Homeschooling has become one of the fastest-growing educational choices in the United States. Once considered an alternative used by only a small number of families, homeschooling is now a mainstream educational option serving millions of children from diverse backgrounds. Families who homeschool represent every political viewpoint, income level, religion, culture, and educational philosophy.

Project-based learning brings multiple academic subject areas together within one meaningful learning experience. Rather than studying skills in isolation, students discover that reading, writing, research, math, science, history, art, technology, and communication often work together to solve problems and create something purposeful. Through a single project, students may analyze historical context, calculate measurements, investigate scientific concepts, write explanations, design visuals, use digital tools, and present their findings to an audience. This integrated approach helps students understand that learning is connected, practical, and useful beyond the boundaries of individual subjects.

Project-based learning works especially well in a homeschool setting because it allows children of different ages and parents to work as a shared project team. Instead of every child completing the same assignment at the same level, the family begins with a meaningful question, problem, or challenge and then divides the work according to each person’s talents, interests, and skills.

Homeschooling is filled with the joy of learning and exploring together. One of the first questions many new homeschooling families ask is, “Where are we going to do school?” Homeschooling means converting living spaces into learning spaces. The learning space answer is not necessarily an isolated room, a remodeled basement, or an expensive space filled with brand-new furniture. A viable homeschool space can be simple, affordable, flexible, and designed to protect the living areas of the home. The goal is not to recreate a traditional classroom. The goal is to create a functional learning environment that supports multiple ages, different activities, and family life.

As a special education teacher I had been taught to observe and evaluate. My aide taught me to sit at eye level with my students and listen to them. She taught me to set aside all of the test scores and past misdeeds, and to turn my classroom into a family environment where kids were free to risk failure and free to discover the joy of learning. And, with that I became a teacher. 

It’s important to note that the Common Core is that the standards are not a curriculum. They do not tell teachers exactly which books to assign, which projects to use, or which daily lessons to teach. Instead, they provide learning benchmarks. In English language arts, the standards emphasize reading complex texts, writing clearly for different purposes, using evidence, developing vocabulary, speaking and listening effectively, and building literacy across content areas.

Kindness is a foundational social behavior that underpins healthy relationships, productive learning environments, and well-functioning communities. While children are often instructed to “be kind,” such directives assume a shared understanding that may not exist. For a child who has never had kindness explicitly identified, modeled, or named, the instruction itself lacks clarity and meaning.

Scratch not only develops solid problem solving skills and fosters a positive attitude toward computer technologies, it also encouraged the sharing of creative design ideas and assistance with computer skills among learners similar in age and grade level.

Did anyone read aloud to you when you were growing up? Perhaps a parent or teacher? Was it a tradition to have a story read to you at bedtime? What made that time special? Perhaps someone read aloud A Wrinkle in Time or Wind in the Willows or some other story that allowed your imagination to soar.

When my daughter was in fifth grade I approached the local public school superintendent about having her, as a homeschooled learner, join the school orchestra. I ensured the superintendent that she would be at every class and well prepared. My daughter had been playing piano since she was 4, and willingly spent long practice times preparing for her next piano lesson. She simply loved to play. My question was met with an emphatic, “No .”