Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath-You Can Do This!

I bought this book a couple of months ago because I needed a pep-talk and figured this was a fluffy rah-rah type book that would give me one. Well, the author IS very warm and authoritative, and the book DID give me the pep-talk I needed, but it was also full of very useful information -- not fluff at all!! I found the chapters on organization, record keeping, homeschooling with baby, the good and bad aspects of homeschooling, building lesson plans and turning lesson plans into units, to be VERY helpful. Well worth the money for any new homeschooler. PS: In case the author ever updates her outstanding book: The one thing she left out of her chapter about the "bad" aspects of homeschooling (things like, messy house, sometimes your kids won't want to homeschool, etc...) is that, as a new homeschooling parent, YOU might feel a little isolated. It takes time to build comfortable and strong relationships with others, and sometimes homeschooling groups are not open to having new members, especially if they are large. You will have to work harder to maintain friendships with friends from your pre-homeschooling days. I planned my family's homeschooling journey for an entire year, but I focused my efforts almost entirely on CURRICULUM. It never occurred to me that I SHOULD have also been scouting out homeschooling groups and support groups, etc... After three months, I have found several groups that I enjoy very much, but I still wish I had been cultivating relationships with other homeschooling families LAST year.

I have been reading in preparation for homeschooling for two years. I discovered this book about a month before I started. It is just the best! Terrie Bittner gives such detailed information on all that we homeschoolers need to know and do. She offers us great suggestions for record keeping, organizing our materials and teaching our children. This is absolutely the most helpful of all the books I have read.

Just before the table of contents the author relates an event: "One day, when my children were young, a new friend reported to me that my children had been talking to her children. One of mine said, 'Oh, you go to public school? Well, we're sure your mother loves you anyway, and she'd homeschool you if she could.'" The humorous story helps set the stage. The author deeply cares about homeschooling. In chapter one the author introduces herself, explains how she came to homeschool her three children, and tells a bit about what her children are doing now. The author is clearly qualified to help beginners learn how to homeschool. This is a good book for parents new to homeschooling. It is packed with information. It is not a quick read, but it is very worthwhile. I couldn't think of a single facet of homeschooling that this book missed. It explains how to deal with people who don't support the decision to homeschool. It covers different types of homeschooling. It walks the reader through the basic steps of building a lesson plan. Specific issues on math, reading, history, science, and writing are addressed. There are a lot of good suggestions on how to organize your homeschool and how to set it up. And for all of these areas there are pointers to other resources, books, web sites, and so on. One of my favorite chapters was the one on "The Good Stuff Most People Won't Tell You." There is a list of the positive benefits of homeschool, things like having a flexible schedule and being able to go on vacation whenever you want. The chapter points out that in teaching your children you will get smarter. The last chapter of the book focuses on the benefits to the family of homeschooling. The children will be closer to each other and to their parents, because they have spent so much time together. One of the main purposes of this book is to reassure the reader that he or she is able to homeschool. The author is very supportive, explaining that while homeschooling is a daunting task and takes effort, it is possible and most parents can homeschool their children. If you are thinking about homeschooling, this is a great book to read. (This is also a good book to give to a friend who is thinking about homeschooling.) It will help reassure you that you can homeschool, and it provides guidance on how to get started, and how to homeschool.

I found this book at a bookstore and bought it on a whim, figuring it would have more of the same basic info that most introduction books do. I was completely wrong! This book has more practical information about the day-to-day things involved with homeschooling than many of the others put together! While it has the basics, it also has more, such as: how to find and choose a support group (and why they are important), how to get things organized for homeschooling, a great chapter on record-keeping and how to do it, how to teach your child(ren), how to create a lesson plan as well as a unit plan, teaching math, and much more. I certainly feel more informed than I did before I picked up the book. This will be one I will refer to several times and will have a spot on my bookshelf from now on!

I will be homeschooling my 5 year-old this fall. I have been researching homeschooling since he was born and I first checked this book out from our local library. It's one of the best books that I have come across and I just had to have my own copy! Ms. Bittner speaks from experience and a true love for the time her family spent homeschooling. She has homeschooled her three children, now succesful adults. What I love most about this book is the author's supportive, encouraging, and friendly tone. Very refreshing! Aside from that, it is full of so much practical, real-life information. From how to convince your spouse, the kids, and "concerned" family members and friends to record-keeping to how to teach subjects some of us find a bit scary(for me it would math). There are also interesting chapters entitled "The Bad Stuff No One Tells You" and "The Good Stuff Most People Won't Tell You." One of my favorites is "Stupid Questions and How to Answer Them," which, aside from being very funny, offers ideas on how to deal with common misconceptions some people have about homeschooling(i.e. the socialization issue, etc). Like I said, what I really appreciated about this book was the author's encouragement. She provides a wealth of information and reassures even the most insecure of us--you know, the not-the-most-organized or already-very-busy, that we really can do this. And, it's a relief to hear about a succesful homeschooling mom's trials and tribulations-for we will all have them. This is the first homeschooling book that I has put a smile on my face. A neat feature: each chapter offers information on resources, mostly websites and books, that you will also find helpful.