Book Details
- Author: Sonya Haskins
- Publisher: Bethany House (2010)
- Category: Family, General Interest
Discerning Reader Editorial Review
Reviewed 03/30/2010 by John Bird.
Recommended. General parenting and homeschooling advice for homeschooling families.
Irregular schedules, messy houses, strained budgets, and conflicts with family--these are the marks of a normal home school family. If you're going to teach your children at home, you'll save yourself lots of worry if you give up any dreams of perfection. Instead, concentrate on the important things: developing relationships with God, family, and others in the community. So says Sonya Haskins in Homeschooling for the Rest of Us.
Haskins says that there is no right or wrong way to home school (as long as education is taking place and the children are loved and cared for). And while a strict schedule with a set curriculum works well for some, the author prefers a more relaxed style of teaching:
We refer to our approach as 'relaxed schooling,' where parents are considered the guides, but the child's interests, desires, and abilities are always taken into consideration.
Some aspects of Haskins' approach are too relaxed for me, but the point she makes is an important one: each family should find what works best for them.
This short, easy to read book is full of practical and useful advice. Haskins gives real examples of home school schedules, advice on how to deal with a (very) messy house, how to help your children develop social skills, and how to home school on a tight budget. These are just a few of the helpful topics.
The book also has a lot of good, general parenting advice. Any parent, even those not considering home schooling, will find something useful. Though I disagree with the author on a few minor points, I both enjoyed and learned from Homeschooling for the Rest of Us, and I don't hesitate to recommend it.
