From School at Home to Unschool, Good Books about Homeschooling
Since homeschooling isn’t the norm by far, and especially because our entire culture is immersed in a school-as-institution mentality, homeschooling can seem completely incomprehensible.
Whether you’re contemplating homeschooling, know some homeschoolers, or just want to understand more about schooling options, books about homeschooling are, in my opinion, absolute must-reads.
Without reading about the huge variety of homeschooling experiences of other families, I might never have understood that my daughters writing “rainbow words” with markers while sitting at the table as I drink my morning coffee is just as legitimate (not to mention fun, and basically no work for me) as sending them to school to learn to write. Without reading about how other families homeschool, the infinity of methods (and non-methods) that they use, I might have never learned that I, too, would be capable of this.
Here are five good resources that got me started thinking about homeschooling:
- » See also: Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 Activities to Teach Your Child How to Live Green
- » Get Eco Child’s Play by RSS or sign up by email.
- Fundamentals of Home-Schooling: This is the BEST book, in my opinion, if you’re wondering something like, “Yeah, homeschooling sounds good in theory, but what on earth would we do all day?” This book talks about the teachable moments that come naturally into a day, learning concepts and how to translate them into quick games and activities that can be easily incorporated into your agenda, and modifications of regular daily work and play that can be used to “teach” a wide variety of knowledge and skills.
- And the Skylark Sings with Me: A memoir written by a dad about homeschooling his two daughters, this is a story about what’s possible–not just the fact that his daughters excel academically, have myriad skills and interests, and live lives filled with meaning and purpose, but also the joy of their day-to-day existence, in which children are engaged in passions from opera to snakes to astronomy, and are given the tools and encouragement to explore these passions with depth (that the children often reach amazing heights of achievement is, of course, secondary, but also important to note).
- Home Education Magazine: I’m off and on about this particular magazine–it’s got the occasional typo, and I’m uninterested in the articles they run about religion-based homeschooling, but the other in-depth articles about homeschooling, written by homeschooling families, can be very insightful, and often very inspiring.
- Teaching Montessori in the Home: We’re unabashed Montessori-lovers in our family, and this is the book for implementing Montessori-style learning in a home environment (hint: Montessori-at-home is not just for full-time homeschoolers. It can also be a really nice way to organize any child’s space at home).
- The Unschooling Handbook: Wherever you stand on the homeschooling continuum, or even if you’re a fan of institutional schools, it’s fascinating to learn about the concept of unschooling, just because it’s so utterly different from our public school norm.
Do you have a favorite homeschooling resource?
I agree that anyone who seriously wants to homeschool should read up as much as possible on as many different approaches as they can. Even if they end up not using a particular approach, they will learn something fascinating about how children learn from it.
For instance, unschooling… Even if your family is staunchly school-at-home packaged-curriculum types, learning about unschooling can give insights into natural learning and intrinsic motivation that will allow you to trust your children and not stress too much about curriculum choices. Because it is so different from institutional schools, it really can help to drive out the cobwebs from your brain, reveal your own school-ey biases and have you think about things in new ways — even if you decide that the overall approach isn’t right for you, it can still open your mind to possibilities and insights you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
Anyway, some other great resources… Anything by John Holt or John Taylor Gatto. Maria Montessori’s own writings (many modern Montessori books have a very warped approach to her ideas on “independence”). Charlotte Mason’s writings.
And there are thousands of great websites, of course… too many to start to list here…
The book I always recommend to families considering homeschooling is “Homeschooling- Take a Deep Breath, You Can Do This!” by Terrie Lynn Bittner. It is a wonderfully reassuring and down-to-earth intro to homeschooling book.
I also highly suggest reading “The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling” by Rachel Gathercole. The biggest concern non-homeschoolers typically have about home education is socialization. This book puts those concerns to rest.
For families with gifted/advanced students, I strongly recommend “Creative Homeschooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families” by Lisa Rivero.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn is THE best book for teens, both in and out of school, in my opinion. It has wonderful suggestions for learning all the traditional (and some less than traditional) subjects, and is just all around extremely encouraging.
I like all the resources here. My son is only 7 1/2 months old but I’m seriously thinking about his future schooling. My biggest concern about homeschooling is the sports (or lack thereof). Any resources or insights on how to incorporate athletics? I competed in Track through my university days. Can my child have this kind of experience without the traditional schooling institution?
[...] was recently looking over this book list posted by Julie Finn. After reading it, I felt very inspired to find some of the books of her list [...]
“Literature for Lively Lessons” by Sheila Edwards
Well used by us even before we started homeschooling.
Great for Pre-K through Grade 3
Charane- there are now many non-school based sports options. Quarterback Tim Tebow of the University of Florida is one famous example of a successful athlete who was homeschooled through high school. The best place to start looking for information is here.
Thanks for this post. We are happily living life and watching how much education happens without even having to think about it. It’s wonderful!
I also recommend listserves as a powerful way of communicating with other families on a similar path.
As someone who was homeschooled from Kindergarten through Grade 12 — and went on to University to achieve a Bachelor of Science — I can honestly say that I would not trade my homeschooling years for anything in the world. It truly does prepare for the real world, teach independent study skills and critical thinking, and widens one’s horizons beyond a narrow peer group. I plan to continue the legacy with my own (future) children.
I just read Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves by Alison McKee, and it’s another I’d recommend. It provides some valuable insight into the worldview changes that most of us as parents might need to make when homeschooling our kiddos, if we’re not interested in doing “school at home.” It helped me understand that I need to spend less time thinking of activities to do with my kids and spend a LOT more time getting interested in their interests.