The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start
ISBN:9780761527886 read summary

We are totally new to the Home Schooling concept. This book is packed with all the helpful advice any beginner could want. I would definately buy this book again!

If you are really nervous or worried about beginning your homeschooling adventure, this book can really help. It set my mind at ease. I ordered about 8 books to review to see what we were getting ourselves into, and this book was the one that really relaxed me.

There are so many home school methods and this book gives you the basic run down from 'unschooling' to unit studies, to standard methods, to the value of a co-op or group. Learning about how co-ops or groups work really helped me see that I want to be a part of one or eventually start one soon.

But this book has lots of feedback from other parents and what they wish they knew their first year after going through it all. The consensus from most was 'don't worry'. I realize that sounds easy, but after reading the parent feedback, the different methods, and also seeing a whole week of each plan (granted many seemed lite), I realized that it is really survivable and not that hard.

I sat down and really thought about all the subjects the kids learn in school and thought about my oldest (going on 10) and most difficult child.
This book really let me see that while she probably won't be covering exactly everything she would in her normal school, she will be able to cover enough more in depth at home in a positive environment. And it also showed that there are ways to encourage a child to learn without blatantly forcing them to 'study'. I know that is more effective when you stimulate the curiosity rather than making it an obligation for the child.

I've been homeschooling my child for over a year now, for a variety of reasons. I saw this book at our library, and decided to check it out. I wanted to compare my first year to other homeschoolers, just out of curiousity.

The first few chapters discuss reasons to homeschool, and preparing yourself and your family for the changes that will take place as a result. While the stories of the families were interesting, I had trouble relating to the families with multiple children, since I am the mother of an only child. Many of the parents discuss juggling different ages and grade levels.

The rest of the book tackled the issues and obstacles that are most common among first-year homeschoolers, such as that annoying question, "what about socialization?" The author also offers advice on how to avoid being overly defensive, and just take setbacks in a stride.

Throughout the book, there are highlighted boxes with "What I Wish Someone Had Told Me During My First Year of Homeschooling," from homeschoolers using a variety of teaching styles. (I thought the explanations of unschooling was the most informative.) While a lot of the comments were similar to those you would find on message boards, it was still a nice touch to the book.

There were lots of other useful books mentioned, so I added them to my future-reading list.

Another homeschool resource that I've found useful is Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond.

I read this book front to back in less than a week. It is an excellent source of inspiration and encouragement. I would recommend it to all new Homeschoolers and those even just considering it.

I found this book to be FULL of insightful and encouraging stories that made my desire to homeschool my two young children increase. Although my children are still very young, 2 years and 6 months, I am even more encouraged that homeschooling is the way to go for them, especially after reading this book!