Since I first started homeschooling in 1995 there has been huge growth in both homeschooling and homeschooling books and resources. There was a time when I had a pretty good handle on the available books on homeschooling; I hadn't read them all, but I was familiar with the vast majority. Now it's no longer possible for me to keep up! So the list that follows is highly selective and somewhat weighted toward books that have been around for a while.

Recommended Reading

General Homeschooling:

The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. This is the book I wished for when I was first starting to homeschool. Mary gives a balanced view of what it's like to homeschool, describes the different approaches to homeschooling, and gives helpful lists of resources. This is a great first book for homeschoolers.

The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. In her newest book, Mary explores what unschooling--also known as child-led learning or natural learning--looks like for different families. She demystifies unschooling for the uninitiated. This is the book I'm recommending to folks who wonder about unschooling, wonder how kids can learn without a curriculum or without Mom or Dad giving assignments, or wonder whether unschooling might work for their family.

The Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson. Subtitled "The 88 Most Important Questions Answered by Homeschooling's Most Respected Voices," this book is a gold mine of homeschooling information. It is perfect for the beginning homeschooler, curious family members, and anyone else who wonders what homeschooling is all about. Each question ("But what about the prom?" "How much does it cost each year to homeschool?") is answered from a variety of viewpoints by homeschooling parents whose wisdom and experience has earned them the respect of homeschoolers across the nation.

Homeschooling: The Early Years by Linda Dobson. For parents of 3- to 8-year olds, Dobson provides the seasoned advice of a mom who's been there.

Homeschooling: The Middle Years by Shari Henry. This is a primer for new homeschoolers with children ages 8 to 12. Henry covers the subject areas with practical advice and pointers.

Homeschooling: The Teen Years by Cafi Cohen. The whys and hows of homeschooling through high school.

And What About College? by Cafi Cohen. Full of practical pointers and the personal experiences of mom to two homeschooling graduates who went on to college. Reassuring if your children are younger and helpful to homeschoolers looking ahead to high school.

Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook by Cafi Cohen. Where And What About College focuses closely on Cohen's children's own process of completing high school at home and moving on to college, this book is more broad based. Both are very good and helpful.

The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. This thick hardcover book is subtitled A Guide to Classical Education at Home. The mother-daughter writing team presents a thorough approach to homeschooling in the model of classical education, whose hallmarks include organizing learning by the trivium (three stages of development), a chronological approach to teaching history, and the importance of the classical laungauges, especially Latin. The book provides specific lists of resources, suggested schedules, ideas for what to have young children memorize, and much more. It can be an overwhelming book, and I found the tone off putting when I first read it. It has, however, found a real audience among homeschoolers looking for a degree of rigor in their homeschool that they're not finding among the more mainstream homeschooling curriculum providers. Despite the way the authors present their approach to classical education as a package deal of sorts, I've found this book helpful as a collection of ideas that might fit into our homeschool. I don't recommend it as a first homeschooling book, nor would I recommend doing everything just as the authors lay out (and, to be fair, the authors themselves insist that they never intended families to take the schedules, etc., terribly seriously). But there is a lot to be gleaned from its pages if you're willing to take what makes sense for you and leave the rest.

The Homeschool Reader edited by Mark and Helen Hegener is a compilation of articles that have appeared in Home Education Magazine. Written by parents in a conversational tone; a warm introduction to homeschooling or an encouraging pick-me-up along the way.

The Relaxed Homeschooler by Mary Hood. This slim volume gives a view of child-led learning from a Christian perspective.

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. This is an introduction to the educational ideas of Charlotte Mason, a nineteenth-century educator in Great Britain. What I most liked about this book was the implicit challenge to take our kids' spiritual education seriously.

Homeschooling for Excellence by Micki and David Colfax. This is one of the first homeschooling books I read--a classic in the field! The Colfaxes left university careers to raise their family on a homestead in California; their homeschooled sons made the news when one by one they were admitted to Harvard.

How Children Learn, How Children Fail, Learning All the Time,  all by John Holt. Holt was an educator advocating school reform in the sixties and seventies; by the eighties he had decided that school reform was unlikely to happen and started Growing Without Schooling. His writings on how children learn are fascinating and encouraging to read. I take his parenting advice with a grain of salt (he never had children of his own), but he was an astute observer of children and he communicates well.

Home Education Magazine is my favorite homeschooling magazine--warm and supportive, inclusive of folks of varied faiths and approaches to homeschooling, inspirational.

Tools for Learning:

Games for Math and Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye. Fun, easy to put into practice games for young children (roughly ages 5 to 9).

Encouraging the Artist in Your Child by Sally Warner. The subtitle is "101 failure-proof, home-tested projects for kids age 2-10," and that about says it. This book is helpful especially if you feel a bit insecure about your own artistic abilities.

Core Knowledge Series edited by E.D. Hirsch, including Books to Build On. The Core Knowledge Series is made up of books with titles like What Your First Grader Needs to Know; it goes up to sixth grade. I find these helpful as a guideline--ideas for areas to explore together with the kids. I take the titles lightly--I'm not convinced my first grader "needs" to know much of what's in that book. But we pull the books down now and then for a read-aloud, and if the topic sparks an interest, we can go as far with it as we like. Books to Build On is essentially an annotated bibliography correlated with the series. The books recommended are real books, not textbooks, and have been winners with us. I would recommend Books to Build On whether you bother with the other books or not.

Good Stuff by Rebecca Rupp. Subtitled "Learning Tools for All Ages," Good Stuff is full of, well, good stuff. Arranged by subject area, Rupp recommends not just books but magazines, toys, games, equipment, and videos. Enough to make a homeschooler drool on every page.

The Complete Home Learning Source Book, also by Rebecca Rupp,  is Good Stuff on steroids. Topping 800 pages, Rupp's newest volume is packed with reviews of books, videos, magazine, catalogs, kits, board games, CD-ROMs, web sites, and more. Entries are broken down by subject area and complete purchase information is provided. A gold mine!

The Home School Source Book by Donn and Jean Reed is a quirky compilation of resources and articles--even cartoons--for homeschoolers.