I had the opportunity to review a physical copy of The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight: managing your days through the homeschool years by Heidi St. John, which is published by Real Life Press
The first time I was introduced to Heidi St. John was during an online webinar. St. John totally cracked me up while sharing wonderful marriage tips and how to manage your marriage as a homeschooler. That was many years ago and I was early into my homeschool journey. She and her husband, Jay, have been married for more than 25 years are the parents of seven children, whom have been homeschooled since the beginning. Their children range from toddler to adult, so you can imagine the amount of personal experience she has to share with readers. Many may already be more familiar with St. John through her popular blog Heidi St. John: The Busy Mom.
The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight is just one of the books from Real Life Press that is part of The Busy Mom’s Guide series. The other title is The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Romance, which the TOS Review Crew also had the opportunity to review, along with the Firmly Planted Bible Study series.
St. John understands the challenges mothers experiences as they attempt to balance their everyday lives and somewhere, somehow fit homeschooling into the mix.
As I read through Daylight, the points St. John shared were a little easier to accept, because she knows where I am coming from. She has been where I am and she has made it through to the end (has homeschool graduates). St. John encourages the reader through the day as well as provides essential advice as to how to get done what is really important.
Despite all of the lists I love to make – checking off what I have done is fun – managing my time, so I can get it all done is always daunting. There are eight chapters – Intentional Daylight; Organized Daylight; Scheduled Daylight; Hungry Daylight; Discouraged Daylight; Consolidated Daylight; Wasted Daylight and Surrendered Daylight.
Organized Daylight was the chapter for me. I have spent the last year (plus) trying to get myself organized in my home. Occasionally, it has gotten to the point where I keep one small area neat, and allow everything else to be in disarray around it and me. St. John shared the definition of clutter as: crowd (something) untidy; fill with clutter, verb and a collection of things lying about in an untidy mess, noun. Yep! That sounds about right to me. The chapter discussed the obvious of how overwhelming that type of environment can be. It also noted the need to teach your children to “hold loosely” and understand the importance of keeping clutter to a minimum as well as donating items no longer in use to someone who may benefit.
Hungry Daylight was another good chapter for me. I love to cook, but sandwiches have been the course of the lunch and dinner menu for entirely too long over the past few months. I have lost my “cooking mojo.” The infamous task of menu planning was addressed; something I have been trying to get back in the habit of doing. St. John also suggested the use of a slow cook; incorporating leftovers into lunch; allowing the children to choose meals and teaching them how to cook. One excellent point she made was making dinner time a special time of the day. Company may not be coming for dinner, but your family is, so light the candles, pull out the good utensils and put away the paper plates.
If you are a homeschool mom, then The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight is definitely a book for you to curl up to and spend a few hours reading. I am already looking forward to reading through The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Romance. There is nothing like good reading with a few good laughs along the way.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight: managing your days through the homeschool years is available as an .epub, .mobi or .pdf for $10, and as a physical copy for $12.95.
Social media
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/heidistjohn
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You can read more reviews of this item by fellow crew members.
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