When moms reach out to me and tell me they are considering homeschooling their kids, their biggest hang-up is usually fear — and not knowing where to start.
Take me for example. I had no idea where to begin when I first started homeschooling. I was a public school kid and I didn’t even know there was such a thing as home education until I was an adult. Thankfully, I had a good friend who was familiar with homeschooling because her daughter had homeschooled her children.
One of the first things my friend did was assure me that I was making a wonderful decision and that there were many resources available to homeschooling families.
The next thing she did was give me the book So You’re Thinking About Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel.
Now, I’ve received many books over the years since I began this journey, but no other book helped me or encouraged me quite like this one. I actually keep several copies on my bookshelf in order to hand them out whenever friends tell me they’re thinking of homeschooling.
Lisa does an amazing job introducing someone who isn’t familiar with home education (that someone was totally me) to the wonderful world we call homeschooling. She explains that there is no such thing as a “typical homeschool family.” Every family that decides to take this “road less traveled” does it for a variety of reasons, and no two homeschooling families look the same.
One of the most important points she makes is one I’ve had to recite many times to people, and that is:
“I’m not anti-public school. I’m pro-homeschool.”
I love that statement because it takes so much pressure off. It’s not about bashing public school. It’s about choosing what you believe is best for your family.
Lisa goes on to describe her own homeschooling journey and what that looked like. She shares her doubts and concerns when she started and how she overcame them. And for a mom who is constantly second guessing herself and feeling like a failure most days, her words offered incredible comfort and encouragement.
Reading through what her homeschool looked like filled me with so much excitement that I couldn’t wait to get going.
“Homeschooling allows you the freedom to step off the highway of learning and take a more scenic route along a dirt road.”
— Tamara L. Chilver
The rest of the book consists of her introducing you to several other homeschooling families (fifteen to be exact) “to help paint a clearer picture of what the homeschooling adventure is all about.”
Do you notice the tabs on my copy of the book above? Yep — those are all the placeholders for every story that spoke to me and encouraged me.
Lisa’s book does such a great job of introducing many of the different homeschooling styles out there, like Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Unit Studies, and Eclectic education methods. There is even a chapter filled with resources to help you get started, should you choose to homeschool your kids.
You may be wondering which style I chose.
To be perfectly honest… I couldn’t just choose one! Ha ha! Our homeschool consists of multiple styles, and our curriculum is pretty much a hodgepodge of all our favorites. From Abeka, to BJU Press, to Notgrass, and The Well-Trained Mind… we have it all!
So if you’re wondering where to start, read this book for sure. You will either come away feeling encouraged and excited, or realizing that homeschooling may not be the journey for you.
Whatever you choose is up to you — and it is okay.
I share more about our homeschool journey and what I’ve learned along the way in other posts here on the blog, if you’d like to read more.
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