What do I have to do, what steps do I take, to home school my child?

That would depend upon where you live. Here are some resources.

This is where I would start. http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 This is the Home School Defense League. They are a group of lawyers who have been defending home schooling and home schoolers for more than twenty years. They are men who passionately believe in home schooling and who home school their own children. They are doing everything they can to support home schoolers, to make it easier to start home schooling and to protect your right to home school, both in the fifty state legislatures and in congress. I'd start by joining.

Now, if go to this part of their website http://www.youcanhomeschool.org/starthere/default.asp?bhcp=1 you can find the specific laws for your states. That will tell you what you have to do legally to home school in your state.

The next step is to find materials, and there are many. http://www.hslda.org/LandingPages/Shopping.asp This part of their website will direct you to materials. This magazine http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/ will help you find others.

I'm using Abeka https://www.abeka.com/ which is a great place to start. It tells you exactly what to do each day and even exactly what to say, so its a great curriculum for someone who has never done it before. Be prepared in that it starts kids out in cursive writing and moves ahead very rapidly on reading. You may have some frustration at first, but you'll be surprised to find that your child can do it. My first grader is writing fluently in cursive and is reading 8-12 pages a day of some pretty tough material. Many homeschoolers pay for their kids to take the CTBS each year, and in some states its required. One of my friends who does so finds that her children blow the top out of the test each year, including the one that was diagnosed by the school district as having a learning disability. The CTBS is the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills that many school districts use to show that their students are performing well against same age peers across the country. It is the test where you had to sit in the cafeteria all day bubbling in sheets. Here is a source of the CTBS if you need to give it in your state, or you just want to know how your child is performing. http://www.baysideschoolservices.com/

Good luck, and if you need more help, track me down.

The requirements differ by state. In my state, you would contact the state department of education to get the information you need, including a list of home schooling groups in your area. You have to be part of a group, which is led by teacher credentialed individuals. There is also strict criteria to be met with regard to the parent who will be doing the homeschooling.