Product Description

Discover the Rewards of Homeschooling Your Young Child
Young children are full of curiosity, imagination, and a sense of wonder. They're willing to try new things and possess a natural joy of discovery. Yet in a traditional school, these natural behavior traits are too often squelched. That's why more and more parents just like you are choosing to teach their children at home during these critical years—the years that lay the foundation for developing learning skills that last a lifetime. Inside, respected homeschooling author Linda Dobson shows you how homeschooling can work for you and your young child. You'll discover how to:
·Tailor homeschooling to fit your family's unique needs
·Know when your child is ready to learn to read
·Teach your child arithmetic without fear—even if you're math-challenged
·Give your child unlimited learning on a limited budget
·And much more!
"Brings dazzling clarity to the otherwise nerve-wracking confusion of early learning—and the adventure of becoming fully human. Highly recommended."—John Taylor Gatto,former New York State Teacher of the Year and author of Dumbing Us Down
"Provides a much-needed introduction to living and learning with young children. Open the book to any page and you'll find inspiring anecdotes and approaches to learning that leave the reader thinking, 'That just makes so much sense!' Highly recommended for anyone who lives, works, or plays with young children."—Helen Hegener, managing editor of Home Education Magazine
"An information-packed delight; I only wish it had been around when our three boys were three to eight years old."—Rebecca Rupp, author of The Complete Home Learning Sourcebook
"This book brings together the experience and wisdom of a great variety of homeschooling families—tied together with warm encouragement and wonderful simplification of processes that can seem so mysterious and daunting to the beginner. A very solid resource!"—Lillian Jones, homeschooling activist, writer, and reviewer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124564 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-11
• Released on: 1999-08-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com
Nothing beats seeking the voice of experience if you want to join the estimated 1 to 3 million parents who teach their children at home. Here's a guide that comes direct from the experts: a mother of two homeschooled, now-grown children and 83 homeschooling families she surveyed. Their stories make reading this starter kit on teaching ages 3 to 7 worthwhile. For those ready to take on what author Linda Dobson calls "a natural extension of being a good parent," the manual provides at-a-glance boxes of insightful anecdotes called "How We Did It," as well as lists at the end of each chapter of helpful books, magazines, Web sites, software, and computer message boards that connect homeschooling households. The straightforward writing covers the basics on reading, writing, and math; different teaching approaches; organizing a curriculum; even how to deal with skeptical relatives and spouses. There are no specifics on each states' homeschooling requirements, which vary widely. But as a primer for parents starting out, the book serves as a confidence builder and an inspiring how-to guide. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

Review
Discover the Rewards of Homeschooling Your Young Child

Review
Discover the Rewards of Homeschooling Your Young Child

Customer Reviews

Some Good Info, but Too Limited in Scope
I agree with several other reviewers: the book seems geared toward folks who are considering homeschooling the *very* young child. I know the title states "3- to 8-year-old," but a LOT of the material was geared to preschoolers and very early learners. I have a kindergartner in private school and a first-grader in public school right now, so a good bit of the information contained in the book doesn't apply to us. Also, most of the familial anecdotes and advice, as well as the authorial bias, lean toward unschooling. I understand that many families think this approach is fabulous, but there are also many of us who don't. I would have appreciated a much broader scope in that regard. Much of the curricula and other suggestions I have located elsewhere, either on the Internet or in other books. I *did* appreciate the chaper on "Enjoying the Road Less Traveled." Basically, I flipped through this book in one evening and wished I'd used my dollars more wisely.

A Fantastic Resource and A Great Inspiration!
This is not yet another mere "your child should `x' at `y' age" handbook focusing on academics, but a traveler's guide to creating a family's own itinerary for the homeschooling journey. It offers an expansive view of the home education landscape, with mountains of ideas and personal experiences contributed by fellow explorers, wellsprings of inspiration, and stockpiles of resources.

Like Linda Dobson's other books, "Homeschooling: The Early Years" takes parents outside the box of "school at home" thinking, encouraging families to use their whole world as a "classroom" and to recognize that learning happens all the time-even when not regimented according to grade level or chopped into subject areas. In addition, the book instills confidence in parents of children who don't "measure up" to grade level marks by providing lively pictures of children who developed at their own pace and turned out ok anyway. These facets can help parents find an individualized homeschooling style that is relaxed and enjoyable for the whole family. What could be better than that?

The author invites readers to leaf through homeschooling's goodie basket, to taste the benefits that lie beyond academic measures. These include the luxury of spending "extra" time exploring areas of interest, homeschooling's power to strengthen the family bond and instill positive socialization and its flexibility in meeting the needs of any schedule or lifestyle, and the joy and pleasure of homeschooling while cuddling together in your jammies.

"Early Years" maps a remarkably wide territory for one modest book. It covers how to tune into your child's unique learning needs, incorporating learning with young children's natural tendencies, and overcoming fears and doubts. Included in this volume are money-saving ideas, including discovering educational materials you already have at home; homeschoolers' favorite software, helping you make good choices from among the tremendous number of materials available; in-depth information on the 3 R's; information on a variety of homeschooling methods; resources, such as periodicals, other books, Web sites and more; help for parents of special needs children, single parents, ways to include younger siblings; organizing; and even "part-time homeschooling" as a supplement to school.

Having homeschooled my now 13 year-old and 10 year-old children their whole lives, I believe "Homeschooling: The Early Years" is a fantastic resource, an inspiration, and even a quiet revolution. This book helps parents learn to trust themselves and their own perceptions, rather than always looking to "experts," because nobody knows a child better than does the parent-and that may be the most important homeschooling idea of all.

Don't bother with this one.
I was all excited to get Linda Dobson's books. This, as well as most of the others, have been a disappointment. I hardly ever refer to them now. They weren't all that helpful at all. Her books (including this one) lack "meat" and are way too vague. I suppose it's a good, VERY basic, rather shallow introduction. But that's about it. The main thing that I did not appreciate about the author is her heavy unschooling bias. Not everyone is into unschooling. To the new homeschooler, that can be a real turn-off.