Starting Your Homeschool Journey: What to Do in the First 90 Days

Most families start their homeschool journey in a moment of clarity — a bad school experience, a child who is not thriving, a move that forces a change, or a quiet conviction that has been building for months. The clarity about why is usually strong. The clarity about what to do next is usually not.

This post is about the first 90 days: the legal steps you need to take, the decisions that actually matter, and the decisions that seem urgent but are not. The goal is to help you start with confidence rather than anxiety.

Before You Do Anything Else: Handle the Legal Step

Every state has a different legal process for home education, and you need to know yours before you pull your child from school. The withdrawal and notification process is not complicated in most states, but skipping it or getting it wrong can create friction with your school district and, in rare cases, lead to truancy complications.

The general pattern across most US states:

1. Notify the school of your intent to withdraw your child
2. File whatever state-required notice or declaration applies in your state (this varies significantly by state)
3. Understand what recordkeeping you are required to maintain

In low-regulation states like Missouri, the process is straightforward: notify the school in writing, file a notice of intent with the county superintendent, and keep basic records (an instruction log and documentation of the five required subjects). There is no curriculum approval, no portfolio submission, no home visits, no annual testing.

In more regulated states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or New York, there are additional steps — portfolio submissions, annual evaluations, standardized tests, or approval of your educational plan.

Know your state's requirements before you start. Handle the legal step cleanly, and you can focus the rest of your energy on education.

The Deschooling Phase: Give It Time

A concept that experienced homeschoolers often recommend for new families is deschooling — a deliberate period of transition where you resist the urge to immediately replicate school at home.

The conventional guidance, originating with education reformer John Holt, is to allow approximately one month of deschooling for each year your child was in traditional school. During this period, you reduce structured academic pressure and allow your child to explore, rest, read for pleasure, pursue interests, and decompress from the institutional environment.

This is not permission to do nothing. It is a recognition that children who have been in school for years often need time to rediscover intrinsic motivation and shed the learned helplessness that structured schooling can produce. A child who has spent six years being told when to sit, when to stand, what to think about, and when to stop thinking about it will not immediately thrive under self-directed learning without this transition.

For practical purposes: if your child was in school for 5 years, a deschooling period might look like 5 weeks of light structure, lots of reading, outdoor time, creative projects, and field trips — before you begin a more deliberate academic routine.

Not every family does this. Families with older students, students with significant learning gaps, or students who genuinely want to get to work may not need or want a full deschooling period. But it is worth understanding the concept and building in at least some buffer before you launch a full academic schedule.

Setting Up a Daily Structure

Once you are ready to begin regular instruction, the biggest practical decision is structure. There are two failure modes to avoid:

Too much structure: Replicating a 6-hour school day with 45-minute periods, bells, and formal seat work. Most families find this exhausting, unsustainable, and unnecessary. Homeschool instruction is more efficient than classroom instruction — one adult working with one or two children covers material faster than a teacher managing 25 students. Most homeschool families finish meaningful academic work in 3–4 hours per day, even at the high school level.

Too little structure: Winging it every day without a plan, drifting through weeks without covering core subjects, and discovering in spring that you have significant gaps. This is a common failure mode in the first year, particularly for families who lean toward a more relaxed philosophy.

A practical middle path for most families:

• Fixed core subjects daily: Reading, math, and writing are the non-negotiable daily subjects for elementary students. At the middle and high school level, cycle through core subjects across the week with consistency.
• Flexible time blocks, not rigid periods: Work until the lesson is done, not until a timer goes off. Some days math takes 20 minutes. Some days it takes 45. Let the work dictate the time, within reasonable limits.
• Anchor the day, not every hour: Many successful homeschool families anchor their days at the start (morning meeting, reading aloud) and end (wrap-up, independent reading), with flexibility in the middle. This provides rhythm without rigidity.
• Track hours, not completion of specific pages: Your state probably requires a minimum number of instruction hours, not completion of specific textbooks. Teach at the pace your child needs, and log hours as you go.

Curriculum: The Decision That Seems Huge and Isn't

New homeschool families often spend months researching curriculum before starting. This is understandable but usually overcomplicated.

A few things to know:

No curriculum is the right answer. The "best homeschool curriculum" is the one your child actually uses and your family actually sustains. A rigorous, expensive curriculum that produces daily conflict and avoidance is worse than a simpler curriculum that you both enjoy.

You can change your mind. Many families use a different curriculum in year two than they did in year one. This is normal. You do not need to be certain before you start.

A cheap or free option is fine to start. Public library books, Khan Academy, free printables, and living books can make a strong first-year curriculum at minimal cost. Starting simply is better than delaying start while you wait to find the perfect system.

Get a curriculum that has already worked for many families. Well-established programs like Saxon Math, All About Reading, Writing with Ease, Sonlight, Abeka, or Bob Jones have long track records and abundant used-book markets. Starting with something proven is lower risk than building entirely from scratch in year one.

Socialization: Stop Worrying About It

The socialization question comes from well-meaning family members and from internal anxiety about whether your child will miss out. The data on this is clear, and experienced homeschool families will tell you: socialization is not the problem people expect it to be.

Homeschool students participate in:

• Co-ops where children take classes together and build friendships
• Sports leagues organized for homeschoolers or open youth leagues
• Community sports, arts, and performance programs
• Library programs, robotics clubs, 4-H, Scouts, church youth groups
• Dual enrollment classes with public school or community college peers
• Neighborhood play and community connections

The question is not whether homeschool students can be socialized — they can, and most are. The question is whether you are intentional about building community. It does not happen automatically the way it does in a school building, but it is entirely achievable for families who make the effort.

For the first 90 days, focus on academics and on finding one or two community connections for your child. A weekly co-op class, a regular park meetup, or enrollment in a youth sports team is usually sufficient to maintain social development during the transition.

Recordkeeping From Day One

Whatever your state requires, start keeping records immediately. Do not catch up at the end of the year — records created contemporaneously are more credible and easier to produce.

Minimum records for most states:

• A daily log of instruction hours (what subjects were covered and for how long)
• A list of texts, materials, and resources used
• Work samples from each subject

Some families keep a simple spreadsheet. Others use a notebook. A few use dedicated apps or homeschool management software. The format does not matter — consistency does.

What to Stop Worrying About in the First 90 Days

Grade-level benchmarks: Your child may be ahead in some areas and behind in others. That is normal and is actually one of the benefits of homeschooling — you can work at the right level rather than the assigned grade level. Stop comparing to what 4th graders are supposed to know and focus on where your child actually is.

Teaching credentials: You do not need a teaching degree to homeschool. Parents teach their children successfully every day across every educational background. For subjects where you feel uncertain, there are co-ops, online classes, dual enrollment options, and tutors.

Other families' approaches: The homeschool community is diverse, with strong opinions about everything from classical education to unschooling to religious vs. secular curricula. Useful as a source of information, not as a source of pressure. Find what works for your family.

Doing it perfectly: The first year of homeschooling is a learning year for the parent as much as the student. You will make mistakes. You will change approaches. You will have bad weeks. This is true of experienced homeschoolers too, and it does not mean you are failing.

If you are at the very beginning of this process and need to handle the legal withdrawal and setup steps, the framework varies significantly by state. If you are in Missouri, the Missouri Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers everything you need to do legally — the withdrawal letter, the notice of intent, the recordkeeping requirements, and what Missouri law actually requires versus what school districts sometimes claim.

See more United States homeschool guides →