Educating the Wholehearted Child Review

Early in our homeschooling journey, I read the book "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson.  It had a great impact on how I approached homeschooling and really touched my heart about reaching my kids' hearts.  So when I was offered the opportunity to review the newly revised version of this book, I jumped at the chance.

I have been blessed to spend many hours reading through this book over the last several weeks and have been inspired and encouraged once again through the writings of Clay and Sally Clarkson.  Although the book is geared towards homeschooling ages 4-14, there is much that applies to all ages.  Now that my  kids are 15 and 17 years old, I can look back and see the impact that the original book had on our homeschooling journey.  I can also look back and wish I had done some things differently, but I am not one to spend much time with regrets.  I would rather make changes and move on towards the future.

Educating the Wholehearted Child is a huge book filled with so much that it is a hard one to describe.  First and foremost, it is a handbook on providing "a solid biblical foundation for educating and nurturing your children's hearts, minds, and souls."  It is about your journey of faith as a homeschooling family.  Discipling your children is your greatest calling and mission in life, and this book lays out that calling in a very relevant and systematic way, giving tons of foundation, insight and examples.


The over-sized book is comprised of 376 pages divided into four sections: Home, Learning, Methods and Living. There is also a great Resources section with forms and lists that are hugely beneficial.  You can see a list of all the chapters here, and they have even made a whole chapter available to read so that you can get a good feel for the book before buying.

I really appreciate the addition in this revision of updated technology and comments about the young adult years. Educating the Wholehearted Child is available from Apologia Press for only $22 and I believe it to be an incredibly valuable guidebook for any homeschooling family.  You can go to https://apologia.securesites.net/ to view the many resources available from Apologia Educational Ministries.

You can read what other members of the TOS Review Crew think of this book here.

I received this product for free in return for an honest review. I have not received financial reimbursement for my review of Educating the Wholehearted Child.