Can I guess what's keeping you up at night? It's not whether you should start homeschooling mid year. You already know that you need to. Maybe your kids are struggling academically. Maybe it's bullying.

Maybe the school environment is just so toxic and your child's beautiful light is growing dim and you've had enough. All those might be true, but no. What's keeping you up is this. If I start in the middle of a school year, where do I even begin with the curriculum? Do you start at the beginning of a textbook and just work straight through the summer?

Do you try to figure out where the public school is in their math book and jump right in halfway? Do you just skip this year entirely and wait until September where you can get a fresh start? Here's what nobody tells you and probably because they don't even know. Nearly 40% of all homeschoolers start in the middle of a year, which means the where do I start question has been answered a million times, and I'm about to show you exactly how. In this episode, I'm giving you a thirty day framework that solves the practical how of mid year start homeschooling.

Plus, I'm handing you so many free resources today, Sample schedules, assessments, and guides. Your download folder is about to get a workout. We just don't gatekeep around here. So if you're ready to stop overthinking, worrying, and being overwhelmed and start taking action, stick with me. Here's the first thing you need to know.

The where do I start in the curriculum question is not a problem that you have to solve alone. Like I said before, nearly 40% of all homeschoolers start in the middle of the year, not in September with a fresh textbook and a clear starting point. In January, in March, in November, right now, whenever their family needed to make the change. It means this is a solved problem. You're not pioneering new territory here.

Thousands of families have figured out how to start midyear. I help moms do it every day in Thrive Homeschool Community, and I'm gonna show you exactly how to do it today. But first, let's address the elephant in the room. You can legally start homeschooling anytime during the school year in all 50 states. The school year that runs September to June, that's a public school construct.

It has nothing to do with how children actually learn or when your family needs a rescue plan. And honestly, that's what homeschooling often is with mid year starters. It's a rescue plan and a beautiful one. Okay. Now here's where most people get stuck.

When you start researching homeschool curriculum, you quickly realize that everything is built around a September start. It makes sense. The scope and sequence assume that you're beginning on page one in the fall. So when you're trying to figure out how to start in January, for example, your brain can easily go into overdrive. It just feels like too much.

Then you start thinking, oh, can we hobble our way to the end of the year, and then I'll figure out how to do this? And the answer is no, and I'm so excited for you that you're here today. And this is what I mean by brain going in overdrive. Let me know in the comments if this is you, if these are the questions you're asking yourself. If I start at the beginning of the year, will we be doing school through the summer?

If I try to skip ahead to where the school was, will my kid have gaps? Should I even buy curriculum, or should I just piece things together to the end of the year? Tell your feels to take several seats. Here's what actually matters. Those are all smart and logical questions.

I get it, but they're coming from a school trained brain. This is not a criticism. This is just facts, and it's where we all started, and it's exactly why you're here today. The question isn't where is my child supposed to be in third grade math right now? The question is, where is my child actually at in math comprehension?

Let me tell you about a mom I worked with last year. She pulled her son out of public school in February because he was failing fourth grade math and just not doing well overall. She was panicking, thinking she needed to somehow catch him up to where the fourth grade math should be, and she had pressure on herself to get him there by May. When we sat down and actually assessed where he was, we discovered that he had holes in his multiplication facts and didn't fully understand place value. Those are third grade, sometimes even second grade concepts.

No wonder he was drowning with fractions. So you know what we did? We didn't try to catch him up to fourth grade. We went back to actually where he needed to be. We filled in those gaps and built forward from there.

By the end of the summer, he wasn't just caught up, but he was ahead because we built a solid foundation instead of piling more bricks on a cracked slab. This is the magic of homeschooling. You don't start where the system says you should be. You start where your child actually is. And here's the beautiful part.

When you start mid year, you have four to six months to get curious, to study your kid like they're the most fascinating subject you've ever encountered because they are. To figure out how they learn best, what makes their eyes light up, what they need more of, and what they're secretly brilliant at. You get to experiment and build a system that actually fits them. Then by next fall, you'll be cruising while everyone else is googling, can I return opened curriculum and stress eating Goldfish crackers? Don't ask me how I know.

So the freedom here is in the permission to stop asking, where do I start in the curriculum and start asking, where does my child need to start? And I'm gonna show you exactly how to figure that out. Alright. Pivot time. And, yeah, it's a little awkward, but not that awkward because here's the thing.

Bad curriculum is expensive. Overpaying for health insurance? That's what's bankrupting families. And when you're getting sticker shock buying milk and bread like many of us are these days, you need to find money somewhere. Here's what you might not realize.

If you're paying for health insurance through the marketplace or your employer, there's a solid chance you're overpaying by about a thousand dollars per month. No joke. My family of six was paying $2,000 a month on health insurance. That's $24,000 a year just disappearing from our budget. That's when we found Summit HealthShare.

We now pay a thousand dollars less per month. Same doctors, same services we needed, way less money. That's $12,000 a year back in our hands for curriculum, activities, saving for the future, or honestly, just a little breathing room. It's not too good to be true. Here's what you need to do right now.

Go to summithealthshare.com and take their ten second savings quiz. Literally ten seconds. You punch in what you're currently paying, and instantly, it shows you what you'd pay with Summit. No phone call, no sales pitch, just your number. Then you can decide if you wanna talk to them.

When I did this quiz, my jaw dropped. And here's the thing, they have major medical sharing, maternity programs, wellness visits, and plans with free labs and prescriptions included. They even give you the freedom to pursue holistic and functional medicine. They serve individuals, families, groups, and businesses. Most people instantly save 40 to 60% on health care costs.

And when you're standing in the grocery aisle having sticker shock over basic groceries, that extra thousand dollars per month, yeah, that can make a big difference. The link to that quiz is in the show notes. Join thousands of other families who have already figured this out. Go and see your number because you deserve to know if you're leaving money on the table. Okay.

Back to the show, though I almost forgot to introduce myself because I dove in kinda hot today. So if you're new, hi. I'm Christy Faith, Twenty years in education, teaching teachers, coaching parents, and working with kids. I'm the author of homeschool rising. You can get that on Amazon Prime.

And I'm the founder of thrive homeschool community. That's the place where we take families from what in the world have we done, I am overwhelmed to, I think I've got this. I've seen what works, what crashes and burns, and what parents stress about that doesn't actually matter. So everything I'm sharing today, battle tested, not theory. Now let's talk about what you're actually going to do in those first thirty days, because this is where most people get completely overwhelmed.

Okay. Listen closely, because I'm about to tell you something that goes against everything your anxiety is screaming at you to do. And I'm sorry ahead of time. Before you panic at the disco, please hear me out. When you start homeschooling mid year, your first instinct is going to be to catch up.

Like I said earlier, you're gonna wanna buy all the curriculum, print out all the worksheets, create the color coded schedule, and immediately start drilling your kids to get them back on track. I know. That's the temptation. Especially since a lot of you are beginning to homeschool because the system is failing your child. I get it.

But please, don't do that. Here's what actually needs to happen in the first couple of weeks. Nothing academic at all. I'm serious. The first several weeks of your homeschool journey should be what we call deschooling.

A decompression period where your kids and you shed all of that baggage from the traditional school system. This isn't wasted time, although you're gonna feel like it might be. It's actually essential time. Because here's what most people don't realize about starting mid year. If your child has been in a negative school situation, whether it's bullying, academic pressure, anxiety, or just a toxic environment, they need that time, that rest before they can actually learn again.

They've been in fight or flight. Think about it like this. If you've been holding your breath underwater for months, you don't immediately start running a marathon the second you surface. You breathe first. And when I come back, I'm going to tell you exactly what deschooling looks like in your home and why the families who do this well set themselves up for long term success.

Because I don't wanna just teach you how to homeschool. I wanna teach you how to homeschool so that you love it and you don't quit two years from now. And trust me, that's not easy. So stick with me. As a home school mom who values a family together approach and leans towards the classical and Charlotte Mason styles, I often struggle to bring my educational vision to life with my kids' diverse ages and learning needs.

With all our interests and super packed schedule, bridging that gap between the dreamy homeschool I want and reality, I gotta be honest. It's a challenge. Now, yes, I know perfection isn't the goal. But if you're listening and you could use a little easing of your mental load in your day to day, I found a resource that has become the quiet hero of our routine, and it could be a really great option for you too. BJU Press homeschool curriculum.

Now many think that BJU Press homeschool is solely an all in one option, and though it does excel in that role, did you know you can also opt for specific courses and tailor them to fit your family's needs just as I have? BGU Press Homeschool provides the perfect balance of structure and flexibility and easily complements my family's mixed age family together on the couch learning style. They are second to none in integrating a biblical worldview, stimulating critical thinking, and offering tons of hands on activities in the lessons. To find out how BJU Press Homeschool can come alongside you in your homeschooling goals too. Visit b j u press homeschool dot com or click the link in the show notes.

Before we continue, I wanna share with you a program that's been a game changer for our homeschool. At our center, we instructed and helped kids through pretty much every math program on the market and know firsthand just how important a solid math foundation is for our kids' futures. As a career educator with high standards, finding the right program that checked all the boxes felt like too tall of an order. Until one day, I tried CTC Math. CTC Math is an online math curriculum for K to 12 students with motivating interactive lessons that allow kids to learn at their own pace.

It does all the teaching and grading so you don't have to and their adaptive lessons adjust so your child is progressing confidently. With CTC Math, your child is getting a top notch education and you just made your homeschool life easier. Visit ctcmath.com to start your free trial today or click the link in the show notes. Okay. We're back.

Let's talk about how to actually assess where your child is and what to do with this information. First couple of weeks, deschool and assess. Like I said earlier, this is the most important part and where most people skip ahead and regret it later. When you give yourself a deschooling phase, and it's really up to you how much time you need, you're doing two critical things. First, you're reconnecting with your child.

During this time, let them remember that learning doesn't have to be stressful. Play games, go to the park at 10AM on a Tuesday, bake cookies, watch YouTube videos on World War two history, have conversations that aren't about grades or homework. And second, what you're doing when you're giving yourself this deschooling period is you're giving yourself a hot minute to actually assess where your child is. Not where they should be, but where they actually are. And here's the nugget for today that's going to save you so much time and money.

Please don't buy a full curriculum yet. The worst thing to do is to pull your kid on a Friday and start them with a full fledged pricey program on a Monday. I've seen it done a thousand times, and it always ends up in a disaster, you guys. Because what happens when you buy curriculum too early is you end up spending money on something that might not fit your child's actual learning style, pace, or needs. And then you're stuck trying to force it to work instead of finding out what actually does.

Okay. So let's talk about how to figure out where your child actually is. For math, start with a free trial of CTC Math and take their diagnostic assessments. The diagnostics show you exactly where your kid's gaps are, so no more guessing. They're actually designed to help you place your child in the right grade level.

And here's the best part. One CTC Math subscription gives you access to every grade level, So you have the freedom to go back and shore up whatever foundations need reinforcing and then move forward on solid ground without having to buy all these separate school years of math curriculum. Now quick transparency moment, CTC Math does sponsor this podcast, but listen, I only bring on sponsors whose programs I actually use, like, and recommend. And, actually, this is the math program that I use for all four kids in my family. So, of course, I want you to experience it, and it does a really good job at assessing where kids are.

So, of course, I would want you to experience it. I love it, and I believe in it. But, of course, transparency is important, so I wanted to make sure that I told you that. Okay. Now for reading, there are several free online reading assessments that you can use.

Pioneer Valley Books offers a free leveled reading assessment that's designed for students reading kindergarten through grade seven. ROAR, which stands for rapid online assessment of reading from Stanford, is completely free and examines foundational reading skills for students of all ages. And then there's a San Diego quick assessment. That's a simple word list test where children read words of increased difficulty. You can find that free online too and take it in about ten minutes.

None of those guys are sponsored. I just wanted to give you more free resources. Now don't stress your kid out. Don't act like this is a high stakes test. This is really just for gathering information, and that information is gold because this is gonna help you know where to start.

I'm gonna put all these links in the show notes. Have no fear. But here's one more thing you need to know before buying any curriculum, and that is your homeschooling style. I know if you've never heard of this before, it's gonna sound weird, but it's not weird. So let me explain.

In the world of education and in homeschooling, there are nine distinct homeschool styles or pedagogies. You've heard of some of them maybe, like Charlotte Mason classical unschooling Montessori, and there's more. And here's what I see all of the time. Parents figure out where their child is academically and then rush out and buy a curriculum that doesn't match how they actually want to teach. What you want in your values might align more with a Charlotte Mason style curriculum, so the last thing you wanna buy is something more in alignment with the traditional school system.

Or maybe you want a more interest led approach to your curriculum, so please don't go out and buy a bunch of textbooks. I'm telling you, this is probably the number one reason why homeschooling parents are miserable in the beginning, and honestly, they quit. It's not because homeschooling didn't work. It's because they didn't stop for a hot minute and figure out where they are, what they wanted, who their kid is, what they want and need, and find a curriculum that fits that. So before you spend a dime on a curriculum, please make this promise to me that you will take my free five minute homeschool style finder quiz.

It will show you which of the nine styles actually fits your personality, your family's rhythm, and your educational values. Run to the show notes for that one. Okay, guys? Everyone should be starting there, and it's free. So trust me, knowing your style before you buy any curriculum will save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars and a lot of frustration.

Okay. So after your deschooling phase, hopefully a couple of weeks, really you decide how much time you need. Now and only now are you gonna introduce some gentle structure. Not a full six subject curriculum, just a few anchors. Anchor number one, math.

Start with math at their actual level, not their grade level necessarily. If you've done those assessments and you've discovered some gaps, fill those gaps. It doesn't matter if they're behind. If you just shove forward, they're just gonna keep being behind. Okay?

You gotta hit pause and build that foundation because trust me, I've been doing this for over twenty years. That will enable them to actually accelerate later. Choose fifteen, thirty, or forty five minutes a day depending on what your student can handle and how old they are, and get those math juices flowing. Okay. Anchor two is reading.

If they're still learning to read, work on those phonics daily at whatever level they're actually at. If they are already readers, start read alouds together. That's where you read to them and you have really great discussions. And also, make sure that they're reading out loud to you. Talk about the books.

This is one of the most powerful tools in education, and it makes books really engaging. And anchor three, find one thing that they love and do it. Lean into it. If your kids love science, do science experiments. If they love history, watch documentaries or read some historical fiction.

If they love art, let them create. This reminds kids that learning can be joyful. We want that back. We want that love of learning in the long run. And in phase two, after deschooling, that's it.

Those three anchors, that should be your whole homeschool for a time being. What you're not doing, buying a full curriculum for every subject yet. You're not trying to catch your kid up to where they're supposed to be. No. That's totally not the point.

You're not creating an elaborate schedule. You gotta figure out what the days are gonna look like first before you can do that, and you're not stressing out about covering every ding dong subject. You don't need to. And here's what I'm so excited about. Here's what you are doing.

You're starting where your child actually is. You're building confidence and momentum for you and your kid. You're studying your child and figuring out what works best for both your child and you before you spend tons of money on a curriculum that might be wrong. And in doing that, you're reigniting that love for learning. Here's what's gonna shock you.

By the time you hit week five, six, or seven, you'll have such clarity about what your child needs that choosing a curriculum when the time becomes right will be easy because you're not guessing anymore. You're not looking at, oh, that worked for her, so it's gotta work for me. No. You don't have the same kid. You have your kid, and they're pretty cool.

And you now have the freedom to build an education that's gonna serve them so well right now and prepare them for a bright future. I'm so excited for you guys. This is the exact kind of framework that we dive deep into inside Thrive Homeschool Community. I have something called my fail safe homeschool setup that walks you through this step by step with even more intricate detail and support. It covers all the logistics for homeschooling.

We'll talk about that in a minute. We're not there yet. Don't worry. And if you need help with the deschooling part, because that's where a lot of people get stuck, I have a free guide called 20 questions to kickstart your deschooling adventure, and that walks you through exactly what to do in those first two weeks. And if this episode was the first time you ever heard the word deschooling, now don't confuse it with unschooling.

Those are two totally different things. Grab my book. No. Seriously. There's an entire chapter on deschooling in my book, why it matters, why you should do it.

I'll put that link in the show notes too. It's right behind me if you're watching on YouTube. I'm saving the best for last today, but before we dive into that part of today's episode, I do need to have just a smidge of a heart to heart with you because I wanna talk about what makes our community so special. It's moms like you who help other moms find their way. This happens every day in Thrive Homeschool Community.

It is phenomenal. You know, we've never had to kick someone out of Thrive. And right now, you can help a mom who's exactly where you were ten minutes ago, wondering if she can really start homeschooling mid year. Every week, I show up here and give you everything I got. Real guidance, practical frameworks, honest encouragement, and it is so important that this podcast is free because I believe you deserve access to solid homeschooling help.

And the sobering reality is that podcasts only reach more people when listeners engage. A quick comment, a five star review, if I deserve it, sharing this episode with somebody, subscribing, sending it to a friend, it costs you nothing, but it's how other moms find their way here. I wish there was another way, but honestly, it's robots behind the screen that make all of this happen. So if this show helped you at all today or you think it could help another mom whose kid is really struggling in school and maybe homeschooling could be the answer for them, would you take thirty seconds right now even while I'm talking and just engage with the show in some way? It's not an exaggeration to say that you're literally helping other moms find hope.

Okay. Thank you for that. It really means a lot. When we come back, I'm gonna break down the advantages of starting midyear. This is the peace of mind part that you've been waiting for and so desperately crave.

Stick with me. I've got some news. There's a new reading curriculum that ditches workbooks and drills for fun and games. If you're thinking fun and games sounds a little too good to be true, it's not. Ninety eight percent of children improved their reading test scores in just six weeks with the reading skill set by Lovevery.

It's a phonics based program that follows a science of reading, but makes learning to read fun, motivating, and confidence boosting because it happens by playing games and then practicing with just right skill level books. Kids love it and parent educators love it, and it works. Visit lovevery.com/christyfaith today and use code christy 10 to get 10% off your purchase of the reading skill set by lovevery. That's lovevery.com/christyfaith. You know how feeding a homeschool family can feel like running a 24 diner with a revolving menu?

Yeah. Me too. But here's my secret weapon for keeping everyone fed without losing my mind or blowing the budget. Azure Standard. Azure is a homeschool family owned company dedicated to providing affordable organic, natural, and non GMO groceries, health, household, and garden products.

In fact, they have over 12,000 options to meet your needs as a health minded household. All vetted ahead of time to be free of harmful preservatives, food colorings, chemicals, and pesticides. Tired of spending too much on health food? Give Azure a try. Your body and your bank account will thank you later.

Use code ChristyFaith15 and get 15% off your first order at azurestandard.com. That's ChristyFaith15 at a z u r e standard dot com. Welcome back. This is the part where I flip the script on you because everything we've been conditioned to believe says that starting homeschool mid year is harder because you don't have a clean starting point. The curriculum is confusing, or you're disrupting the school year.

But what if I told you that mid year starters actually have some significant advantages? Here's the first one. You get immediate relief for your child. That alone is a valid reason. I hope you know that.

If your child is struggling, being bullied, drowning in a bad school situation, every day matters. Waiting until September means months more of damage. You know who you are. Starting now means starting the healing now. You can do this.

Advantage number two, you get to experiment without the pressure, and that's when the magic happens. September starters launch into homeschooling with the weight of a new school year, matching bins, color coded schedules, high expectations. Every misstep can feel like a failure. There's just more pressure, but you're starting midyear. You're in pure discovery mode.

No grand launch, no performance anxiety, just let's try this and see what happens, which means you actually give yourself permission to play, to test things, to scrap what doesn't work without feeling like you failed. Because you know that you're not trying to execute some perfect vision. You're just figuring out what your kid needs one day at a time, and that's a beautiful thing. And here's your secret weapon. While September starters are trying to live up to their elaborate plans and Pinterest boards, you're solving a real problem.

Your kid needs to be home. You're focused on what actually matters, their well-being and their progress, not aesthetics and not what it looks like from the outside. You're not spending weeks setting up the perfect homeschool room. You're trying things, ditching what flops, keeping what clicks. And here's what happens.

By the time everyone else is launching in September with their fresh planners and high hopes, you've already been at this for six months. You already know what works for your family because tested, you've already adjusted, and you have found a rhythm. You're not a beginner anymore. You can start next September as a seasoned homeschooler. And how did you get there?

You got there by giving yourself permission to figure it out without the pressure. And I'm proud of you. I worked with a mom whose daughter was having panic attacks every morning before school. This mom kept thinking, well, we'll just make it to summer break, and then we'll homeschool next year. But it finally got so bad, she decided to pull her daughter out in March, three months before the end of the school year.

And you know where this is going. The panic attacks stopped within two weeks. Two weeks. She looked at me and said, I can't believe the story I was telling myself that I had to wait until the end of the school year, that pulling her out mid year would somehow be wrong or damage her. Like, there was some invisible rule book that I'd be violating.

But there wasn't. I just didn't know I had permission. Where did I even get that? So please, mama who's listening right now, don't let that be you. If your child needs to be home, bring them home.

The logistics will figure themselves out in time. But your child's well-being, that can't wait. So I'm handing you the permission slip right now if you need it because I've seen it done thousands of times. Stop waiting for the perfect time to pull your kid. Stop overthinking where to start in a curriculum.

Start where your child is. Build from there, and trust that you have everything you need to figure this out. Because you know what? You really do. Let me tell you why.

And this is something I'm gonna leave you with today that you need to really hear. No one knows your child better than you. Not the school system, not the curriculum company, not the homeschool blogger with the perfect Instagram feed, only you. You know when they're struggling. You know when they're bored.

You know when something is breaking them down instead of building them up, and you know deep in your gut when it's time to make a change. And the beautiful thing is that with today's resources and a little bit of investment in yourself, you can set up the best education for your child in a lot less time than it used to take. There's an army of homeschool moms nationwide who've already made all the mistakes. We have reinvented the wheel a million times. We've tested the curriculum, figured out the schedules, navigated the legal requirements.

You don't have to start from scratch. And here's what's crucial to understand. The secret sauce is you, not a resource or a curriculum or a blogger or anything like that. There's no magic curriculum that's going to fix all of your kids' problems, and there's no perfect schedule that just works for every family. The magic happens when you understand how to set up a homeschool that works for your specific child and your family.

And my job is to make sure that you have the skills and confidence to adapt as you go. It's one of the reasons why I have this show. That's why I wanna give you everything you need to get started now whether you join Thrive Homeschool Community or not. So here's what I have for you today. Gotta love some free resources.

Right? And they're all gonna be in the show notes, and maybe you're gonna grab all of them. So first, I have my free sample homeschool schedules. These show you exactly what a mid year start can look like in real life, whether you have kids with multiple ages, different family situations. It helps you set realistic expectations.

You'll see you don't need a perfect eight hour school day. Link is in the show notes for that. Second, download my free how to homeschool guide. It's actually an ebook, and it walks you through everything to get your homeschool started. It's about, I don't know, 23, 25 pages.

It's pretty comprehensive, and it's free. It's one of my most popular downloads. My other most popular download is my curriculum recommendations. You can grab that too. And then I mentioned earlier that when you're in that deschooling phase, I have a 20 questions to kick start your deschooling adventure download.

This will help you understand your child, give yourselves a reset, and rebuild before you dive in. And if you want guidance for when you're ready to do that deep dive, please consider joining Thrive Homeschool Community. Thrive Homeschool Community is where I house my proven frameworks, including the fail safe homeschool setup, and that walks you through how to stay legal in your state. What questions to ask when you're getting to know your learner so you actually understand where your child is and what they need. A streamlined step by step process to demystify the choosing curriculum process.

It's one of the most overwhelming parts of homeschooling, and we completely break it down for you. We also walk you through how to plan your year, meaning your entire year, that whole scope and sequence, your months, your weeks, and your days. And all of these have example schedules and templates and all sorts of tips, tricks, and hacks. It also includes what you really need to get your home ready, and it's way less than you think. And pro tips so that you can start well so you don't freak out on day three.

And plus, another thing that people don't realize about Thrive Homeschool Community is it gives you access to experts that would cost hundreds of dollars per hour if you were to consult with them, but they're in there already. And we do all of this with affordable pricing that won't break the bank. Moms tell me all of the time that they can't imagine homeschooling without Thrive Homeschool Community. Thrive isn't always open, so make sure if it's not open right now that you get on the wait list. I'll put that link in the show notes too.

And hey, shoot me an email if you have any questions at all or tag me on social media. We are building a community here, and I wanna be a part of your journey whether you join Thrive or not. So what to walk away with knowing today? Christy, let's land the plane. You can start homeschooling midyear no matter where you are in the year.

You don't need to know where your child should be. You just need to figure out where they are. And after today's show, you now have a framework that will get you started. And please know that your child needs you and that you are enough. Now go download all of those free resources that I gave you.

Take a deep breath, and take that first step. You've got this.