Practical Guides

Everything you need to know to homeschool well.

Step-by-step guides to starting homeschool, choosing curriculum, keeping records, planning your days, and getting through high school — written by Annie Cohen, homeschooling mom of four.

Latest · Compliance

Homeschool Testing and Assessment: What's Required and What's Not

Standardized tests, portfolio reviews, evaluator sign-offs — which states require what, which options you have, and how to choose the approach that serves your child best.

Jul 5, 2026·11 min read
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Getting Started

Deschooling: The Essential First Step After Leaving Public School

What deschooling is, why it matters, how long it takes, and what to actually do during it — the transition most families skip and then wish they hadn't.

Jul 2, 2026 · 10 min
Day-to-Day

The Working Parent's Guide to Homeschooling

Part-time work, shift schedules, remote work, and shared responsibility — how real families make homeschooling work without a full-time stay-at-home parent.

Jun 30, 2026 · 12 min
Day-to-Day

Homeschooling on a Budget: How to Spend Less Than $500 per Year

The frugal homeschooler's full toolkit — free curriculum, library leverage, used-book strategy, and every funding source that can cut your out-of-pocket cost to near zero.

Jun 28, 2026 · 11 min
High School

How to Write a Homeschool Transcript

The mechanics of building a high school transcript from scratch — courses, credits, grades, GPA calculation, and what colleges actually need to see.

Jun 26, 2026 · 12 min
Curriculum

Secular vs. Faith-Based Homeschool Curriculum: A Framework for Deciding

The worldview question every homeschool family navigates — what each approach actually means, where the lines blur, and how to audit a curriculum before you buy.

Jun 24, 2026 · 11 min
Curriculum

Homeschooling Methods Explained: Classical, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, Unschooling, and More

The five major homeschool philosophies — what they believe about how children learn, what a typical day looks like, and which families each one serves best.

Jun 22, 2026 · 13 min
Day-to-Day

Homeschooling a Child with Special Needs: Dyslexia, ADHD, and Giftedness

How homeschooling uniquely serves children who fall outside the middle of the bell curve — and the specific accommodations and curricula that work.

Jun 20, 2026 · 12 min
High School

Homeschooling High School: Transcripts, Credits, and College Prep

Dual enrollment, CLEP tests, transcript strategy, and everything you need to know about homeschooling through graduation.

Jun 18, 2026 · 12 min
Day-to-Day

The Real Cost of Homeschooling (and How to Fund It)

An honest budget breakdown — from the free path to the full-service option — plus every funding source available to families right now.

Jun 16, 2026 · 11 min
Day-to-Day

Homeschool Socialization: Co-ops, Classes, and Community

The #1 question every homeschool parent gets — answered honestly, with the research and the practical playbook.

Jun 14, 2026 · 9 min
Day-to-Day

Homeschooling Multiple Children: Logistics, Sibling Teaching, and Shared Subjects

The practical playbook for running a multi-kid homeschool — from scheduling to combining history across four grade levels.

Jun 12, 2026 · 10 min
Day-to-Day

Building a Homeschool Schedule That Actually Works

Time-blocking for one kid is straightforward. For three kids across three grade levels, it requires a system. Here's the one that holds.

Jun 10, 2026 · 10 min
Compliance

Homeschool Record Keeping and Portfolios: What to Track and Why

The records your state actually requires, the records you'll want for college, and the simplest system that covers both.

Jun 7, 2026 · 9 min
Curriculum

How to Choose a Homeschool Curriculum

A decision framework built on learning style, budget, religious lens, and how much parent involvement you can actually sustain.

Jun 5, 2026 · 11 min
Getting Started

Your First Year of Homeschooling: A 90-Day Action Plan

The three-month runway from 'we're doing this' to a working routine — with the real decisions in the right order.

Jun 3, 2026 · 10 min
Getting Started

How to Start Homeschooling: A Step-by-Step Guide

The paperwork, the curriculum decisions, the first-week plan — here's exactly what to do, in the order you actually need to do it.

Jun 1, 2026 · 9 min
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Homeschool Guides — Homeschool Factory