A Mother’s Journal

Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days: Share a Day With 30 Homeschooling Families

I want to tell you about this book.  I think you would like it, BUT you must have in your mind before you begin to read it one of my favorite sayings:  Comparison is the death of contentment. 

Okay?

Actually, this book is a great resource for illustrating that no two families are the same at all; it can help one to realize that there’s no sense in comparing, because no two families could be exactly alike even if they tried. 

Still, some of the families in this book have it so together and have so many wonderful things going on, it’s hard not to get that old “woe is me” attitude.  There are a few moms in the book who work in addition to homeschooling, so that was encouraging to me personally.

What’s to love about this book:

• Who doesn’t enjoy a peek into someone else’s life?  With this book you get to peek into 30 homes.
• This book doesn’t just talk about “school,” but describes how homes are set up, how messy or neat they are, who in the family works, quirks between kids, etc.
• There is an abundance of ideas — things I had never thought of.  We will definitely be adopting several of them.
• It does not have to be read all at one time nor does it have to be read in order.  You can read about one family this week, another family next week.  Or you can go through and find a family with two children, or four children — whatever you have, and see how their schedule compares to yours.  (Okay, sometimes one has to compare!)
• I found it very motivating to read about what other families were accomplishing.  (Anything that motivates is worth a pretty penny around here.)

I don’t want to fall short at the end of any given day because I have focused on the wrong things.  Things not “wrong” by virtue, but just put at the top of my priority list at the wrong time of my life.  Our home needs to be livably clean, but I need to remember to not put house-cleaning above my children’s educational and emotional needs.  Don’t get me wrong; our children need to learn to do chores and balance housekeeping, learning, and working in their own lives, but it’s too easy to get caught up in making our homes ”perfect.”    

I love this line from the book regarding Nancy Lande’s homeschool day:

Our home looks well lived in, warm, and has an air of, well…clutter.

Yes, I like that. 

Thinking on this book today led me to write my own typical “day.”  Reading this book helped me with my perspective.

By the way, Nancy Lande’s website can be found at www.windycreek.com

And there is a newer version of the book called Homeschool Open House that I would like to read after I work through my current stack of books to be read.

Lynn