Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days: Share a Day With 30 Homeschooling Families (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From a bedroom community in Nebraska to a farm in Vermont, from families who rely on workbooks to those who have sworn them off, this in-depth examination of the lives of homeschoolers covers a wide range of people and methods. When author Nancy Lande started homeschooling more than 10 years ago, this is the book she wanted that didn't exist. What better way to create your homeschool than reading about others and picking and choosing the styles that appeal to you? Lande has corralled a variety of homeschoolers and, with some deft editing, allowed them to speak for themselves. Every chapter features a different household on any given day. Many of the writers are mothers, but a stay-at-home dad and several children tell their tales as well. Their detailed descriptions start in the waking hours of morning and get down to the nitty-gritty information of everyday life in a homeschool: how moms fit in showers, how chores are divvied up, how reading and research are gently initiated, how parents set aside time for themselves.

These writers invite the reader into their homes and advise, "Don't mind the mess." Their passages are often funny and unflinchingly honest. They aren't embarrassed to tell you they whipped out SpaghettiOs for a hurried lunch or stole a peek at CNN while ignoring the chaos in the playroom. Some of the families have created highly structured school environments within their homes, with desks and sharpened pencils. Others promote freestyle learning, with their children sprawled across the house working on projects or reading in between walking the dog, playing games, and riding bikes. The majority of families here live in Pennsylvania, the author's home state, but one writes from as far away as Scotland, another lives on a mountain in Alaska, and yet another checks in from a college town in Texas. Their learning logs, reading lists, and journal entries, along with family photos, help illustrate the book. The quilt they piece together is a great service to those wondering how to approach homeschooling. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

Product Details

• Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Windycreek (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965130304
• ISBN-13: 978-0965130301
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #478,842 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are considering homeschooling, buy this book first!, May 20, 2000

By	Janet Johnsno "China Mum" (Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm extensively researching homeschooling as have been considering educating my now 3-year-old this way when the time comes. This is by far the most exciting and inspiring thing I have read on the subject. Any doubts I had about homeschooling were taken away by this book. I loved reading about a day in the life of different homeschoolers and then there were updates from a year or so later to see how things were going and what had changed with each family. The book confirmed what I knew in my heart - that homeschooling is for us! It helped me realize that there are many ways to homeschool and the joy is in finding what works for your family and your children and growing and learning together as you go along. I'm looking forward to the next book by this author, which is coming out a few months from now!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deciding to homeschool?, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

If you're trying to decide if you want to homeschool your children, this is a great book to help you decide. I had read several HOW TO HOMESCHOOL books, but still did not know if and how homeschooling would work for us. This book let me peek in on homeschooling families, and thus I was able to take bits and pieces from each family and make it work for us. It was great fun to read about the MANY ways to homeschool and the MANY types of homeschooling families. This book is a wealth of information if you still don't quite grasp how homeschooling works on a day to day basis.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars just like a reality TV show--but in book format, June 22, 2002

By	christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Connecticut, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book dedicates each chapter to a family telling how they spend their day, practically every minute of it. After reading many books and magazines about homeschooling, I still didn't quite understand how people spend the time during their day (until I read this book). This book is unique in that it explains so much of what I found missing in other books. At the time I read this book my oldest child was two years old and I planned to homeschool but still had a sense of vagueness about things such as: how much time do they actually spend teaching their child, or how much time the child works with a curriculum on their own. I wondered how many people use outside structured classes or how they actually manage to keep their house clean and how mom can serve up three meals per day?

Being a fan of the reality TV shows and biographical books, I like to see how people live and how they interact. I am curious about not only what a family chooses to do, but why, and how it is working out. I enjoyed the book because of the detail. I liked reading about why the family chose to homeschool and to what extent are they enjoying the experience. I also appreciated the comments about different teaching methods, books, and curriculum and which works for various children and why.

As I read these it seemed to me that many of the families discussed religion a lot. I went back and counted and found that is was a 50/50 split: half mention religion as being a daily part of their life and for some, the reason they homeschool, and the other half never mention it.

Most of the families' custom design their curriculum by choosing various curricula or by using non-textbook books. Some unschool and some use a school-in-a-box.

Some things I learned from reading this book was that there is no one right way to learn, no one right way to homeschool, and that flexibility is key. I also learned what I don't want to do as we homeschool (such as setting an alarm clock to wake up before my/our bodies are ready and to use a structured time schedule). I saw that some families self-imposed scheduling of formal learning really stressed them out, giving them a sense of despair if they didn't keep to their planned schedule. I also gleaned insight about how some families with four or more children actually live and homeschool: something that has always amazed me!

I think the author did a great job trying to capture a true day in the life of these families. It is clear she tried to represent religious homeschoolers, unschoolers, eclectic homeschoolers, etc. The number of children per family ranges from one to many. The role of the father is always mentioned. The location of the residences ranges from city to suburban to rural.

This was great fun to read and I did appreciate the details! The book also has a smallish font and little space in the margins: it is packed full! This book made me realize that although we may use the same books or curriculum, or may be unschooling, there is still no one way that each family moves through their day.

There is a sequel to this book that contains new families stories and a five-year follow up on some of the families featured in this book. It is called "Homeschool Open House" and is very similar to this book but is longer in page length and in the number of families represented.