(Thank you Terrie for writing this book. It’s been a delight.)

Oodles of practical stuff here:

• convincing people whose opinions matter to you (husband, parents, friends), and some astute observations:
  • “Emphasize that it will be very, very hard, but you are willing to make the sacrifice for the good of your children. (Say this dramatically and nobly. Practice until you can say it without giggling, because giggles ruin the effect of noble statements.)”
  • “If it’s nearly time for your husband to be home…head for the kitchen and look busy. Husbands sometimes presume that if you are relaxing when they walk in, you’ve had an easy day. Look busy.”
• ideas for organizing all that stuff you collect to enrich the teaching experience (and the paperwork when necessary)
  • along with the friendly observation that stuff can be a security blanket
• what jargon to use as you’re starting out
  • This was useful to me as someone looking for a simple answer to move the conversation on.
• using pre-made lesson plans
• creating original lesson plans and unit studies
• sections on major subjects (math, history, etc.) that have broad application, age/grade-wise.

I also found a friendly, enthusiastic voice of experience with a values-base similar to my own.

Most of all I appreciated the attitudes expressed in the answers she offers. Among other things I can see an attitude of homeschooling being valuable work and children being worth that investment.

~

I expect I’ll be linking this review quite a bit, because this book was everything I wanted when seeking reassurance as a preparing homeschooler.

It encouraged me, gave me a boatload of practical information, and a vaguely comfortable outline both of what my days can look like in the beginning and as I go farther along the journey.

Just what I needed.