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Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother
In 1975, armed with only a high school education, Joyce Swann made the decision to homeschool her children. Twenty-five years later all ten Swann children had received their master’s degrees by age sixteen, although none had ever been enrolled in a traditional classroom. In this must-read for anyone considering homeschooling, Swann shares not only her teaching methods, tips, and advice, she also discusses the illnesses, financial difficulties, and lack of emotional support that made every day a challenge. Ultimately, however, it is her faith and God’s grace that kept Swann going when the obstacles seemed insurmountable.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
163 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Swann
30 books68 followersJoyce Swann has been a Christian since childhood and a prayer warrior for over forty years. She became nationally-known in the 1990's because of her work homeschooling her ten children from the first grade through masters’ degrees before their seventeenth birthdays. She has been featured on Paul Harvey's weekly radio program, CBN and the 1990's CBS series “How'd They Do That?” She has been interviewed by "Woman's World", "The National Enquirer", and numerous regional newspapers. The story of the Swann family has also been featured in "National Review" and several books about homeschooling success stories.
Joyce is author of "The Warrior", which has been downloaded over 100,000 times on Kindle, and co-author of five novels, including "The Fourth Kingdom", which was selected as a top four finalist in the "Christianity Today" 2011 fiction of the year awards, two children's books ("The McAloon" series) and a collection of holiday stories ("The Holiday Collection"). She was a popular columnist for "Practical Homeschooling" for nearly a decade, and she has retold her own story of homeschooling her ten children in "Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother."
She is also author of the young adult series, "N". Book Two of the series, "N: The Shadow of the Cross" was published in the fall of 2016.
Joyce and her husband of over 50 years, John, live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Joyce is author of "The Warrior", which has been downloaded over 100,000 times on Kindle, and co-author of five novels, including "The Fourth Kingdom", which was selected as a top four finalist in the "Christianity Today" 2011 fiction of the year awards, two children's books ("The McAloon" series) and a collection of holiday stories ("The Holiday Collection"). She was a popular columnist for "Practical Homeschooling" for nearly a decade, and she has retold her own story of homeschooling her ten children in "Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother."
She is also author of the young adult series, "N". Book Two of the series, "N: The Shadow of the Cross" was published in the fall of 2016.
Joyce and her husband of over 50 years, John, live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 28, 2013
An encouraging book of Joyce's homeschooling years.
"I also remind myself that I homeschooled based on who I am. Every educator brings a great deal of herself into the classroom. How she deals with her students, the approaches she takes to both teaching and learning, and the way she structures her classroom are all reflections of her own world view."
Not a "how-to" book, but rather an overview of how someone did it.
Lessons can be gleaned and encouragement gained by reading this book.
Highly recommended.
"I also remind myself that I homeschooled based on who I am. Every educator brings a great deal of herself into the classroom. How she deals with her students, the approaches she takes to both teaching and learning, and the way she structures her classroom are all reflections of her own world view."
Not a "how-to" book, but rather an overview of how someone did it.
Lessons can be gleaned and encouragement gained by reading this book.
Highly recommended.
October 11, 2012
Great book about this particular homeschool. Swann started homeschooling when such an idea was never even thought of. Lots of great ideas for running a homeschool.
February 4, 2014
Maybe a one star rating is too harsh. There's really nothing "bad" about the book, it just didn't do a thing for me. I've been a home schooling mom for 14 years and read plenty of books on the subject, so I'm fairly familiar with all the modes and methods of schooling your children. This one I purchased for 0.99 on kindle and read it in one sitting. The only thing that was interesting was the ending, where Joyce Swann highlighted each of her 10 children and explained what their adult lives look like.
Obviously Joyce was very successful in her homeschooling endeavors, as each of her children are now adults, working hard in their respective fields. Rigid is a word I'd use to discuss her home school. She used the same curriculum and method for each one of her children, at an accelerated rate. The result was that they all earned college degrees by the age of 16. I'm happy for her, I really am, but in reality, no one (except her) produces identical children. Her one-size-fits-all educational formula would doom 98% of homeschoolers to failure.
Her writing style was stilted and dry. When one son had severe medical problems that went undiagnosed by doctors, and when she herself was pinned underneath the family van resulting in long months of recovery, she wrote with the same voice she used in explaining household chores. This woman seems devoid of all emotions. None of them had learning problems. None of them ever complained or struggled. Everyone spent 2.5 hours per day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year at the table completing their school work. They all attended the same college on the same schedule in the same way. They all somehow landing incredibly lucrative positions with seeming ease.
I really did not find this book encouraging. If I were a struggling home school mom, questioning my own competence, wondering if I'm doing more harm than helping my children, I would undoubtedly feel like a complete failure after reading this. She's just too perfect to be real.
Obviously Joyce was very successful in her homeschooling endeavors, as each of her children are now adults, working hard in their respective fields. Rigid is a word I'd use to discuss her home school. She used the same curriculum and method for each one of her children, at an accelerated rate. The result was that they all earned college degrees by the age of 16. I'm happy for her, I really am, but in reality, no one (except her) produces identical children. Her one-size-fits-all educational formula would doom 98% of homeschoolers to failure.
Her writing style was stilted and dry. When one son had severe medical problems that went undiagnosed by doctors, and when she herself was pinned underneath the family van resulting in long months of recovery, she wrote with the same voice she used in explaining household chores. This woman seems devoid of all emotions. None of them had learning problems. None of them ever complained or struggled. Everyone spent 2.5 hours per day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year at the table completing their school work. They all attended the same college on the same schedule in the same way. They all somehow landing incredibly lucrative positions with seeming ease.
I really did not find this book encouraging. If I were a struggling home school mom, questioning my own competence, wondering if I'm doing more harm than helping my children, I would undoubtedly feel like a complete failure after reading this. She's just too perfect to be real.
January 29, 2014
Looking Backward
Looking Backward is an interesting read. It was interesting but lacked a lot in details. It seemed like a long summary.The author was a very good educator which shows in the success of her children.It would have been nice to have a more detailed descriptives.ion of their personal l
Looking Backward is an interesting read. It was interesting but lacked a lot in details. It seemed like a long summary.The author was a very good educator which shows in the success of her children.It would have been nice to have a more detailed descriptives.ion of their personal l
July 30, 2020
I read this just in time
Yesterday, we were just informed that our city school system will do remote virtual learning for at least the first nine weeks of the school year. Of course it is due to Covid19. We had just completed the final trading period, also at home. Our special-needs eighth grader who struggled every year, earned all A's! Though she was studying the same material as her classmates, we were able to structure a schedule and presentation methods geared to her learning strengths. She was no longer bewildered or overwhelmed. She discovered a passion for history.
Even with her huge improvements, I was discouraged to be her homeschool teacher again. What if I fail? What if high school is too difficult for her learning disabilities?
But today I read your book. I realized that "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Philippians 4 :13.
Thank you Joyce Swann, for helping me believe that her dream of becoming a history professor will come true. And, she says that her cerebral palsy will not stop her from also becoming a ballet teacher. What a graceful dancer she is!I
My degree is elementary education, but I guess I will be learning to be a high school teacher. Onward and upward! 🙏
Yesterday, we were just informed that our city school system will do remote virtual learning for at least the first nine weeks of the school year. Of course it is due to Covid19. We had just completed the final trading period, also at home. Our special-needs eighth grader who struggled every year, earned all A's! Though she was studying the same material as her classmates, we were able to structure a schedule and presentation methods geared to her learning strengths. She was no longer bewildered or overwhelmed. She discovered a passion for history.
Even with her huge improvements, I was discouraged to be her homeschool teacher again. What if I fail? What if high school is too difficult for her learning disabilities?
But today I read your book. I realized that "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Philippians 4 :13.
Thank you Joyce Swann, for helping me believe that her dream of becoming a history professor will come true. And, she says that her cerebral palsy will not stop her from also becoming a ballet teacher. What a graceful dancer she is!I
My degree is elementary education, but I guess I will be learning to be a high school teacher. Onward and upward! 🙏
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews