Homeschool Books I Recommend

I've read about every book about homeschooling and education that I can get my hands on and these are the top few books I'd recommend to you:

A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, by Karen Andreola - This is one of my favorite homeschooling books, which I didn't find until I'd been homeschooling several years. It's perfect for the parent considering homeschooling, as well as the one who already is. I borrowed it from the library, but in hindsight wished I'd bought it so I could have highlighted and referenced parts of it again.

The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease- Buy it, read it, live it! Every parent should read this book, whether they home school or not! It 's an unbeatable resource for understanding the changes we all need to make at home to help encourage a love of reading and learning in our children. It also examines the differences in home life between children who excel and those who lag behind. Regardless of income level, your home environment and habits are the hugest determining factor in how easy and naturally your child will learn new things. 

Overburdened Homeschooling

This article is posted with permission from it's author, Jeannie Fulbright, & was originally posted here. Jeanie is also the author of Apologia's elementary science books.


    As an author of homeschool books, I want so much to interact with and bless homeschool moms. It is my heart’s cry to encourage, build up and say "YOU CAN DO THIS!" to every mom I encounter with those weary worried eyes. I seek to untie the heavy burdens they have strung upon their backs which weigh them down with guilt, shame and hopelessness... those rampant lies that say they are inadequate and must be doing this and that, using everything they bought at the last convention, lest they be failures.  

    I can’t count how often I have heard the question, “Am I doing enough?” seep into conversations, emails, message boards and eloops. How earnestly I want to reassure them that they are not only doing enough, they are doing more than they need to do.     The question I want to ask them is, “Can you remember anything you learned before sixth grade? What was the learning environment of that thing which you learned? Was it a rigid school setting, reading passages in order to fill out worksheets? Was it under the supervision of a hurried, harried task master? Or was it in an environment where your teacher (whether it be a teacher, parent, grandparent or neighbor) showed enthusiasm for the subject and a genuine interest in you?" Oh! How I wish we could grasp the fact that it isn’t the curriculum that does it.

Where's the Breach?

*This article is posted with permission from its author, Brandy Pack, and was originally posted HERE.

If you look up the word "breach" in the dictionary here are some definitions you might find there

1. The act or result of a break; or rupture
2. An infraction or violation of trust, or a promise.
3. A gap made in a wall or fortification; rift or fissure.
4. A severance of friendly relations.
5. The upsetting of the normal and desired state.

I have always know about home schooling, after all my sister has done it for years, but I never thought about doing it myself until a couple of years ago. I didn't think I could home school my kids and give them the education they needed. Jake has always been a very hyper child and people told me that it would be good for him to go to school. My sister told me I didn't have to send them to school, but I was afraid that my smarter than average children needed what the public school could provide. I was ignorant of the many advantages there are for children that home school!

The Low Down on Home Schooling

*This article is posted with permission from its author, Krista Besley, who wrote it when a friend asked for the "low down" on home schooling. It is based on her personal experience.


Homeschooling Pros

Free to do things on your own schedule. You can visit the zoo, go camping, go on business trips with dad, anything you want to do and not at the time when all the other families are doing it too. We love to enjoy vacations and things during the off seasons. This includes doctor's appts. You are free to go during the day instead of striving to get after school hours. If a friend passes through town, we are free to take a day off, knowing we can make it up another time.

It just seems natural. After your traditional schooling years, how do you learn things? I usually read online or in a book and gain the knowledge I need at my own pace. If there are some things I already know, I can skip over them. If it is something that is more difficult for me to grasp, I can dwell and reread, or find other sources, etc.... whatever it takes to learn it.

No worries about strict bedtimes and wake-up times, stressful mornings and hasty goodbyes. No getting back together late in the day when everyone is tired, stressed, hungry, and needing to do homework. This seems especially important during gospel meeting weeks or other things that take place in the evenings.