Rating: 
Summary: a fascinating multifaceted overview
Review: A fascinating and multifaceted overview of essential homeschooling issues from a variety of very different homeschoolers. The book emphasizes the wide range of experiences, opinions, and philosophies encountered in homeschooling and leads one to the reassuring conclusion that there are many successful ways to homeschool.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment due to its limited perspective
Review: As a parent new to the idea of homeschooling, I was hoping that the Homeschooling Book of Answers would provide me with a broad scope of ideas and opinions on the subject. Although it proports to encompass the views of "39 respected mentors," all 39 come from the same educational philosophy; each question is answered by several people, but all of the answers are maddeningly similar. The contributors share an "unschooling" philosophy, which often means not only that they believe in "child-centered learning" but also in not teaching at all and in the idea that schooling is inherently bad. Anyone looking for a balanced view that represents a range of homeschooling philosophies, families, and experiences had best look elsewhere. One recommendation is David Guterson's Family Matters, an excellent, intelligent, balanced primer on the subject of whether or not to homeschool, beautifully written by a high school teacher/homeschooling father.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book, Hands-Down, for New Homeschoolers
Review: As a support group leader, e-mail list moderator and conference coordinator, Linda's book answers the questions I get asked daily. Her books helps new homeschoolers gain perspective in moving away from the school environment (students, recess, tests, homework) and back to the family environment children were meant to be raised in. Her collection of voices is remarkable and her ability to speak to the heart of the movement is powerful. I recommend this book to every new homeschooler I speak with on the phone, at support group meetings or on teh internet. I've even found it hard to put down after 9 years of homeschooling my own children. It felt so good to know I wasn't alone in my opinions and to find the words to explain some of the more difficult concepts. Linda was a speaker at a conference held here in Columbus, Ohio a couple years back. Her workshops were the best received and her warm and friendly attitude captured the hearts of many. Her book feels just the same.. like you have the pleasure of sitting down with Linda as your host to a whole slew of generous, caring folks who give of themselves so wonderfully. I can't imagine a better beginning resource.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, encouraging book
Review: Don't miss this compact, homeschool-convention-between-the-covers-of-a-book. Do you have questions about socialization, difficult academics, expenses, legalities, and so on? Each of 88 questions is answered by two to five homeschooling speakers and authors. Excellent, up-to-date resources at the end of the book will help you further explore the questions, "Is homeschooling right for OUR family?" and "How do we go about it?"
Rating: 
Summary: Others are right; this book is about unschooling
Review: I agree with other reviewers who remarked that the book is not so much about homeschooling as it is about (the more radical) unschooling. The book also assumes that a parent would turn to homeschooling out of a mistrust or distaste for public schooling, which is not always the case. Finally, the book doesn't give an even-handed assessment of how difficult a choice this can be for a family to make. All in all, it's highly biased towards unschooling; I would advise people to consider other books first.
Rating:
Summary: Other folks are unschooling, too, and it works!
Review: I devoured "The Homeschooling Book of Answers!" As an unschooling mom for eight years, I have consistently found myself in a minority among the other homeschoolers I know. How refreshing to read of other families who do what we do! After years of struggling to explain our lifestyle, this book has given me the freedom to quit trying to do that and to focus whole-heartedly on our chidren's development. I especially found all the Web addresses for familes and support groups helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Resource for New and Considering Homeschoolers
Review: I highly recommend this book to those people who are either just considering or just starting out on a homeschooling journey. There is a wide variety of homeschooling styles and attitudes represented in the book and they are provided in a very friendly, easy to absorb and understand, format. I truly believe that the best way to learn about homeschooling is by listening to other homeschoolers, drawing upon each other's experiences, thinking about how we want our own families to be. This book will allow you to have a glimpse into the lives of many long-time homeschoolers, as they give their own, very personal, answers to the questions. No expert and no single author could possibly provide such stimulating ideas and such a variety of opinions. You may not agree with some of them, but the ideas expressed in the book are guaranteed to help you realize how very very much homeschooling can allow a family to develop its own distinct style of living and learning. I hold information talks for new homeschoolers on a regular basis and this is one of the two books I most often recommend.
Rating:
Summary: The Homeschooling Book of Answers
Review: I just finished Linda Dobson's book, the Homeschooling Book of Answers. To me, it is a very useful handbook, with an easy-to-read, very clear and informative style, that I could see myself using, referring to often and passing on or recommending to friends. Reading this book actually inspired me to go ahead and order another book by the same author, The Art of Education, which I look forward to reading as well.I read all the previous reviews regarding this book, and many of them were quite helpful, and sounded like the people actually read the book. Some of the reviewers are saying this is a book primarily for "unschoolers". I wonder if they really even read the book, because I don't at all agree. In terms of the underlying meaning or hidden agenda, I didn't see that there was one. I think, rather, the author and the contributors to this book all gave very thoughtful, intelligent, and often times very personal answers to the questions asked. I didn't get the feeling I was being swayed into any particular philosophy at all. It was pretty open ended and really allowed the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, I thought. I didn't notice anyone saying, "unschooling is the way or hit the highway" or anything. I don't know that there was even much mention of unschooling as a style at all. More just a listen to your kids, include them in decisions regarding their own education, which I would imagine is what most parents try to do, no matter what type education they choose -- whether public, private, or homeschooling. I could be wrong, but at least that's the people I know, and I don't actually know a single "unschooler" personally. Anyway, my child is not "school age" yet, as he is still an infant. But, for me, this book really gave me a feeling that I could handle educating him at home, that I would be able to find support for doing that, and that he would not grow up to be some sort of "weird", antisocial type character that no one could stand to be around. That is really the confirmation I was looking for, and I found it in this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for that confirmation. I understand the author has other books on the way. I look forward to those as well.
Rating:
Summary: The Homeschooling Book of Answers
Review: I just finished Linda Dobson's book, the Homeschooling Book of Answers. To me, it is a very useful handbook, with an easy-to-read, very clear and informative style, that I could see myself using, referring to often and passing on or recommending to friends. Reading this book actually inspired me to go ahead and order another book by the same author, The Art of Education, which I look forward to reading as well. I read all the previous reviews regarding this book, and many of them were quite helpful, and sounded like the people actually read the book. Some of the reviewers are saying this is a book primarily for "unschoolers". I wonder if they really even read the book, because I don't at all agree. In terms of the underlying meaning or hidden agenda, I didn't see that there was one. I think, rather, the author and the contributors to this book all gave very thoughtful, intelligent, and often times very personal answers to the questions asked. I didn't get the feeling I was being swayed into any particular philosophy at all. It was pretty open ended and really allowed the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, I thought. I didn't notice anyone saying, "unschooling is the way or hit the highway" or anything. I don't know that there was even much mention of unschooling as a style at all. More just a listen to your kids, include them in decisions regarding their own education, which I would imagine is what most parents try to do, no matter what type education they choose -- whether public, private, or homeschooling. I could be wrong, but at least that's the people I know, and I don't actually know a single "unschooler" personally. Anyway, my child is not "school age" yet, as he is still an infant. But, for me, this book really gave me a feeling that I could handle educating him at home, that I would be able to find support for doing that, and that he would not grow up to be some sort of "weird", antisocial type character that no one could stand to be around. That is really the confirmation I was looking for, and I found it in this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for that confirmation. I understand the author has other books on the way. I look forward to those as well.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put the book down!
Review: I loved the book and how it was layed out in question form with answers from other homeshoolers and their parents. The questions raised were all ones I had concidered, but couldn't find answers to in such a open form. I loved reading others opinions and how things are going for them. I found that most of answers were enough to help me out although about HOW to do things were not answered explicitly enough for me. eg: HOW to get info. They say go to the internet, go to the library, but never specifically WHAT to look up which is something I would have appreciated as a new homeschooler, and HOW to find out about the laws in each state. They did say what the laws were for each state, but nowhere did I find specifically how to find them out for myself, and the addresses they gave did go to the libraries of the state, but from then I was lost on how to find specific laws etc. All around the content was what i was looking for and was very good and helped me develop and find my own answers to pertinent questions I had. I went through the book with a marker and underlined all the things I found really interesting, and I will refer back to these often as they are helpful reminders of what and why I am homeschooling. It will now be my reference Guide to homeschooling. Overall I loved the book and am thankful that I found it when I did. Another wonderful book is THE homeschooling handbook, by Mary Griffith
|
