Education A La Carte Book Review

I was interested in the description of the book but not as interested in sitting down to read a boring information filled book but this book was full of information and written in a way that had me wanting to continue.  Education a la Carte: Choosing the Best Schooling Options for Your Child by Dr. Kevin Leman wasn't a novel with lots of mystery and intrigue but it was still hard to put down.  Although, many things hard to put into practice, this was filled with great advice on education and making choices on what we need to choose for our children and why.

Every parent wants the best possible education for their child--one that fits their child's unique needs, challenges them to grow, and equips them to succeed. But there are so many options--public, private, and charter schools, plus homeschooling and online schooling--that it's easy for parents to feel overwhelmed and, well, undereducated about the choices. What's more, while one schooling option may be right for one child, it may be challenging for another. And sometimes the same child will thrive in one environment in elementary school but falter in that same environment in middle school.

What's a parent to do?

Parenting expert and longtime educator Dr. Kevin Leman can help. In this practical book, he clearly explains the pros and cons of various schooling options so that parents can make an informed choice about the kind of education that will help their child thrive. He shows parents how to stay involved and engaged with their child's education every step of the way, knowing that the choices they make about school now will reverberate long into that child's future.

I think that this was a great resource for helping parents pick what is best for their kids.  There is information about whether your child is ready for kindergarten, whether to change schools and how to deal with children doing homework.  It talks about adding before or after school enrichment where your school might be lacking and moving kids to schools to fit their love of learning.  There are tons of topics like the following:

The Top Concerns of Parents
Factoring In Your Child's Uniqueness
Schooling a la Carte
Finding Just the Right Menu for Your Palate
 Your Parental Role in Schooling
Preschool and Kindergarten
Homework and Grades
Top Traits of the Absolute Best Schools
Your Personal Menu to Educational Sucess

All of these topics are covered and go into a lot of detail to talk about how things might apply to you and yours children.  All areas of the country are different and have different challenges but the simple basic principles are great guides like make sure that the staff including the office staff are fond of children.  There are so many people that get into education for different reasons and I think that you want to make sure that they like kids and are able to deal with kids on their level.  There are some amazing guides in the homework section like letting your child fail for themselves and learn that homework has to be done or they will have the consequence.  I think that this is a great message to send because I know that fighting to get homework done when so many other things are going on isn't working in our house and it is always better to learn the lessons early on.  I am hoping that I can be strong enough to be able to let me son fail so that he can learn.  It is always hard for parents who are trying to do everything but I think that this book is a great picture into choosing the right school and path for your family.  The biggest plus I can say about this book is that it was published under a Christian Book title and it kept all of the Christian premise of being a good person and doing what is best without telling you bible verse for why you should be doing something.  I find that many books  Christian books take that stance and it isn't helpful when you are trying to figure out what is best for your family.  I hope that you check out this book and it helps answer some of your questions and helps find at least a little solution to what every education questions you might have.  I think that it provides a great overview of all the options available and education and might make you feel a little better about the choices you have made.

**I was provided a copy of this book for my review but all opinions here are my honest and my own.  A positive review was not required for participation.