How to Home School in Alabama

Home schooling is a major undertaking. It requires planning, preparation, and commitment. It should not be undertaken lightly or hurriedly.

CHEF recommends a prayerful and thoughtful approach to the first-time home educator. Because of that, we have compiled the following checklist of things you need to do to prepare to home educate your children.

Give yourself at least 30 days to prepare. Ninety days is better. You will need to do research, order curriculum, and affiliate with a home education church school. You need lots of time for that. Don't take your child out of the classroom school until you have taken all these steps.

Learn all you can about home education. Think it through... it must be a heart felt decision. Do some homework and reading. Some of the many helpful books available include:

	The Right Choice--Home Schooling by Christopher J. Klicka
	The Christian Home School by Gregg Harris
	How to Home School, A Practical Approach by Gayle Graham
	The Home School Manual by Theodore E. Wade, Jr.
	The How and Why of Home Schooling by Ray E. Ballman
	The Big Book of Home Learning, Vol. 1 by Mary Pride

Enroll in a local church school organized as a home education ministry in order to comply with Alabama law. Your children will be enrolled with the church school, you will become a faculty member, and your home will become a classroom of the school.
Join Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). If your children are of compulsory attendance age (between the ages of 7 and 16), CHEF highly recommends this "legal insurance." The annual fee is $115. Join the HSLDA Discount Group sponsored by CHEF of Alabama and save $20.
Attend home education seminars and/or curriculum fairs. CHEF hosts an annual convention and curriculum fair.
Subscribe to one or more of the home education magazines. You'll find them very helpful and informative. You'll find a list of these on our resources page.

Select your curriculum. Consider your teaching style, your child's learning style, affordability and objectives. Several books and tapes helpful in choosing curriculum are:

	The Three R's (Grades K-3), by Ruth Beechick
	You Can Teach Your Child Successfully (Grades 4-8), by Ruth Beechick
	The Big Book of Home Learning, Vol. I and II, by Mary Pride
	The Home Educator's Curriculum Manual, by Cathy Duffy

Order your curriculum. There are many options for home education curriculum. You may wish to use one publisher's complete graded coursework for the first year. Please see our resources page for a preliminary list of curriculum suppliers. Once you get on a few of the catalog mailing lists you will have many catalogs in your mailbox on a regular basis. Once you have begun you may want to design your own curriculum from the many available sources. Curriculum catalogs are also a convenient way to see what is available and order your materials if you are familiar with the curriculum. Other options are available such as correspondence courses, Internet based courses, computer based courses, and satellite delivered courses. The Calvert School is one such textbook based complete correspondence school.

WHEN NOT TO TRY HOME SCHOOLING

	If both husband and wife are not in agreement that home education is right for their children, it is best not to proceed. Keep praying!
	If the parent who will do most of the teaching must have a regular full-time job outside the home, it will be extremely difficult to devote the time necessary to home education and general supervision.
	If the parent has difficulty maintaining discipline, it may be difficult to have an effective home education program.
	If you are not committed to the task of teaching, you will not reap the rewards of home education. Unlike a hobby, the education of your children demands a steady "day-in-day-out" commitment. Avoid the "experiment" mentality.
	Consider your motivation. You want to remove your child from a bad situation, but if you are not answering the call of the Lord to teach your children, you will find it difficult to be successful. Running away from ordinary challenges might teach your child the wrong lesson.