Customer Reviews

Pagan Homeschooling

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an incredible resource. I don't homeschool. I'm fortunate enough to have a terrific elementary school 2 miles from my home and my older kids are in a wonderful high school honors curriculum. Like I said, I'm fortunate. What I use the book for is not the pages and pages of homeschooling resources and contact info which I'm sure other people will find useful but for the tips, crafts, and ritual information I can use with my children in their daily lives and in our family life. I based my daughter's menarche ritual on material in this book and I've spent rainy weekends with my youngest, trying out different fun ideas and talking about how a particular craft relates to my beliefs. I hope to see many more books like this from the author and her publisher.

I bought this book because we homeschool, and we're pagans. I didn't really get much out of it. As a first-of-its kind, I wanted this book to be great, but I have been disappointed. I paid seventeen dollars for a bibliography - because that is really all the use I've gotten from this.

If you are still "on the fence" about homeschooling your child, if you are looking for reasons why homeschooling would be okay, then the majority of this book might be helpful for you. We already knew we wanted to homeschool, and why, so a lot of it wasn't very relevant. If you have no idea how to start homeschooling - what to do, what supplies you need - then, again, you might get more use from this book. But you can also find a lot of other books at your library or on Amazon that go over the exact same material, with more in-depth help. If you don't know much about internet safety, this might help. But if you already know how to use the internet and teach your children about it, you'll have more information you don't need.

I found the chapter on "networking" very unusual, and not at all helpful. It felt like I was reading some odd business self-help book about how to make friends and influence people. I don't think I've ever, in my life, filled out a worksheet in response to a conversation I've had with someone. A networking journal? Strange.

So - finally, we get past the introductory information into the "Pagan" themed stuff. Sort-of. I shudder to think that an average pagan parent hasn't considered the basic concept of looking at the moon phases to teach their child about astronomy and religion. Or you can build a model of the solar system, gaze at clouds, cook with herbs. Really? This is the amazing revelation of pagan homeschooling? I incorporate this stuff in our lives every day. I didn't need to read a book for the same ideas every pagan should already have. The elemental chapters are equally disappointing - you can go fly a kite, candle gaze, and other Wicca 101 ideas. The festivals chapter contains a whopping average of one idea per festival - things like dyeing eggs and making paper.

Overall, I'd say there are less than a handful of original, unique ideas and rituals in this book. The content is too common-sense, very basic, not at all revelatory. I am going to keep holding out that a more in-depth book will be written by someone, somewhere, that has great ideas for schooling and Paganism, and really discusses the issues related to being a pagan family that chooses to homeschool.

With so many of us homeschooling, thinking about it, or just looking to add more spirituality to what our kids get in School, it is About Time for a book like this!

This book is so full of information, it will take me months to just check out all the resources let alone try all the experiments, crafts, and games. Her suggestions on learning with the Elements and Festivals were fantastic.

It has great information on learning to network and how to decide if homeschooling is for your family. I really enjoyed reading about the author's experiences and those of the other homeschoolers she polled. She certainly did her homework on this one and I'm going to definitely get more of her books.

When I began to consider homeschooling as an option for my children, I was daunted by the scarsity of secular, non-Christian books out there, let alone material that catered to those who followed other paths. Nevertheless, I slogged through the most promising of books I could find (and quite a few not nearly so worthwhile.) So when I saw a book written for pagan homeschooling by an Actual Pagan Homeschooling Mom, I could not have been more ecstatic.

Having read "Pagan Homeschooling," I must say my initial joy has not flagged even slightly. This book comfortably covers a tremendous range of topics from a pagan perspective such as the initial decision to homeschool, arranging the best curriculum for your child, how to integrate spirituality into lessons, how to make homeschool a better place to social your children, and tips for teaching through the elements and festivals.

I was particularly pleased at the lack of self-rightous, proselytizing attitude that Kristin Madden took. She emphasizes that faith is a matter of choice and good parents give their child that choice, a striking dissention from so many homeschool books out there. Her suggested lessons and activities emphasized pagan values including exploring beyond the circle.

I really liked this one. A nice easy book on introing Paganism into your homeschooling life. Good ideas. I really like the chapter on Teaching the elements and also the chapter on teaching with festivals.

Heather mama of 5

This book I would recommend not just to pagan families who want to home school but to anybody. The book is chock full of websites, books, and other resources for every aspect of homeschooling.

ideas that is. :) I read this book before I even had the wonderful pleasure of meeting and getting to know Kristin. I loved that it was filled with ideas not only for the pagan homeschooler but also for anyone who wanted to teach their children from a more natural/nature based approach.

This book became even more wonderful to me after getting to know Kristin because it's like it came alive for me and my family. Seeing Kristin and Karl and watching how they just live their lives is a wonderful example of how well her thoughts and ideas work.

I consider this woman, her son, and her teachings a wonderful blessing and addition to mine and my childrens' lives. Her books are well worth the read.

Depending on your philosophy of life and education, you may wish to educate your child outside the mainstream school system. This does not mean that your children are being denied socialisation with peers or members of other generations, nor does it mean that they're being denied proper information about the world - unless you're a sloppy parent who prefers not to examine their own beliefs and behaviours. Home education means education for the whole family, including parents, who have to learn to be open to relentless questioning, to facing down their own fears and sense of inadequacy, and to encouraging their children's natural curiosity and lifelong love of learning.

In my school, I knew only one person of another religion, and as she was in another year, socialising was pretty much taboo. What I learned about healthy socialisation, I learned from my multigenerational family and neighbourhood, from clubs and groups outside of school, and from the kids from other schools I played with in the afternoons and on weekends. Home educating a child opens up all manner of possibilities - visits to Hindu temples, mosques, churches, synagogues, Buddhist temples, and a wide variety of other religious centres and groups with family and friends; visits to museums, art galleries, and learning centres with family and friends; building community by asking neighbours to help kids with various activities, such as gardening, sports, cooking, poetry, carpentry, etc.; discussions about ethics, belief systems, and why people behave the way they do; wider reading; turning maths into a sport; taking each subject at your child's own pace. Home education is a major undertaking, and if you're fortunate enough to be able to stay home with your child(ren), and if you're open-minded enough to take the time and make the effort to expose your children to the Big Wide World, it can be immensely rewarding. This book provides handy tips and ideas for doing so within a non-traditional spiritual framework, and is one good resource for the Pagan home educating family.

I absolutely love this book and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to get it! LOL It is chock full of resources that will take my weeks, if not months to look at. While a few of them I have seen before, by and far the majority I'd never even heard of and I can't wait to check them out. I also like the excercises and rituals she sprinkles throughout the book. An awesome must have book for any Pagan family, especially if you wish to incorporate your spirituality into your curriculum. Ionly wish there were illustrations, LOL One other book I reccomend is A Witch's Primer

Helps you make the decision on homeschooling. Lots of insight on how to teach different subjects. Includes lots of website and book lists.