Here’s a huge list of books for homeschool moms! These titles will help in your professional development as a home educator. You will find strategy books, books on educational philosophy, and just plain encouraging reads.
This compiled list of amazing books comes by recommendation of dozens of real-life homeschool moms just like you. I have not read them all, so some of these are making it onto my “must read” pile.
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I’ve updated this original list of 30 books to include 60 of my favorite titles! You can download a PDF of this complete list to add to your homeschool book list. Just sign up below.
Reading books related to homeschooling provides much-needed professional development for homeschool moms. Just the right book at just the right time can life your spirits, energize you, encourage your heart, and motivate you through the dry seasons of homeschooling.
Homeschool Styles & Philosophies
Learning about the different styles and philosophies of education will help you as you set your homeschooling path. Many families jump in with a traditional approach the first year, just because it’s what they know from being in school themselves.
But as you gain confidence in your homeschooling ability and freedom, you will start to try different strategies with your kids.
You may end up being a Classical homeschooler, or Charlotte Mason, or remain a textbook homeschooling family. Or, you may be like the majority of us and settle into an eclectic mix that fits your kids, yourself, your budget, and your season of homeschooling.
If you want to learn about the different approaches to homeschooling, these books for homeschool moms are some of the best places to start.
Better Late than Early by Raymond & Dorothy Moore
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise
Pocketful of Pinecones: A Nature Study With the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola
For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Learning at Home: A Mother’s Guide to Homeschooling by Marty Layne
How Children Learn by John Holt
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh Bortins
The Question: Teaching Your Child the Essentials of Classical Education by Leigh Bortins
Encouragement
Next, consider adding some titles that will give you some good old fashioned encouragement. Sometimes you don’t want to have practical solutions. You just need to know you’re not alone in this homeschool journey. You just need to know that you’re on the right track. That you’re not alone. That’s what these books will give you.
Don’t forget to grab the updated list of 60 books! I added a whole lot more in this category!
Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakeable Peace by Sarah Mackenzie
Educating the Wholehearted Child by Sally Clarkson
Hard Times In Paradise by David & Micki Colfax
Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Kim John Payne & Lisa M. Ross
Education
When you get a look at educational philosophy in general, you are more able to appreciate the opportunities you have with teaching your kids at home. Some of these titles will scare you to death. Some will validate what you knew all along.
The Educated Child: A Parent’s Guide from Preschool through Eighth Grade by William J. Bennett
Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It by Rudolf Flesch
Ten Ways To Destroy The Imagination of your Child by Anthony Esolen
The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto
Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto
Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories by E. D. Hirsch, Jr.
Subject or Curriculum Inspiration
This next section of books gives more detailed strategies related to specific subject matter (like reading) or curriculum design. Again – be sure to grab the full PDF list for additional titles.
The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
The Book Whisperer: Awakening then Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School by Rebecca Rupp
Honey For a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt
The Three R’s by Ruth Beechick
Homeschool Strategies
Finally, this last category will give you solutions to some of the challenges you face as a homeschool parent.
Check out these inspiring podcast interviews with homeschool authors on the Homeschool with Moxie podcast:
- Making Homeschool Life Easier (even if you hate homeschooling sometimes): An Honest Chat with Lea Ann Garfias, author of Everything You Need to Know About Homeschooling
- Homeschooling 8-12 Year-Olds: Conversation with Julie Polanco, author of God Schooling
- Be Wild + Free with Ainsley Arment, author of The Call of the Wild + Free
- Homeschool Challenges & Solutions: A Conversation with Nicki Truesdell, author of Anyone Can Homeschool
- What is Passion-Driven Education? An Interview with Connor Boyack, author of Passion-Driven Education
Go Fly a Kite: Ten Surprising Strategies for Success in Your Homeschool by Karen Costello
Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer
Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything by Laura Weldon
Home Grown Kids by Raymond & Dorothy Moore
The Unhurried Homeschooler by Durenda Wilson
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better by Gretchen Rubin
Printable List of Books for Homeschool Moms
This list is not exhaustive! What would you add? Please share in the comments below.
Make Your Summer Reading List – listen to episode 215
Ready to refuel, be encouraged, and learn new strategies as a homeschooling mom? Then use these all-time best homeschooling book recommendations to create your summer reading list. On episode 215 of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast, we’ll talk about best books for the new mom just starting out, books for the mom who needs to be encouraged, and books for the learning mom.
