Internet resources on Homeschooling

For parents new to the idea of homeschooling I thought it would be helpful to have a list of a few places to go on the internet for more information.

General

Here are some web sites with vast amounts of information on homeschooling. Each site is very complete in providing information how to homeschool your children.

Jon’s Homeschool Resources is one of the oldest sites on homeschooling. It is the first one I started sharing with friends who had questions about homeschooling.

Ann Zeise’s A to Z Home’s Cool (Homeschool) is one of the most complete sites I've seen on home education. There is tons and tons of information for everyone, from the novice to the expert.

On the left side of Beverly Hernandez’s blog, About Homeschool, is a comprehensive collection of information about homeschooling.


Support Groups

It helps to have the wisdom of experience. By working with someone who has been homeschooling for a couple years, you can greatly improve how effective of a job you do in teaching your children at home. With about 2% of children in America currently being homeschooled, chances are you know several families who homeschool. Ask them if there are local groups of homeschoolers. See if you can join. When possible check out several different groups. Often you'll find value in each of them.

You might also want to check out these sites for finding more groups in your area:

Support Groups – Jon’s Homeschool Resources
Homeschool Social Register
Homeschool Central



Socialization

For years critics of teaching children at home said that the children would never do well academically. Studies have found that children which have been taught at home do as well, and in many cases much better, than children taught at public schools. Now one of the big attacks on home education is that the children will miss out on some kind of socialization. Many parents agree. They don't want their children to be bullied, harassed, and intimidated. At public schools children learn social behavior from other children. When children are homeschooled, parents teach them correct social responses. In addition homeschooled children often deal with a greater variety of people, especially in the ages of children.

Here are a several places for thoughts on the benefits of socializing children at home:

Beverly Hernandez has a good collection of articles about socialization.
Homeschooling and the Myth of Socialization
Social Skills and Homeschooling: Myths and Facts
How to Answer the Socialization Question Once and for All

And if you want more, check out what Google finds.


Books

Amazon has thousands of books on home education and homeschool. Two of the first which greatly motivated us to try homeschooling were Inside American Education by Thomas Sowel, and The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and her mother Jessie Wise. If you like The Well Trained Mind, you might want to check out their web site The Well-Trained Mind. The Moores argue in Better Late Than Early that the rush to push academics on young does great damage. The Homeschooling Revolution by Isabel Lyman does a great job of explaining what is homeschooling. Homeschooling: Take A Deep Breath - You Can Do This! by Terrie Lynn Bittner helps first time homeschoolers get started. Home Educated and Now Adults by Brian Ray is the result of a survey of 5000 homeschooled adults.

Here are some lists of books on homeschooling:

New to Homeschooling?
Books About Homeschooling Organized by Title
Tammy's Homeschooling Curriculum and Book Reviews Listed by Author


Magazines

Magazines are another good way to get ideas on how to educate your children at home. They can provide answers to questions you didn't know enough to ask. Here are some you might want to check out:

Home Education Magazine
Life Free Learn Free
The Link
The Old Schoolhouse
Practical Homeschooling


Mailing lists

Another good way to get help, support, and guidence on how to homeschool, is to find a couple mailing lists. Here are some lists of mailing lists:

Mail - Jon's Homeschool Resources
Homeschool E-Mail Lists & Free Newsletter Directory


And more resources

Here are a few more web sites about homeschooling:

Advice for New Homeschoolers from Homeschool Central
Best Homeschooling
Excelling in Homeschool
Home Sweet Home School - Resources, Links & Information
HomeEducator.com
Homeschool World
Homeschool.com
Learn in Freedom!
NHERI - National Home Education Research Institute


If you know of additional places someone new to homeschooling might want to check out, please add a comment or send me email. If there is a problem with any of the above links, please let me know.