How to start homeschooling: a step-by-step guide for beginners

To start homeschooling, check your state's homeschool law first, withdraw your child from school if they are enrolled, pick an approach, gather free materials, set a simple daily rhythm, find other homeschooling families and keep records from day one. Most beginners need less time, money and structure than they expect. Peabody (peabody.kids), a free reading and math site for kids, wrote this guide. Peabody is free through the end of 2026, with no sign-up, and it is practice beside your own teaching, not a full curriculum.

Step 1: Check your state's homeschool law

Homeschool rules are set by each state, and they differ a lot. Some states ask for a notice to the school district, some ask for a set number of days or hours, some ask for testing or an evaluation at certain grades, and some ask for very little.

Start at HSLDA's state homeschool law map, opened as of October 2026, find your state, and read your own state's page from top to bottom. Then check your state education department's own site, because that is the official source. HSLDA (the Home School Legal Defense Association) is an advocacy group, not a government office.

For an example of what a state can ask, Colorado's law asks a parent to send written notice to a school district 14 days before starting, each year; to teach at least 172 days averaging four instructional contact hours a day; to cover set subjects; and to test or have an evaluation in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5, on the Colorado Department of Education's site). Our plain summary is in Colorado homeschool requirements. Your state may be quite different, so check your state's rules rather than going by Colorado's.

This guide is not legal advice. If your situation is unusual (a custody arrangement, special education services, a child who has missed a lot of school), ask your district or a lawyer before you start.

Step 2: Withdraw from school, if your child is enrolled

If your child is in a public or private school now, HSLDA recommends that you formally withdraw them rather than simply stop sending them, and, if they are enrolled for next year, withdraw before that year begins so they are not marked absent. HSLDA also suggests sending letters by certified mail and keeping copies of everything. Its guidance is written state by state, and local schools may have their own forms, so look for your own state's version.

A common order is: learn what your state asks you to file, file it, then withdraw, so there is no gap where your child is neither enrolled nor legally homeschooling.

Step 3: Pick an approach (loosely)

You do not have to choose a "method" to start, and most families end up mixing several. Here are four common ones, briefly and fairly.

• Traditional (school at home). Textbooks or a boxed curriculum, grade levels, tests. It is familiar and easy to plan, and it makes a return to school straightforward. Done hour for hour like school, it can feel long at a kitchen table.
• Charlotte Mason. Short lessons, "living books" (real books by writers who love their subject, instead of textbooks), nature study, and narration, where a child tells back what they heard. It is gentle and book-rich, and it asks a lot of reading aloud from you. More in Charlotte Mason: short lessons and living books.
• Classical. Learning in three stages (memory work when young, then logic, then argument and writing), history taught in cycles, and often Latin. It is structured and ambitious, and it can be heavy on reading and writing for some children.
• Unschooling. The child's interests lead; the parent provides books, trips, tools and conversation, with no set lessons. It can grow deep, self-driven learners, and it asks you to watch closely and to be comfortable with uneven progress. More in unschooling and interest-led learning.

Many families call themselves eclectic: a workbook for math, living books for history, interest-led science. That is a fine place to start.

Step 4: Choose materials, free ones first

Do not buy a full year of curriculum in the first week. Use free things for a month, see how your child learns, then spend money on the gaps.

• A library card. Picture books, chapter books, science and history books, audiobooks, and often free programs for homeschoolers.
• Free reading practice. Peabody's free library has short stories sorted into 13 reading levels from Pre-K to 8th grade, each with a few questions, plus up to three new AI-written stories a day at the child's level.
• Free math. Peabody has math paths from Pre-K to 8th grade (for example 2nd grade), made and marked by code, not AI. Khan Academy, a nonprofit, describes its learning platform as free.
• Paper, pencils and a notebook per child. Writing still happens on paper.
• What you already have. Cooking is fractions, a walk is science, a board game is counting.

There is a longer list in free homeschool apps.

Step 5: Set a rhythm, not a timetable

A rhythm is the order of the day, not times on a clock: breakfast, a short shared time, reading, math, outside, lunch, read-aloud, free time. It holds up better than a timetable when the baby wakes early or a lesson runs long.

Start small. In the first weeks, an hour of focused work is plenty for a young child, and two for an older one. Sample days for each age, a weekly template and loop scheduling are in homeschool schedule: sample daily schedules by age.

Step 6: Find community

Homeschooling does not have to be lonely, for you or your child.

• Co-ops, where families take turns teaching a class.
• Library programs and homeschool days at museums, zoos and nature centres.
• Park days organised by local homeschool groups.
• Sports, music, scouts and clubs. In some states homeschooled children can join public school activities; Colorado's law, for example, gives them the right to take part "on an equal basis" in public school extracurricular activities (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5). Ask your district.

Step 7: Keep records from day one

Even if your state asks for little, keep a simple record. It helps if your state ever asks, if your child returns to school, and on the days you wonder whether anything is happening.

• Attendance: a calendar with a tick for each school day, and hours if your state counts them.
• Work samples: a few pages of writing and math each month, dated.
• A reading list: every book read, by your child or to them.
• Tests or evaluations, if your state requires them.

A free Peabody family account gives a grown-up view of each child's last seven days: time split into reading, math, games, making stories and everything else, stories finished, story questions right, math answers right, math parts finished and new words. A separate Learning record page prints any range you pick (up to 400 days) as a sheet of days, minutes, stories and math parts, and downloads the hours as a spreadsheet; parents can put it in the binder beside their own log. It is not an attendance register or a portfolio on its own. More in homeschool record keeping and portfolios.

Your first month of homeschooling

Where Peabody fits in a new homeschool

Peabody is a good fit for the practice part of a day, and it costs nothing to try. A child starts from the front page with one tap and no account.

• Reading: 10 minutes, most days. Your child reads a library story at their level aloud to you, then answers its questions. You listen and talk about it.
• Math: 10 to 15 minutes, four days a week. One math part (ten right answers finish it), then a written page on the same topic from you.
• Fridays: a learning game where the questions are math or words, as the fun part of review day.

What Peabody does not do: it is not a boxed curriculum and has no standards report, no written work and no test. It cannot hear your child read aloud. It has no open chatbot (its one chat is short and screened, for 3rd grade and up), and it does not teach writing, or science and history beyond short starter trails. Most families pair it with their own writing, science and history. The homeschool hub links everything, and using Peabody in your homeschool has a fuller plan.

Learn more elsewhere

• HSLDA: find your state's homeschool law, then read your own state's page.
• HSLDA: how to withdraw your child from school (Iowa example); look for your own state's version.
• Colorado's homeschool law on the Colorado Department of Education's site, as one state's example.
• Khan Academy, a free nonprofit learning site.

Questions parents ask

How do I start homeschooling?

Read your own state's homeschool law, file whatever notice it asks for, and formally withdraw your child from school if they are enrolled. Then start small: daily reading aloud, a short math lesson, time outside and a library card, adding writing and other subjects over the first month. Keep simple records from the first day.

Do I need to be a teacher to homeschool?

In many states, no, but it depends on the state. In Colorado, for example, the Department of Education says the teacher must be the child's parent, legal guardian or an adult relative the parent chooses, and no other qualifications or licences are required. Check your own state's law.

Can I start homeschooling in the middle of the school year?

Yes, in most places, as long as you follow your state's steps. HSLDA recommends formally withdrawing a child who is enrolled, rather than just stopping attendance, and keeping copies of every letter. File any notice your state requires so there is no gap.

How much does homeschooling cost?

It can cost very little. A library card, paper and pencils, and free sites such as Peabody and Khan Academy cover a lot, especially in the early grades. Many families spend money only after a month or two, once they know where the gaps are.

What is the best homeschool approach for beginners?

There is no single best one. Many beginners start loosely, with daily reading, short math lessons and library books on topics their child likes, then lean toward traditional, Charlotte Mason, classical or interest-led learning once they see what suits their child. Mixing approaches is common.

Is Peabody a homeschool curriculum?

No. Peabody is free practice and short lessons for reading and math from Pre-K to 8th grade, with a library of leveled stories and learning games. It has no standards report, written work or test, so most families use it beside their own writing, science and history. It is free through the end of 2026.