Homeschool Open House [Paperback]

Nancy Lande (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

Personal insights from 55 families worldwide about a real day of homeschooling. Includes homeschool illusions, family culture, learning and family style, parenting strategies, chores and organization, family management, personal empowerment, decision making, change flexibility, resources, and questions to consider before deciding to homeschool. A private tour of homeschooling homes and reflective thoughts from families. Also includes five year follow-ups from families in HOMESCHOOLING: A PATCHWORK OF DAYS.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...lavish...helps us all get a glimpse inside another family and see how they make decisions, move through their days..." -- Susan Richman

"...offers guidance for anyone considering the homeschool option...will prove invaluable when faced with homeschooling challenges of your own..." -- Helen Hegener

"...valuable...answers just about all the questions anyone thinking of homeschooling could possibly ask..." -- Sam Blumenfeld

This book dispels some myths of homeschooling and gives a helpful glimpse into households who desire a rich, full enviornment. -- The Relaxed Home School, Mary Hood, October, 2000

This is a book of human resources--an intimate look at how families go through a day of homeschooling. -- The Home School Source Book, Jean Reed, October 2000

This is one of the most valuable books ever written on homeschooling and answers all the questions one could ask. -- Alpha Phonics, Homeschooling--A Parents Guide to Teaching Children, Sam Blumenfeld October, 2000

This new book of Nancy's is lavish—the interviews help us get a glimpse inside another family. . . you'll be inspired. -- Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Newsletter, Susan Richman, October, 2000

You'll put this book down with a completely different understand that will prove invaluable . . . such is its inestimable power. -- Home Education Magazine, Helen Hegener, October, 2000

From the Publisher

Many books about homeschooling set out methods, resources, ideologies, or helpful statistics. HOMESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE fills in the gaps and brings the idea of homeschooling to life. Since there is no set definition of homeschooling, this book allows readers to be a “fly on the wall” and see how days of homeschooling actually play out. Interlaced around periods of learning and resources is a wealth of family tradition, beliefs, goals, and thoughts for raising good and productive children. The interviews bring to life some of the many definitions of what “homeschool” can be, each unique to the individual family.

Varied perspectives, practices, and strategies give readers the chance to mirror their own families in light of the information given, providing valuable tools to more clearly define their own families. There is much to be gleaned and also much to set aside as not pertinent, but that is the gift of being able to allow material to built a good fit for the family. Readers will have a full sense of what a homeschooling commitment truly means to a family.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Windycreek (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965130312
• ISBN-13: 978-0965130318
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,549,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed..., November 21, 2001

By 

Karen Baker "city mama" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homeschool Open House (Paperback)

Having decided to homeschool but needing a pep-talk, I chose this book because I wanted to know about the day-to-day of what homeschool life was like. This book was exactly the thing because it's like being a fly on the wall in 55 homes. The things I took away from it are: (1) homeschooling, however you do it, is as much work as you think it will be so get ready, and (2) there are infinite ways to homeschool so go ahead and craft a lifestyle that is right for your family-- your kids will learn and thrive even if you don't do it exactly like the curriculum specifies. A very inspiring, very useful, very truthful book. Buy it and recommend it to your friends!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Open house--open lives, November 28, 2000

By 

HoosierNan (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homeschool Open House (Paperback)

In this sequel to "Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days," Nancy Lande has once again opened up the lives of homeschooling families so that anyone can see that homeschooling is not only doable, but being done, and being done very successfully. What is most valuable for the person who wants to know about homeschooling in general is that there are 55 families here, each using a somewhat different style of homeschooling, but each family seems to be getting along just fine. One family, in which the parents are both long-haul truck drivers, talk about their adventures "On the Road." Some of the families, such as in the "Never O'Clock" and "Teacher Didn't Shave Today" chapters (which are in the section of follow-ups from "Patchwork") are willing to talk warts and all.

There is a good balance of families that are religious, not so religious, and not religious at all. There are families that are more or less going it alone, and others that have teamed up with learning cooperatives or that take advantage of some part of a public school program. Only children; small families; big families; rural areas; big cities; working parents; single parents; the United States, Australia, Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom; extremely structured and very free and easy. It's all here!

Recommended to journalists who want an overview of homeschooling philosophy; families considering the homeschooling adventure; skeptical relatives; anyone who likes to eavesdrop on other people's lives!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing, insightful and thought-provoking, April 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Homeschool Open House (Paperback)

This is a superb book for three groups of people: Anyone who's THINKING about homeschooling, anyone who is ALREADY homeschooling and anyone who wants to KNOW more about it. It gives a detailed look at 55 very different families who homeschool. The families have VERY different approaches. The author doesn't try to espouse one particular technique, rather, she lets the viewer see the realities of how homeschooling looks with the individual overlays of each unique home life. This is not sanitized; it's a honest view of how different families have made it work or are struggling to make it work. The author is not judgemental about the vast differences that occur among families, and she includes more than just the standard "conservative" perspective on the subject. Homeschooling is NOT for everyone and this book helps readers determine whether they're cut out for it, or gives new ways of handling challenges. The author does ask some penetrating questions in the first few chapters. The book is full of innovative ideas and specific techniques from families all over the world who share their hard-earned 'secrets' to the thorny problems that arise. I found it compelling and think this is a 'must read'.