Homeschool Books, Literature Guides, Curriculum and Education Resources

We all need help now and then, but homeschool veterans are busy people. It helps to read at least one book on homeschooling, so that you know what questions to ask! Here are some resources to get you started. Some can be purchased from new or used book vendors; You may also be able to find them through the Inter-Library Loan system. Ask your local librarian for assistance, and try borrowing homeschool literature resources, resources to transition from picture books to chapter books, books for people with Special Needs, Learning Challenges/Disabilities, and Gifted Homeschooling Resources.

As you explore resources, note that each is written from a different perspective. Our family has chosen reading material from various book lists over the years; not every book on every list is worthwhile, however--I count on your good judgment to ensure books meet your family standards. Individual children are as different as snowflakes; each person can explore his or her own talents, interests, and learning styles. Homeschooling offers a unique and welcome opportunity to discover that diversity that makes each of us unique.

You know your children best, so you are the best person to decide what is right for your family. Also, please visit Melissa's author page on Amazon for more information about current and upcoming publications from EaglesNestHome.

Locating Literature and Frugal Educational Resources

• Explore yard sales, thrift stores and library book sales.
• Used and out of print versions of classic books and older literature sets can also be located inexpensively through online sources such as archive.org and http://wwwgutenberg.org.. Find additional offerings at Bookfinder.com, Ebay.com , Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Alibris.com, Google Books, or your favorite booksellers. (Sort by price, and you will often find dozens of free literature classics such as G. A. Henty's historical adventure children's book series. Try  keywords “free children classic literature.”) 
• For specific titiles, try searching BookFinder.com by title. In most cases, you will find a lengthy list of available copies, sorted with information on editor and publication year.
  

Classic Literature Reading Lists and Resources for Transitioning from Picture Books to Chapter Books

• 1000 Good Books List at Classical Christian Education Support Loop, http://www.classicalhomeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html--listed by reading level
• A Book in Time's “History Reading Lists” 
• Baldwin Online Children's Project (http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbygenre.php)  offers free downloads of "The Best Online Classic Children's Books
  By Genre, with 492 Books.
• Books Children Love: A Guide to the Best Children's Literature, by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson, covers over two dozen subject areas
• Chalotte Mason Home's “Timeless Ideas for a Twaddle-Free Education”
• Classical Homeschooling's “1000 Good Book List” 
• Good Reads List of Popular Transitional Books includes many modern, secular book choices; For classic literature, check out "Charlotte Mason Method Living Book List Elementary School." 
• Honey for a Child's Heart, by Gladys Hunt, offers an annotated book list, organized by genre (including
• Kid's Book Series lists book series by level (Lexile)
• Not Consumed, “Top Chapter Book Series for Families," includes many of our favorite Christian and character curriculum book choices
• Practical Homeschooling's “Homeschool World”, lists support and co-op groups (many will provide access to literature and reading discussion groups)
• Simply Charlotte Mason's Literature Curriculum Guide

Legal Information on Homeschooling

• Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschool laws, state by state
• Home Schooling: The Right Choice, Christopher J. Klicka
• The Right to Home School; A Guide to the Law on Parents' Rights in Education Christopher J. Klicka, Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 1995
• Home Education: Rights and Reasons John W. Whitehead and Alexis Crow, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1993
• Home Education and Constitutional Liberties, John W. Whitehead and Wendell R. Bird, Westchester, IL: Crossway
• The Pennsylvania Home Education Handbook: Using Your Education Style in Complying with the Law, Diana Baseman, Tarentum, PA: Tall Oaks Books.

General Homeschool Information

• Educational Travel on a Shoestring : Frugal Family Fun and Learning Away from Home and Homeschooling on a Shoestring, Melissa L. Morgan and Judith Waite Allee, Random House
• Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started, Erica Arndt 
• Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School, Rebecca Rupp
  Product Details
• Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling, Mary Pride
  
• Dumbing Us Down : The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schoolingby John Taylor Gatto
• The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteachers Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto
• Dumbing Down Our Kids : Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves but Can't Read, Write, or Addby Charles J. Sykes
• Giving Kids the Business: The Commercialization of America's Schoolsby Alex Molnar
• The Unschooled Mind : How Children Think and How Schools Should Teachby Howard Gardner
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschoolingby Marsha Ransom, John Taylor Gatto
• Home Learning Year by Year : How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High Schoolby Rebecca Rupp
• The Complete Home Learning Source Book : The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents, and Educators Covering Every Subject...by Rebecca Rupp
• The Home School Manual : Plans, Pointers, Reasons and Resources, 7th edby Theodore E. Wade (Editor)
• The Big Book of Home Learning : Getting Started : Introduces All Major Home School Methods & Answers Your Most Frequently Asked Questionsby Mary Pride
• What Your Child Needs to Know Whenby Robin Scarlata
• Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond by LauraMaery Gold, Joan M. Zielinski
• School Free: The Home Schooling Handbook by Wendy Priesnitz, St. George, Ontario: Alternate Press, Canadian homeschooler
• The Language Wars and Other Writings for Homeschoolers by Ruth Beechick, Pollock Pines, CA: Arrow Press, 1995
• Still Teaching Ourselves and I Learn Better by Teaching Myself by Agnes Leistico, Tonasket, WA: Home Education Press
• The Right Choice: The Incredible Failure of Public Education and the Rising Hope of Home Schooling by Christopher J. Klicka, Gresham, OR: Noble Publishing
• The Homeschool Reader Edited by Mark and Helen Hegener, Tonasket, WA: Home Education Press
• The Whole Hearted Child Home Education Handbook, Clay Clarkson and Sally Clarkson
• What about Church?; Guidelines for Fellowship for the Home Schooling Family and the Home Church Alternative, Jeff Barth, Charlotte: Parable Publishing House, 1994
• Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1992
• Help I'm Homeschooling by Debbie Castaneda & Pam Geib, Norwalk, CA:
• Why So Many Christians Are Going Home to School Lby lewellyn B. Davis, Knoxville, TN: Elijah Co.
• The Three R's at Home by Howard and Susan Richman, Kittanning, PA: Pennsylvania Homeschoolers
• An Introduction to Home Education: How to Begin Your School by Karen Woodfin Middleton & Susan Beatty, CHEA of CA, P.O. Box 28644, Santa Ana, CA 92799-8644
• Should I Teach My Kids at Home? A Workbook for Parents by Kate Kerman, Cambridge MA: Holt Associates, 1987
• The Complete Home Educator: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Home-Teaching by Mario Pagnoni, Burdette, NY: Larson, 1984
• Better Than School by Nancy Wallace, 1983
• Teach Your Own, John Holt (New York: Delta/Seymour Lawrence, 1981)
• Learning All the Time by John Holt (1989)
• The Essential Characteristics and Conditions of Successful Home Education by O. C. Erasmus, Durban, Natal, South African Association for the Advancement of Education
• The Children on the Hill: One Family's Bold Experiment with a New Way of Learning and Growing by Michael Deakin, Indianapolis; New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1972 (Experiences of a Welsh homeschooling family practicing the Montessori method)
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Macaulay

• 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, Cathy Duffy
• Home Education Resource Guide, Don Hubbs, Blue Bird Publ., 1713 E. Broadway #306, Tempe, Az. 85282, Tells where to find curriculum, home school information.
• How To Write A Low Cost/No Cost Curriculum For Your Home School Child , Borg Hendrickson, Mountain Meadow Press, P. O. Box 447, Kooskia, Id. 83539.
• Early Education At Home: A Complete Guide For Parents of Preschoolers and Kindergartners, M. Jean Soyke, At Home Publications, 2826 Roselawn Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21214. Also publishes Art Adventures At Home, Volumes 1 and 2.
• How to Teach Your Child: Things to Know From Kindergarten Through Grade 6, Veltisezar B. Bautista, Bookhaus Publishers, Farmington Hills, Ml. 48333, U.S.A., 1992, includes phonics, reading, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, Thinking and Study Skills, Bibliography and Recommended Reading
• Elementary Teachers Guide to FREE Curriculum Materials, Educators Progress Service, Inc., Dept. C7M, 214 Cedar St., Randolph, WI 53956-9983
• Home School Market Guide Jane A. Williams, Placerville, CA: Bluestocking Press, 1995
• What Your Child Needs to Know When: An Evaluation Check List for Grades K-8, Robin Scarlata; Heart of Wisdom Publishing, Box 1198, Springfield, TN 37172. 1-800-BOOKLOG, 1993 http://www.heartofwisdom.com
• You Can Teach Your Child Successfully: Grades 4 to 8 Ruth Beechick, Pollock Pines, CA: Arrow Press
• How to Create Your Own Unit Study Valerie Bendt, Hawthorne, FL: Family Learning Center, 1990
• How to Grow a Young Music Lover: Helping Your Child Discover & Enjoy the World of Music, Cheri Fuller, Harold Shaw Publishers
• How to Grow a Young Reader: A Parent's Guide to Books For Kids, John & Kathryn Lindskoog, Harold Shaw Publishers
• Research List of Publications: Information on sex, divorce, education, violence, from a Christian perspective, FREE from the Family Research Council, 801 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C, 20001, (202) 393-2100; Internet http://www.frc.org
• You Can Teach Your Child Successfully, Ruth Beechick
• Homeschooling From Scratch, Mary Kenyon, Gazelle Publications, 1996
• How to Tutor, Samuel L. Blumenfeld (2nd edition, 1986)
• The Three R's At Home, Howzrd and Susan Richman, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, R.D.2--Box 117, Kitanning, PA 16201

• The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroomby Mary Griffith
• Homeschooling for Excellenceby David Colfax, Micki Colfax
• Growing Without Schooling : A Record of a Grassroots Movementby John Holt, Susannah Sheffer
• How Children Failby John Caldwell Holt
• Famous Homeschoolersby Nancy & Malcolm Plent
• Deschooling Our Lives Matt Hern, editor, Gabriola, BC; Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers, 1996
• The Relaxed Home School: A Family Production, Mary Hood, Cartersville, GA: Ambleside Educational Press
• Homeschooling for Excellence David & Micki Colfax, New York, Warner Books, 1988.The story of the now-famous unschooling Colfax family Schoolproof Mary Pride, Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988
• Home-Spun Schools, Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982
• Home Grown Kids: A Practical Handbook for Teaching Your Children at Home Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Word Publishing
• The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook: A Creative and Stress-free Approach to Homeschooling Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997. Revised edition of Home School Burnout.

• EaglesNestHome School: Unit Studies, Special Needs, Homeschooling Teens, Homeschooling College and Distance Education
  
• Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+la Barbara Shelton, 350 pages. Guide to learning from real life instead of public school.
• The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, Grace Llewellyn, Eugene, OR: Lowry House, 1991
• The Socialization Trap, Rick Boyer, Rustburg, VA: The Learning Parent, Route 3, Box 543, Rustburg, VA 24588
• No Regrets: How Home Schooling Earned Me a Master's Degree at Age 16
• The Dan Riley School for a Girl: An Adventure in Home Schooling Dan Riley, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994
• As for me and my house--, Paula J. Penn-Nabrit (Westerville, OH: Institute for Excellence, 1995; Information on homeschooling and rites of passage into adulthood
• Bear's Guide to Non-Traditional College Degrees (John Bear, PhD) Ten-Speed Press, POB 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707
• The Elements of Stye, William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Macmillan Co, N.Y., This little classic can do more than just teach grammar; it can teach you to write, in only 78 pages. Used by professionals, with advice like "write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs." Contains examples.
• The Teenage Liberation Handbook : How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education*by Grace Llewellyn
• Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook: Preparing Your 12- to 18-Year-Old for a Smooth Transition by Cafi Cohen, Linda Dobson (Editor)
• Homeschooling : The Teen Years : Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- To 18-Year Old by Cafi Cohen
• Real Lives : Eleven Teenagers Who Don't Go to School by Grace Llewellyn
• Homeschooler's Guide to Portfolios and Transcripts (Arco)by Loretta Heuer
• From Homeschool to College and Work: Turning Your Homeschooled Experiences into College and Job Portfolios by Alison McKee
• And What About College?: How Homeschooling Leads to Admissions to the best Colleges and Universities, Cafi Cohen, Holt Associates, Inc., 1997
• Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don't Go To School, Edited and with an introduction by Grace Llewellyn, Lowry House, Eugene Oregon

ABCs of Survival Skills, by Melissa L. Morgan, is tailored for parents to read together with their young children/children with special needs, and covers health and safety topics from a biblical perspective. Check author page on Amazon for more information about current and upcoming publications from EaglesNestHome.

 
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