In the short time that I’ve been interested in homeschooling, I’ve seen things begin to expand: I’m seeing more secular homeschoolers and I’m seeing more homeschoolers of color, especially on social media. The demographics of homeschooling are changing (this article is from 2019, and I think COVID has changed and will change things even more) and I think social media and the available resources are starting to reflect that—although it is still an overwhelmingly white and religious landscape. I’ve found that as time has gone on with homeschooling, my approach has changed. I started off with a more scripted, organized curriculum, but now I lean toward Montessori approaches and philosophies, and incorporate more unit studies and go with the flow. I’ve ditched the boxed curricula and put together what works for us—and I think my reading has reflected more of an ease with things and exploration of theories and approaches. By nature, I am a person who reads everything I can about a topic, so I’ll probably continue to read about homeschooling or education for as long as my child is of school age. But I think as my own journey has evolved, so has my reading about it, although there are the favorites that endure. I’ve written about the books I was reading about education here and about homeschooling here, and a fellow Rioter has written about open-access textbooks here, if you’re looking for more to read or books for your own homeschooling research or experience. Below are some of the books guiding my homeschool journey right now, almost a year into this experience. Homeschooling and parenting are inextricable, so there are also some parenting books in the list, as well. For more on parenting during a pandemic, here’s a list of books to help you through it.
