Customer Reviews

So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was a fast read! I had a hard time putting it down and finished it in a day. This gives a great overview of homeschooling in its various forms and manages to entertain and instruct at the same time. Lisa's writing style is very enjoyable!

Each of the chapters covers a day in the life of a different homeschooling family. Each family homeschools for different reasons using different approaches and curriculums. I really appreciated learning about all the homeschooling methods available and was encouraged to see how homeschooling has worked in a variety of family situations. It also made me realize that you don't have to have your curriculum picked out and your lesson plans all done before you are ready to homeschool! It's OK to try out several methods until you find out what works for each child.

If you want a quick overview of homeschooling options but you don't have much time (or much desire to wade through a dry, scholarly book), pick up this book. You won't regret it!

I can't wait to give this book to a friend who is thinking about homeschooling - but I had to read it first. It was a quick read, which is important for a homeschool mom, and it was fun. We've been homeschooling for years and I still learned tons from the 15 families in this book.

All of the information you would ever need to decide whether to homeschool, how to get started, and what all the different methods look like, is creatively interspersed within the interesting stories about all kinds of families. I loved "listening" to working mothers, grandparents, ADHD kids, junior high and high school students all tell how homeschooling works for them.

I especially appreciated learning about all the different styles of teaching like, the Charlotte Mason method, a Classical education, unschooling, computer curriculum, the Principle Approach and all the other options I've heard about but didn't completely understand.

I would recommend that seasoned homeschoolers, like myself, buy this book, read and enjoy it, and then pass it on to someone you know who is thinking about homeschooling.

I bought this book trying to decide if I wanted to homeschool, and 1/2 way through I was convinced it was for me! This book took the mystery away and gave me better understanding of how to fit it into my lifestyle. Written in a very comfortable- let's sit with a cup of coffee while I tell you my story- style! This book turned me onto many helpful websites including the author's site. LOVED IT!!

My husband and I read this book separately and both felt it was a great overview of homeschooling options for a varied group of families. Lisa did a great job of giving a sample of very different styles and reasons people HS. Our daughter is finishing up public school this year and I didn't feel one bit berated for having her there by the tone of this book. My husband was amazed at all the different scenarios she ilustrates (HS'ing one child, many children, some in public some in private, some at home, on the road, mom and dad teachers, high schoolers dual enrolled in college etc.) It really encouraged us to just be creative and not pigeon hole our plans into one specific style or curriculum. As new HS'ing parents she really took away some of the fear for us.

I didn't find the book "hokey" as one reviewer mentioned...and I'm usually the "hokey police". But since I've seen/heard Lisa when she was on the "Facts of Life"... in my mind I could hear that bubbly personality coming through. If you know her character Blair - you can't help but hear her voice reading to you.

I thought the info packed into this book was great. Gives you a look at many different ways to go about homeschooling (from the eyes of various homeschoolers' day-to-day lives) and includes a list of places to continue research.
This book will not condemn you for choosing public or private schooling....it is mean't to show you that there is more then just those options available...and that it is possible for most anyone who wants to do it.
The thing I love is that though it is informative, it is so enjoyable to read that I occassionally read it just because I like the little stories that glance into each families lives. As a military wife, I could definitely appreciate one story involving military homeschoolers.
Lisa even goes into why and how she started homeschooling, while giving a glance at her life in general. This in itself may fascinate anyone who loved her on "Facts of Life".
My opinion....excellent purchase!

I do appreciate the good parts of this book: the author's effort to include portraits of a variety of different family situations, and her encouraging and friendly tone, and also the links and resources at the end of the book. But I was disappointed that the fifteen families she wrote about were actually fictional. Why couldn't she have written about fifteen REAL families and given them pseudonyms to protect their privacy? The reason this bothers me is that while some of the families portrayed seemed realistic enough, other composite families did not seem realistic at all. I also wished she had addressed certain questions more in depth: for example, What does a homeschooling family do when there are piles of laundry to be done? or when the 2-year-old smears toothpaste all over the wall, or dumps marbles all over the floor, or has a temper tantrum at the wrong time, or constantly interrupts, or in a thousand other ways disrupts the otherwise smooth flow of the household? Who washes the dishes? What to do if Grandma calls and keeps you from doing chores by keeping you on the phone for an hour and then you aren't ready when Dad comes home? I mean, a mom only has two hands and people are not robots. Children especially are not robots: in other words, if I asked my children to clean off a sticky kitchen table when guests came to my house, they might or might not do it. The children in this book too often are portrayed as seemingly 100% obedient, and that certainly isn't realistic. Then, how ANY mom with ten children (I have 3, and that's hard enough even though 2 go to school) could homeschool is truly beyond me. (One chapter discusses a family with ten children.) Does a homeschooling mom have to get up at 5 a.m. every day to get everything done? I personally need a lot more sleep than that, and my husband does his best to help but he works full time! I just think the book needs to be more believable overall. Dear Lisa, if you decide to write a third edition of this book, please, please write about REAL families so that I can see how homeschooling can actually get accomplished when Life gets in the way. (If you do write a third edition I will buy it!)

Lisa Welchel (Blair on The Facts of Life) takes us to coffee with 15 different families who homeschool in 15 different ways and for many more different reasons. One gleans a few new ideas from each family, and leaves feeling more inspired to be a better homeschooling parent than before each visit.
There isn't a "right" way to homeschool, and Lisa gives us a realistic vision of what homeschooling life is like in different families. For many readers, they will also leave with a feeling that "what I am doing is OK."
For someone considering homeschooling, this book would be a tremendous encouragement to go ahead and try it. It helps the reader visualize many different workable scenarios. Almost any reader will identify strongly with two or three situations, and they will come away with the feeling that homeschooling can and will work for them.
This book will increase the number of people who homeschool. For that, Lisa, we can be grateful.

I just finished this book and LOVED IT! I have been contemplating homescooling my children and have always told people that, although my mind isn't totally made up, I'm seriously considering homeschooling. After reading this book--I am now sure that I am ready to do this and can't wait to start! I have read lots of homescooling books and books on homeschooling families and yet not one book was as enjoyable to read as this one. It was as though the families in the book were actually talking to me. It didn't bother me that these stories were not complete individual true stories, but a creation of many true stories put together and separated into each family. It didn't bother me because I know that the author took the time to get to know real families and put as much information as she felt was important together into these 15 families. I absolutely loved the book. When the author wrote about herself I felt like she was someone I could even be friends with because of her easy manner and apparent strong values. A must read!

I really enjoyed this book. Honestly, I couldn't put it down. It was really informative, talking about all the different ways to homeschool. It covered different reasons for homeschooling, different kinds of curriculum to use, and all the different sorts of support groups there are out there. The resource guide at the back is a must for anyone thinking about homeschooling. The tone is easy to read and friendly, and definitely not condemning of public schools or of people who choose that route.

This book wasn't even on my radar when I went to check out books about homeschooling. I'm so glad I picked this one up because it ended up being the most useful one I have yet read. A Focus on The Family publication and written by Lisa Whelchel (who is SO much more than just Blair from "The Facts of Life"), it shouldn't be a surprise that it is Christian-oriented both in its message and in many of the resources listed in the appendix. Even so, I think this book would be useful to persons of all faiths who are considering homeschooling.

Whelchel collected information from over 1,000 homeschoolers to create 15 composite examples of families. Each family illustrates a different take on homeschooling. The book is written in conversational style, which means it is very readable. Also, compared to some of the other books on homeschooling I have read, it really doesn't try to convince you that one methodology of homeschooling is better than another. That is refreshing. The resources and ideas listed in the two appendices are a great place to get started should you decide to homeschool after reading this book.

I feel blessed to have found "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling". I will be homeschooling my daughters with a curriculum discussed in this book that I might never have heard about otherwise. It is a great place to get started in your homeschooling journey.