RECOMMENDED READING FOR HOMESCHOOLERS
Compiled by Robyn, South Africa ã Updated
November 2012
THE HURRIED CHILD: GROWING UP TOO FAST TOO SOON (25th Anniversary Edition) by David
Elkind
This book believes that children deserve a childhood. This is not happening for a number of
reasons. Often, with the very best
intentions, parents expose their children to overwhelming pressures including
over competitive sport, being pushed to read earlier, expected to behave in
ways that are above their cognitive and emotional development, over scheduling,
standardized testing, dealing with money matters and other adult concerns too
early, as well as outside influences such as television, the internet and the
media. Hurrying our children out of
childhood causes emotional, intellectual and social consequences. We
expect our children to grow up too fast and be mini adults. Sometimes we need to be reminded that
childhood is so short and sweet that we should encourage and enjoy it. In
this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, Dr. Elkind delivers a new introduction
that puts 25 years of trends and change into perspective for parents today.
FAMILY MATTERS: WHY HOMESCHOOLING MAKES SENSE by David Guterson
David Guterson is a high school English teacher that also home schools
his own children. He describes both sides of the education coin - public verse home
education without lecturing or sarcasm. This is not a confrontational book;
rather, it is an informative book written in an engaging and warm manner. His writing style is non-emotional, educated
and well balanced. He believes that all
parents should have a wealth of choices when it comes to educating their
children, and that schools should foster and assist in these choices. Guterson answers questions about
homeschooling but also reflects on broader issues, such as family life,
individual fulfilment, and community.
HOMESCHOOLING AND THE VOYAGE OF SELF-DISCOVERY by David H Albert
David Albert's book is
organized into essays that busy parents can savour in stolen moments, but you
won’t be able to put it down! A unique,
wise, witty, philosophical, and thought provoking journey for parents and
educators, this book is an experience and an inspiration and will change your
homeschooling life! It is a beautiful
ode to the most wonderful mentors, our children. You love your children more as you read the
book! It addresses questions such as how
can homeschooling increase the quality of life for everyone in the family? And
how can the process of homeschooling improve one as a human being? It is also filled with lots of practical
homeschooling advice. There isn't
another comparable work available for those seeking to enrich and expand their
homeschooling journey into a life altering experience for themselves and their
children.
TEACH YOUR OWN: THE JOHN HOLT BOOK OF HOMESCHOOLING by John Holt
“Do you remember what they taught you at school? Me neither. I learned
to read very early on, mostly at home, and I still remember some math, but only
because I balance my checkbook and know when I'm getting correct change at the
market. All those years, isolated from the real world in the artificial
environment of school, sitting at a desk all day with 30 of my same age peers,
how was I to learn about what an actual life in the world is like, or about
what I wanted to do with mine? I remember learning to take tests. Now I never
take them. A lot of it was pleasant enough, some of it was not, most of it was
boring, and somehow I never noticed that I was mostly wasting my time.”
“Now I
know better having read John Holt, a sweet, caring man and a wonderful writer.
He's radical, but he never rants. He persuades, gently, eloquently. He learns
through years of careful, loving observation and by trial and error and he
shares that with you in a way that makes it seem as though he's one of your
oldest, most comfortable friends. He reminds you of what you went through in
school. He makes sense. He's fun to read. And you know he's right as you read
him, because we have all gone to school.”
DUMBING US DOWN: THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM OF COMPULSORY SCHOOLING by John Taylor Gatto
This book consists of individual essays on the education system in the
US. Any one of these essays can be read
in a sitting. It is a fast read, but there will also be some time for thinking
and turning those issues over in your head afterwards. Despite the occasional
conspiratorial tone, much of what Gatto says rings true. He contends that students are more programmed
to conform to economic and social norms rather than really taught to
think. The first two essays are
acceptance speeches for teaching awards that Gatto received. The first, which Gatto gave while accepting a
Teacher of the Year Award for New York State, addresses the seven lessons he
and the school system teach students. He defines those lessons as confusion,
class position, indifference, emotional dependency, intellectual dependency,
provisional self-esteem and lack of privacy. His speech on being awarded the
state teacher award the previous year was entitled "The Psychopathic
School" - and they still asked him to speak again the next year!!! That fact and the fact that he won awards at
teaching, a field he later left because of moral issues with "indoctrination",
give his theories weight. Gatto knows
what he is talking about and what he is saying is well reasoned and logical.
BOOK LIST Recommended by SA Homeschoolers:
* The
Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Dr Raymond and Dorothy Moore
* The
Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson
* The
Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World as Your Child's Classroom
by Mary Griffith
* Homeschooling
Children with Special Needs by Sharon Hensley
* In
Their Own Way - Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Multiple Intelligences
by Thomas Armstrong
Would you like to add a book to the Recommended Book List?
Please send it to me for consideration.
Or write a book review. I would
love to include it!
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THIS PAGE WAS LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 2012
