So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Second Edition: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It (Focus on the Family)

I do appreciate the good parts of this book: the author's effort to include portraits of a variety of different family situations, and her encouraging and friendly tone, and also the links and resources at the end of the book. But I was disappointed that the fifteen families she wrote about were actually fictional. Why couldn't she have written about fifteen REAL families and given them pseudonyms to protect their privacy? The reason this bothers me is that while some of the families portrayed seemed realistic enough, other composite families did not seem realistic at all. I also wished she had addressed certain questions more in depth: for example, What does a homeschooling family do when there are piles of laundry to be done? or when the 2-year-old smears toothpaste all over the wall, or dumps marbles all over the floor, or has a temper tantrum at the wrong time, or constantly interrupts, or in a thousand other ways disrupts the otherwise smooth flow of the household? Who washes the dishes? What to do if Grandma calls and keeps you from doing chores by keeping you on the phone for an hour and then you aren't ready when Dad comes home? I mean, a mom only has two hands and people are not robots. Children especially are not robots: in other words, if I asked my children to clean off a sticky kitchen table when guests came to my house, they might or might not do it. The children in this book too often are portrayed as seemingly 100% obedient, and that certainly isn't realistic. Then, how ANY mom with ten children (I have 3, and that's hard enough even though 2 go to school) could homeschool is truly beyond me. (One chapter discusses a family with ten children.) Does a homeschooling mom have to get up at 5 a.m. every day to get everything done? I personally need a lot more sleep than that, and my husband does his best to help but he works full time! I just think the book needs to be more believable overall. Dear Lisa, if you decide to write a third edition of this book, please, please write about REAL families so that I can see how homeschooling can actually get accomplished when Life gets in the way. (If you do write a third edition I will buy it!)

I’m currently almost done reading the book. You can tell it’s dated but the information and stories are still very informative and insightful. I am a mother who’s looking into homeschooling for the first time so this is all new to me. The stories and books cover different circumstances and situations rather than the typical assumed traditional setup of homeschooling that consists of a stay-at-home mom teaching her kids (although the stories include some of those). I also didn’t know that there were names of the different ways of teaching your kids - I just assumed it was the usual “teach your kids the best way for them” which is still fundamentally true but this helps break it down “technically”. The books covers these different teaching methods and styles (traditional homeschooling, the classical homeschooling, the eclectic homeschool, etc). The stories of the different families and their circumstances help depict which teaching method is best for each family which is great. Like I said, you can tell this book is dated but still very helpful and motivational. Just read up on the updated laws and adjust from there. Simple. Reading this book is helping me see that homeschooling is very possible despite my initial doubts and conclusions. I highly recommend this book to any “newbies” to homeschooling or someone who’s looking into it as a possibility.

Thank you to Lisa for making homeschooling more inviting to the average family. I was the mom who said, "no way, not me", but God has used this book to show me that I CAN DO IT! I love how it takes you into each family's home and allows you to really see that no two homeschool families are the same. Everyone is different and there is no right or wrong way to approach homeschooling. You do what fits your family. She even goes as far to say that homeschooling may NOT fit your family and that is okay too.This is a must read for anyone who is even remotely contemplating the idea of homeschooling as an option for their family. It is an easy read and inexpensive. I am actually in the process of purchasing several copies to keep on hand to give people who indicate to me they have a curiosity about homeschooling. I sincerely believe that it will help them determine if homeschooling is right for them. The book is that well written.So, satisfy your curiosity and educate yourself about the world of homeschooling. You will be glad you did.

My husband and I read this book separately and both felt it was a great overview of homeschooling options for a varied group of families. Lisa did a great job of giving a sample of very different styles and reasons people HS. Our daughter is finishing up public school this year and I didn't feel one bit berated for having her there by the tone of this book. My husband was amazed at all the different scenarios she ilustrates (HS'ing one child, many children, some in public some in private, some at home, on the road, mom and dad teachers, high schoolers dual enrolled in college etc.) It really encouraged us to just be creative and not pigeon hole our plans into one specific style or curriculum. As new HS'ing parents she really took away some of the fear for us.I didn't find the book "hokey" as one reviewer mentioned...and I'm usually the "hokey police". But since I've seen/heard Lisa when she was on the "Facts of Life"... in my mind I could hear that bubbly personality coming through. If you know her character Blair - you can't help but hear her voice reading to you.

Bunch of stories on homeschooling, entertaining and easy to read but as easy to forget, quickly cooked and more like a blog than a book, don't see a huge deal of effort on author's part. I will now try to find some less rosy, more realistic accounts on HE to balance it a bit.

Gives a glimpse of a number of different approaches to homeschooling. Something for everyone.

Great book, informative and very well written, quick easy read. Lots of great personal stories on different reasons people have chosen to homeschool

Pretty good, but not my favorite.