By Tracey M. Armstrong, Ph.D.
Prior to the 1870s, homeschooling was the primary form of education for the majority of children in the United States. With the introduction of compulsory state education laws, however, receiving one’s education at home subsequently became the exception to the rule. A resurgence of homeschooling that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was largely attributed to the work of public education critics, John C. Holt (1964, 1967) and Raymond S. and Dorothy N. Moore (1975), continues to experience significant growth and has been identified as one of the fastest growing forms of education in the United States (The Economist 2012).
In the 1970s, approximately 10,000 to 15,000 children in the country were being homeschooled. Currently, scholars confirm that homeschool enrollment is one-fifth the size of private school enrollment in the United States (Belfield, 2004; Isenberg 2007), with more than 2 million students, or approximately 3.7% of American students, now receiving their education at home (Ray, 2011). Whereas just twenty years ago, the general public and policy makers were largely uninformed and unaware of this alternative form of education, the homeschool phenomenon can no longer be ignored.
Although the body of research on homeschooling is limited in comparison to other forms of education, this alternative approach has become a critical element in the portfolio of privatization initiatives in America, such as charter schools and vouchers, and merits recognition as one of the most robust forms of educational reform in the United States (Murphy, 2014).
This list of top 30 Homeschooling Blogs has been compiled for the purpose of serving as a valuable resource to individuals already engaged in providing a home-based education or for those individuals simply seeking more information about this fast-growing phenomenon.
Educational Philosophy Based Blogs
Charlotte Mason
1. Blog, She Wrote
Integrating primarily a Charlotte Mason approach, with a “sprinkling of unschooling”, Heather is homeschooling four children, (11th, 9th, 7th, and 4th grades) and shares an abundance of tips, unit studies, and curriculum resources and encourages her readers to do so as well.
Highlight: How to Start Homeschooling a Teenager
2. Our Journey Westward
Cindy, a busy homeschooling mom to three children, ages 6, 13, and 16, identifies most with the Charlotte Mason style of schooling. She explains that their school “relies heavily on short academic lessons, good literature, nature study, living math, handicrafts, life as learning, free time, and habit training”.
Highlight: Nature Study is a Good Fit for Gifted Kids
Classical
3. Memoria Press
Memoria Press is one of the leaders in Classical Education homeschool curriculum. Authors affiliated with Memoria Press, teachers, and homeschool parents all contribute to Memoria Press’s helpful blog, which focuses on finding the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in everyday life and learning.
Highlight: Why Read Literature
4. Lextin Academy
With five children under the age of 8, Lexi has chosen to follow a classical education approach in homeschooling. In addition to providing general homeschool information and reviews of curriculum, she outlines her children’s yearly goals, schedule, and curriculum.
Highlight: Books for Art Appreciation and Artist Study
Montessori
5. Living Montessori Now
Deb is a former Montessori teacher, who homeschooled both children and although both of whom have graduated, she continues to blog regularly about homeschooling, parenting, and Montessori activities, often offering free printables for a variety of activities.
Highlight: Montessori Monday – Montessori-Inspired Grammar Activities and Resources
6. The Kavanaugh Report
The Kavanaugh Report is the successful blog and podcast of Nicole Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh, a mother of three, shares her knowledge of Montessori parenting with other parents both homeschooling and not. New posts are published frequently, and cover everything from Montessori-aligned activities to what it means to “follow the child.”
Highlight: A Montessori Entryway
Unit Study
7. Ben and Me
Using a unit study education approach, Marcy blogs about the homeschooling adventures with her 13-year-old son, Ben, who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 9. Covering an abundance of learning activities, field trip excursions, curriculum reviews and product reviews, she crafts an intimate blog, chronicling the challenges associated with educating an ADHD child and her personal struggle living with Lupus, and highlights the benefits of integrating a unit study approach to learning.
Highlight: Delightful Planning: A Unit Study Planner for Every Homeschool
Eclectic
8. Heather Haupt
Heather blogs about her homeschooling experiences with her four children under age 9, their intentional learning, integrated living, and inspired learning, and openly admits that her approach to learning is a “bit out of the box”.
Highlight: The Challenge to Pursue Excellence
9. Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
Kris blogs about her unique and “weird” approach to homeschooling her three children. She describes her style as “classically eclectic with a Charlotte Mason twist” – eclectic in both resources and approach, which integrates the four-year cycle of a classical style tossed with some elements of Charlotte Mason.
Highlight: How to Make a Salt Dough Map
Waldorf
10. The Magic Onions
Donni, a mother of two children ages 6 and 10, has been writing about her family life, their crafting, their explorations with nature, and journey into Waldorf education since 2009.
Highlight: Raising Mindful Kids
11. My Sweet Homeschool
Having followed a Waldorf-inspired curriculum since 2010, Katie blogs about her experiences homeschooling her 5 children, ages 4-14, including twins with special needs.
Highlight: Homeschooling a Child With Special Needs: Part One – The Advantages
Academic/Age Level Blogs
PreK-K
12. Homeschool Creations
With four children being homeschooled, Jolanthe outlines the family’s curriculum choices for second, fourth, sixth and eighth grade, venturing into creating high school credits this year. Blogging since 2006 on two separate sites (No Ordinary Moments), she offers free access to worksheets, preschool printables, and much more, encouraging her readers to link up resources as well.
Highlight: Nature Fun with Preschool and Kindergarten Community
13. Fit Kids Clubhouse
A visually stimulating and engaging site on which Liz encourages her readers to pin and post links to their activities.
Highlight: Clubhouse “Thank you Station”
Elementary
14. Raising Lifelong Learners
Colleen, a mother who is homeschooling four young children, is an author of dozens of books for teachers, parents, and children and explains that most of her books and projects focus on igniting a passion for hands-on learning, experiments, science, nature, and creativity in kids – especially gifted kids.
Highlight: Pre-School Science: Studying Bats With Hide and Sonar-Seek
15. Confessions of a Homeschooler
Erica, a mother of four, offers a homeschooling blog full of ideas, resources, curriculum, recipes, projects, and digital scrapbooking supplies, most of which must be purchased. Blog posts are categorized by grade and subject.
Highlight: What’s In The Workbox Wednesday 3rd Grade?
Middle
16. Unschool Rules
As unschoolers and lifelong learners, the Otto family shares their untraditional approach in homeschooling their teenage children.
Highlight: Real World High School Math: Learning Algebra and Geometry From Life
17. Happy Homeschool Nest
Happy Homeschool Nest is the blog of Maddie, a homeschooling mom of three middle-grade kids. Maddie’s blog covers what works and doesn’t work for her family whilst homeschooling, plus a slew of great ideas and helpful resources.
Highlight: Homeschooling for Beginners – 5 Tips to Get You Started
18. Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus
As indicated in the name of her blog, Tina has a dynamic approach to her blogging, sharing a multitude of lapbooking, planners, and even a new homeschooler boot camp resource, all targeted at middle and high school. As of September 2014, Tina and her family relocated to South America from Texas and has added her Homeschooling Overseas blog to her site.
Highlight: Daniel Boone – North American Explorer
19. Education Possible
After years of homeschooling their children, Susan and Megan teamed up together, recognizing a void in resources targeted at the home education of older children. With a goal to inspire other families to discover the world through travel and technology, to create hands-on educational activities, and learn together with the help of unique resources, they created the site to share their experiences and knowledge.
Highlight: This Online Writing Class Quickly Improved My Teen’s Confidence
High School
20. The HomeScholar
After homeschooling her children through to college, Lee continues to offer support to homeschoolers through conversational and supportive blog posts targeted more at high school and college preparation and admission. Read about tips on how to get high school credit for extracurricular activities, choosing the right college, and perfecting the art of crafting a winning college entrance essay.
Highlight: Avoid This Fatal Flaw When Teaching High School English
Subject Specific Blogs
Art & Music
21. Art Projects for Kids – My Daily Blog
A beautiful, visual art project site that features a daily blog, how to draw and watercolor art projects, and various high quality pdf items for purchase. Targeted audience is primarily younger children. Blogs are categorized by grade, artist, media, and theme.
Highlight: How to Draw a Kitten
22. Harmony Fine Arts At Home
Although her children have graduated from homeschool, Harmony Art Mom continues to assist other homeschoolers in their quest to provide art and music appreciation curriculum for their children. Visitors to the site can browse her archived blogs and recent updates, as well as peruse free downloads and/or purchase curriculum units and other resources.
Highlight: Harmony Fine Arts for Preschoolers
Language & Literature
23. Language Learning at Home
Language Learning at Home is the blog of Anne, a mother who is homeschooling her three sons bilingually. Anne’s blog seeks to assist other homeschooling parents with inspiration and resources for teaching a foreign language from home.
Highlight: Our Bilingual (Spanish/English) Homeschool Curriculum for 2020/2021
24. Hope is the Word
A former librarian and teacher, Amy now home educates her four children. On her blog, she reviews books and reflects on home schooling, parenting, and “living a bookish life”. On the fourth Thursday of each month, this site is the home of Read Aloud Thursday, which is a monthly meme in which bloggers share their families’ read-alouds of the month.
Highlight: Read Aloud Thursday
25. This Reading Mama
Using a developmental approach to reading, Becky, a former classroom teacher with an M.Ed. in Elementary Education, created a blog that is dedicated to providing resources, printables, and activities to encourage young readers and writers to develop their skills.
Highlight: Teaching Kids How to Read
Social Studies
26. Teacups in the Garden
With an invitation to join the author in her garden of life, this blog takes readers on an exploration into history, their homeschooling journey, trips to fascinating places, and their latest projects in quilting, sewing and historical costume design.
Highlight: How Do I Plan “Becoming History” Presentations?
Science & Mathematics
27. The Homeschool Scientist
Penned by Marci, this site is designed to eliminate the fear of and incorporate the fun into homeschool science. She shares a variety of resources and tips that have worked with her children.
Highlight: Lab Report – Oxidation And Reduction Experiment
28. Eva Varga
Eva’s mission “is to provide teachers with the tools and inspiration to engage their students in meaningful, hands-on science and service learning experiences through tangible curriculum, shared resources, and real-world contexts”.
Highlight: Needs, Wants, & Finances – Studying Economics with Boundary Stone
Technology & Engineering
29. Homegrown Learners
In addition to blogging about Music and offering a music appreciation curriculum, Mary is an official LEGO Education blogger and posts about their homeschooling math and engineering adventures using LEGO Learning.
Highlight: Lego Learning with Simple & Motorized Mechanisms
30. The Wired Homeschool
Although not a formal blog from a homeschooler, John Wilkerson does provide practical advice for homeschooling parents who use technology as part of their homeschool curriculum. Capitalizing on his professional experience in the computer industry and 16 years of homeschooling 7 children, he delivers instructional articles and podcasts to demonstrate how parents can use technology to teach their children at home.
Highlight: Homeschooling After a Pandemic
Sources
- Belfield, C. 2004. Home-schooling in the US (Occasional Paper No. 88). New York, NY: National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
- Holt, J. C. (1964). How children fail. New York: Pitman Publishing.
- Holt, J. C. (1967). How children learn. New York: Pitman Publishing.
- Isenberg, E. (2007). What have we learned about homeschooling? Peabody Journal of Education 82(2):387409
- Moore, R. S., & Moore, D. N. (1975). Better late than early: A new approach to your child’s education. New York Reader’s Digest Press.
- Murphy, J. (2014) The social and educational outcomes of homeschooling. Sociological Spectrum, 34(3), 244-272.
- Ray, B. (2011). Research facts on homeschooling. Salem, OR: National Home Education Research Institute.
- The Economist. (December 22, 2012). Keep it in the family.
Additional Links:
20 Ways Homeschoolers See the World Differently
