FEAST offers a "New home school" Orientation class for interested families. Along with answering all your questions, information on helpful programs and support, this $25, hour class covers the details of the Texas requirements and the rights of a home school family. The orientation takes you through the bookstore with explanations on record keeping and the many different curriculum to choose from, plus suggestions on how to get started.
Effective Monday, July 16, 2007: Orientations will NO LONGER be held everyday.
They will only be held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Orientation times for those days are: 10:30am, 12:00pm, and 2:30pm.
No appointment is needed.

Below is a list of steps to home school in Texas:
1. Know Your State Law: If you do not live in Texas, visit the HSLDA website to find your state laws and a list of home schooling organizations.
If you live in Texas, the law states:
Home schools are considered private schools and must use a written curriculum covering math, reading, spelling, grammar, and a course in good citizenship and must be conducted in a bona fide manner.
See detailed information about the Texas Law.

2. Answer this question: Why do I want to home school my child?
Parents in all 50 states have the right by law to home school their children. Each family will have its own personal reason for choosing home schooling as the educational method for their children. Many families home school for religious reasons and many for the academic advantages that home schooling provide. Regardless of your reason, home schooling is one of the most effective ways to educate your child. Religious and moral content is easily integrated into your daily curriculum, producing children with high social skills and strong moral character. Academically, home school students consistently test approximately 30 points higher on standardized test than their counterparts in public or private schools.
Research and statistics can be viewed at the National Home Education Research Institute website.

3. Contact your state organization, the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC):
Visit their website at www.thsc.org for more information about what they do for home schoolers.
Call THSC to find out who your Regional Home School organization is. FEAST is your contact for the South Texas Region.

4. Contact your Regional Organization:   The regional organizations, many times, are able to put you in touch with a local support group in your area or a local home schooler who is willing to talk to you. FEAST keeps a list of local support groups in the South Texas area. FEAST also helps new home schoolers get started everyday in the San Antonio area with "New home school" orientations.

5. Contact a support group in your area: Support groups are as their name implies, for support. When the going gets tough, when you feel like you are the only one with this problem, support groups show you that you are not alone and its members have probably gone down that road before.

6.Research & Purchase your curriculum: Back in the early days of home schooling, curriculum choices were few. Now there is a tremendous variety of materials from which to choose. You need to find materials that will work best for you and your life-style. Each parent is different and each child is different. What works for one child, may not work for another. The curriculum you use the first year you may not use the next year. The longer you home school, the more you will be able to see what works and what doesn’t with you and with your child. FEAST will provide assistance with choosing a curriculum as part of their "New home school" orientations. They carry in their bookstore over 10,000 titles.

7. Withdrawal: If your child is enrolled in a public or private school now, you must withdraw your child from that school. In Texas, your child is considered truant after 3 days of non-attendance. That is why you should not withdraw your child until after you have purchased or ordered your curriculum. You need to know your state laws as to notification and withdrawal procedures from traditional schools.