When you're thinking about starting to homeschool, it can feel very overwhelming. You care so much about your child and want to make sure you're doing everything right, but the great thing about homeschooling is that it's flexible, there's no rush and you can work at your and your child's pace.

1. Legal Requirements
One of first steps that you'll want to look at is checking with the legal requirements in your state. Since I'm a teacher and not a lawyer, I can't offer any legal advice on this, but I've made this page of links to state resources that can help point you in the right direction.

After you've figured this out, you'll want to start thinking about how you'll set up your homeschool and how to teach. Again, there's no rush with this, so give yourself some time to explore resources and make some decisions. There are a few areas that I think you'll want to consider, and I have a page of resources for each.

2. Curriculum
Many of the families I hear from ask which curriculum they should purchase. I prefer creating my own lessons and activities because many published programs are not specifically designed for autistic students. However, if you find a curriculum that works well for your child, you can always add additional activities to provide more practice or to present a skill in a different way if needed. I often refer to these extra activities as “curriculum supplements.” I offer many of these for free here. You can also read about some of my favorite published curriculum programs here.

3. Assessment/Tracking Progress
If your child has been in school and had an IEP, you'll know that the IEP includes goals for each subject area and also how progress will be tracked on each goal. You might choose to do something similar for your child at home. Here's a link to some information about how to do this, as well as a link to a free homeschool portfolio template.

If you'd like more support, please feel free to send me a message at nicolekcaldwell@gmail.com.

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