How Do I Begin to Homeschool?

Did you teach your child to walk and talk? Did you potty-train your child? Then yes, you are qualified to homeschool! CHC’s texts and workbooks are designed to be “self-teaching,” so you don’t have to be an expert in grammar, history, science, or any other subjects. All you need is knowledge of your children and the desire to nurture their love for learning and their relationship with God.

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect,” one veteran homeschooling parent urges. “Teachers are not perfect and neither are we. The choice to homeschool is a privilege and a gift to your child and family.”

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but there are slightly different requirements in each state. In most states, such as Texas and California, you are free to homeschool with very few legal requirements. In a few states, such as New York, homeschooling is more heavily regulated. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association is your best resource for knowing what rules to follow in your state. Their site clearly outlines the homeschool laws in each state and how to comply with them.

We’d like to say that CHC is the perfect curriculum, but it wouldn’t be true! There simply isn’t one perfect curriculum. This is because every child and family is unique, so what works for one homeschooler might not work for another homeschooler. Homeschooling parents have to make their own decisions about what curriculum best matches their educational goals and their children’s learning styles.

All this being said, we’ve heard from a lot of families that CHC is one of the best curricula options for new homeschoolers. This is because it combines aspects from different learning styles (full-color textbooks, hands-on projects, engaging stories) and offers a happy medium between structure and freedom. Beginning your homeschooling journey with CHC gives you an opportunity to “learn the ropes” without needing to stress about curriculum choices. Later, you can decide whether to continue with CHC’s full program, use mostly CHC but switch out a few subjects, use a different homeschool provider, or create your own curriculum from scratch. This decision will be much easier once you have a year’s worth of experience of your children’s learning styles and what works for your family.

“I wanted you to know that I ALWAYS recommend that new homeschoolers start with your products. The beauty, clarity, hand-holding and sheer loveliness of your product line cannot be beat.” —Heather, OH

Good question! We recommend checking with the Homeschool Legal Defense Association to see if there are particular requirements for your state. Most states either leave it up to the parent to choose what to teach or have very basic requirements. (For instance, Texas only requires math, reading, spelling, grammar, and good citizenship).

Once you have met any requirements in your state, there is no limit to how you can adapt the curriculum. CHC’s grade-level lesson plans make it easy to know what is most essential by distinguishing between core and non-core subjects. Core subjects are the “basic essentials” of education, such as math, grammar, and science. Non-core subjects, such as art, map skills, and music, are optional. You can either follow the lesson plans as they were written or adapt them to your child’s needs and interests. For example, you might decide to substitute a different math program, use a higher or lower level in a particular subject, and omit/add enrichment activities.

Your parish priest will often know of other homeschooling families in your parish. In addition, public libraries are used extensively by homeschoolers; librarians often have contact names and numbers. Your local school district administration offices frequently will have contact information as well. For online support, check out these independent Facebook groups, run by CHC homeschoolers:

• Catholic Heritage Curricula Homeschoolers
• Homeschooling with CHC

Yes! In 2023, CHC staff researched the admission policies of the top 100 colleges and universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. We also researched the U.S. Catholic colleges recognized by The Newman Guide. Every single school, whether secular or Catholic, accepted homeschoolers.

Even better, every single school confirmed that high school transcripts signed by the parent count as “official transcripts” just as much as transcripts from accredited home study schools. This means that it is not necessary to pay expensive tuition fees to an accredited home study school simply in order to get into college.

Accreditation is a voluntary process by which a private organization gives its “stamp of approval” to a school’s teaching standards, safety protocols, financial status, and curriculum. Unfortunately, there are no agreed-upon standards for whether or not a school is granted accreditation. Because of this, the fact that a school is accredited does not mean that its program is academically excellent. Colleges and universities know this, which is why they pay more attention to SAT/ACT test scores and admissions essays than to whether an applicant’s transcript is accredited.

CHC materials are used in accredited schools, but CHC itself is not eligible for accreditation because it is a curriculum provider, not a school. If you are attracted by CHC’s curriculum but feel strongly that you want accreditation, you might consider enrolling in Clonlara School’s Off-Campus Program. Although expensive, enrolling with Clonlara will allow you to use CHC materials with accreditation.

Homeschooling can cost a lot or a little depending on your approach. One of the most expensive options is to enroll your children in an accredited home study program, in which case the cost per child ranges from $400-$1000 per year depending on the child’s age. Besides being expensive, this option also comes with less freedom to adapt the curriculum to your child’s unique interests and skills.

The least expensive option is to pull together your own curriculum using library books and free online resources. With this option, you can probably get by with spending only $50-$100 per student, but you will have to invest a lot of time into planning your curriculum and vetting the resources for secular/Protestant biases.

CHC takes a middle ground by offering: