Dear Friends,
Ladies and gentlemen, it is happening!
“What is happening?” You may well ask, to which I say: Didn’t you pay attention to the title this post?
Yes, my book, tentatively entitled Skipping School: Finding the Roots of Modern Homeschooling in the American Past, is under contract with Eerdmans.
My book is a history of homeschooling in recent decades that helps explain the homeschool boom that began in 2020 — with around 11% of American schoolchildren being homeschooled that fall, according to the U.S. Census — by telling the story of homeschooling’s place in the American educational landscape since the mid-twentieth century. It features:
- Quantitative research data on homeschooling from a variety of sources, triangulating these to get a clear picture of homeschooling in America
- Oral history interviews with real homeschoolers of various races, religions, and income levels
- Examination of critical concerns about homeschooling and possible educational neglect or even child abuse
- In-depth consideration of key homeschooling court cases
- Explanations of the scholarly literature on homeschooling to date
- A foundational case study of California homeschooling through the decades, in order to get ground-level views
- An inside-out consideration of this history from a person who herself has stood both inside and outside of homeschooling
I hope you will be as excited to read this unique study as I have been to write it! The complete manuscript is due in a few short weeks, so I look forward to sharing final information about a publication date sometime in the new year.
In the meantime, if you’d like to catch up on what yours truly has been writing about homeschooling later, you can access a nearly-comprehensive list by going over to the homeschool section of the Hollow:
Or get an audio rundown on some of my research, findings, and experiences via this podcast with
:Thanks for (tolerating and) joining in on my excitement! As I prepare to add to and revise the manuscript for publication, tell me:
- What would you like to know about homeschooling in America since 1950?
- What would you like to know about the pandemic and its effects on American schooling?
- What would you like to know about changes in American schooling over time (and even since 2020)
- Do you have any other questions that you would like to see addressed in the book?
Warmly,
I absolutely cannot wait to get it. You are such a wonderful writer.
I sure do!