Catholic Education: Homeward Bound - Useful Guide to Catholic Home Schooling

by Kimberly Hahn, Mary Hasson

Two experienced home schooling moms present a very thorough, balanced and practical guide to both the merits of home education, as well as the important ideas, resources and curriculums to home school. Hahn and Hasson cover all aspects - statistics supporting home schooling's excellence, the nitty-gritty of lesson plans, and hundreds of ways to keep the fun in (and boredom out) of learning. Most importantly, they offer compelling advice and inspiration for parents as they undertake their child's religious, moral and intellectual formation. This is a reliable guide for Catholic parents who want to stay close to the heart of the church in the schooling of their children. The authors demonstrate that home schooling is not a fringe movement on the Church's periphery, but it is squarely based on Catholic teachings drawn from Sacred Scripture, natural law, and the writings of saints and popes. Readers will find the right combination of secular and sacred, theoretical and practical. Whether you are looking for advice and encouragement, language resources, aids for teaching multiplication or phonics - or the Ten Commandments - this book is sure to be a very functional tool.

Genres: Education, Catholic, Nonfiction, Religion, Parenting

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Mrs. Kimberly Hahn has been married to Scott since 1979. They have six children: Michael, Gabriel, Hannah, Jeremiah, Joseph, and David. Kimberly has been a full-time, stay-at-home Mom since their firstborn’s arrival. Currently, she home schools her younger children. She enjoys speaking with Scott, but ministry is a priority after family commitments.

Kimberly became a Catholic at the Easter Vigil of 1990 in Joliet, Illinois, after a difficult struggle during the four years following Scott’s entrance into the Catholic Church. She has completed a book with Scott on their journey into the Catholic Church entitled Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism. It has been translated into Spanish, French, Czech, Polish, Chinese, Italian, German and Dutch.

In addition to Rome Sweet Home, Kimberly’s newest books are Chosen and Cherished: Biblical Wisdom for Your Marriage and Life Giving Love: Embracing God’s Beautiful Design for Marriage published by Servant Publications. She has contributed chapters to Catholic for A Reason: Scripture and The Mystery of the Family of God, Catholic for A Reason II: Scripture and The Mother of God; Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Eucharist, Catholic for a Reason IV: Scripture and the Mystery of Marrigae and Family Life, and The Gift of Femininity. She has also co-authored a book on Catholic home education with Mary Hasson entitled, Catholic Education - Homeward Bound: A Guide to Home Schooling.

Kimberly’s educational background includes a Bachelors of Arts in Communication Arts from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, in May of 1979 (magna cum laude), followed by a Masters of Arts in Theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in May, 1982 (magna cum laude).

During past school years, Kimberly lead a weekly Bible study at Franciscan University. Her studies on the Mysteries of the Rosary, Proverbs 31, Knowing the Will of God, Finances, Praying from the Hearth, Dating and Courtship, and Women of Hope are available on audiocassette through St. Joseph Communications as are many of her talks on topics related to family life and the Catholic faith.

Reviews

[Dorothy Oneil · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it were 1996 I would have given the book 5 stars. With all the new curriculum out, I don't know that the choices mentioned in this book are still the best ones out there. Still, this is an excellent book for the first time Catholic Homeschooler in that it gives a realistic idea of how 2 families homeschool their children.

[Leila Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to give such a low rating to a book by Kimberly Hahn, but I did not enjoy this book. I think it was poorly titled, because only about 1/3 of it is actually useful advice for homeschooling. And in that third there are some good things, including the great bibliography in the back. But the other two-thirds of the book are about why you should homeschool (I wanted to read a book about how to homeschool, not why to) and some basics about the Catholic faith (not sure why that was in there. I already know I need to teach the faith to my kids, what I was after were helpful resources on how to do that).

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes Kimberly Hahn is hard for me to live up to, but I love her just the same. I finished the book with a sense that I could handle homeschooling but I knew I'd need the perspective of other resources as well.

[Heather]

This is another slightly out-dated book on Catholic homeschooling, but I enjoyed it a lot more than Mary Kay Clark's book, Catholic Homeschooling. The chapters were divided up nicely into major areas of discussion, especially for those contemplating homeschooling. Easy to jump around the topic or question that is weighing on you. The resource list in the back of the book is very out-dated by today's standards.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of the philosophical and theological foundations of Catholic homeschooling. The resources mentioned are out of date, since the book is almost 20 years old. It would be great if the authors, whose kids have all graduated now, could do an update on the book.

[TheRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book out there for an introduction to Catholic homeschooling.

[Tricia Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tips for homeschooling from a Catholic perspective.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit outdated now, but still encouraging.

[reagan]

I read/skimmed this book over a few days. As a homeschool graduate, I didn't need to be convinced why to consider homeschooling and I already have a basic understanding of the practical "hows" so a lot of this book did not really apply. There is a little Q&A section on how homeschooling is possible in various situations (eg working mom, single parent, new baby, large family, etc) that might be encouraging, as well as sections dedicated to tips on homeschooling with toddlers underfoot and homeschooling teenagers that offered some practical tips as well as some wisdom on what perspective to have in these more challenging (so far as homeschooling is concerned at least) phases of your children's life.
This book was written before the popularity and relevance of the internet and it shows, specifically with the outdated resources and ciriculum references and tips. Modern homeschoolers are inundated with choice and advertising and finding a homeschool community (at least online! ) is much easier now.
There were some lovely quotes from encycliycals on family life and educating children I hadn't read before and some encouraging quotes from "veteran homeschool moms."

Unfortunately, because the book is outdated in terms of the bulk of resources and technological advances which homeschoolers can access easily now, and the fact that the bulk of its most helpful information can now be found in a hundred blog posts, YouTube videos, etc., I would say that it is not really worth the read any more, though I can see that it was a great resource when it was written.