A little bit ago, a friend of mine asked for some resources about homeschooling since she and her husband were looking into how they were going to educate their child. I put together some resources that I thought might help. It then occurred to me that others may also benefit from a list of resources to start their search into their educational philosophy.
I know that with the very large amount of books and websites about homeschooling it can be hard to tell where is the best place to start. I don’t pretend to know everything, but having dug through a lot of the available resources I’ve been able to find the ones that I feel provide the best information to start out researching.
Books
I’m not big on reading things that require a lot of thought on the computer, so the first resources I’m recommending are books.
- For the Children’s Sake by Susan Macaulay
- This book is written to anyone who cares for children, be they parents, family members, teachers, volunteers, etc. It’s a good read whether you’re homeschooling or your kids go to private or public school. The book is a short but thought-provoking one. It’s written from a Christian perspective but I feel those of any faith persuasion would be able to learn from it. I know I learned a lot from it and plan to re-read it several times.
- The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise-Bauer (the third edition is the most recent one)
- This book isn’t just written to homeschoolers so the information can be used by any parents. It has educational tips to use with kids from infancy through the end of high school. I have gotten a lot out of this book and still reference it fairly often.
- 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
- I learned a little from this book (actually, I have the 101 Top Picks book), so I felt I should still mention it. It has general information on the “schools” of homeschooling, learning styles, and creating an educational philosophy. It is written from a strongly Christian perspective. If you’re only able to find a copy of her 100 Top Picks or 101 Top Picks the basic information will probably be the same, with the curriculum summaries being the only difference.
Websites
For those preferring websites I have some recommendations as well.
- HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association)
- They have a summary of homeschooling laws by state as well as some general homeschooling tips.
- State homeschool associations
- Rainbow Resource Center
- Here you can find general homeschooling and early learning tips. The website is primarily a store, however.
- Ambleside Online
- This website has booklists for 1st grade through high school as well as FAQs on homeschooling in the Charlotte Mason way.
- My blog
- In the future, I will be creating more resources to help those interested in homeschooling. You can also use the search terms “Homeschooling 101” or “basic homeschooling” in your search engine to find other websites.
There are other resources out there that can be used too, but I feel these will give someone just starting to research their child’s education a good place to start. If you have a favorite one that I left out, leave it in the comments to help others out!
