Question 1

What is LARHE?

Accepted Answer

LARHE is a homeschool support group that connects families so they can create and participate in social opportunities, field trips, and other experiences and events.  LARHE has a board that administers the website and finances.  But LARHE relies on the member parents to make things happen!

LARHE has been active since 2004.  In 2023, our informal status became formal, but our focus did not change.

Question 2

How can I join LARHE?

Accepted Answer

To join LARHE, contact us at larhehomeschool@gmail.com.  You'll need to fill out our membership form (downloadable from this site), give it in person to a LARHE admin, and pay the membership fee.  (Each family pays $25 per year if paid during our open enrollment period of June-September; $40 if paid outside of that period.)  If you pay during the June-September open enrollment, your membership is valid through the end of the following September.  If you pay during October-May, your membership is valid only through the end of the upcoming September.

We do insist that you meet an admin in person to give us your form.  We are a community of families, and we want to have met each member family.  When you join LARHE, we hope you will come to many of our regular activities so you can begin to get to know the other members of the community.

Question 3

How can I contact a LARHE admin?

Accepted Answer

Email us at larhehomeschool@gmail.com to contact a LARHE admin.  We will usually reply within a few hours.

Question 4

How do I homeschool?

Accepted Answer

Texas Homeschool Laws summarized

If you are the homeschooling parent, you are free to choose any materials to homeschool your child.  When you're just getting started, EasyPeasy All-in-One-Homeschool might be a good choice while you research your options.  Rainbow Resource Center is an online vendor that sells homeschool materials, but remember that you can choose any materials and they don't even have to be packaged materials that look like school curricula.

It's very important when you're just starting out to think first about *why* you are homeschooling and *what* you hope to accomplish. Then try to find an approach, not a curriculum, that fits in with your *why* and *what*. After that, the curriculum choices will already be narrowed down since you will only look at options that start with the approach that you've already determined is a good fit for you.

If you just start by looking at curricula, you will likely either get quickly overwhelmed or end up selecting one that you'll later find wasn't a good fit (or both). There are many, many options, and
without a good idea of what you are wanting it can be hard to evaluate them. Plus, if you aren't familiar with the theory behind the curriculum you select, you will find that your implementation
of it probably won't take advantage of all it has to offer.

Here's a site with more information about various homeschooling approaches:
http://www.homeschool.com/Approaches/default.asp
And another site that provides an overview of some of the various approaches:
http://simplehomeschool.net/educational-philosophies-defined-part-i/
Here's a site that purports to help you choose a curriculum that is a good fit for you:
http://www.thecurriculumchoice.com/how-to-choose-homeschool-curriculum/
I haven't used it myself, so I can't provide a report on its effectiveness.

Useful sites:
http://www.texashomeeducators.com/
http://www.thsc.org
https://www.hslda.org/

Frequently asked questions

What is LARHE?

How can I join LARHE?

How can I contact a LARHE admin?

How do I homeschool?