(actually both moms and dads can benefit greatly from these great homeschooling books :-))

When you choose to homeschool your children, questions race through your mind. LOTS OF QUESTIONS. Where do I start? How can I actually do this? Am I crazy? Will I mess my kids up? These questions are especially strong when you do not have a supportive family or friends and haven’t been raised in a culture where homeschooling is acceptable. Turning to books by respected authors in the homeschool community is helpful when you are trying to find answers to your questions.

I came from a background that didn’t think homeschooling was a good idea. Homeschooling first came onto my radar at church, when for the first time I actually met some homeschoolers and their. They were some of the most kind, confident, smart, and all around amazing kids I had ever met. At the time, I was teaching in a public school. In my mind, public school was the only way to go. Yet, when I started getting to know the homeschool families and talk with them about their “whys” and “hows”, the idea of homeschooling seemed really amazing to me for the first time. These same families recommended a couple of books to me to help answer my many homeschooling questions.

“You’re going to WHAT?!?!”

Fast forward several years… We made the decision to homeschool our children. I heard it all after that announcement and for years after. There were the discouragers, the naysayers, the “know it alls,” that questioned our decision to school our children at home. So, I was thankful for the encouragement I received from friends and I was also thankful for the vast information and encouragement I received from books. I devoured as many homeschooling books that I could get my hands on and many of them are in my list of 8 best homeschooling books for homeschooling moms.

Books are an amazing resource for homeschool families. They inform us, encourage us, and keep us going when we are feeling like giving up. Nothing beats a good book and a cup of coffee! I plan to continue to add to my list of best books for homeschooling as I keep reading more and more from authors that I respect.

While life is busy as a homeschool mom, we need to make sure that we get time to study and prepare not only our minds, but our hearts to teach and lead our children. Great books help us do just that!

While I read less during the school year due to busyness with my children and the fact that we read aloud a lot as a family and let’s face it, I get tired; I find that during breaks and in the summer, I do a lot of reading for myself. I keep a notebook with space for notes for each book that I am reading. I underline and highlight my books as well. My kids know that I am building myself up as their teacher when I am reading books about homeschooling.

I think that it is also a great example to your child when they see you reading to grow in your knowledge of something. Modeling this idea will encourage them to be lifelong learners. It also shows that parents don’t know everything and that we humbly need to seek out information and truth.

Here is my list of the 8 best homeschooling books that I recommend for moms:

The Homeschool Mom Booklist: The 8 BEST Books to Prepare for Homeschooling

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer

Actually ANYTHING by Susan Wise Bauer that I have read has been utterly fantastic! I have many of her books. What fascinates me about her is her intellect. This woman is brilliant! She was homeschooled herself and homeschooled her children as well.The Classical Learner is an amazing reference book for any homeschool family. I do not consider myself a strong intellect. I wasn’t taught classically. I have read very few of the classical pieces that classical education recommends, however the encouragement that Susan gives to someone like me, is that I can learn how to read difficult books such as…

You can find Susan Wise Bauer’s website by clicking here.

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass

Again, anything by Karen Glass is worth your time to learn from. She has a brilliant mind and is great at explaining how classical education and Charlotte Mason are intertwined. While I am not a Charlotte Mason Purist, I tend to take many of my educational philosophies from her ideas. Karen expounds on Charlotte Masons philosophies in a brilliant, yet understandable way. I have read this one twice and refer to it often. I have given copies of this book away to friends because I thought it was so excellent.

You can find Karen Glass’s website by clicking here.

Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of your Child’s Education by Susan Wise Bauer

Rethinking School is a great resource for parents that are homeschooling their children and for parents of public school children as well. It has a plethora of information as to how as a parent you are in control of your child’s schooling and education. She challenges many of the widely accepted ideas about education. Like I mentioned earlier this woman is brilliant and she writes in such a clear and concise way. While she does cover a lot of public school issues, I think that it is important to understand what our rights as parents are in education. Plus it is a great book you can recommend to a friend who is struggling with their child in the traditional public school classroom. Here is a quote from the book cover: “Caught in this system, far too many young learners end up discouraged, disconnected, and unhappy. And when they struggle, school pressures parents, with overwhelming force, into ‘fixing’ their children rather than questioning the system.” WOW!

Living in a state that loathes homeschooling and charter schools (basically anything that challenges the traditional role of public education), I found this book to be quite helpful when discussing why I choose to homeschool rather than send my children away to the institution of school. You can even recommend it to those family members that give you a hard time about homeschooling. (Hmmm. Just a thought!)

Home Learning Year By Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool through High School by Rebecca Rupp

This is a great reference book for the new and veteran homeschool mom. Rebecca Rupp wrote this book as a template to follow as you plan instruction for your children. I like many of her book recommendations and advice on what is appropriate to teach at each grade level. It is written in a very reader friendly way. This is a good resource for a parent who likes to design their own curriculum for their child. It covers Preschool all the way to High School. Each grade level is broken down by subjects such as math, language arts, history, and science. While I use this periodically as a reference, it is not completely what guides my instruction.

Best Homeschool Encouragement Books for Moms

Here are a couple of the books that have encouraged my soul when it comes to homeschooling:

Mere Motherhood: Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes, and my Journey Towards Sanctification by Cindy Rollins

and

A Handbook to Morning Time by Cindy Rollins

So, I am combining the Mere Motherhood book and handbook into one section. What I have pictured below is my handbook to morning time. It is marked up, filled with post-its, and one of my favorite references. (I gave my original book away, so I need to buy another copy, lol)

Mere Motherhood (the original book, not the handbook) is one of the only homeschooling books that has made me cry. And, by the way, I would not say that I am a big crier when it comes to books. Cindy Rollins is an amazing writer and her book was one of the most beautiful, encouraging, and inspirational books that I have ever read about homeschooling. I think it goes down as one of my favorites :-).

I had never heard of “morning time” or its benefits until I read this book. I was at a homeschool convention when I randomly came across this book. I liked the cover and what the first couple of pages had to say, so I purchased it not really knowing what it was about. I am so thankful I did.

Her Morning Time Handbook has helped me to implement a Christ-centered morning time so that we are focused on what is most important to us. This book by far has changed my thinking about how important this consistent morning time is. I highly recommend this amazing homeschooling book by an amazing woman and author.

For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

This is a very gentle and warm book to encourage the mother in why and how she educates her children. This is a Christian book and therefore gives Christian principles that should guide educating our children. The experiences that you give your child should be rich, stable, and filled with joy and their education should be built around that. The principles of this book can be applied to all types of education. The goal of your education should be to provide a pleasant child-centered learning experience in your homeschooling (or any education).

The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education by Ainsley Arment

I checked this out from the Library! I was so excited to see it there. Usually my public library does not have homeschooling resource books, so I end up buying all of them. I will eventually purchase this one for myself at some point, but for now, I am happy to get it from my library.

The philosophy of a Wild and Free is to allow your children to experience the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood without being confined to a rigid system that values who they are. This book is very practical and gives a lot of insight, wisdom, and encouragement to the homeschool family.

This has started an entire movement that I believe has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. They also have their own magazine that you can subscribe too as well as other books in their collection.

You can find the Wild and Free Website by clicking here.

I like to hold on to the books I love. I re-read many of my favorites and eventually I give them away to other mothers or parents who are new to homeschooling.

The 8 Best Books Every Homeschool Mom Should Read

I am so thankful for the other homeschool parents that have made it to the other side and for writing in a way that educates gently and encourages greatly. Thank you fellow home educators for paving the way for us newbies and giving us the encouragement we need!

If you are a new homeschooling mom, check out this article, “14 Helpful Tips for the New Homeschool Mom.”

On My Future “Books to Read” List

These are the books I have in my personal reading basket. I look forward to reading them in the near future and gleaning from them! Have any of you read these books? If so, what did you learn from them?

The Lost Tools of Learning: A Symposium on Education by Dorothy Sayers

The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie

The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life by Julie Bogart

The New Read-Aloud Handbook: Including a Giant Treasury of Great Read-Aloud Books by Jim Trelease

In Vital Harmony: Charlotte Mason and the Natural Laws of Education by Karen Glass

Know and Tell: The Art of Narration by Karen Glass

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen

The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusades by Susan Wise Bauer

Do you have any recommendations for the best homeschooling books to read? If so, leave them in the comments below

Watch this YouTube video to see how to find good books at great prices. (I know that I love getting good deals :-))

One more thing about best books…

I am a “write in my books” type of girl. So I wanted to share with you these great pens and highlighters that are erasable, don’t bleed through, and are thin line for beautiful writing. I like taking notes for each book that I read as well, so I use smaller notebooks that I can bring along with me.

Thanks for joining me! Let me know what your reading list looks like!

The post 8 Best Books for Homeschooling Moms appeared first on .

Do you encourage creativity in your children? Do you focus only on the core subjects but leave out time for your children to be creative, artistic, and passionate about what they are learning? Follow these 5 simple tips to add creativity to your homeschooling day.

• After I started homeschooling my daughter, I quickly realized that she was naturally so imaginative and full of wonder. She had so much excitement and passion about learning, but the way I was homeschooling her wasn’t reflecting this knowledge of my child. I was following my curriculum manuals, we were completing the worksheets, she was learning appropriately, but much of our homeschooling day was dull and lacking the passion that I knew could be there.
• As I continued homeschooling, I knew that I needed to do more than worksheets and textbooks. I needed to provide my child with the opportunity to get excited with what we were learning and do what she loved best…Create.

5 Simple Tips to Add Creativity to your Homeschooling Day

• Tip 1: Listen to your Child When they are sharing With You

  When children are creating and using their imagination, it is essential that they have an audience. As parents, we have a great responsibility and privilege to be the number one fan of our children. By truly listening, we reinforce our child’s value. In today’s society, there are so many distractions, so actively listening takes real work. Taking the time to actively listen to your child encourages them to be creative with complete acceptance from you.

• Tip 2: Allow Art Time

  While art isn’t the only way to be creative, children love to create using a variety of art mediums. Have a ready supply of materials that your child can try out and create with. For example, high quality colored pencils like Prismacolor Pencils, water colors, high quality papers, markers such as Ohuhu markers, and don’t forget a variety of books for inspiration.

• Tip 3: Encourage Your Child

  Remember to encourage your child and their creations. Don’t always focus on the end product, yet encourage their persistence, their hard work, their creative process, and their imagination. Praising your child for their hard work will encourage them to keep going and not give up.

• Tip 4: Provide Time to be Creative

  Give Your Child Freedom to Be Creative by giving them large chunks of time. By giving them ample time, you allow your child to complete the creative process. When your child is doing something creative, don’t put a time limit on them. “Okay, you have 15 minutes to finish your art project” This does not support their creative growth. Yes, teaching math and reading are essential and you need to take the appropriate amount of time to teach your children those subjects. But make sure to also set aside time for your child to be creative. Children need to be given time to create. Scheduling a creative time period for your child might be necessary if you are a busy family on the go.

Tip 5: Go Outside Together

Encourage your child to go outside and go out with them. Being in nature often awakens a child’s imagination. They feel freedom and joy being in the outdoors. I know that my kids love to act out the things that we are learning about outside. It is funny to hear them pretending to be eagles flying through the sky and watching them build their nests and sit on their eggs. They are making what we have learned earlier in the day a part of their creative play. When you go outside with them, you are enjoying their creativity with them.

You can even give your child an art notebook and allow them to draw what they see in nature.

The Last Thing You Need to Know about Encouraging Creativity in Your Child…

While not every subject of every day can be an amazing creative adventure, you can take little steps to encourage creativity in your child throughout your homeschooling. Creative time is fun and exciting and should be apart of every child’s schooling. See this fun and creative art project. You will see your sweet child light up when they have created something. Don’t forget to tell them how much you love their creativity.

What do you do to add creativity to your Homeschooling day? Share below in the comments.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

The post 5 Simple Tips for Adding Creativity to Your Homeschooling day appeared first on .