Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Home Schooling

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
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This book is truly straightforward. Tell's it like it is and very easy to read. My wife and I were at a loss of whether or not we could handle teaching our two teenage sons. They were so lost in the shuffle of public schooling, that we knew we had to do something. Our biggest fear was that all homeschoolers were teaching with a religious-based curriculum, that our sons wouldn't have the same opportunities available to them in the public sector and we didn't want that. We needed to help our sons with their academics so they could get into college. This book pulls no punches by showing us how its done. We've bought two copies, one for us, and one for a friend our ours, who also is considering homeschooling for their teenage daughter. We thank the authors for their truthful insights into the pros and cons of homeschooling. They helped us make an important decision to give homeschooling a dedicated effort.

I have picked this book up more than once, hoping that coming at it fresh would provide me with information I can use. Unfortunately, I have a hard time looking past what the authors promote as fact.

>>>>Pg. 142 "Do we have to homeschool Monday through Friday?" Answer: "....Our immediate response is yes. For the school authorities to consider you to be homeschooling, you should be teaching your children every day as if they were in public school."<<<<

Well, I know the state of Florida does not have any such requirement to consider us homeschoolers. In fact, one of the benefits is choosing when, where, and how we learn. I hope the 'school authorites' have no problem with the fact that we learn throughout the summer. Yikes!

>>>>>Pg. 141 "Will my child miss riding the school bus, making friends, or participating in school events." Answer: "If you are thinking along those lines, homeschooling isn't for your family."<<<<

OUCH! That was dismissive. And judgmental. I do not know what world the authors live in, but most young children grow up being bombarded with images and stories about how great school is, it's a rite of passage, whatever. Ignoring that curiousity or demeaning their feelings will only make a child resent homeschooling. Acknowledging that cultural loss is NOT a reason to skip homeschooling and send them to school.

>>>>Pg. 103 "Should I teach phonics?" Answer: "Yes. No matter what level you are beginning, the homeschool process teaches phonics."<<<<

WHOA! What memo did we miss? For that matter, what is the "homeschool process?" Every family I know homeschools individually and there is no process that we all follow. I agree with the authors - I *like* phonics. Works for my daughter. But it is NOT a homeschool process and you do not necessarily have to teach it.

In addition, the book is poorly organized (and annoyingly full of references to BJU). In the chapter entitles Curricula and How to Choose the Best One, we are given a section on "Touchy Situations" (removing a child from school due to a specific event). Huh? In the chapter entitles Mothers, Careers, Guilt, and Homeschooling, there is a section on "Foundation Skills." Good information, but had nothing to do with the chapter.

Lastly, it is predominantly written for the family considering homeschooling who has a child in public school. Lots of assumptions are made and little helpful information is given for those homeschooling from day 1. The authors are admittedly textbook driven and (I feel) do not offer the true flavor of the vast possibilities in homeschooling.

It is worth a read, but please, Please, PLEASE do not take everything they state as gospel.

Love this book. I originally borrowed this book from my local library. There are so many good resources to refer back to that I needed to order so that I could refer back to often. The book does not read like a novel. This is a practical application book if like me you are thinking about home schooling. This book gives you so many free resources that you can already write for and start to compile your states regulations.

This book is very easy to follow. There are very good examples inside. A lot of the homeschool books I have perused were pretty boring to me. This one held my interest throughout the whole book. Very informative.

The Complete Guide to Homeschooling is a real asset to interested families. It is nine years old now so some of the contact information may need to be updated. Still, there is so much advice about getting started as well as suggestions for finding resources, testing information, and contacts. Well worth a look.

I've borrowed many homeschooling books from the library and this is the only one I've decided to purchase. The Complete Guide to Homeschooling will tell you all about the Who, What, When and Where regarding this controversial issue; the "Why" is up to you. The book's question/answer format is very easy to read even with a toddler in the house! Also, several pages are devoted to the opinions of previously homeschooled children/teens, now adults. This book also offers many support group/organizations and resources to contact. I really think I can do this! A must have!

We started home schooling our three children one year ago. Why isn't this book listed in the top 10 list of the best home schooling books available to parents? Actually, my wife brought this book home from the library to show me because we have the same names as the authors. She stayed up all night reading it. The very next day she ordered 3 copies from amazon.com and sent 2 of the copies to her sisters who also are home schooling. This book gives an extremely honest account of what it takes to home school successfully. We highly recommend it not only because we share the same names as the authors, John & Kathy Perry, but because we share their ideas about the importance of educating our children thoroughly.