Advice for aspiring homeschoolers - Crunchy Con
A reader writes to say that his five year old came home from public school kindergarten with a flyer alerting parents that the kids are about to have a whole week of "Just Say No to Drugs" education. It shocked him that kids as young as this are being subjected to this sort of thing, and made the reader and his wife consider whether they would be better off getting their kids out of the public school environment, and homeschooling them.
He wrote me asking for homeschooling advice. I told him a couple of things from our experience. First, be realistic. Homeschooling is not for everybody, and it's no panacea. You have to have a certain amount of idealism to get through the tough parts, but understand that there probably will be tough parts. Not everybody is ideally suited to be a teacher, nor are all kids suited to home learning. If you can go into it without illusions, you'll do better. Read more...
Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, ... America (or at least the Republican Party) 
Alida’s Song
Set in the early to mid 1950s, this book tells the story of a summer in the life of a fourteen-year-old boy whose parents were always fighting and often drunk. He nearly flunked the eighth grade like every grade before it and is in danger of being drawn into the gang life of the city where he lives. But he receives a letter from his grandmother Alida, who is working for the bachelor Nelson brothers on their farm in northern Minnesota and invites the boy to spend the summer there. Read more...
Castle in the Mist: Planet of the Dogs, Volume 2
Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war? The dogs from The Planet of the Dogs are back! Now that a year of peace has existed between the people of Stone City and the people of Green Valley, a new threat has arisen. Prince Ukko of the Black Hawk tribes does not like the fact that King Bik of Stone City has given up warfare, so he has Bik’s children, Nik and Nikki, kidnapped and brought to his Black Hawk Castle in the mist on Lake Ladok. Read more...
Humberto, the Bookworm Hamster
Humberto is a hamster that loves to read. Except for when he's riding his hamster wheel, he has his nose in a book. He even listens to audio books when he's sleeping. Nothing wrong with a well-read hamster, that is until it gets in the way of forging friendships. Humberto doesn't realize how precious friends are until a storm hits and places his would be friends in jeopardy. Read more...
The Double Cousins and the Mystery of the Missing Watch
If you had a long lost relative, what do you think would be the best way to go about trying to find him? Ten-year-old double cousins Max Rawson and Carly Johnson, along with Max’s younger brother Chad and Carly’s older sister Dorie and younger sister Molly, all arrive for their annual summer visit to their grandparents’ ranch. Read more...
Brisingr
Well, we read Eragon and Eldest. So I guess that we had to read Brisingr to learn about the further adventures of Eragon and Saphira. Brisingr was to have been the third book of the Inheritance Trilogy, but Paolini said, “Because of its complexity, Brisingr ended up much larger than I anticipated—so much larger, in fact, that I had to expand the series from three books to four. Thus, the Inheritance Trilogy became the Inheritance Cycle.” This is a disappointment. Read more...
National Velvet
Next to dogs, horses are about the most popular animals for young people’s stories. Marguerite Henry has written many good horse books, and Walter Farley has a whole set of “Black Stallion” books. Read more...
Journey to Nowhere
We moved to a new home this year. Compared to what moving was like 2 centuries ago, ours was painless. We had tons of help from friends and had professional movers take care of the big stuff. Plus it helped that we didn't need use an oxen and a covered wagon to take us to our new homestead! Imagine life in the early 18th century – it was no easy task to move. Read more...
Eldest
In this long awaited sequel to Eragon, young Eragon Shadeslayer, having lost his mentor Brom but rescued the lovely elven princess Arya, watches helplessly as his friend Murtagh is carred off by Urgals and then leaves his new found allies of the Varden to go to Ellesmera so that he might study with master Oromis and develop his abilities in using Gramarye (magic) with the hope that he can help defeat the evil emperor Galbatorix. Even noting some problems with it, I liked Eragon. Read more...
Doomwyte: A Redwall Tale
Set your paws on the track of a great adventure my friend. Who stole the great-jeweled eyes of Doomwyte long ago? What is Korvus Skurr and Sicariss the snake planning next? What mysteries and adventure await you in Redwall Abbey? Get ready for the latest installment in the Redwall series! The story starts out when a magpie caught in a storm is trying to seek shelter. Read more...
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Justin Morgan’s main claim to fame in history has been as the owner of an unusual runt work horse raised in Vermont and originally known as “Little Bub” which became the sire of a famous American breed of horse named after its first owner, the Morgan horse. However, Justin Morgan was not a horse breeder. He was an early American school teacher, singing master, and composer. Read more...
Dead Fred, Flying Lunch Boxes, and the Good Luck Circle
Ppeekk (pronounced “Peekie”) Rose Berry is a thirteen-year-old eighth grade girl who has just moved with her dad, a vacuum cleaner salesman, and mom, who is a pastry caterer, from Indiana to Delray Beach, FL. Because she played peek-a-boo with her parents when she was young, they nicknamed her Peeker, and when she got older she changed the spelling to make it unique. Read more...
My Friend Flicka
When I was growing up out in rural southern Ohio, many of the girls with whom I went to school had horses, and many who did not have horses still loved them anyway. Read more...
Wright on Time: Arizona (book 1)
Join the Wright family as they homeschool and RV around the United States in search of exciting and new learning experiences. In this easy chapter book, we are introduced to dad Harrison, mom Stephanie, and kids Aiden and Nadia, a family who loves learning and spending time with each other. Their first stop is Arizona, where they do some spelunking and digging for gems. Read more...
Learn to Study the Bible
Many families who homeschool for religious reasons include Bible study as part of their “core curriculum.” Some complete homeschool curricula include Bible study, but a lot of us prefer to do even our homeschool Bible study directly from the Bible itself. Read more...
Black Beauty
Growing up, even though we lived in the country, I was never a “horse person.” Many of the girls that I went to school with were horse fanatics and read every horse book there was (i.e., National Velvet, My Friend Flicka, etc.). I have read Marguerite Henry’s “Misty” books in the last few years, but had never read Black Beauty until now. It is truly a lovely book about a horse who is loved and then later mistreated. Read more...