Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling

by Diana Waring

Teaching your children at home is much more than giving lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic; it is a journey toward a lifetime of learning that will expand your horizons as well as theirs. In order to help you on your way, Diana Waring offers this transparent description of her family's own homeschooling experience. Whether you are contemplating homeschooling or are a seasoned veteran, this insightful guide can help you build a healthy environment that fosters enthusiastic learning. Diana includes a list of recommended resources that will allow you to dig more deeply into what you find interesting. With warm encouragement and inspiration, Diana gives you the courage that you, too, can do this!

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Parenting, Family, Christian

218 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

Reviews

[Liz]

I picked up this book to see what others are saying about homeschooling. This was very down-to-earth and offered a lot of great advice and some resources. It is written from a Christian perspective, but I think that many of her ideals are universal. It seems most appropriate for the over-6 crowd.

[Marissa Genta Pineda]

This is a great book for new homeschooling families. I wish I'd discovered this book when I first started. Lots of info, insights, and recommended reading suggestions. Humorous, too.

[Hester]

Fairly outdated and not a similar family to ours, but still lots of gems of ideas.

[Tabitha C]

Although it was published in 96, it is still relevant today! I especially liked the chapter on learning styles/personalities, and the tv. I devoured this in a day (because I couldn’t put it down!)

[Kelly]

Loved hearing from a seasoned homeschool mom.

[Anna Timmer]

Lots of good points and hints but a bit out dated.

[Hthr]

This was yet another book about homeschooling that I borrowed from the library, and after reading it I'm glad I didn't purchase it. While I found this book to be informative and down-to-earth, it was written from a Christian perspective. As such the author has woven her own beliefs into this book's pages; as a secular homeschooler that was a bit off-putting at times. I found myself skipping sentences, paragraphs, and even an entire chapter because those particular passages didn't apply to me.

Religious ideals notwithstanding, this book was filled with the author's experiences with homeschooling multiple children with an honest and conversational tone. To be honest, there were times that I wish her writing style were more straightforward and less chatty (Chapter 6, Learning Styles in particular), but if I could sum up this book with one word it would be: approachable. She offers many resources and books to her readers based on her own curriculm design as well as those used by others (at least at the time of publication in 1996).

Diana Warning has given us anecdotes of her own homeschooling journey with her three children, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. She's honest about the fact that her teaching style is not to plan our lessons months or years in advance, but rather to go with a more relaxed approach, and how she - at times - felt overwhelmed when meeting homeschooling families who rose daily at 5:30am, worshiped, breakfasted, and began school by 7am sharp each day. That she was able to convey to her readers that a family's particular style matters less than the fact that they're making it work for themselves endeared her to me, as this is one of my greatest fears in becoming a homeschooler.

In all, I'm glad I found this book at the library, even though I won't be adding it to our family's permanent collection.

[Andrea Jardon]

I thought this was a great find at my library : ) It is a book filled with every aspect of homeschooling (logistics, curriculum, going with the flow, relationships among children and spouse, etc.). It's a great beginner book to get thinking about what homeschooling looks like as a whole... beyond just the academics of it. She has a lot of great further recommended reading which I'm always a fan of. I would say it's a good summary book and then pick your further reading for more in depth knowledge of the areas of interest for you. I definitely recommend it!

[Havebooks Willread]

I liked this book very much--I love Diana Waring. I like to read and re-read a few homeschooling books at the end of the summer, and this was a good one to pick back up. It's a little dated, an oldie but goodie. It's a very good overview of homeschooling with tips for both veteran and new homeschooler all the way from the importance of the atmosphere for learning to a nice summary of learning styles and modalities

[Zachariah Kenney]

Good book. A taste of a Christian homeschool, with many recommendations and tips. I discuss it in more detail on my blog:
https://seminary2016.wordpress.com/20...

[Dana]

so far, so good.

[Craigandbarbara]

Wonderful book for anyone starting out home schooling.

[Helena]

Not bad, but not for me. Letting this one go back to the library unfinished.

[Jessica]

This is the book I read after I have read too many classical education books! Diana reminds me to have some fun with learning and not take myself so seriously. We all need that!