by Christi DuPre

Created on: May 21, 2008

Just like a fine set of encyclopedias, it's useful to have a shelf of homeschool reference books at hand. Although I've been practicing home education for several years, I comb the pages of my "help books" each summer looking for encouragement, humor, and fresh ideas. The following are some titles that you may want to thumb through and perhaps purchase for your own library:

First Year of Homeschooling Your Child, by Linda Dobson
This book contains many first-person testimonies loaded with wonderful observations and counsel. The author gives helpful information to parents who want to home educate beginning in preschool, and also to those who face the challenge of bringing a child home from traditional schooling. Among the areas covered are the approaches to homeschooling, learning styles, and a "typical" week in the life of a homeschooling family. If you're considering the life of homeschooling, this book is for you and retails at $13.50.

Homeschooling for Success-How Parents Can Create a Superior Education for Their Child, by Rebecca Kochenderfer and Elizabeth Kanna
Both of these authors homeschooled their children together, and together they founded homeschool.com. Throughout this book you'll find sound advice answering all of the common questions about getting started. Valuable tips on homeschooling from preschool through college are covered in the pages of this resource. In addition, there are appendices that contain summaries of each state's home schooling laws, educational suppliers and their websites, and other information that you can reference repeatedly. This book retails for $16.25.

Reap the Harvest: The Bounty of Abundant Life Homeschooling, by Diana Waring
The author delivers a healthy dose of wit as she addresses the joy of parenting and home educating teenagers. You may want to cry, but she'll make you laugh as she addresses the rougher times of raising teenagers to mature adults. This is a must read if you are a parent with kids in or approaching the teen years. This book is priced at $9.95.

Every Child Can Succeed, by Cynthia Tobias
This book is a sequel to Tobias's earlier book, The Way They Learn. She goes on to briefly review the learning modalities, cognitive styles, and preferences that affect our ability to learn. From there, she gets down to practical methods for helping our children succeed given these factors. She suggests some creative methods for holding our children accountable for learning. There is some extremely helpful content on understanding ADD and ADHD diagnoses in light of learning styles. If your child struggles with discipline and maintaining focus, you will find hope and encouragement within these pages. Tobias's book is priced at $9.95.

Homeschooling Children with Special Needs, by Sharon Hensley
The author has a Master's Degree in Special Education and has worked with a variety of special needs kids, including her own autistic daughter. She has a wealth of information for parents struggling with any form of disability that affects learning. Since scores of families choose to homeschool special needs children, a resource like this is truly vital. This book is priced at $10.50.

I find that I return to my homeschool reference books time after time to seek encouragement or get guidance as I reach some curve in the road. There are a wealth of titles and authors to explore for counsel as you embark on the home school journey. As you build your personal library, you'll want to contemplate some of the books above as solid reference material for your future.

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