Review of The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell

"We are just starting out," the young woman informed me with shining eyes. I thought that she was a high school homeschooler with her fresh smile and "girl-next-door" looks.

I smiled to myself as I remembered those days. Was I ever a young mom who didn't need to reach for her reading glasses to check a writing paper or look at the numbers to explain a math problem? How wonderful those early years were when we enjoyed making volcanoes of paper mache and going to the zoo for a field trip.

"I need all the wisdom I can get," my new young friend interrupted my thoughts.

"Well, have I got a book for you!"

Though I have read many books on homeschooling over the past twenty years, this was my first time reading The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell (sent to me by Apologia Press to review).

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell is an honest look at educating children at home from a mom whose run the race with joy and success! Debra is honest and insightful. She doesn't sugarcoat homeschooling. Debra and her husband, Kermit, have four children who are all homeschool grads. Saved in college, Debra never envisioned herself teaching her children at home. However, she saw good fruit in the lives of home educated children in her church. This led her to pursue homeschooling for her own family.

Debra homeschooled her children and built friendships with other homeschooling families. She mentions the support group, co-op, and home educator friends in her book over and over. As she speaks about her family, you can tell that she values relationships. Her life, and the lives of her children, have been changed in these relationships.

Topics and Suggestions
Here are some topics that Debra covers in her guide to homeschooling. She covers each of these realistically, practically, and honestly.

• Advantages of homeschooling
• Ingredients of a successful homeschool
• Relationships
• Learning Styles
• Husband's role in homeschooling
• Choosing curriculum
• Home management
• Scheduling
• Can I homeschool my kids?
• Testing
• Support Groups
• Setting up a learning environment
• Preventing burnout
• Lesson planning
• Computers

There is a constant reminder to make education relevant to real life. Acquire computer skills by blogging. Start a family business to understand more about economics and business. Learn about government and politics by participating in an election campaign.

 She also has many suggestions to avoid burnout such as the following:

• Raise your children to be independent learners.
• Teach your children to be responsible and work around the house.
• Go on some fantastic, fun field trips.
• Plug into a support group or co-op.

Chapter Highlights
Mrs. Bell's most important chapter may be Motivating the Reluctant Learner. In this chapter, she gives ten strategies for motivating children who would rather play, sleep, or eat than learn. Like the rest of her book, this section is filled with ideas that work.

There's another chapter on learning styles. Unlike most other reading I have done on that topic, this looked at learning from a personality profile perspective. She gave practical examples from her family that made the learning styles clear and easy-to-understand.

Insights
The following is a favorite Debra Bell quote that is honest and insightful:

"If you choose to homeschool, forget about being in House Beautiful. Creating a learning environment that invites invention, inquiry, and discovery is pretty much incompatible with clutter control. Most of the homeschooling houses I frequent have books, art projects, science, apparatus, insect collections, etc. sharing space with all available seating. Good conversation is easily had, but standing-room-only is the standard," (The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling, p. 154)

Many homeschooling moms need to read this paragraph (and the entire chapter too) because we try to maintain a perfect house and create a nurturing environment at the same time. Not that it is impossible, but it is just improbable. In the long run, I would agree with Debra that books, maps, art supplies, musical instruments, freedom to create, and supplies to experiment with will be more important to our child's well-being.

In my own home, I cannot seem to get rid of paper piles. No matter how many shelves I buy, there are never enough to house all the books we own. Our home is never ready to grace the covers of a magazine, but it is clean and filled with things to stimulate learning. I think Debra would approve.

The overall tone of the book is light-hearted and joyful, but don't let that fool you. Inside the book's front and back covers are wisdom from a homeschooling mom who's been there and done that. Her advice is worth its weight in gold.

You can order this book from our old friends at Apologia Press. For a review of their science textbooks, see Apologia Zoology, General Science, and Biology Review. You can purchase The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling for $20.00 on Apologia's website. You can also read a sample chapter and see the table of contents.

Reading this book was not only a time of equipping for me, it was like having tea with a kindred spirit who loves homeschooling too! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and "meeting" Debra. If you are looking for a book to inspire you and give you a dose of reality at the same time, this one is for you!