Linda Dobson

I wanted to like this book so much, but in the end it was a homeschooler trying to use the experience of homeschooling to write a book for the general public.

It's still a good book, full of excellent suggestions on how to improve the learning experience for a child attending public or private school.

I don't think anything in this book was revolutionary but it put into words the philosophy my husband and I already have with our boys and gave some more concrete examples of things we can do. The main premise is that the primary responsibility of parents is to help their kids develop a love of learning and help them access more information about topics that interest them, not drill facts into their heads or use rote learning techniques.

The author is a homeschooler herself and has written show more many books on homeschooling. There is a bias for homeschooling present in the book but it wasn't so prevalent that I couldn't overlook it.

I recommend this book for parents of traditionally schooled children who want to make sure that school doesn't quash the love of learning in their children or for parents of children who have lost their love of learning and need it rekindled. show less

#83, 2006

I think I’ve now officially read all the “new to homeschooling” material that I need to read. In fact, I think this book was one book too many. It was a good book, focusing less on logistics and detailed advice, and more on dealing with emotions and common issues that come up when deciding to homeschool and throughout the first year. From that stand point, it was reasonably inspirational – lots about trusting yourself and your child, remembering that it takes a while to get show more into the swing of things. That sort of thing, which is definitely worthwhile information, although I think I’m mostly past needing that sort of pep talk (although who knows how I’ll feel a month from now). :D

I did get a couple of good tips here, but most of the information was, for me, a repeat of things I’ve read in other books. Still, for someone just getting started, I wouldn’t dissuade you from reading this book. In my case, though, I’d already read enough similar material to make this one a bit redundant. show less

I was excited to read this book which is for homeschooling ages 3-8 because of course I've started basic homeschooling with my 21 month old and wanted to be ready for more instruction when my child gets older.

However I must say this book didn't live up to my expectations. The best part of the book was the ideas on teaching Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic and the books and websites listed in the resources at the back of each chapter. The information itself is pretty good but the writing show more style is a little nonsensical. I don't feel the author stayed on the topic she was talking about in each section.

The book is based on the results of a questionnaire of 66 homeschooling parents. Each section is talked about based on the results and quotes are given from the different parents about the subjects. I enjoyed the quotes directly from homeschooling families as I think this is the best advice you can get. (ie. directly from the source.) Although some of the statistics were interesting, a lot of it wasn't very much help.

I wouldn't recommend this book as a first one to turn to about homeschooling but if you have read quite a few already and want some ideas on teaching the early years, then pick up this book. All the more if it's from the library. I did copy down quite a few books from the resources that I'd like to read and although some of the websites were no longer available (as is expected since the web changes so frequently) there were some good ones listed that I know have bookmarked. show less