Know Your State Laws

• Check out information about your state’s home schooling laws.
• Contact the Texas Home School coalition at www.thsc.org and your local home school organizations. They can provide information on state requirements as well as other helpful information.
• Contact other home schooling families who can share information on home schooling and home school organizations.
• Check out the Home School Legal Defense Association at www.hslda.org. This national home school organization provides information regarding legal requirements for each state as well as membership in their organization.

Obtain Curriculum

• The state of Texas requires you use a curriculum consisting of books, workbooks, or other written material or electronic media.
• Make sure to design a curriculum to meet the basic education goals of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and good citizenship within the meaning of Section 25.086(a)(1) of the Texas Education Code at www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/edtoc.html.
• Obtain quality curriculum from a reputable Christian publisher to be assured your material will contain no objectionable pictures, themes, words, or stories.
• Ask other home schooling families about their experiences with their curriculum.
• Purchase basic curriculum first and then add extras such as charts, maps, and manipulatives as needed.
• Consider purchasing curriculum that contains daily lesson plans. Lesson plans take the guesswork out of what you need to teach your child at each grade level.
• Purchase curriculum early (possible 2 to 3 months before teaching) in order to become familiar with the format and to prepare for daily lesson plans.

Set Up Your Home School

• Establish a special place in your home for the purpose of training. You don't need to reproduce public school atmosphere at home. You might consider using tables and chairs as well as a chalkboard or whiteboard.
• Equip your teaching area with necessary teacher and student school supplies and resources, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.
• Organize your curriculum and resources in bookcases for easy accessibility.

Keep Records

• Although Texas does not require that you keep certain records about student assignments, it would be wise to maintain records of achievements.
• Keep samples of your children’s work for each subject as well as grades earned.
• You might consider keeping all important home school documents in a special file such as Letter of Intent, Attendance Records, standardized test records, academic transcript, etc.
• At the end of the year, store records in a filing system by school year and by child.

Organize Your Time

• Work with your spouse to develop a school schedule based on the number of school days your state requires.
• Determine when your school year will begin and end.
• Determine when your school day will begin and end.
• Maintain discipline so that children do not waste time that could be used to study. Remember, character training is vital to a Christian home.
  
• Include long-term projects, seasonal activities, ministries, holidays, and vacations in your school planning.

Prepare Lesson Plans

•  Prepare at least one week’s lessons ahead of time, gathering materials for lessons, collecting resources for lessons, preparing visuals, etc.
• In preparing lesson plans, record lesson numbers and pages, activities, and student textbook and workbook pages in a daily lesson plan book.
• Highlight vital information such as concepts, key words, and directions in your teacher’s edition to help you teach the lesson effectively.
• Review the evening before to refresh your memory and to put materials in place for the next day.

Find a Support Group

• Attend several meetings to become acquainted with the group and its purposes, goals, and activities.
• During support group activities for your children, assess standards to be sure they are in keeping with those you have for your family.
• Support groups can provide information about state home school issues, suggest good resources such as magazines and newsletters, and often conduct curriculum fairs and seminars.