by Kendra Songer

Created on: May 16, 2008

Whether you're making the decision to home-school or have just started there are so many books available it can seem overwhelming to decide which ones to read. While there are books available on curriculum, methods, learning styles and so forth there are some books which will encourage you at any stage in your home-school journey. These four books not only provide a lot of information and great ideas, but more importantly they will reinforce "why" you decided to home-school.

Homeschooling: The Right Choice by Chris Klicka. This book is full of statistics and studies about homeschooling and public schools. It also provides basic legal information as well as some tips for starting to homeschool. Very informative, but a great book to keep around to remind you why you don't want to send your child to public school.

Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. This is one of the best resources a homeschool parent can own. This book covers all the bases, from making sure this is God's will for your family to teaching methods, learning styles and support groups. Not only is there a lot of information and great ideas that you can incorporate into your homeschool program, but this book is focused on the heart of your child and making sure that you are focused on that and not just the academics.

Things We Wish We'd Known by Diana Waring. A collection of experiences from 50 veteran homeschoolers this is a great read. These stories are more a reflection of what these homeschool families went through and how they overcame it. It will encourage you to relax, and you will empathize with their experiences, but there is not a lot of practical advice on how to get there, just encouragement that with God's help you will get there.

I Saw the Angel in the Marble by Chris & Ellyn Davis. The authors are the founders of the Elijah Company. The Elijah Company used to put out a catalog and along with all the available curriculum they would include essays about learning styles and methods, etc. This is a collection of those essays, and a great, great encouragement. Not only are there lots of how-to's, but there is some great advice on why parents homeschool and a chapter on homeschooling not being about education.

While you may read other books to help with specific aspects these books are the ones you want to own and refer to on a daily basis. Both when you need to re-evaluate your educational philosophy and when you just need some encouragement to keep going.

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