Some parents fear they are not qualified to homeschool their children, so it is important to examine your confidence. Generally, a caring parent who places a high value on her child's education will succeed at homeschooling. The Home School Legal Defense Association reports research that indicates homeschoolers on average achieve well above average (in the 80th percentiles) on standardized tests, even if neither parent has a college degree or is certified to teach.
Before starting to homeschool it is essential to check on your state's regulations to be sure that you can comply with them. States vary considerably. Some require periodic student testing as a measure of progress. Others require that the parent submit a curricular plan of the subject matter they will cover for the school year. Some states are extremely friendly to homeschooling and require only that the homeschooling parent submit a letter of intent to homeschool, with regular reports and testing not required.
There is a lot of freedom for homeschoolers regardless of state regulations, and homeschooling families make use of it to approach learning in a variety of ways. At one extreme, some families purchase curricula that takes them through lesson plans in a specific manner. Using this approach makes homeschooling rather like regular school but with the parent being the teacher. At the other end of the spectrum is the approach known as "unschooling." The unschooling approach lacks the structure of the curricular approach, but rather is broadly dedicated to learning.
Regardless of curricular approach, homeschooling benefits from an open mind toward what is educational. Homeschooling families are usually heavy users of the public library and other informal institutions of learning such as museums and zoos. Generally, homeschooling families learn from all that they do. If they take a trip to Disney World, they are likely to stop at Civil War battlefield sites or state and national parks along the way. They know that every life experience contains the opportunity for learning. Unschooling families particularly are always on the alert for informal learning opportunities.
Organizations of homeschoolers exist in every region to offer information and support. Contact these groups early. They are an invaluable source of information about legal requirements and can offer advice about how to fulfill them.