The Homeschool Reader - Book Review

The Homeschool Reader

Collected Articles from

Home Education Magazine

1984 - 1994

Book Review

Do you remember Readers Digest? You know, that collection of short stories and articles that you could pick up and read all different kinds of things in one book, never feeling as if you were being overwhelmed, or getting too bored because the next one started in just a page or two? Yeah, that's the feeling that you get with this book. Each article has it's own rhythm and pace and only lasts a few pages. Get a couple paragraphs in and feel like you don't need to read that article? Fine! Just turn the page a time or two and reach the next article.

From why to homeschool, how to homeschool, and each subject that you can teach... This book is laid out in a logical and friendly manner. Getting stuck on social studies or history? Just flip to the articles that deal with that. Want another point of view on how you're teaching math? Or maybe you've just wondered exactly how do you teach math as an unschooler... It's all covered in this book.

I keep telling y'all that most of my reading is done in the bathtub (and just where else can a homeschool mom catch more than half an hour of silence I'd like to ask) and most of the time I read the books in a couple of baths over the course of a week or so. This one took me a bit longer. Not because it is a slow read, not because I was bored with it, and not because it's a very long book ... but because I was enjoying myself with the meat of each article.

I did learn how an unschooler might teach math by the way ... and honestly I do most of what an unschooler does without even knowing it. We do math while cooking, at the grocery store, in the car. I just hadn't thought about it being "real" math even though it's the math that all of us adults use on a daily basis. Mind blown! 

Is this the be all end all homeschooling how to book? Nope, but you won't go wrong with reading it. You might not enjoy every article and you might not agree with some of them. But, it's not going to load you down with a bunch of doubts and fears about homeschooling. It breaks the whole process down into bite sized chunks that we all can handle.

While I wouldn't buy this book for my collection I would recommend seeing if you can find it at your local library and giving it a looky-loo. It's not going to captivate your interest like that page turning who done it book we all have come across from time to time but it will keep your mind turning and maybe even give you some insight into an area of homeschooling that you just didn't understand before.