There are as many different reasons for homeschooling as there are homeschoolers, so what brought you to this point isn't really important. But everyone seems to share the same level of apprehension when it comes time to put the rubber to the road. After all, you are about to make a huge impact on your child's future and you don't want to screw that up! Chances are though, if you care enough to worry about your child's future, you won't mess it up. Staying organized and staying flexible...those are the keys to managing your child's education.

The first step in organization is assessing your own authority as a parent. If the inmates are running the asylum, you won't get much teaching done! So having a good system of discipline in place is very important BEFORE you begin homeschooling. You don't want to be an evil taskmaster. But if your education program were a ship, you (and your spouse) should be at the helm.

The next step in organization is formulating a plan. Your plan can be for the week, for the month, or for the year. And that plan can, and probably will, change to some degree. That's where staying flexible comes in! Start by writing down the reason you want to homeschool your child(ren). That will usually prompt you to set a goal. If your child has been struggling in a classroom setting, you may have a goal of getting him or her up to grade level in a certain subject. From there you can begin to research curriculum choices and develop a strategy for meeting this goal. Think of your home education program as a business with you as the manager. Believe me. It's a full time job!

Now that you have a business plan, it's time to research the "market". Each state has different laws regarding home education. You can find a complete listing here: http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

There are some states that have no regulation on home schooling. On the other hand, there are states that impose home visits on parents by state officials. Make sure you know the laws for your state before you begin. Once this homework is complete, you can start digging into the mountains of curriculum that every homeschool parent must sort through. We'll climb those mountains in the next article. Until then...Happy Homeschooling!