When I began homeschooling I had a 2nd grader, a kindergartner, twin 3-year-olds, and my youngest was weeks away from her 1st birthday (# 6 & 7 hadn't joined our family yet). I almost never accomplished half of what I sat out to do in a day. I enjoyed watching the Duggars on TV and asked myself regularly "If they can do it with so many, why can't I?" I really struggled with what God had called me to do and what I felt I could do. I went to bed EVERY night feeling inadequate.
Right now we are finishing our 3rd year of homeschool and I finally feel like I have enough of a hold on it that it doesn't weigh on me. I still have hard days. My husband will tell you that I call him every couple weeks and tell him that I just don't know if I'm cut out for this. These calls used to consist of me telling him we would have to re-work the budget so we could send all the kids to the nearest Christian school... so it's improving. :-)
So what changed? I read and read and read! Many moms before me had been there, done that, and wrote a book or blog about how they made it through. I found as many as books as I could get my hands on and used their wisdom as it applied to me. Some were not very helpful but others helped to shape the mom I am today. I compiled a list of my favorites.
In my personal opinion every homeschooling mom should read these 4 books:
1. Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe by Todd Wilson will not tell you how to get it all done but will reassure you that you are not alone. I think about this book often on "those" days and it makes me smile.
2. Managers of Their Home by Steven & Teri Maxwell will give you wonderful advice on fitting it all into a day. She has very practical advice for scheduling. A word to the wise though; after reading this I developed the my most ridiculous schedule. No one could have accomplished everything I had crammed into it. Please start simple! You do not have to try to be a super mom, she doesn't exist!
3. Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman is for any size family. I hate that the title is so misleading. There is tons of wisdom in those pages. She began the book as notes of what she had learned with the intent of passing it on to her daughters. Don't get intimidated by its size though; this book is HUGE! It's chapters are not wrote dependant upon each other. This means if you want to know more about laundry you simply flip to the laundry chapter, you don't need to read the one before or the one after. I LOVE that!
4. Parenting from the Heart by Marilyn Boyer is a small book of wisdom wrote by a seasoned mother of 14. It is very encouraging & practical.
Other books I have read and highly recommend:
Managers of Their Chores by Steve and Teri Maxwell
Homeschooling with a Meek & Quiet Spirit by Teri Maxwell
Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic
Love in the House by Chris & Wendy Jeub
The Duggars: 20 and Counting by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar
A Love that Multiplies by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar
Would you add any to this list? I would REALLY love to know what books have helped with your homeschooling journey?
I have 2 of the faves and one on the other list...reading this made me realize that i never finished Parenting From the Heart. lol. I had received another book by Marilyn Boyer on Character Building, became distracted by it, and never went back. Most of my book collection so far is moreso on wife/mother stuff rather than homeschooling (think Titus 2 and Proverbs 31). Most of my homeschool reading is done on blogs. :P In regards to my book reading habits, I sometimes remind myself of the pinterest quote (although i rarely use pinterest so I'll modify the quote to suit my own bad habits) haha...."Life application books: Where people with good intentions smother themselves in ideas and plans they'll probably never find the time to follow through on." bahaha
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great! I've had my share of days that is so overwhelming, but I've learned so much in the past 3 years we're looking forward to another year and adventure.
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