22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Home Management for Real Life, May 11, 2007
This review is from: Homeschooling at the Speed of Life: Balancing Home, School, and Family in the Real World (Paperback)
If you are a wife, mother, and home educator struggling to balance home, school, and family, this is the perfect book for you! Much more than a home organization handbook, "Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" could also be titled "Home Management for Real Life," because it is a complete guide to hospitable homemaking as well. The author, Marilyn Rockett, is like a homeschool version of Martha Stewart! However, she does not expect you to achieve a perfect magazine-quality home but to simply attain what is described as "functional neatness."
While "Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" is totally in tune with today's fast-paced lifestyle and modern households, this book shows that you don't have to be "Supermom" or "Mrs. Incredible" either! It is written in a friendly, gentle manner by a mentor mom who has "been there, done that" - thus reassuring readers that even though we're only human, we can still keep our lives organized without being a slave to our possessions.
"Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" provides an introduction to basic home management principles, common sense suggestions for clutter control and tackling those piles of papers, creative ideas for developing life skills in your children, encouraging ways to build relationships by using the home as a center for hospitality, and practical tips on how to keep organized records. Each of these diverse topics ties in to the theme of bringing order to your home while increasing productivity and decreasing stress.
"Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" is unique among organizational books in that it is Biblically-based and can be used as a devotional or Bible study. This could ideally be done with a group of friends who support each other's attempts to get their respective homes in order. At the end of each chapter you are prompted to stop, think, and reflect. There are Scripture references to look up, questions to discuss, practical exercises to reinforce what you just read, and thoughts to ponder. Don't just skip over these parts but take the opportunity to apply what you learn in each chapter to your own personal circumstances.
Upon reading this book, it was amazing to discover how like-minded the author and I are. Although we don't know each other and I had never read any of her works before, I was delighted to realize that Marilyn and I are kindred spirits who offer much of the same advice on home organization. She even intersperses inspirational quotations and Bible verses throughout the text just as I like to do. In fact, some of the quotes that she uses - and many similar ones - can be found in my book, "
Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom."
"Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" offers encouragement and practical advice for creating the peaceful and relaxed home that you long for. More importantly, it tells how to make wise use of the time that God has given you, so that you can enjoy being with your family without being preoccupied with things. Reading this book will have a calming effect on even the most harried homemaker. While de-cluttering your home with the help of this book, you can de-clutter your mind at the same time.
"Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" also includes a CD-ROM, which in itself is worth the price! The bonus disc contains the author's File-a-Plan organizing system with 32 useful forms. Choose which forms apply to your household and/or homeschool from titles such as: Attendance Record, Clean Room Chart, Daily Works, Grade/Goal Report, Health Record, High School Plan, High School Transcript, Individual Evaluation, Master Household Routine, Menu Minder, Standardized Achievement Test Record, Student Assignments, Study Plan, Subject or Unit Worksheet, Weakness/Strength Evaluation, Weekly Lesson Planner, etc. These will assist busy homeschool moms in keeping up with activities and records.
Some people need more help than others, but anyone can improve upon the organization of their homes and lives. "Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" has something for everyone, regardless of where you are in your homeschool journey. And no matter how organized you are, you are bound to gain some valuable insights from this book. "Homeschooling at the Speed of Life" would be an especially great gift for a new homeschool mom on how to run an organized homeschooling household. Even non-homeschoolers will be able to benefit from much of the advice in this book!
~Teri Ann Berg Olsen
Author of "
Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom"
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great new resource for busy homeschool moms!, April 18, 2007
This review is from: Homeschooling at the Speed of Life: Balancing Home, School, and Family in the Real World (Paperback)
When I heard that Marilyn's book was to be released in April, I came to Amazon immediately and ordered 3 of them. One for myself and one for each of my daughters. Although I am also a "graduated" home educator, my oldest daughter is homeschooling my 4 grandchildren and my youngest and her fiance' are also convicted to homeschool their future children.
When I received the books, I was delighted to see that not only is this a great book to get homeschoolers on the path to organizing their homes, but it is an ideal resource to help teach our young women how to run an organized homeschooling household.
I used Marilyn's "Timeminder" for years while I was teaching my children, but I am happy to see this updated system with forms on the included CD. I like the convenience of being able to use them on my computer or print them out to put in a notebook.
This book, with Marilyn's other resources available on her website, will show you how to change stressful chaos into an orderly environment and help you to relax as you teach your children at home.
It's also an excellent resource for Grandparents of homeschooled grandchildren, by the way!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Help from an Experienced, Wiser Friend, March 16, 2008
This review is from: Homeschooling at the Speed of Life: Balancing Home, School, and Family in the Real World (Paperback)
One of the most practical books I've read in a long, long time! People mistakenly believe that the hardest part of homeschooling is the actual teaching time. To the contrary, I would love to just teach and then hire a maid, cook, and laundress! Squeezing it ALL into just 24 hours is what is most difficult for any mom.
Marilyn's book is different from other household management books I've read. Most of those books assume that your primary goal is keeping an efficient, orderly, immaculate home. As you keep your home clean, you somehow squeeze in your other motherly, wifely tasks. Marilyn reverses the priorities. Your responsibilites to your husband and children come first. But by maintaining an orderly home environment you can do a better job of ministering to and with them. There's no major guilt trip here to make your home ready at any moment in time for the inspectors from a Beautiful Home contest. Rather there is encouragement and lots of practical tips to help you become better organized to fulfill the specific roles God has called you to in this season of your life.
Marilyn writes in an easy-to-read, humorous manner. Reading it is like sitting down for a chat with a loving friend who has walked this path before you and wants to help you along the way.
Penny in CA
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