I wanted to get this post up as fast as possible. With the new school year rapidly approaching, it’s time to get serious about research! Today I’m sharing five books to read if you’re considering homeschooling your kids in the fall!
Five Books to Read if You’re Considering Homeschooling
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01. The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart
The Brave Learner is about how to find the magic in the every day. I believe that many of the topics and ideas the author touches on can be applied with or without homeschool, but I love that Bogart gives concrete examples of how to carry out a successful homeschool environment with your kids! She truly is such a light and makes everything she writes so relatable and easy-to-understand for a new homeschool family!
02. The Call of the Wild + Free by Ainsley Arment
This book came out last year. It’s written by the founder of a huge community called Wild + Free. The community focuses on being outdoors and schooling in a way that works for each individual family. I love this approach and I adore the author of this book, Ainsley Arment. She did a wonderful job breaking down what homeschool looks like for many different families. Especially for those who want to homeschool but have no idea where to start. She raises some important questions and challenges us to question the status quo. Arment also lays out examples of different methods of homeschool (Waldorf, Montessori, unschooling, Classical education, etc.) She mentions topics like nature, projects, connection, and reading-aloud. It’s an overall great read for someone who has never researched homeschooling!
03. For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Numbers three and four are a little specific, as I’m a huge advocate for a Charlotte Mason-inspired education. These two books are all about how to implement Charlotte Mason’s philosophies in your home school. I love For the Children’s Sake because Susan Schaeffer Macaulay makes such a strong case for how and why home education is so important! If you’re at all interested in homeschooling your kids the Charlotte Mason way, definitely check this out!
04. A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
I think of A Charlotte Mason Companion as a sort of guidebook or on-hand encyclopedia of all things Charlotte Mason! I checked it out from the library and found myself wanting to highlight too many things from it, so I ended up buying it on Thrift Books! It’s been a wonderful resource for me. I love that the chapters are short and to the point. Andreola does a beautiful job highlighting all of the most important aspects of a Charlotte Mason education!
05. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and/or How to Raise A Wild Child by Scott Sampson
Spending time outdoors is a huge part of our home school. This may not be the case for every family, but we’ve found it to be a pillar of our philosophy on homeschooling. We hike every weekend and regularly visit the local nature preserves. We’ve learned so much and connected way more than ever before. Reading both Last Child in the Woods and How to Raise A Wild Child left a huge impression on me. It made me rethink everything I considered “education” to be and made me realize how important unstructured play outdoors can be for children. I highly recommend them both, however, How to Raise A Wild Child is a much less dense read than Last Child in the Woods, so depending on your timeline and preference, choose accordingly! (Or read both!)
(Bonus: The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie)
I was hesitant to add this book to the end of my blog post, as Sarah MacKenzie didn’t write this book specifically for homeschool families. However, I had to include it because it’s been such an influence on my parenting and schooling this year, so I had to included it! If you want to know how to connect with your children more through literature, please read this! It’s such a wonderful resource and one I purchased so I could reference it through my years of home schooling my daughters!
Are you new to homeschool? I run a membership for new homeschool families! It’s called Thriving at Home. You can learn more here.
I hope this list of five books to read if you’re considering homeschooling in the fall! Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them below!
Thank you so much for reading!
