When building your homeschool bookshelf, what are the best homeschool books to have?
The ones you’ll refer to year after year, who will continue to provide you with relevant advice and wisdom, and leave you feeling calm and inspired about homeschooling?
You are reading: Best books for homeschooling
These are my favorite homeschooling books of all time, and the books I think every parent should have. the best homeschool books, in my opinion.
It’s a big claim, I know. but I’ve read dozens, probably hundreds, of homeschooling books, all I can get my hands on. These are the books I bought and then mentioned year after year. they are full of clear, sensible and widely applicable knowledge. and are consistently well-reviewed by homeschoolers.
If there was a list of classic texts on homeschooling, these would be on it. beg, borrow, or buy these gems!
the deschooling handbook – mary griffith
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Don’t worry if you don’t plan on skipping school—everyone can use the information in this book to improve their child’s education. The subtitle of this book is “How to Use the Whole World as Your Child’s Classroom,” and that’s exactly what this book teaches you to do. it is very clear and easy to read, and does not propose fixed rules. instead, it gives a lot of ideas. it’s one of those books that you read and realize you know so much about this stuff, you just needed to be told! I read this book at least once a year for a decade, until I gave it to a friend who was just starting out.
If you only buy one book, make it this one.
homeschooling the early years – linda dobson
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Applicable to ages 3-8, this book covers more of the educational side of things, like learning to read and doing math. reading this makes you realize that homeschooling your child is not as complicated as you think, and that it actually looks like quite a lot of fun. It’s very relaxing. If your kids are a little older, there are two more books in the series: Midlife Homeschooling and Teen Homeschooling.
project-based homeschooling – lori pickert
i found this book (and lori’s camp creek blog) incredibly helpful for concrete ideas on how to be a parent without taking over from my kids. highly recommended!
read an overview of the project-based homeschooling method here.
teach your own – john holt & pat farenga
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john holt was one of the pioneers of the modern homeschooling movement and his work is still popular today (read some of his best quotes here). when you read his work you realize why: it is timeless wisdom. Holt was a strong advocate for respecting children and supporting them to use their natural initiative and curiosity in learning. show your own covers on why you should homeschool, how you should do it, and address the practicalities and concerns of how to do it very convincingly.
the well-trained mind – susan wise bauer & wise jessie
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Totally inspiring and also a little intimidating, this is my resource bible. describes a very rigorous and comprehensive classical education program from preschool to the end of high school. my kids look it up and write wish lists of fun books for me to buy! Again, even if you don’t plan on classically homeschooling, this is an excellent sourcebook and contains many resources and inspiration that any homeschooler can use. And if you plan to educate classically, remember that you don’t have to do everything in this book. If you’re new to homeschooling, you’ll probably find it overwhelming; if so, pick an area and start there. I would recommend his grammar story, it’s so much fun!
the brave apprentice – julie bogart
I don’t agree with everything (my kids definitely do homework and we’ll always be low-tech), but I don’t need to, as with everything, take what’s useful and leave the rest. And there’s definitely more than enough useful content in Brave Apprentice to make it worth reading.
homegrown – ben hewitt
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My husband insisted that I include homegrown, because he loved it. actually, it’s the only homeschooling book he’s read all the way through, probably because it also contains a heavy dose of agriculture and nature. ben shows that education is not confined to a classroom or a curriculum, that the natural world is essential to our lives, and that parenting and homeschooling are actually one and the same thing. this is an essential thing to learn if you wonder how you can be a mom or dad and a teacher.
my family and other animals – gerald durrell
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You may be wondering what an autobiography that doesn’t mention homeschooling at all is doing on this list.
gerald durrell’s childhood provides the perfect example of what can be achieved with a relaxed education, unschooled in many ways. You can freely roam Corfu, collect and study animals, and spend a lot of time with interesting people. his tutor has to relate everything to animals for him to learn anything, and the maths and french he’s forced to do periodically, when the family worries he’s getting ‘out of control’ (sound familiar?) just don’t stick .
Gerald Durrell grew up to become a world-renowned zoo collector and later zookeeper, bestselling author and conservationist, crediting his time in Corfu with providing the foundation. he is a great example of where learning guided by passion can lead.
(don’t watch the tv series though. i’m sure gerald durrell would be furious at the way the mother is sexualized – we only got halfway through the first episode before turning it off in disgust).
Curious out-of-school children: stories of an out-of-school family
amazon
an Australian team! Sue Elvis talks about deschooling in an honest, intimate, and personal way, using stories from her many years of radical deschooling to illustrate points and show how she has overcome common problems. each story has pertinent questions to make you think: it’s not “do it like this”, but almost like a Socratic dialogue in a book.
Even if you’re not a radical anti-schooler (I’m not), you’ll get lots of great homeschooling tips and ideas from curious anti-schoolers. it comes down to unconditional love, and everyone benefits from that.
It’s deschooling without the dogma, and I love it for it.
Happy reading! what is your favorite homeschool book? let me know in the comments!
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