​The first approach is similar to the origins of homeschooling where parents take on the full-time role as teacher and purchase curriculum on their own from publishers. They develop a lesson plan for each student and conduct classes to teach the material and then test on it to show the student has become proficient in the course of study.  The benefit is that parents can customize the education to each child and have full control of the learning process. Downside is the reporting and documentation area which is required and becomes the parent’s total responsibility should the state or applicable agencies have relevant questions. Some parents choose to work with online programs that are not connected to a formal school which can be a valuable resource in helping students learn their subjects and offer a broad range of elective subjects beyond they standard courses that might be taught by the home parent.

Kids are some of the most direct individuals you will ever meet so the initial way to know your child wants to be taught at home is when they ask you point blank to homeschool them. While the initial reaction may be to laugh it off, take a minute to determine if they are serious or just kidding around.  There may be issues at school motivating the question that needs to be looked a little closer. This is especially true if they are asking the question on a consistent basis and giving your several reasons why they should be taught at home.