Friday, September 19, 2014

Book Review! How to Work and Homeschool by Pamela Price

At this point, it's like tradition!  Book/Resource Review Friday!

Today, I want to talk about How to Work and Homeschool by Pamela Price. I wasn't sure how much this really applied to me, and my life, due to the simple fact of the matter that I don't work outside the home. But, if I'm going to try to get my life set up so I "work from home" doing the housekeeping things (thus helping ensure they actually get done), maybe it would be really helpful after all...







For starters, How to Work and Homeschool was very much geared toward working either in a position that demands certain hours of your time, or outside the home. This isn't unexpected, and provided I can make the mental shift from "I'm at home" to "this is my job," it will prove extraordinarily helpful.

Pamela's style is more formal than Jen's was, which made the book feel a little less engaging for me. However, when you consider one is commiserating with you, and the other is trying to teach you something, it's not surprising in the slightest, and actually a really good feel. From the get-go, it is clear that this book is not designed to be the ultimate how-to manual that will ensure you never have any troubles or need another book as long as you live. But it is a great start.

A large amount of space is dedicated to people who are in the trenches, already working and homeschooling, sharing their experiences and words of wisdom - with some great commentary from Pamela to pull it all together.  Something else I really appreciated about this title was the abundance of no-nonsense "you can do it" attitude, complete with not only those anecdotes, but also helpful and practical tips - including several easy-to-adapt schedules. I was honestly very surprised by how simple everything sounded.  The suggestions were good ones, concrete and very realistic - none of that "change everything you've ever done right away!" stuff that so often comes in the how-to genre. It was actually a relief to see that this is something that can be managed - nothing sugar coating it, saying an endeavor like working and homeschooling simultaneously would be really easy, or everything would be sunshine and roses, but it was actually encouraging without being overwhelming. Considering how easily I can tend to get overwhelmed, this is a huge plus. I actually feel like this is something I can really do, something that isn't such a big project after all if I take it in small steps.  As the conversation starter and tips and tricks book this is billed to be, I will say it is absolutely a resounding success. I've come out of reading it feeling confident and sure, determined and ready to give this whole "home executive" thing a go.

How to Work and Homeschool is available for purchase from GHF Press!

No comments:

Post a Comment