Real-Life Homeschooling: The Stories of 21 Families Who Teach Their Children at Home

by Rhonda Barfield

The book that shows homeschooling in action!
What does it really mean when parents say they homeschool their child or children? For Rhonda Barfield -- a homeschooler for the past 10 years -- the definition is as diverse as the 21 families she studies in this eye-opening book.
Real-Life Homeschooling
From the city to the country, apartments to split-levels, you'll enter each household and see education in action. Discover the challenges and rewards of tailoring instruction to each child's needs while catering to his or her inquisitiveness and curiosity. See why the number of children being taught by their parents is growing nationwide -- at home, there are no overcrowded classrooms, no unknown dangers lurking in the halls, and no doubts as to the quality of the education.
Whether you are just contemplating homeschooling or are a veteran seeking fresh ideas and help in overcoming obstacles -- look no Real-life Homeschooling shows just how practical and rewarding it is to educate children and provide them with what they need most -- you!

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Parenting

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Pumpkin+Bear · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, I'm not saying the book was a bad read, because it was interesting--who doesn't like a good anecdote?--but seriously, does every single family in the book have to be devoutly Christian and have a million kids? It's totally cool to be devoutly Christian and have a million kids, of course, but after the second devoutly Christian large family described in the book, I got the idea of what it's like to homeschool a million kids as a devout Christian, and didn't really need to hear about it from 15 other families.

Nice rubbernecking read of families who homeschool in VERY unique situations--the devoutly Christian guy who went to jail because he homeschooled his million kids, the devoutly Christian family with a million kids who homeschools on an island in the Alaskan wilderness, the devoutly Christian family with a million kids who homeschools on a tiny Pacific Island out in the middle of the ocean--that kind of stuff.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I'm glad I read, would not read again, and would probably not recommend to anyone. The book is 21 interviews with families from different religions and walks of life that homeschool, written in a long news story format. It was interesting to see how different people made the decision to homeschool, what teaching styles they use, and so on. I felt the book leaned really hard on the side of unschooling, and when they did talk about a specific curriculum (such as Sonlight or KONOS), it often came out sounding more like an advertisement than anything else. I would not recommend this book to new homeschoolers or non-homeschoolers who are interested in what homeschooling is because several of the families ended up sounding like they didn't teach their children anything, just let them do whatever they felt like doing (to include online game playing) and called it school. All the unschoolers I know work really hard to make sure their child is getting a balanced curriculum (math, science, history, etc), even as the child is choosing what to learn about, but this book make several of the families sound simply lazy. I'm sure that wasn't the intent of the book, but that is how it sounded.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started this--each chapter is written by a different family that homeschools. What I like is the diversity of each family and it's story--it shows by real example that there really is no "one right way" to homeschool. Do what works. I'm curious to read what has worked for other families to give me some perspective and inspiration for mine.

I found the best example of a homeschool family (which lives in UT, and I am pretty sure is LDS, too). The mom's philosophies were so close to mine it was uncanny...and cool! Their family is a few years ahead, so it was like getting this neat sneak peek into what our family may look like in a few years' time. I also copied down some of her resources she was using, like the computer games and art books for kids.

After reading the chapter on that family, it was enough, and I closed the book.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting look into a few families and how they homeschool. As I don't yet have children, there is nothing from this book that I can implement at the moment. However, I enjoyed reading about different approaches to homeschooling.

One thing I noted almost across the board was that these families are BUSY. I'm excited to homeschool children someday, but I don't want to be that busy. There was one family that was only home for one evening a week. They seemed happy with that, but what about downtime?

The book also didn't go into much depth, which is understandable as it was covering 21 different families. However, I felt like I had been given a tiny peak into each of their lives and I wanted to know more about some of the families. I think it would have been more interesting to read twice as much about half the families.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't glean much from this book, but found it interesting to delve into the day to day lives of other, highly disparate homeschoolers. There were only a couple of chapters (i.e., homeschool experiences) that resonated with me, which left me skimming a lot of the book. One of the down-sides of this book was that I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things each family seemed to do. I had to remind myself that if someone packed everything we do in a week, and then over the course of a year, into one short book chapter, we might also seem like uber-homeschoolers . . . which we most definitely are not. Sometimes it's best NOT to worry about what others are doing.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book profiles 21 families whose demographics and reasons for homeschooling vary widely. I appreciated how each chapter described the family's typical daily schedule and listed the specific materials and curricula employed. Many of the families cite religion as a factor for homeschooling and I was impressed by their commitment to raising children of strong moral values. Overall a very rosy profile is painted and the author points out that by allowing each family to relate their own story the view is somewhat skewed. I would recommended this book to anyone considering homeschooling as it offers a glimpse at many ways of approaching the matter.

[Elspeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading more about homeschooling and liking more and more what I'm reading. This was a fun look into a variety of homeschooling philosophies and strategies. It also provided a lot of the nitty gritty details of how you juggle everything in your life. When thinking about homeschooling I really wonder what it would be like. Each family gave a daily description which I appreciated. Some families home-schooled in a way I admired while others in a way I know wouldn't work for me. This was a fun and encouraging read.

[Julie Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I was so encouraged by he families interviewed. Two were from nearby towns! No matter how different their educational philosophy or family situation, I found I was able to identify with at least one part of each story. A few families felt like they were actually giving all my reasons for "why" I am choosing homeschooling.

Really great read to get excited about homeschooling or to encourage anyone who is struggling or suffring from burnout!

[Channing · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a terrific resource for someone considering homeschooling who wants to know what options are available. I didn't learn much at all from it after all the research I have done. I am finishing it because there are a couple resources listed in each chapter and it's a quick read to find those.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The structure of this book made it easy to follow despite the disjointed feeling I had jumping from family to family to learn of their homeschooling experiences. I learned of several resources and methods that I plan to try during my homeschooling journey and felt that it was really helpful to hear first hand accounts of how homeschooling affects families.

[Eva St. Clair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This got repetitive after about 5 families - most were some variety of Christian homeschoolers, which is fine, but it all started to sound the same after awhile. There were a couple extraordinary stories (getting arrested for homeschool, homeschool in a cabin on a frozen lake in Alaska).

I preferred Lisa Welcher's book.

[Elissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent introductory book to homeschooling. It answers the question, "what do homeschoolers do all day?" But after half of it I felt like I got it and didn't need to read anymore. I felt like there was a little too much detail about the history of the families.

[Aneesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVING this book and the variety of ideas/methods/beliefs. My friend recommended it and said I wouldn't be able to put it down. If only I weren't reading 5 books at once, perhaps that would be true. Really, it is a great read.

[Gabi Eyerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned there are sooo many different ways to homeschool, and they are all good. This book helped take the pressure off me so that I hopefully not worry too much about whether we are doing homeschooling "right". It's all good.

[Bonnie Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I would have much preferred a more rounded collection of homeschooling families - this collection was by and large heavily religious. I did still enjoy reading all their stories. I would be interested in reading a more contemporary, more secular, book similar to this.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some interesting stories of home-schooling families. I used this for research on my thesis.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read many of the stories in this book, but not all. An assortment that gives the idea that homeschooling is as individual as the family, and, indeed, as individual as the child.

[Julia]

649.68 BAR

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books like this. I read it with a notebook and pen to take notes on things I want to implement in my own homeschool. Each family was unique and brought great ideas to the table.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are making the switch to Homeschooling...something we have talked about for a couple of years now. Since non-fiction is my gig these days, I love this book.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't identify with the families portrayed in this book as much as I'd hoped, nor did they seem to represent as wide a scope of folks as the recommendation claimed, but it was still interesting.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly dated with seemingly "extreme" family scenerios. Lisa Whelchel's book is much better.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it quite eye opening to different methods of homeschooling.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some stories, of course, were far more intriguing than others. *Remember to read again in the future.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really appreciated the chapters on the families living in the Marshall Islands and Alaska. It was fun to hear about how environment can impact the homeschooling experience.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge Christian families

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories from many homeschooling families.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good cross-section of a variety of homeschooling philosophies.