Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Homeschooling and the public library, part 1

If you have not already done so, go to your library and find all the books you can on homeschooling. They are mostly shelved in the adult non-fiction area at 371.042 and 649.68, but they can also be found in the reference section, parenting, and subject specific areas (like physical education, math, writing, etc). Sometimes they have a selection in the parenting resources of the children’s section (which is where I have been thumbing through homeschool books for the past few years, ya know, hiding the title in case someone I knew wandered by). If you can, grab a stack and look through them there. Otherwise, you’ll end up with like 24 books. Which are heavy. And don’t leave any resources for others. For 3 weeks. (If you live in my county, I am really, really, sorry and will return the books soon….)

 

Some of the books will be stories of how families homeschool and some will be more concrete—books of lists, curricula, methodology, etc. Some of them will be so useful that you’ll end up wanting to purchase them. The library won’t let you renew them anymore because I’ve requested them, so just expect to invest in a few of your favorites.

 

The library is also a great place to find magazines on homeschooling. Many of the publications offer a free copy of their magazine, which is a great way to find out what kind of homeschool subset you might feel most comfortable with and start thinking of yourself as a homeschooler.

 

In addition to making friends with my local librarians, I filled out the intent to homeschool forms (yay me!) and mailed them in. As of June 23^rd, I will officially be responsible for my children’s education. Gulp.

 

I also requested my very first curriculum catalog. I fear this has put me on every homeschool mailing list in the country.

 

For more info: A link to homeschool magazines and publications to check out online.