Homeschooling

[Evania]

A great homeschooling book that has tons of information is “Catholic Homeschooling” by Mary Kay Clark.

 

[catholicmamajoy]

Yeah,

I am grateful for all the wisdom I have received here, bless you all. Are there any books that you can recommend (I beg you to forgive me, for I should be doing the searching myself, but I fear being misled) that educate parents on homeschooling, its advantages and disadvantages, good versus bad methods, theory and practice, etc etc. I currently have him geared to attend a classical school in Orlando, FL. its called the Geneva school. But it is thoroughly reformed in doctrine. But I have heard that classical education is great, but mostly in the environment where there can be debate.

Catholic Homeschool Companion- it covers various methods and philosophies and practical application of homeschooling in different circumstances and settings. The reviews in the following link on amazon go into detail on the wealth of info the book contains.

amazon.com/Catholic-Homeschool-Companion-Maureen-Wittmann/dp/1933184167/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Also, attending a conference was mentioned on another post. For many homeschoolers, we see conferences as professional development in our role as the primary instructor. You listed your location as Orlando- there are 2 IHM conferences in Florida scheduled: one is this Friday in Jacksonville: ihmconference.org/jacksonville/
and the other is in Tampa, later this summer: ihmconference.org/tampa/

I would encourage you and your wife to attend one of these. They are educational, informative, and inspiring. Plus, as was already mentioned, you get a first-hand look at some of the curriculum offerings available.

 

[Eleanor61]

A great homeschooling book that has tons of information is “Catholic Homeschooling” by Mary Kay Clark.

Absolutely the best if you were to only read one book.
Another one to consider is Cathy Duffy’s top 100, it includes a lot of information and she is catholic, just doesn’t make a big issue of it in order to appeal to a wider audience. Laura Berquist’s book is very good, but her style is not for every child, nor is classical education in general. My three eldest were classically educated, but we took a more utilitarian approach with the younger ones as it is very difficult when a child does not like to read and you are responsible for placing every bit of knowledge in their head. So much passive knowledge is gained through even casual reading.

As for making friends, so much depends on your child. It is not all that different from school in that respect. We have been in many homeschooling groups over the years, started one of our own back in the dark ages of homeschooling when it was rare and often illegal.

Sometimes our children made friends and sometimes they didn’t. Our two youngest are adopted and have much more outgoing and attractive personalities, people naturally gravitate towards them and they always have friends. Our older ones were very intellectual and could only relate to kids like themselves, which was a much smaller pool. You can find and create opportunities but the rest does depend on your child. In my experience a home with snacks and video games will make it easy for your child to make friends!