to play after more formal work.

Homeschooling Tip #6:

Spend lots of time outdoors in nature

As a family we spend time outdoors everyday, either walking, playing, gardening or exploring. We are blessed to live in a beautiful part of the world where we have access to wonderful woodland and amazing beaches. We also have rugged coastlines and wild moorland on our doorstep. But even if you don’t have access to beaches and woodland, there are still plenty of play and learning opportunities to be found in your back garden, local park or local nature reserve. If accessing these areas is still difficult I have written an article of how you can still access nature and get to spend time outdoors with children, even in a town or busy city.

There is something just so magical about being outdoors. It is hard to describe. Just feeling the breeze through your hair, the sunshine on your cheek, the smell of petrichor as rain hits dry earth, the sound of birdsong, the way the light filters through the trees, the colour of the sea, the ever changing clouds, the colours . . . I could go on forever.

Things to Do Outdoors

From all day adventures to mini-adventures there is just so much to discover in Nature, so much to learn.

From scavenger hunts to den building, playing at the park to just exploring your local area, there are so many wonderful things you can do outside.

There are two gifts we should give our children . . .

one is roots to grow

and the other is wings to fly

Rhythms of Play, adapted from an original quote by Maria Montessori

Benefits of Being Outdoors

Time spent outdoors in Nature is beneficial on so many levels.

Being outdoors, even if it is just a walk around the block, can be so restorative. Being out in the weather, the sun, wind or rain, hearing birds singing and catching a glimpse of wildlife such as a bird, butterfly of bee on a flower can help calm frayed tempers, dissipate stresses, release built up energy and distract from everyday worries.

The health benefits of being outdoors are well documented, both for physical and mental health and the natural world is increasingly being used as vehicle for learning. Practically every subject can be learnt outdoors.

Homeschooling Tip #7:

Explore with Child-led learning

Sometimes I choose the things we learn about, but we often do a lot of child-led learning where I structure our projects around the passions of my children. I find that when they are allowed to follow their passions then learning is inevitable. They follow rabbit tunnels and go off in all sorts of unexpected twists and turns and then make all sorts of new discoveries that I could never have anticipated, nor planned for. My job is to help them open all those doors that might be blocking those rabbit tunnels by asking questions, providing resources and supporting where necessary. By following this style of learning children often end up with a really broad general knowledge that also goes into great depth in particular areas, which may well give them a greater advantage in future career aspirations.

Homeschooling Tip #8:

Choose the right path for your child

You know your child best – better than anyone else.

You know what they love. What they hate. What makes them tick.

You know their quirks. Their successes. Their failings. Their passions.

You know that they are unique.

And as their parent or guardian that means you are equipped to know what is best for your child.

Use this knowledge to make an informed choice about which educational path to choose for your child.

That might mean that one of your children is homeschooled full time for their entire academic career, whilst your other child attends school. It may mean that you choose to flexi-school (where your child attends school part-time whilst you homeschool for the remainder of the time). It may mean that you homeschool for a year or two and then send your child to school for the final few years of formal education when they are more able to cope.

Provided the law in your country allows, it is your choice.

Traditional schooling versus homeschooling

Most state schools approach education in a fairly uniform way.

They follow state guidelines or a national curriculum and have targets they are expected to attain. In principle it seems like a good idea to aspire to get every child to a particular level by a particular age (and obviously schools are accountable to parents and parents want their children to keep up with their peers and do well). Sadly many children fall through the net and either fail to reach those ‘targets’ or are under-challenged and don’t perform as well as they could.

With large class sizes it can be difficult to provide a personalised education that caters to the the individual child. There is no thought given to educational style or philosophy. It is one style fits all. This is where homeschooling has the edge.

Some children are academic and will most likely do well whether home-educated or schooled traditionally in a school setting.

But not all children will.

Just as each adult has different preferences so do children.

They are unique.

Homeschooling can cater for individual needs

Homeschooling can cater for all those varied and individual needs.

It can provide opportunities to:

• have music playing in the background to aid learning
• learn outdoors
• follow interests that don’t feature in the national curriculum
• assimilate learning through play before doing more formal learning
• choose more practical-based learning, with plenty of opportunity to experiment with tactile objects
• have time to just run around every half an hour or so if need be
• have a calm and peaceful environment
• to lie down on the floor to learn (or snuggle up on the sofa, or learn wherever they feel most comfortable)

Homeschooling allows us to cater to their needs and interests and to provide both a curriculum that matches their interests and needs, but also allows us to tailor their learning in such a way that it matches their learning style and also balances family values.

Homeschooling Tip #9:

Choose an educational philosophy that matches your beliefs

We are eclectic homeschoolers, meaning that we blend several different educational philosophies into the way we approach our homeschool day.

When I trained as a teacher there was never any input on different learning styles or educational philosophy. We were just taught how to teach. How to impart knowledge and teach concepts. How to spoon-feed. How to reach targets and assess. There was never any discussion on how to structure a school day other than follow the list of subjects we were required to teach. We just had a list of key objectives we had to cover, usually by working through a workbook, worksheet or using the whiteboard. We were taught that written tests were the best way to assess as they provided concrete ‘evidence’ and we were told that the best way to teach was to arrange children into ability groups.

And to some extent these methods do work.

Consider Family Beliefs and Values

But by adopting an educational philosophy that mirrors your family’s beliefs and values and structuring your activities by using different styles of learning, the depth of learning can be so much greater. You can nurture your children’s interests and abilities and let them grow at a pace and time that suits them.

There are many different educational philosophies to choose from so I’m sure there is one out there that matches your belief system and is suited to the way your children learn. Many people start off following one philosophy and then a few years later discover a different one that they have more affinity with and start following that instead, finding it to be a better fit with their family.

What educational philosophies are there to choose from?

As I mentioned earlier we are eclectic homeschoolers so we tend to weave together a few philosophies. The ones we follow are:

• Steiner Waldorf
• Charlotte Mason
• Project-based Homeschooling (as devised by Lori Pickart)
• Unschooling
• Reggio Emilia
• Nature-based (Wild + Free, Wildschooling)

I could write a whole book about the pros and cons of these, and other philosophies, so will not go into too much detail here. Generally we use a range of approaches that help to create a love of books, nature and play and where learning is child-led allowing the child to follow their passions and where the child is brought up in a safe and secure home environment where they feel nourished and loved.

Other philosophies you might like to consider include Classical, Montessori, Unit Studies and School at home methods.

A quick Google search will help to give you an overview of all the approaches available.

Homeschooling Tip #10:

Create your own family culture of successful, joy-filled learning

To sum up I would say that you really don’t need to fret about how or what to teach your children as given the right atmosphere learning will happen naturally.

Create your own family culture of successful, joy-filled learning:

• Start by thinking about what you value most for the education of your child and weave that together into your daily life – into how you structure your day, what your environment looks like and into your attitude to learning.
• Encourage curiosity
• Foster a love of books
• Let your children play
• Spend lots of time outdoors immersed in Nature
• Follow your children’s interests and passions
• Enjoy learning together!