The Best Books for the Homeschool Mom

Being a homeschool mom is hard. When I first started I was in over my head and I read all the homeschool books and blogs. But, while I know starting out is hard I think continuing on the path is harder.

Everyday something comes up that tries to steal your joy for homeschooling. One of the many ways I combat that is with good books, written by great people. Every night when the house is quiet I sit down with what I call my mom basket.

You can't pour from an empty cup. Curl up and enjoy these absolute best books to read for homeschool moms everywhere.

One of the main things in my mom basket is a motivational or informative homeschool book. I find that reading these helps to inspire me, fill my cup, and relight my fire.

I have read many books over the past 5+ years. Today, I wanted to share some of my favorites with you. In hopes that they may help you the way they did me.

      

Teaching from Rest – Those who have made the decision to homeschool their children have done so out of great love for their children and a desire to provide them an excellent education in the context of a warm, enriching home. Yet so many parents (mainly mothers) who have taken up this challenge find the enterprise often full of stress, worry, and anxiety. In this practical, faith-based, and inspirational book, Sarah Mackenzie addresses these questions directly, appealing to her own study of restful learning (scholé) and her struggle to bring restful learning to her (six) children.

The Read Aloud Family – The stories we read–and the conversations we have about them–help shape family traditions, create lifelong memories, and become part of our legacy. Reading aloud not only has the power to change a family–it has the power to change the world. 

The Read-Aloud HandbookThe Read-Aloud Handbook offers proven techniques and strategies for helping children discover the pleasures of reading and setting them on the road to becoming lifelong readers.

Better TogetherBetter Together teaches you how to design a part of your homeschool day where the entire family can learn together. This time, known as morning time. Now homeschool mom and former teacher Pam Barnhill breaks down the practice for every homeschooler.

Mere Motherhood – It was back in the 1980’s when Cindy Rollins, then a new mom in search of the best ways to teach her baby son, first heard about homeschooling. Thirty years and nine children later, Cindy has become a popular blogger, podcaster, and award-winning teacher. This is her story. It’s a story of big families and cross-country moves and small-town living. It’s about great books and morning times and nursery rhymes. The story of a dedicated mother’s journey toward the Truth and the family she brought along with her.

Give Your Child the World – Featuring a carefully curated reading treasury of the best children’s literature for each area of the globe, as well as practical parenting suggestions and inspiration, Give Your Child the World helps moms and dads raise insightful, compassionate kids who fall in love with the world and are prepared to change it for good.

      

Homeschooling parents looking for support in this daunting commitment will find it in A Gracious Space. There is one for each most seasons although they can be read at anytime –A Gracious Space FallA Gracious Space Winter, and A Gracious Space Spring.

The Brave Learner – In this book, Julie Bogart distills decades of experience–homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world–to show parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they’re in elementary or high school.

The Unhurried Homeschooler – Homeschooling is a wonderful, worthwhile pursuit, but many homeschool parents struggle with feelings of burnout and frustration. If you have ever felt this way, you’re not alone! Most of us need to be reminded of the “why” of homeschooling from time to time—but “The Unhurried Homeschooler” takes parents a step further and lifts the unnecessary burdens that many parents place on themselves.

For the Children’s SakeFor the Children’s Sake is a book about what education can be, based on a Christian understanding of what it means to be human-to be a child, a parent, a teacher-and on the Christian meaning of life. The central ideas have been proven over many years and in almost every kind of educational situation, including ideas that Susan and Ranald Macaulay have implemented in their own family and school experience

      

Help! I’m Homeschooling – Help! I’m Homeschooling! is packed with the practical, how to advice to encourage you and build your confidence – whether you are a brand-new homeschooler or a seasoned veteran

How to Raise a Wild ChildHow to Raise a Wild Child is a timely and engaging antidote, offering teachers, parents, and other caregivers the necessary tools to engender a meaningful, lasting connection between children and the natural world.

Last Child in the Woods – In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.

Present Over Perfect – This is not a “homeschool” book but it is a must read for all moms. Us moms seems to think everything must be perfect but really only our presence is needed.

The Lifegiving Home – Does your home sometimes feel like just a place to eat, sleep, and change clothes on the way to the next activity? Do you long for “home” to mean more than a place where you stash your stuff? Wouldn’t you love it to become a haven of warmth, rest, and joy . . . the one place where you and your family can’t wait to be? There is good news waiting for you in the pages of The Lifegiving Home.

More than EnoughDon’t let the fear hold you back. You are enough. Your family is enough. And your love for your kids is more than enough.

Homeschooling Gifted Kids – Homeschooling Gifted Kids gives parents a great deal of practical support and confidence to meet the academic needs of their bright and twice-exceptional learners. Written by a veteran homeschooler, this book clearly and concisely teaches parents how to homeschool their advanced learners, focusing on special considerations that often go along with gifted children such as providing challenging curriculum, offering outlets for artistic and creative talents, accelerating students into college courses early, and finding them true intellectual peers.

      

The Call of the Wild+Free – The homeschool approach of past generations is gone—including the stigma of socially awkward kids, conservative clothes, and a classroom setting replicated in the home. The Wild + Free movement is focused on a love of nature, reading great books, pursuing interests and hobbies, making the entire world a classroom, and prolonging the wonder of childhood, an appealing philosophy that is unpacked in the pages of this book

Homeschooling Your Child with Special Needs – It happens almost every day. I hear from a mom desperate for information on homeschooling her child with special needs and learning differences. She is terrified. She’s been told to not even consider it – that the experts need to be the ones in charge of her child’s special education.She’s terrified, yes. But somewhere, deep down, she knows it’s not working. She knows there just has to be another way.This book is a comprehensive look at homeschooling a child with learning differences and special needs.

Plan Your YearPlan Your Year is a practical approach to homeschool planning that breaks free of grids and unrealistic expectations, focusing instead on the needs of the students, the teacher (yes, you!), and the busy life you lead.

Honey for a Child’s Heart – A good book is a gateway into a wider world of wonder, beauty, delight, and adventure. But children don’t stumble onto the best books by themselves. They need a parent’s help. Author Gladys Hunt discusses everything from how to choose good books for your children to encouraging them to be avid readers.

Simplicity Parenting – Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems. Now internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need for their attention to deepen and their individuality to flourish

Desperate – Desperate is for those who love their children to the depths of their souls but who have also curled up under their covers, fighting back tears, and begging God for help. It’s for those who have ever wondered what happened to all their ideals for what having children would be like. For those who have ever felt like all the “experts” have clearly never had a child like theirs. Those who have prayed for a mentor. For those who ever felt lost and alone in motherhood.