Another Good Read: The Homeschooling Handbook

Well, since I've got books on my mind, I have to share another great one that ultimately played a huge role in our deciding to homeschool. The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith has a complete treatment of just what homeschooling is, how it works (the nuts and bolts of day-to-day school), how to decide if it is right for you, resources galore for finding out more information state by state, finding local support groups and on and on.

I am so grateful to the gal from church who passed this on to me; I don't know if we would ever have dared it without this very practical information. I had talked to plenty of people who homeschooled, but I was always left a little discontent about their answers. It all seemed kind of fuzzy about what they did and how they did it. I needed to know before I made the decision that it was indeed a reasonable choice that wouldn't ruin my kids for the rest of their lives. As I read this book I shared the information with the kids and my husband, presenting it to the kids as "This is an option." The more I read the more I became convinced it was a viable option, or even a very positive step. Both the kids were hesitant at first, but the moment came when my daughter said, "Mom, I think I want you to homeschool me" one evening as I was putting her to bed.

I didn't give my 9 year old son a choice; if I was going to homeschool one I was going to do both, otherwise I'd lose all the flexibility benefits. The kids were nervous about it, curious about it and not totally sure about it. It helped when their dad got on board and began to discuss the benefits, relating it to performance-based assessment. The kids heard both of us extolling the positives of homeschooling as we traveled the country last summer visiting friends and relatives, explaining our choice to them.

One of the things that struck me the most from this book is that it said there are few "bad" homeschooling stories. If homeschooling doesn't work, kids usually return to the brick and mortar school building. It made me realize that the decision wasn't permanent. If it didn't work, we would just send the kids back to school. It wasn't like school was so horrible for them or they weren't learning. On the contrary, the kids have done well in school and enjoyed it and learned so much. This was "just another option." The thought that if it didn't work the kids could just go back to school was our safety net, and we needed that.

So here I am, not even a year later, blogging about this journey that I never on earth would have imagined I would take. Wow. I have passed this book on to others, but I always want it back. In a way I think I keep it in case I ever need reassurance about this being the right decision. It is kind of like a life preserver, because even though I haven't cracked the book open since we made the decision to homeschool last April or May, I think about that book sitting on my bookshelf regularly. And I like to keep it handy to lend to friends who are thinking of homeschooling!