As Wikipedia states, bibliophilia as the love of books and a bibliophile is a lover of books. The classic bibliophile, is one who loves to read, admire, and collect books, often nurturing a large and specialized collection. As an example of a bibliophile, Samuel Pepys, at his death, had more than 3,000 volumes. They form one of the most important surviving 17th century private libraries.

Almost every single homeschooler I’ve come across has been a bibliophile, either needing to have and keep their own library of books, or at the very least, collecting an extensive library of the classics. I am definitely in the bibliophile camp!

I want to address must-have books for those homeschooling. As the old email adage goes, your mileage may vary, so take what sparks your interest, perhaps research those tomes that you’ve not seen before, and then make your own must-have list. I’ve had to break this list into two weeks since it’s so long. So be sure to come back next week to finish this list!

My focus on today’s list will be good-basic-how-to homeschool books.

First off, I have to mention two wonderful authors:  Ruth Beechick and Mary Hood. I can almost guarantee you that anything by either author will be a good read and most helpful in your homeschooling journey.

Starting my list would be 401 Ways to Get Your Children to Work at Home, by Bonnie Runyan McCullough & Susan Walker Monson (ISBN: 0-312-30147-2). This book has extremely helpful lists, especially if you have only one child! They are life skills that a child needs to have by the time they are 18. The lists have the chore listed, then says at what age one could start work on this chore and what age one should have it mastered. It’s helpful for those HOO because, at least in my own case, I didn’t have a clue that I could have allowed my 6 year old to use a table knife to make his own peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I started him at 9 only due to a friend making a comment. With one, we don’t always know when they are capable of working on something. These lists include Personal & Clothing Care; Household, Cooking, Money, Navigation & Auto Skills, as well as a category for Other Skills (such as how to swim, making an emergency call, first-aid procedures, plan a pantry, hang something on the wall, repair wall holes, and arrange for services needed, trash or extermination, etc.) A great handy book for every family!

A Survivor's Guide to Home Schooling by Luanne Shackelford and Susan White (ISBN: 0891075038) This book has humor infused within its pages and is practical as well as informative. A great book for those beginning this journey, but also a good one to help the veteran overcome any doldrums.

How to Home School by Gayle Graham (ISBN: 1880892405) — this book was the best book I found for the actual nuts and bolts of teaching at home when I first began. It is also filled with my own notes. Mrs. Graham’s writing style is easy to read and follow. She has many children and so I did have to adapt it, leaving some suggestions for those who have more children, but it was a wonderful resource!

Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring (ISBN: 1883002370) is a great study. Helpful and engaging to get beyond day-to-day homeschool survival.

The Relaxed Home School: A Family Production by Mary Hood (ISBN: 0963974009), as well as her The Joyful Homeschooler, The Enthusiastic Home Schooler, and anything else she’s written. She shows you don’t have to recreate school at home; mom is not “teacher” and dad is not the “principal.” Your home is a home and not a “school.” Your role of mom & dad are enough to encompass the teaching roles without you having to “change hats” as it were.

Teach Me Lord That I May Teach: What We Learned Homeschooling the Kids by Douglas and Barbara Smith (ISBN: 187814006X) This book is an excellent Bible study of Nehemiah for the homeschooling parent.

Both Teaching Children: A Curriculum Guide to What Children Need to Know at Each Level Through Sixth Grade by Diane Lopez (ISBN: 0891074899) and What Your Child Needs to Know When: According to the Bible/According to the State by Robin Scarlata Sampson (ISBN: 0970181612) are helpful books to help you get a feel for what the majority of children are learning at what grade level. Another great free resource is from the World Book Encyclopedia people, called A Typical Course of Study. You can receive this booklet, with no obligation to listen to a sales person, by looking in your local phone book under businesses, “World Book” — call a representative and ask for it by name. (You can also access it online through the link.) Another helpful book about what children are learning at what grade is What Your “Xth” Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch (6th grader: ISBN: 0385314671). This book is more detailed, although you might still need to find actual books from the library or to buy to cover the subjects a bit more in depth. But the What Your Grader series is a wonderful supplement for your normal curricula. I used 1st thru 6th Grade as an “on the shelf” resource ready for Mike to peruse on his own time. He loved reading the literature it provided as well as exploring the science and geography sections.

Next week, I’ll share more books that I think are must-haves for a helpful homeschool library.

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling this year. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One five years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2008 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.