The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Ages 3-12

by Linda Dobson

Fun and Effective Home Learning Activities for Every Subject
As a homeschooling parent, you're always looking for new and creative ways to teach your child the basics. Look no longer! Inside this innovative helper, you'll find kid-tested and parent-approved techniques for learning math, science, writing, history, manners, and more that you can easily adapt to your family's homeschooling needs. And even if you don't homeschool, you'll find this book a great teaching tool outside the classroom. You'll discover fun and educational activities for kids ages 3 to 12, including how
·Create maps based on favorite stories, such as Treasure Island or The Wizard of Oz
·Make letters out of French fries as an alphabet learning aid
·Explore architecture by building igloos, castles, and bridges with sugar cubes and icing
·Review spelling words by writing them on the sidewalk with chalk
·And many more!
This comprehensive collection of tried-and-true—and generally inexpensive—ideas provides the best-of-the-best homeschooling activities that can be done anywhere, anytime, and by anyone.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Parenting, Reference, Crafts

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 26, 2002

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book from Amazon.com after reading many good reviews about it and its contents. After reading I'm left with these two main thoughts: as an editor, Linda Dobson has done a great job collecting and compiling many, many ideas, projects, and games from homeschooling parents across the Western hemisphere. As a writer, I wasn't as impressed with what she had to say.

To be upfront about this, however, I should say that after doing much research about different homeschooling methods and philosophies I am identifying myself with those using a classical curriculum, which by nature is structured and parent-led. Dobson is firm in her belief that children should be educated rather than schooled, and that the home-education process should focus on the child's desires to learn and explore, rather than having parents determine what to study at any given time or any given order. I don't know that she calls herself an "unschooler" but her own beliefs are far enough of a departure from that of a classical homeschooler to have me disagree with some of her statements.

Differing philosophies aside, this book is a wealth of information of supplementary activities for parents - homeschoolers or otherwise - to do with their children ages 3-12 to help augment the learning process. She has done a wonderful job organizing the information into chapters based on the subject being worked on (i.e. math, letter recognition, spelling, reading, science, history, physical activities). Although the book is aimed toward a homeschooling audience I found that many of the activities listed could easily be incorporated into everyday family life, in a way that the kids aren't even aware that they're practicing academic skills.

This isn't really a read cover-to-cover book, though I did do so when it first arrived just so I could become familiar with its contents. Rather, it is simple to find the chapter for which you'd like to find an activity, and put it to work. I can see myself referring to this book for many years to come, whether I homsechool my kids for just one year or their entire pre-college academic careers.

[Joanna Nieves Bosque · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
Plenty ideas, some dated, but easily altered, some didn't age well (questionable activities with Thanksgiving theme and games with children dressed as Indians, being stereotypical). I skimmed the talking-you-into-homeschooling part, since my decision was pandemic based, but still got plenty out of the book.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book simply for the homeschooling ideas, not knowing it was a book about homeschooling with a bunch of ideas included. I’VE never heard of the author before, but I loved her approach to homeschooling. She defines and elaborates on what she calls “school mind” vs “education mind”. This book is very “unschool-y”.

[Ruth Benziger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some of these ideas very useful and I like the way the book was outlined. This was another really helpful book in starting my homeschooling journey. I learned a lot and know I can apply a lot of these to my homeschool.

[Nour Walid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read it 15 years ago and I still recommend it for parents. It is easy to read and was very helpful as it explained to me the spirit of homeschooling which was new to me. I implemented many of the suggestions which proved to be good

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed; reference

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many suggestions and resources are outdated. The book is 18 years old, so I do get that, but this really wouldn't help anyone now.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

i know home ed is about not following curriculum for most but this book is the BOMB!! has sooooo many ideas for each area of education. I plan on buying a copy

[What Angie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this before, just wanted a quick update.

Lots of good ideas for our homeschooled kiddo.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. It's older but still has many good ideas scattered throughout for new-to-homeschool families.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wide spectrum of learning activities. Lots don't seem worth the trouble but I will be using a few.

[Heidi J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic collection of ideas that you can use to inspire learning in your home-- whether or not you are officially homeschooling. I liked how there were activities for a variety of ages, attention spans and interests. The information about the benefits of homeschooling was a nice introduction as well. (Yes, she may sound a bit preachy if you are not a homeschooler. I wasn't bothered by it though. I found the information very useful, since I am doing what I can to help my children get the best education possible, even though I am not homeschooling.)

My only complaint is that some things are already getting a bit dated (cassette players?); it only shows you how much changes in a short time. Many of these ideas (or similar ones) can probably be found on the internet, but I like the convenience of having them all in a book at my fingertips.

[DixieJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember, three stars means I like it, it's just not super wonderful. I use this book as a spark to get me out of ruts when I am teaching. I forget sometimes that the kids feel that too - doing the same thing over and over. This books helps me think out of the box with history, science and other topics that I let become dull. I rarely do exactly what the book suggest, but I do use it for ideas. I like it, I just don't want to rate it higher and have you pick it up and say "this is it?"
I think it would be a good summer school, keep their minds going, not too over-whleming, kind of book for most families.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more like a two and a half. It is a compilation of ideas from homeschooling moms, divided into various sections, including math, reading/writing, science, geography, and art. While there are some great ideas in here, it would be better suited to a website or blog . . . in fact, these are exactly the types of ideas I find on blogs these days. I appreciate the fact that Dobson has collected these various ideas and compiled them in one book, however, there just isn't enough truly original stuff to warrant purchasing the book. I'll just have to remember the best ideas.

[Emily Mellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got a lot of great ideas from this book; one that we use every day now is writing a list of activities for the next day, each evening, which Loki can peruse, add things to, and cross off as we do each item. I put lots of fun things on the list, as well as things we need to do.
Of all the homeschooling activities books out there, I feel like this is the most comprehensive and/or unschooling friendly. I like that it is a compilation of ideas by families.

[Elspeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of good ideas in it. It was fun to browse through and is great for anyone needing some some inspiration or a boost of creativity. The ideas were good, inexpensive and easy to implement. The book truely is ages 3-12 as we're on the younger end of things I was glad to see plenty of ideas for us.

[Kristina Seleshanko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from my library, but I will have to purchase a copy. So many terrific, creative ideas for teaching every subject to nearly any age child, from preschool to high school. The author also does a great job of explaining why homeschooling, with it's "thinking outside the box" and "follow the child" methods tends to work better than institutionalized schooling.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because it has very creative ideas on how to teach your children math, reading, writing, etc...
At first I checked this book out at the library, and decided to buy it because I will find it very helpful when the creative side of my brain is fried, and my son cannot stand to do one more worksheet.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters of this book have a very strong "anti-school" tone, which turned me off. Not every family can or wants to homeschool their children, and I don't think we need to make people feel bad for that choice. I think there are lots of great ideas included, which is why it got three stars instead of two.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had found this book when my kids were still in elementary school!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book of ideas.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Read" is a gross overstatememt, I merely skimmed this book. I found lots of ideas for homeschooling activities, but even more things I would not do or try. Fairly ho-hum and not very organized.

[Megan]

Something just to keep in the back of my mind for the future as fun ideas to teach with, not even necessarily homeschooling. Looks interesting.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for all parents, not just homeschoolers.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really great resource for adding fun and excitement to homeschool days. It covers all the basic subjects, and it's a great way to keep things interesting.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so cool. Really like the ideas in here--playing war, for example, where each player puts down 2 cards and the youngest player has to add up each players cards to see who has the highest.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book that desperately needs an updated edition.

[Milka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book full of a variety of activities for homeschooling, sorting by academic area. Maybe not the best organized book on the subject, but still a good resource to browse through for ideas.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very judgemental about school and parents who choose school.. But includes lots of activities that probably will be helpful later down the track.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some interesting information and useful ideas