Customer Reviews

Home Is Where the Learning Is: Homeschool Lifestyles from Homeschool Moms

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Home Is Where the Learning Is:
Homeschool Lifestyles From Homeschool Moms
Valerie J. Steimle
Booklocker.com
Genre: How to
ISBN: 1591139387, $14.95, 204 pp, 2006

This book is about homeschooling-about parents taking the time to educate their children. The information is presented in a logical, understandable manner and begins with Chapter One: The Basics of Homeschool by Valerie J. Steimle. Valerie has written the Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Ten: The Final Word and Chapter Eleven: Homeschooling Resources.

The other chapters were written by other women homeschoolers: Cherie Logan, Lisa Odaffer, Gail Thomas, Donna Knox, Caren Gibson, Debbie Hanson and Lisa Hyman Johnson, plus a chapter by the Baldwin County Homeschoolers.

This is an excellent book if you are considering homeschooling your child/children and provides just about everything you'll need to know to make an intelligent decision. The Homeschooling Resources chapter is extensive and includes books, magazines, catalogues, curriculums and websites.

Valerie J. Steimle has been homeschooling her children since 1990 and has had numerous articles about family issues published. She is also the author of Home Is Where The Heart Is.

I'm certain this book will be much appreciated by those considering such an option.

Reviewed by Kaye Trout - May 15, 2006 - Copyright

This book helps the beginner homeschooler to understand the lifestyle of a homeschool family. It is a difficult task to undertake such a pursuit as there is so much to learn. Mrs. Steimle makes homeschooling understandable and includes views from other mothers.

As a homeschooler, I found this book to be very educational for parents, both those considering homeschooling as an option, and those who are already homeschooling. It may also be enlightening for non-homeschoolers to read, to dispell or confirm any opinions they may have about homeschooling.

The contributors invite the reader into their homeschooling experiences through their descriptions of their various homeschooling styles. I thoroughly enjoyed peeking into their lives, and being allowed to consider each lifestyle for myself, at my own pace. Often when socializing with other homeschoolers, we only get glimpses into their daily routines. This book allows the reader to savor each style presented, and to consider whether each style would or would not match one's family lifestyle.

With new homeschoolers, there is always the lurking suspicion that there may be a "better way" of doing things - this book helps clarify and define each style, with great candor and personal detail. Some styles I related strongly to, and a couple I reacted strongly against. But having the benefit of being exposed to ALL the styles represented, it reaffirmed that we are on the right track for what suits our family's lifestyle, taught me tolerance for styles that don't suit us, and it also gave me the privilege of knowing that there are other homeschooling families out there just like ours, so we needn't feel isolated in our homeschooling journey.

The author's introduction and closing chapters, as well as the vast collection of resources, were of particular value. Mrs. Steimle addresses and neatly summarizes many important issues to homeschoolers, such as scheduling and research supporting the fact that homeschooled children are more appropriately socialized than their peers.

I found the lack of standard editing to be a distraction, but overall, I was greatly enriched by reading this book. I enthusiastically recommend it to others, especially those wanting to "try on for size" different homeschooling styles other than their own.