A Newbie's review of "Mommy, Teach Me!"

Mommy, Teach Me! By Barbara Curtis
Back in the fall of 2008, this book planted a seed, it fostered an excitement about teaching my children and seeing their young minds blossom. I highly recommend this for the newbie. I think I'd consider myself an advanced newbie right now, just as far as book knowledge on homeschooling."Mommy, Teach Me!" is truly inspiring.

I thought I'd review a few of the books I've been studying on my journey to decide to homeschool. My approach to book reviews is going to be more about how the book effected me personally, not necessarily a comprehensive review.

This was the first homeschoolingish book I read. In the fall of 2008 I bought this book with the intention of learning how I could prepare my son for school (at that time I presumed it to be public school). I'm glad I was mistaken in its content. The subtitle is "Preparing Your Preschool Child for a Lifetime of Learning," but what it did for me was to prepare me and inform/convict me of my responsibility for my child's education. This was probably the first real step in the decision to homeschool. As I got into the book I started taking note of quotes that struck a cord with me. At this time in my life, self-doubt was taking a front-row seat when it came to homeschooling. Here are some of the gems I extracted from the text: 

“Confidence doesn’t mean we do the job perfectly but that we have faith and are willing to do it to the best of our ability.”

“God did not give us a spirit of fear, only the assurance that love is greater than our insecurities, that in him we find our strength.”

“Often when we pick up a new idea, it becomes a source of discouragement as we start to measure ourselves against an impossible standard.”

What I gathered from the book is that as a mom, I am my child's best teacher, whether I have a degree in Education or not. I've known my child since birth (obviously!). I taught him to talk, walk, and potty trained him, just to name a few. The teaching instinct is in us as humans and as mothers especially. No one can love my child and care for his well-being more than me. I know my child's learning style because I spend time with him and observe him, for so many hours a day. In the public/private school system, by the time the teacher can get a glimpse of how my child ticks, he's off to the next grade to start over with another teacher. I love her quote, "Since every child has the potential to learn, every parent has the potential to teach." This really sums up Barbara's viewpoint in "Mommy, Teach Me!"

Looking back, this is really one of the best starter books for introducing the idea of homeschooling to first-timers. It laid out the basics of the positive effects homeschooling can have on your child. It very much focuses on the positives, verses some books that just use their pages to bash the public school system. Although criticism is necessary to any system trying to better itself, it has its place and it's not in this book.