I first scanned through this book back in October and came across it again today while I was looking for something else, so I scanned through it again. The subtitle of the book is More than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond. It sounded really good. I have to give it a middle of the road review though. First, I will cover the good, then I'll cover the bad & ugly.
The Good
This book is inspiring. It is full of ideas for topics to cover, gives information on developing curriculum and a typical scope and sequence. It has a broad scope of subject area information, including information on the humanities, 3 r's, history & science. The sidebars include some real life home school stories and interesting quotes about education. The topics presented gave me some good ideas for internet search parameters.
The Bad
This book did not deliver on it's promise of including information beyond the internet. There is minimal information provided on field trips, libraries/inter-library loans, city/county community resources, church resources, etc.
The Ugly
Most of the book consists of dead website links. I was very disappointed in this, although looking at the copyright date (2000), I should have expected it. The author makes a promise on the back cover that they will have a website with updated links, but the website is not updated. There is a link to a blog on the website, but it has not been updated since 2001.
Recommendation
Honestly, this book is so out-of-date that I am surprised this book is still available for sale. I recommend that if you are interested in exploring this book, that you get it from your local library. If your local library doesn't have it, request it through Inter-Library Loans. Our local library has it, and I am sure they will be glad to send it to your library!
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