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| Absolute Beginner's Guide to Home Schooling (Absolute Beginner's Guide) | 
 enlarge | Author: Brad Miser
Publisher: Que
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $3.88
You Save: $15.07 (80%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1570241
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0789732777
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.042
UPC: 029236732776
EAN: 9780789732774
ASIN: 0789732777
Publication Date: October 8, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New.
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Product Description
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling
Who knew how simple Homeschooling could be? Tens of millions of parents have decided that the best way to prepare their children for life is by educating them at home instead of at a traditional private or public school. No matter the reason you are considering homeschooling for your children's education, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling outlines all of the legal, social, educational, and logistical considerations that are part of the decision. With helpful and easy-to-read advice about everything from building curricula and setting up a home school classroom, to incorporating extracurricular activities like sports and field trips, this book will provide valuable help and ways to expand your children's homeschooling experience. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling will help you decide if homeschooling is the best choice for your children's education and then guide you to the curriculum tools and community resources you need to make the most of at-home classes and activities. Here's a small sample of what you'll find inside: Learn the benefits and drawbacks of homeschooling and all of the factors you need to take into account when deciding between home school and traditional public or private schools Determine the legal and educational requirements for the state you live in and how they affect your day-to-day homeschooling regimen Find valuable lists of resources like homeschooling organizations, curriculum providers, and networking groups that will enhance your homeschooling experience Discover the different ways you can test your child's true educational level, personality type, and learning style and then create personalized lesson plans for each subject Set up your homeschooling classroom including workstations, a library, audio-visual equipment, computer access, and progress testing Add unique learning experiences to your homeschooling curriculum, including field trips, sports, music, work or volunteer activities, online courses, and tutor or mentor programs Brad Miser has been involved in the homeschooling movement for more than ten years and, with his wife, has educated his three children at home. He has been active in teaching his children as well as working on curriculum decisions, testing and evaluating progress, and finding ways to create a fun and valuable learning experience for them. Brad is currently the senior technical communicator with a software development company where he is responsible for all product documentation and online help systems. He is also a well-known computer book author writing on topics such as Macintosh operating systems, digital video, and digital audio.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Traditional school-at-home only August 30, 2006
I purchased this book as a new homeschooler because it seemed to have a lot of practical information on the nuts and bolts of homeschooling. I have since gotten rid of the book, as it is only useful for those who want to do traditional school-at-home, complete with a simulated classroom, desks, reports, etc. I know some people are most comfortable with this model of homeschool, but for many people traditional school-at-home merely replicates many of the problems with traditional school, but now in a different setting. Homeschoolers of a different style -- Classical, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, Waldorf, eclectic, and obviously unschooling -- would be much better served with another book.
 A good starting point for learning about homeschooling June 15, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a good starting point for someone interested in homeschooling. It covers many of the reasons for homeschooling, walks the reader though the steps on how to find out what they have to do legally to homeschool, explains how to organize to do an effective job of homeschooling, shows how to manage a homeschool, and includes a list of resources to help the reader find other useful books and places to improve their homeschool.
For the last couple decades public schools have gotten worse and worse. "A Nation at Risk," which was published in 1984, made public the growing concern about the decline of public education. Thomas Sowell's "Inside American Education" explores some of the reasons for the decline. Diane Ravitch's "Left Back: A Century of Battles of School Reform" puts the decline in a historical perspective. So one of the main reasons for the dramatic growth of homeschooling is the recognition that in many cases public schools are not teaching children how to read, write, or do arithmetic. A large percentage of children are dropping out of high school and another large percentage graduate, but are functionally illiterate.
Over the last thirty years the homeschooling movement has grown to encompass every facet of society in the United States. It has been growing around 7% to 10% a year. Initially the homeschooling movement started with a couple small groups of people, largely hippies and Christians. Both of these groups were very distrustful of public schools and the effects government controlled public schools were having on their children. Now there are black homeschoolers, pagan homeschoolers, unschoolers, and so on.
Brad Miser's book does a good job of addressing many of the basics of homeschooling. His main focus is on those who chose to have a structured homeschooling experience. As such he doesn't address homeschoolers who are not structured and let the children make decisions about what they (the children) want to learn. For me the biggest weakness of the book was not exploring the full range of options for parents who are thinking about homeschooling.
In the chapter on socialization there are many good reasons to keep children out of public schools as it explores the positive types of socialization homeschoolers can have, and the negative types of socialization children are forced into in the public schools. Most homeschooled children have a wider range of friends, than children in public schools who only hang out with children their own age.
There are several chapters on how to prepare to homeschool. One whole chapter covers why it is important to network, and ways to find other homeschoolers. There is a chapter on how to plan out a school year and where get the resources.
There are several chapters on how to manage a homeschool. The author talks about how to have very structured classes. He encourages parents to have a lot of documentation on what the children are doing. I liked the chapter on taking field trips. There was a good chapter on how to evaluate the progress of your children.
This is a good book to start with for anyone who is interested in homeschooling. It is easy to read, well organized, and entertaining. I liked the frequent quotes placed through out the book. The author clearly believes in homeschooling, he and his wife do homeschool, so he is passionate and knowledgeable about homeschooling. If you are considering homeschooling, or want some help in getting started, this is a good resource to have.
Some points just aren't realistic October 31, 2004
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
I am personally in favor of the homeschooling movement, as I understand that in many circumstances, it is the best thing for the student. However, it is not a panacea, there are many problems and consequences of homeschooling when compared to the traditional classroom. While the author does a good job in describing the mechanics of how homeschooling can be done, he vastly understates some of the problems. In fact, there are times when his attitude to the problems approaches the level of the cavalier.
The most significant example is in discussing the curriculum, especially in the qualifications and knowledge of the instructor. Middle school and high school teachers in public schools must be certified in their fields, and there is a good reason for this. There are very few people in the world whose knowledge is such that they can teach each of the traditional subjects of mathematics, history, English, economics, government, art, music and the various areas of science, all at the high school level. To say nothing of other subjects such as foreign languages, aspects of business and other courses outside the basics. Miser states, "As long as you can learn yourself, you can homeschool effectively." While this can work at the elementary and maybe the early middle school level, it is unreasonable to expect people to be able to teach themselves the necessary knowledge at the depth and breadth needed to teach these subjects at the upper levels. I know that people do homeschool up into the upper grades, but those that I am aware of rely on others to teach the material they cannot. They teach a few of the subjects and send their children to traditional schools or private tutors for the balance.
Another point where I thought the author was well off the mark is the section where he is discussing how a parent can successfully begin homeschooling their child after they have spent time in a traditional school. On page 150, there is the statement: "If your child is extremely tied to the `social scene' at school and suffers from a group-think addiction, your explanations might not help too much." The phrase "group-think" is used in several other situations to describe support for the traditional classroom form of education. To categorize a child's natural desire to remain with their friends as an addiction is flat out wrong. One of the correct arguments Miser puts forward in favor of homeschooling is that some students have difficulty fitting in socially. Here he argues that even those who are socially successful in traditional school should be pulled out and any objections they may have overridden.
On page 12, Miser argues that homeschooling is an advantage because the students education is managed by one person over a long period of time. I consider this a disadvantage, in that students need to be exposed to different teaching styles. Diversity of experience is nearly always an advantage. I also disagree with the statement that homeschoolers have access to the best educational material available. The best educational software is very expensive and some material, such as equipment for science labs, is beyond the budget of nearly everyone.
In conclusion, there is much to be said in favor of homeschooling. However, like everything else, only a realistic approach can be successful, and I don't consider many of the points in this book to be realistic.
Disclaimer: I have been a college instructor for over 20 years in math and computers, and have taught many future teachers, not all of which impressed me. I have also served as an officer in the local PTA and decided not to homeschool my children after an extensive examination and analysis of all the facts and consequences. They are currently in the public schools, are earning good grades and love going to school.
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