How I avoided bad homeschool advice
(and you can too)
Recently I was asked, “What’s the worst advice you received about homeschooling?” And I realized, I didn’t really have an answer.
How did that happen, though? Well, I owe it to the people who influenced me to homeschool.
That journey actually began before my daughter was born. A friend gave me a copy of The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson when I was expecting her, and reading it, I was captivated by her vision of the civilizing influence a mother has, shaping not just what my future children would someday do, but who they’d become.
Several years later, our family relocated to a new neighborhood—a decision largely based on the new school district we would be in. But after the contracts were signed, we were all moved in, and I was doing my own research, I discovered that in actuality, we were one street out of the school district we’d planned for.
I was so disappointed. The only options were to request a transfer or to come up with a new plan. Partly because I didn’t want to be at the mercy of the school district’s ruling, I began to research homeschooling. I remembered Sally Clarkson and learned that she and her husband were founders of WholeHeartMinistries—a non-profit built to support parents and, particularly, homeschoolers.
My next move was ordering their book, Educating the WholeHearted Child. This manual, with over 350 pages of information, became my handbook. I always say it was the thing that gave me the courage to homeschool.
The Clarksons’ method of home-centered, whole-book learning resonated deeply with me. As an English Lit. major and a life-long lover of stories, this approach felt like coming home. Later I added Karen Andreola’s, The Charlotte Mason Companion, and I never felt like any of their guidance steered me wrong.
Looking back, I think I avoided bad advice simply because those two books gave me so much confidence. If you’re feeling unsure which voices to trust right now, maybe that’s the place to start, too. Not with more advice, but by searching for a framework that aligns with your values and will carry you through.
Here are some other books worth checking out that could help you to do just that. (All of them are available at the El Paso Public Library):
Adventuring Together, Greta Eskridge
Home Learning Year by Year, Rebecca Rupp
Modern Miss Mason, Leah Boden
Rooted in Wonder, Eryn Lynum
The Brave Learner, Julie Bogart
The Call of the Wild and Free, Ainsley Arment
The Read-Aloud Family, Sarah Mackenzie
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, Raymond S. Moore
The Well-Trained Mind, Susan Wise Bauer
Weapons of Mass Instruction, John Taylor Gatto
What gave you the courage to homeschool? Was it a book, something else, or a combination of things? I’d love to hear.
