Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Martine Millman, Gregory Millman

From the Publisher

This intimate, eminently practical memoir of a successful homeschooled family of six children illuminates today's most exciting choice in education, and shows how it works from cradle to college.

What is it that homeschoolers do that the public schools can't or won't? There are at least as many answers as there are studies. But nothing can capture the homeschooling experience in all its richness like the story of a real family that homeschools its children in middleclass America.

Homeschooling: A Family's Journey is the perfect book for those millions of Americans who may know someone who homeschools, who may have read about it, thought about it, and wondered whether homeschooling is right for them. Sharing the concerns of committed parents everywhere, authors Gregory and Martine Millman are consistently practical, informed, caring, and no-nonsense in their approach. They pay special attention to homeschooling and college, the economics of home-learning, and how a parent can really handle a child's full education.

Homeschooling opens a window on an exciting, important way of education—and, even more, a way of life—that can make all the difference in your family's world.

Publishers Weekly

The parents of six children home-schooled in Plainfield, N.J., the Millmans offer a positive, encouraging overview of their own efforts and of the nationwide movement, though with scant hands-on specifics. Living on one moderate income in a blighted town with "terrible" public schools in the early 1990s, the Millmans started their eldest children in the local Catholic school, but were put off by the rigidity of the teaching methods. The only "luxury" they could afford was a full-time mom. Fueled by a distaste for public school education and a healthy mistrust for institutions in general, they gradually began to inform themselves about what home-schooling entailed: gathering curriculum and materials, then tailoring a program for each child. The authors put great store by "serendipity and randomness," that is, letting life provide the "teachable moment" instead of adhering to strict schedules and plans, and they emphasized free reading, learning languages such as Chinese, music and travel rather than writing and textbook use. However, their insistence on "freedom and spontaneity" poses the question: how was the day structured, accommodating the needs of six children of different ages, and by one overtaxed mother? Still, the Millmans produce impressive rates of home-schooling success, and have three kids so far in college. Their cheerleading approach, while sometimes defensive, is accessible and resource-rich. (Aug.)

Erica L. Foley - Library Journal

The Millmans, financial journalists and homeschooling parents to six children, share their story and their ideas in this education memoir. They begin by describing their experiences with traditional schools and their reasons for opting for homeschooling. Then they detail their evolving theories of family, education, and learning from the past two decades. This philosophical journey will be especially interesting to readers with little exposure to homeschooling, as it explores the myriad styles, groups, and structures of homeschoolers-and shows that such a self-organized and unregulated world can offer success to students. Homeschooling families will appreciate the chapter about college admissions, which includes tips from admissions officers about perceptions of homeschoolers within admissions offices and college faculties. The Millmans also offer their own extensive admissions advice, based on their experiences of sending their three daughters to college. Some readers may take offense at parts of this work, e.g., the strong opposition to traditional schools and the attempts to debunk stereotypes by devaluing the religious doctrines and rigid structures that some homeschooling families consider essential. Recommended for larger public libraries.

What People Are Saying

Helen Hegener
Every so often a book comes along that raises the bar on a certain subgenre of homeschooling literature. . . . This one is the best and most thoughtful of the lot. (Helen Hegener, publisher of Home Education Magazine)

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents