Homeschooling Take A Deep Breath- You Can Do This! is an honest, thorough introduction to homeschooling for ordinary people like you and me. Chapter 1 is entitled "Homeschooling and the Supermom Syndrome" so right away you get the message that this is not going to be one of those books which tells you how to do it all and do it with gusto! The first sentence highlights the author's synonym for homeschooling as "family schooling." Further down the page Mrs. Bittner states that while homeschooling is wonderful it isn't necessarily for everyone. The purpose of this book is to realistically portray homeschooling advantages and disadvantages, to aide each family in making the right choice for their situation. It has not been written to convince any family to homeschool or to positively persuade those in your family who may be opposed to homeschooling.

The book does a great job of answering most of the questions that a new homeschooler may have. Many of the chapters will also be of interest to seasoned homeschool parents. Chapters such as Recording Weird Things in Respectable Ways, Homeschooling Part-Time (attending classes at a public or private school while homeschooling), Building a Lesson Plan, Turning a Lesson Plan into a Unit Study, and Homeschooling until Graduation are a few of the readings that may be of interest to those who are already homeschooling and need some fresh insights. The last 4 chapters, Stupid Questions and How to answer Them (These are the questions that none homeschooling parents ask you.), The Bad Stuff No One Tells You, The Good Stuff Most People Won't Tell You, and How Homeschooling Will Strengthen Your Family were my absolute favorites parts of this book. I would pay the purchase price of $14.95 just for them.

This is a good book to give someone who is considering homeschooling as an educational option for their family. They will get the impression that they are sitting there talking with a real person like themselves not someone who is an educational genius trying to promote their educational or theological philosophy. The book received the honor of being the number one homeschooling book in advance sales at Barnes and Noble with favorable reviews in "Publishers Weekly" and "Booklist."

The only problem is that there are so many "how to homeschool" books out there. While it does mention the Unit Study and Curriculum Packages as methods of homeschooling, it doesn't really specify or highlight any of the other viable and popular methods such as Classical, Charlotte Mason, Umbrella Schools, or Unschooling. If someone wants more information on those topics they would need to purchase additional books.

All in all, Homeschooling Take A Deep Breath- You Can Do This! is a sensible portrayal of homeschooling for those seeking additional information on the topic. Terrie Bitner also maintains a homeschooling website at www.terriebitner.com.