How to Homeschool in Louisville
Are you considering homeschooling and you don’t know how to do it?
Here are resources and tips that will help you gain more information about how to homeschool.
We asked on of our long-time readers who has homeschooled her children for years to put together tips for parents who are wondering how to homeschool in Louisville.
By: Amy Callihan
The idea of homeschooling can be overwhelming.
My advice is to gain as much knowledge as you can ahead of time, be as prepared as you can be, but also be flexible. Some curriculum just might not work for your child or family. Homeschooling, at the beginning, is a lot like bringing home a new baby from the hospital. You have to find your groove and figure out what works for your family. I just finished my 8th year of homeschooling in Louisville, so I want to share some of the resources I have used. There are so many options and resources available to help you on this road!
LAWS:
Homeschoolers are considered private schools in Kentucky. You are required to teach a certain number of hours per year, teach certain subjects, keep attendance, and notify the board of education within two weeks of school starting that you plan to homeschool. All of this information and much more about how to homeschool in Louisville is provided on these websites:
HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association).
CHECK (Christian Home Educators of Kentucky)
CURRICULUM:
There are many options when deciding how you want your homeschool to look. If you know of a friend that homeschools, you might start with looking through their curriculum to get an idea of what they use.
Homeschoolers are usually more than happy to share what they know about how to homeschool in Louisville! If you aren’t lucky enough to have a homeschooler in your circle of friends, start with the Cathy Duffy Reviews website. This site breaks curriculum down by subject, by type (online learning vs textbooks), and complete grade packages.
If you want to see curriculum before you purchase it, I highly recommend visiting Karen at Kurriculum Korner in Crestwood. She is an experienced homeschooler that can help you pick out used curriculum based on your child’s interests, etc.
CO-OPS, COTTAGE SCHOOLS, & CONSORTIUMS:
There are several reasons to get involved in a co-op, cottage school, or consortium. They provide socialization opportunities for the kids (and the Moms!!!), offer support to parents who aren’t confident teaching a particular subject, allow parents a chance to share their expertise/passion, and provide opportunities that might not be available to a homeschooler (parties, field trips, theatre productions, classroom environment, etc.).
A co-op generally requires the parent to stay and teach/assist in a classroom, whereas cottage schools and consortiums are usually drop-off schools and can vary from one class a week, one day a week, up to four days per week.
All these options can give your kids opportunities to take core subjects and/or elective-type classes, depending on your needs.
Home For His Glory (HFHG) is a good place to start. They have a very active Christian homeschooling community in Louisville and offer multiple co-op locations, dances/prom, roller skating parties, field day, etc. throughout the year. The HFHG Facebook Page is a good place to ask questions of seasoned homeschoolers. Their website also has a more complete directory of Christian cottage schools.
Louisville Homeschool is a secular cottage school in the Highlands area. They offer field trips, dances, field day, and some sports teams. Their Facebook Page is another good resource.
Christian Education Consortium provides a Christian education for older homeschool students in grades 6-12. They also offer sports.
Masters Conservatory offers theater, chorale, dance and visual art classes for students as young as age 10 through high school.
CROSS Academy is a Christian co-op that is located in J-Town/Beuchel/Fern Creek Area and offers mostly core subject classes from pre-k through 12th grade.
Highland Latin School has a cottage school and offers a-la-carte classes for 3rd grade and up.
Sayers Classical Academy offers a Christ-centered classical education for Pre-K through 12th grade.
River City Field Trips organizes a variety of field trips throughout Kentucky and Indiana.
Louisville Free Public Library has a list of homeschool resources and programs throughout the school year, like 4H for Homeschoolers.
Still with me? I know this is information overload about how to homeschool in Louisville and you are probably feeling overwhelmed. Do your research in small spurts. For our family, homeschooling has been a wonderful experience. I love the flexibility it provides us to take vacations in the off season and go on field trips around Louisville when places aren’t crowded. I love that if my child has an interest in rocks, we can explore geology together. I love not having a school dictate my evenings with homework. Mostly I love the extra time I have with my children and that they have with each other.
Amy is willing to answer questions on Facebook if you have any! Just post in the comments here.
Check out our Learning posts for more opportunities to have fun learning with your kids.
