'The Beginners Guide to Homeschooling' Review

Okay, I’ll admit it; I was a little frustrated with The Beginners Guide to Homeschooling, by Patrick Farenga. Instead of being a person’s experiences and thoughts on homeschooling, it feels more like a book catalog in a library. The author will give a sentence or two, then tell you for more information to see his appendices or reference another book. In a 124 page book, the appendices start on page 62!

The best part of the book is that while the author is a fan of unschooling, he does give resources about many types of homeschooling. And if you’re looking for a book to give you references for other books to read on homeschooling – this is the place to go. Though a lot of his references he readily admits are out of print.

Next I'm onto The Complete Guide to Homeschooling.

"Homeschooling For Excellence" Review

So, I just finished reading Homeschooling For Excellence by David & Micki Colfax and wrote a review on Goodreads.com.

"I gave this book two out of five stars.

The main redeeming quality of the book is that it is well written in terms of grammar and thought flow. But it is extremely dry and I felt like I was being lectured by a holier than thou hippie, there was absolutely no humor or personality in this book. The book also has some good appendices. Though they are a bit dated, they still give one a lot of information and a place to start on your search for more up to date information.

The Colfax’s obviously have very talented children and their style of homeschooling worked for them. But unschooling is not a style that I really like. And due to that, some of their book recommendations were not good recommendations for my family. But they may work well for families that are interested in unschooling.

Also, the book spent a lot of time on simply tearing down the public school system. While I agree that public schools are not working, I was not looking for a book to bash them. But if you are looking for a book that discusses what exactly is wrong in the public schools of the United States, this book has very well thought out arguments."

First Book Finished!

So, I am done with my first foray into the homeschooling world via book. And Heavenly Father seems to have led me to a great starter book. So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Second Edition: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It doesn't delve into so much detail that the potential homeschooler feels overwhelmed. Whelchel doesn't demonize public schools or their teachers. She doesn't spend all her time trying to convince you of one form of teaching over another. Instead, she takes seventeen easy to read chapters to introduce you to fifteen different possible ways of doing it and fifteen different styles of teaching. Then, at the end of the book, her appendix is 20 pages of books, magazines, websites, etc. to give you lots more places to go for more in depth information if you're still interested. This book has reassured me a lot; because it really helps me to see that I can adapt homeschooling anyway I need to so that it best fits the needs of our family.

Next, I'm on to Homeschooling for Excellence. I will be sure to write up what I think as soon as I'm done!