When I was thinking about homeschooling I read A LOT of books and talked to a lot of people. Now, I know not everyone else automatically thinks “Read 20 books to help me make a decision,” but that’s some of what I did. I also interviewed everyone I knew who was homeschooling and asked them how they did it, and what curriculum they used.
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So…. You’re thinking about homeschooling, what now?
First I went to the local bookstore and picked up So You’re Thinking About Homeschooling, and devoured that book. I think it does a great job of presenting different types of homeschooling families and the reasons for homeschooling. It helped me solidify my thoughts and reasons. It also encouraged me to see the wide variety of homeschooling Moms from single parents to families whose children have severe disabilities.
Next, a friend recommended getting 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum and that was a great help because she included a quiz to help you figure out what type of homeschooler you and your kids are. She also has a website Cathy Duffy Reviews Curriculum, but it doesn’t have the quiz, and the book goes into more detail on the curriculum she reviews. I still pull this book out from time to time six years later.
After you’ve read the above two you need to specialize. Read more about the type of homeschooling you want to do. For me, I was really interested in Classical homeschooling.
The Well-Trained Mind is THE go-to book if you’re interested in Classical education. I read it back when the boys were in preschool, so at least 3 years ago. It’s a crazy big 600 something page book, but it’s well worth wading through if you’re interested in this subject. Living and Learning at Home has a read Well-Trained Mind linkie going on this summer. I have since figured out I am NOT a classical homeschooler. It is way too much structure for us, but I did read the entire book.
If you’re interested in Charlotte Mason, then pick up Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series, Vol. 1: Home Education (I’m only linking to vol. 1 because I figure it’s best to read the first one and then go from there if you’re interested). From reading other homeschool blogs there are many aspects of Charlotte Mason I really like, but I could never pull off her nature and artist studies the way she describes.
I have to admit to the least familiarity with Montessori books and methods (Future Ticia here, while I now know more about her methods, I’ve figured out I admire the principles, but don’t like the methods, so I haven’t gone into great detail to learn more). If you’re interested in the Montessori Method I’d recommend reading one of her original books, for instance, The Montessori Method, but there are hundreds of books, some are her original books, and others are people’s ideas expanded on hers.
If you want to emulate school at home, I’d recommend picking up What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know which can help you gauge where your child is (and can be helpful even if that’s not your style). Obviously, they have one for each grade, but I’m not going to insult you by linking to each individual one. I’d also recommend haunting your local teacher supply store and spending time there looking at their extra curriculum (I may or may not do that for fun, there is no proof, and I’ll deny everything). This is completely unrelated to the series but looked interesting: What Your Child Needs to Know When.. Future Ticia here again, if you have started homeschooling because you disagree with Common Core Standards you will not want to use either of these book series because they are both explicitly aligned with the Common Core Standards.
I’m gonna be lazy and not bother updating the watermark
As a side note, today I picked up The History Buff’s Guide to World War II, is it strange that I’m looking forward to reading this? As a matter of fact, I’m gonna get off the computer and go read some of it now. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha………… This lack of kids is getting to me this week, I actually have time to finish a sentence.
Want some more homeschooling info to get you started?
I am curious about History Buff books. Reading or listening to American history books about the events of 20th century made me better appreciate the saying that history is written by the winners.
I wrote you a small novel in email, but I figure others might be curious about them as well, so thought to reply publiclly.
The History Buff books look to take history and reduce it into factoids similar to how news is dispensed on the current news channels. It reduces it into categories and top 10 lists, which can be helpful for getting different viewpoints. So far, I’ve read about the “10 Wars that contributed to WW2” and the “Top 10 Diplomatic events that led to WW2,” and they’re brief 1-2 paragraphs about each event and explains how it contributes to WW2. Very interesting.
This may or may not have been another novel.
maryanne @ mama smiles
The history series does sound interesting – and so do some of those other books, even if you don’t plan to homeschool.
thanks for the book list! I’m seriously considering homeschooling my boys next year, and I’m at a loss at where to start! I’m going to check some of those at the library this summer. Do you know where else I can look at to make my own cirriculum? My youngest will be starting kindergarten, so he’s kind of a fresh slate.
Hmmm….. let me think on that and get you a more thorough answer. Some of the answer will depend on your state laws (which I don’t know), but I can at the very least point you in a direction to look at.
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