WATERVILLE, MAINE, February 2022 — About 20 percent of U.S. parents are homeschooling their children right now. Prior to the pandemic, the rate was three percent. For many parents, this is a new venture, and they may be looking for guidance. Thomas College education professor Dr. Katie Rybakova recently published a new book on this subject called This Is Homeschooling: Stories of Unconventional Learning Practices on the Road and in Nature.
“The book gives the perspectives and practical advice to families of how to approach homeschooling in lots of ways– different chapters are written by different authors, so you really are getting 13 different ‘how to’ experiences from passionate individuals, most of whom are veteran homeschoolers or were homeschooled themselves,” said Rybakova. “Ultimately the book focuses on normalizing the shift in education from standardization to individualization based on family and child needs, interests, and values.”
Dr. Rybakova is an Associate Professor of Education at Thomas College’s Lunder School of Education and the Executive Director of MAMLE (Maine Association for Middle Level Education). Her Ph.D. is in curriculum and instruction.
Her new book is geared towards home educators of children under age 18. However, Rybakova says this book can be more generally for those who are educational stakeholders with a particular interest in looking how education can be more fluid, nature-based, and holistic vs. siloed and “packaged”.
Rybakova says the line-up of authors is impressive and really shows how varied perspectives of homeschool approaches are.
“It is time to normalize the choice to pursue all forms education can take, and to encourage self-directed education and learning in our youth through exploration of life– we gain a lot of education simply by living and pursuing what interests and motivates us. It is time to move past the four-wall classroom and towards a more holistic view of what it means to learn,” she says.
Rybakova says, “I thank Thomas College as well as all the contributors to this exciting new work for the support, time, and knowledge it takes to educate other humans!”
You can pre-order Rybakova’s book on Amazon.
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