It’s that time of year when the world falls in love with learning! School is back in session, in both classrooms and in homeschools. Homeschool is much more than school in your home. Anyone can homeschool; even families whose children learn in a traditional school setting can add elements of homeschooling ideals and practices to their everyday lives. Below are a few of the hundreds of resources the Orem Public Library has available to help you begin or further your education-at-home adventures.
In the Beginning: How to Start Your Family’s Homeschool Experience
So, you’ve decided to homeschool but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry; the following books offer step-by-step practical guides that will help you get started and continue your homeschooling journey.
Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started
By Erica Arndt
Adult Nonfiction
A must read for new homeschoolers who need tangible advice for getting started.
The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life
By Julie Bogart
Adult Nonfiction
A joyful and accessible approach to homeschool that harnesses children’s natural curiosity and makes learning a part of everyday life, whether they’re in elementary or high school.
Happy At Homeschool: Your Custom Blueprint for Simplicity and Success
By McKenna Gordon
Adult Nonfiction
A guided workbook to squash your fears, maximize learning, and minimize stress. Happy at Homeschool will lead you on a thoughtful journey to create a homeschool plan perfectly fitted to the unique culture of your family.
Beyond the Basics: Character, Socialization, Gifted, and Special Education in the Home
Once you’ve set up your school processes and plans, these books help deepen and widen your educational skills.
Caring Counts
By Marie Bender
Junior Nonfiction
This series of books identifies key character traits and discusses their importance and ways in which they can be practiced at home, in school, with friends, and in the community.
The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits Of Homeschooling
By Rachel Gathercole
Adult Nonfiction
The author reminds us that “once upon a time, all children were homeschooled.” This book teaches how socialization needn’t be an overlooked aspect of homeschooling. It uses research-based evidence and practical suggestions to help the reader create a homeschooling experience that offers students a rich, fulfilling, and healthy social life.
Project-Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-Directed Learners
By Lori McWilliam Pickert
Adult Nonfiction
Project-based homeschooling combines children’s interests with long-term, deep, complex learning; spending time working on something that matters to them, with the support of a dedicated mentor. This book is an introduction and guide to creating the circumstances under which children can teach themselves. Project-Based Homeschooling shares techniques for mentoring independent, confident thinkers and learners.
Homeschooling the Child with ADD (Or Other Special Needs): Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the Child with Learning Differences
By Lenore Colacion LoHayes
Adult Nonfiction
More and more parents are realizing that homeschooling is a great option for children with ADD, ADHD, and other special needs. Homeschooling parents can tailor the learning experience to precisely fit their child’s unique requirements, a critical necessity in the development of special-needs children. This timely book shines a spotlight on the challenges and joys of homeschooling special-needs children.
Work and School: Merging Your Child’s Homeschool with Your Employment
These resources help you manage the realities of balancing homeschooling with other responsibilities.
How to Work and Homeschool: Practical Advice, Tips and Strategies from Parents
By Pamela Price
Adult Nonfiction
Do you want to homeschool, but you also work outside the home? This book is filled with real-world examples and tried-and-tested approaches to developing a game plan for incorporating work, homeschool, family obligations, and more into your busy life. Working and homeschool can be done, and done well!
Homeschool Hacks: How to Give Your Kid a Great Education without Losing Your Job (or Your Mind)
By Linsey Knerl
Adult Nonfiction
The author of this book is a working mother of six who has homeschooled her own children for years. She shows how any family can do it, with customized plans for every schedule, lifestyle, and educational goal.
More Resources
Don’t forget about the great resources beyond the books on the shelves at OPL.
- The media center offers informational DVDs and Blu-ray discs on just about any subject, for just about any age. It also has audio books and entertainment discs.
- The Makerspace is a great place to shape your imagined projects into reality.
- Storytime for young children and daytime performances for older kids are held almost every weekday in the Storytelling Wing.
- There is an art gallery comprised of over 170 pieces, heralded as “one of the best ‘little’ collections in the state of Utah.”
- The Parent Education Resource Center (PERC) in the basement of the library is a learning library of its own, offering toys, games, and enrichment for children and parents alike.
- There are frequent musical, dance, storytelling, and theatrical performances in the Library Hall auditorium.
- Thousands of options are available digitally through OPL’s online databases. This list is a great starting place for online homeschooling resources.
It’s easy to succeed at home education with the OPL at your fingertips. Happy learning!
