Eight Great Books for New Home Educators

Many years ago, a professor of music education at Butler University taught me and the other music education students that we really needed to strive to be "life-long learners".  I am glad that I learned many years ago that an educator needs to be a life-long student, to keep learning.  I have read many books about home education over the last eight years as I have asked questions and searched for information to become a home educator and eventually a mentor to other home educators.  Below is a list of books that are most memorable or that I keep going back to re-read, because they have proven the most valuable.

1. Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Sally Clarkson was the first book about home education that I bought at my first state convention!  Sally offers tons of encouragement here for new home educators and this book helped me to decide which educational methods best fit me and my children.  This book contains many books lists, charts, and ideas for making your entire home a place of discipleship and learning.

2.  Classical Education Made Approachable by Leigh Bortins is a new book that is a quick read and it summarizes all three stages of Classical Education very well, as well as the Classical Conversations programs.  This book also includes tips on scheduling from several CC families and a copy of the Lost Tools of Learning essay by Dorothy Sayers.

3.  The Core by Leigh Bortins helped me to "see" how to teach classically at home.  With an introduction on the differences between classical education and modern education, this book gives in-depth information on how to classically teach "core" subject areas at home with the tools of learning.

 4.  Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt is a great resource for finding all kinds of children's literature to read aloud and it helps in guiding your readers toward great books.

 5.  Foundations Guide  This 4th edition of the Foundations Guide came out for our second year of CC and I've read through all of it and still refer back to helpful sections.  This book contains not only all of the memory work for all three cycles of Foundations, but is also a guide for how to implement a classical education at home.



6.  101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy  I had an earlier version of this book, but I chose to purchase this one when it was released because it is a great "library" of reviews from trusted author and curriculum reviewer, Cathy Duffy.  Her books also have sections on how to choose the best educational methods to fit your family and then she has charts that show how these 101 picks line up with the methods.  She reviews all types of curriculum from a variety of methods.  I also use her website, CathyDuffyReviews.

7.  So You're Thinking About Homeschooling:  Second Edition, Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It by Lisa Welchel  I checked out this book from our library before we decided to home educate our then 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter.  Lisa's humor and real-life interviews with various families gave me a wider perspecitve into the home education world.  Very encouraging!

8.  The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Teens by Debra Bell is full of information about how to prepare middle schoolers for high school, how to provide a great high school home school experience for your teen, and how they can prepare for college.  I will be reading this more and more over the next few years!

This post is linked to Living and Learning at Home, Trivium Tuesdays - Classical Link-up #116.