Easy Homeschooling Techniques: The Real How-To Guide

by Lorraine Curry

When your customers ask, "How do they do that?" hand them this REAL how to guide. New SECULAR edition by 5Star author Lorraine Curry is packed with tips and ideas for preschool through high school and includes chapters not in the Christian edition.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lorraine Curry's initial treatise on homeschooling is an excellent read for the beginning homeschool parent. She breaks down how to give a high-quality education while using a low-cost methodology. I found the section on the history of education to be of particular interest, as this is something that is oft-referred to, but never explicitly stated, as the author has done here.

Unfortunately, I couldn't award this work a 5-star rating due to several factors. Curry has very patriarchal views, which she expresses and expects others to abide by. Additionally, she is contradictory as she tell you to, "Do what is right for YOUR family" (emphasis hers). In the following chapter she states, "I will never recommend starting a business to any mother of children under age thirteen or fourteen." It feels as though the author would rather that you "do what is right for your family" as long as it is what was right for hers! She would also prefer you to only use her version of The Bible. Educationally, I feel this is excellent, but for practical usage, I find other versions to be more accessable. It is my hope, that as others read her book, they do not confuse the author's solid faith with her strong opinions. Lastly, if your child(ren) are mainly tactile learners, then this method will likely be inaccessible to them, as it is heavily literature-based.

To conclude, I would definitely recommend this to fellow homeschoolers with the caveat that they might need to move past some surface issues to get to the heart of the book, which is how to homeschool quickly, easily, and affordably!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started off thinking that I was going to like the book so much I was going to have to buy it. And while I am going to get a lot from it, there's a lot in this book that I'm going to have to just pass on. She calls her way of homeschooling Easyhomeschooling. And if I read the phrases 'antique book' and 'vintage book' once, I read them one hundred times. Read old books. Read old text books. Got it. So, here's her advice for getting started on homeschooling: clean out and clean your house. Get big boxes and either throw or give your stuff away. There! Now don't you feel better with your house decluttered? Now, deep clean your house. This might take a week or two. There! Don't you feel better with your house clean? ????? And here's how she answers the ever present quandry of what to do with little kids while you are homeschooling bigger kids: 1. ignore the little ones 2. have the little ones take long naps and do school while they are sleeping (hers took 4 hour naps until they were 6 years old). There! Wasn't that easy?

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb book for anyone thinking about homeschooling. The only reason I did not give this book a five is because this author is a devout Christian and writes the book as if you are homeschooling then you should also be a devout Christian. In fact there is one part where she basically states that if you are not doing it for Christian reasons then she doesn't think you should be doing it at all. But I promise if that turns you off KEEP READING, it is well worth it. Just do like I did and skip/skim over the parts that do not pertain to you.

This book is a fantastic guide for any parent who wonders if homeschooling is possible for them. I am dedicated to homeschooling my daughters but I kept having this nagging fear that I was not worthy or capable. This book took most of that fear away. She breaks things down into an easy to follow guide that tells you exactly what you need for each grade level and just how to get started. She covers several of the main methods in homeschooling and gives you the opportunity to see which you would like to research farther.

[Maryann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author attempts to cover too many topics in limited space, and in doing so doesn't adequately cover any one topic well. The book is organized and presented in a confusing manner. Although I found the book a waste of time, I was able to glean a few bits of useful information: 1) a list of Web Freebies (p. 227) and 2) a list of books and authors (p. 129, 199).

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

The obsession with "vintage" literature is just a bit over the top for me. The idea that modern books are poorly written trash, or "dumbed-down" as the author asserts, just smacks of Pollyanna-like nostalgia.

She asks, "Can you see the superiority of the older works"?

All I see is me returning this book to library, having never made it past chapter three.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main author takes the reader through her experiences, what has worked for her family and those she knows, and what hasn't been as successful. Included in the book are other authors' perspectives and experiences. Sometimes a bit disjointed and repetitive, it nonetheless held my interest.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

had a lot of stuff that other homeschool books do not....many great tips!