Managing Homeschool Life

Making it work

Homeschooling is a serious undertaking and many people wonder how it can work on a practical level - particularly for people on tight budgets and those with large families. Although not all of these books specifically address homeschooling, they have some very useful and practical ideas for running a household more effectively, especially in the areas of organization, finances, time management, and family life.

Sidetracked Home Executives

Book cover: Sidetracked Home Executives
Author(s): 
Pam Young
Peggy Jones

Pam Young and Peggy Jones were the original "slob sisters" and "SHE"s (Sidetracked Home Executives). Their homes were disorganized, untidy, and definitely not conducive to peace and joy – until they found a way up and out of the chaos. To share their discovery with other SHEs, they wrote this now-classic book.

Saintly Solutions to Life's Common Problems

Book cover: Saintly Solutions to Life's Common Problems
Author(s): 
Fr. Joseph Esper

For more than twenty years, Fr. Esper has been a priest as well as an author, conference speaker, and authority on the lives of the saints. He has written this book to serve as a guide to perfecting our own weaknesses through the examples and experiences of the Communion of the Saints. This book isn't intended to be read straight through from cover to cover, but rather to be picked up and studied in short segments, so it is especially appealing to a busy, homeschooling family.

Miserly Meals

Book cover: Miserly Meals -- Healthy, Tasty Recipes Under 75¢ Per Serving
Author(s): 
Jonni McCoy

The author of the popular Miserly Moms, a guide for frugal family living, has done it again! Jonni McCoy has written a stand-alone but complementary book that helps families to enjoy well-prepared, nutritious meals while keeping their grocery expenditures under control. Most homeschooling families live on one income, and we need all the help that we can get in controlling our expenses; this cookbook can help us to do just that.

Garden of Virtues

Book cover: Garden of Virtues: Planting Seeds of Goodness
Author(s): 
Christina Keffler
Illustrator(s): 
Rebecca Donnelli
Suzanne Etman

This is a friendly and lovely little book on practicing the virtues in the midst of family life. Although it is clear that at least one of the authors is Catholic, the book is written on a very practical level and in such a way that it would be appealing to any family attempting to live a peaceful and virtuous life (particularly in the midst of raising children).

The Tightwad Gazzette

Book cover: 'The Tightwad Gazzette'
Author(s): 
Amy Dacyczyn

This book is available in either three individual volumes or a newer paperback compilation. The books are collections of individual Tightwad Gazzettes, a newsletter filled with thoughts and ideas about saving money, getting out of debt, living on one income, etc. Some of the ideas seem a little extreme, but Mrs. Daczycyn explains that she has had people in very desperate situations call her for advice. She feels that it's worthwhile to include all of these ideas as they may be helpful to some.

Dinner's in the Freezer: More Mary, Less Martha

Book cover: Dinner's in the Freezer: More Mary, Less Martha
Author(s): 
Jill Bond

Jill Bond is a big name in Christian Homeschooling circles. Her success in homeschooling her own children and at the same time being active in her community and among homeschoolers at large owes a great deal to the ideas which she outlines in this book. The book, subtitled A Home Management System, is primarily about a concept called "mega-cooking", i.e. cooking in larger quantities and freezing portions for later use.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Book cover: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Author(s): 
Stephen R. Covey
Sean Covey

Having a healthy skepticism of "self-help" books caused me to be lacking in enthusiasm when this book was recommended to me by my older brother. He had been studying it with some friends at work and had high praise for its content. I think I would never have picked it up except that I happened to be at my brother's house while he and my mom read a chapter aloud. Wow. It wasn't anything like what I had expected and turned out to be quite good.

Testing

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