Catholic Homeschool Companion

This is a resource that recognizes that homeschooling, even Catholic homeschooling is by no means one-size-fits-all. This book has a little bit of everything. There is a chapter for the hyper-organized and one for unschoolers. There's one on burn out and one on the joy of homeschooling. There's info on teaching the gifted as well as the autistic. And yes, there is humor.

I just noticed that the last two reviews were by people who participated in the book. I thought I would write a review as someone who has no connection with the book. In summary, it is excellent. I have found that in so many homeschooling books, authors tend to repeat themselves needlessly. Authors write in 100 pages, what could easily be found on someone's website written more clearly and concisely. This is not the case with this book. There are almost 500 pages of solid advice on Catholic homeschooling. Every chapter is written on a different subject by a different author, and the breadth and depth of the information is excellent. A good example of this is the chapter on Art Appreciation: Recognizing Symbolism in Religious Art by Pattie Kelley-Huff. She explains what many religious symbols in artwork mean. For example, an anchor is a symbol for hope and steadfastness. She has entire lists with what the symbol means. The author also gives resources for further study. Many of the chapters recommend additional material. I, personally, love mathematics, and I would consider that one of my strongest subjects. However, in the chapter on math, the author provides a listing of Math literature by grade level that I never would have known about on my own. The only negative, I would say, is that because the book is written by various authors, some chapters are weaker than others. The chapter on teaching a foreign language would be an example of this. I truly believe that this book will provide something for every Catholic homeschooler. In fact, even non-Catholic homeschoolers, or Catholics that want to enrich their child's school education might also find information in this book. Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I wrote a chapter in this book, as well as did proofreading for it. The most amazing thing about this book is that I found new resources and ideas. I'm a homeschooling veteran, so it takes a lot for me to get excited about a homeschooling item. When I read many of the essays, I discovered new things for math, new things for science, and new things for literature. I was so excited, I couldn't wait for the book to get out so I could recommend it to all homeschoolers. Catholic homeschoolers will appreciate the faith-filled pages, but all Christian homeschoolers will find support, guidance, humor and love in the pages of this book. The authors wrote to share their stories, but also to share resources, ideas, help and knowledge. This book is a real gift to the homeschooling community. There are chapters written by dads and older homeschooling students, too, which I found so encouraging to read. This book goes beyond what most homeschooling books can do because it has over 40 authors. That's a lot of good ideas in one book.

I am a contributing author to this book, so I am not unbiased. However, that said, I have also read the book and found so many essays which were thought provoking treatments on pedagogy, as well as more practical elements such as home management and mother's well-being. There are also essays authored by and directed towards fathers, who are under-represented in this subject matter. This book is as useful to those starting out as well as those who are preparing children for high school and college. This is a necessary book for those interested in or actively involved in Catholic education in the home.