Book Review: Homeschooling for the Rest of Us by Sonya Haskins

My 3 year old Eóin LOVES to learn! Because he has such an interest in learning, especially reading, I have been thinking a lot about schooling for him - it's really not that far away. I was excited when I saw the title of this book because I really don't see myself as a "homeschool mom." I am not super organized and scheduled and always have my ducks in a row which seems to me you would need to homeschool your child. This book seemed to be about how to make homeschooling work in real life - you know for us not so perfect parents :-)

I would have to say that although the book was somewhat helpful, I found some of her ideas to be a bit weird. She devoted a good chunk of the book to answering skeptics and questions about homeschooling. She made some good points about how to kindly deal with family, and honestly evaluate criticism. I really liked her checklists for comparing different types of education and seeing which really is suited best to your family's needs.

There are a lot of examples or different schedules and ways to make learning fit into your life. I thought some of her ideas on what qualified as education were a bit far fetched. I don't really think that mowing the lawn should count at physical education, and cleaning your room as "life skills." Unless you purposefully set out to have a lesson about cleaning/hygiene, I think you need to be honest about how your time is spent.

I am not sure I would class this as a necessary book for a homeschool family, but it would certainly be worth a skim.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing.