Apologia: Exploring Creation with General Science {Curriculum Review}

8th grade. The year of transition. When you are preparing your student for the demands of the high school work. To start preparing themselves to be more independent. To really hone in their work ethic. Yep, 8th grade scares me. LOL. Thankfully, there are a lot of companies out there helping with that in regards to curriculum, recognizing the transition that 7th/8th grade brings. In order to help transition from elementary science into the more rigorous high school science courses, Apologia has created the Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition course. I was very happy to be asked to review this curriculum and I hope you will read our review of this newest edition to the Apologia family.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

About the Product

Apologia is an award winning company for homeschool materials. One of the areas where they collect the most awards is through their fantastic science curriculum. Apologia’s newest curriculum,

Exploring the Human Anatomy and Physiology with Apologia {Curriculum Review}

Our #1 hands down favorite science curriculum to use in our homeschool is anything from Apologia. They are a best selling publishing company for a reason! Every single science curriculum we have done has been exceptional--and this last year, I even ordered one to do for the 2017-2018 school year--Chemistry and Physics. For the last several weeks however, we have been reviewing a different area of science Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, yet another in the amazing line up from Apologia!

About the Product

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is a curriculum from Apologia designed to introduce students to the human body and how it works. Not only will they go through and in depth study of the different body systems, but will also learn how the body WORKS and uses those

Exploring Creation With Marine Biology from Apologia {Curriculum Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

I love the ocean. It's my favorite place to vacation at. I really enjoy learning all I can about the ocean and the life it holds. Our favorite documentaries include the ones exploring our vast seas. I recently had the chance to review the newly revised Marine Biology 2nd Edition Advantage Set from Apologia Educational Ministries--and by I, that's what I mean! Because this a high school course, I chose to review this curriculum myself!

About Marine Biology from Apologia Educational Ministries

Apologia Educational Ministries is a best selling publishing company in the homeschooling world. They are especially well known for their amazing science curriculum which is written from an Intelligent Designer point of view. They offer a full line of elementary science options, as well as full credit lab science courses for the high school level. One of their most popular courses for the high school level--and newly revised!-is the Marine Biology course.

Exploring Apologia Astronomy with A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks {Product Review}

We have been working to complete the Apologia 2nd Edition Astronomy curriculum before we dive into our official start of school next week. We are on our last chapter, so the end is near. Throughout the time we have been using the curriculum, I have had each boy using the student notebooks by Apologia that coordinate with the topic. But the boys were kind of getting bored with them by this point. When we were asked to review the A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks, and I discovered there were lapbooks to go with the Apologia Curriculum including a coordinating one Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook, for our text we were almost finished with, I hoped it would be a low key way to wrap up our study--besides, we LOVE lapbooks!

About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks is a company that is devoted to providing quality hands-on materials to bring more fun into the "mundane" when it comes to curriculum. This is done through their creation of lapbooks!

What are lapbooks?
Think of it as scrapbooking your way through a subject. When you are done, you can share your knowing through hands on records of information in the form of little mini-booklets--these can be done through, through drawing, dictating or writing! These mini-booklets are then attached (glue or tape) into file folders. Perfect to keep a record of the time spent learning a subject, and able to pull it out for referencing at any time in the future!

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks carries a WIDE variety of lapbook templates--from standalone lapbooks on popular subjects, to materials that coordinate with popular homeschooling publishing companies like Apologia, Classical Conversations, Diana Waring, Geography Matters and more!

One of the most popular series are the lapbooks which correspond with the best selling Apologia Young Explorers science curriculum.

We were given the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook (instant download) to work on with my two boys age 7 and 11.

Our Thoughts on the Product

We aren't strangers to lapbooks and are VERY aware of how much time and prep typically goes into getting one of these ready. One of the things that I appreciated right off the bat, was that there was never more than one mini-booklet per page for this lapbook AND I could print it all on white paper choosing color or b/w ink. For this particular review, I didn't use my colored file folders, as I have a COSTCO size box of the plain manila colored ones ready for use--even had three pre-folded and ready to use!

I appreciate that I can download this file and save it to a flash drive to keep out of my computer hard drive. It's also in pdf form so very easy to use. Now, as I said before, we were already nearly completed with the Astronomy course, so it was silly to start at the BEGINNING to use the lapbook. So instead, I used the lapbook pages that coordinated with the last two units of our astronomy book, beginning with Lesson 13.

The astronomy lapbook is very very large--requires 14 file folders--using about 1 per unit. The first page of the lapbook download simply gives you a list of materials and directions on how to put the lapbook together--specifically how to fold the file folders.

I skipped ahead to the unit we were on, and scanned the lapbook portion that went with it. I like to note what mini-booklets I can print in b/w and what would work best in color--this saves me ink! Next, I simply go to the printing!

In the past, we've always done SEPARATE lapbooks for each boy--but THIS time I decided to try out doing a collective lapbook with each boy being responsible for a mini-booklet. This not only spreads out the work, but keeps them from being overwhelmed with the cutting/writing.

BEST DECISION EVER!!!

I have a boy who loves making lapbooks, and one who does not like them--but BOTH were satisfied with turning this into a joint lapbook--each contributing his share.

Because we already owned and had been using the Apologia student notebooks that went with our Astronomy, I simply used them to SUPPLEMENT the lapbook. Doing the mini-booklets in the lapbook, over the lapbook elements included in the notebook. THIS WORKED PERFECTLY!

We have been able to simply continue our routine using the Astronomy course. The lapbook pages are clearly labelled at the top with the parts of the unit they coordinate with...for instance, Lesson 1 has a lapbook page that has this direction at the top:

Cut out this piece and hamburger fold on middle line. (There will be a tab sticking out. Do not cut off) Fold tab up and over to keep booklet closed. (Like a matchbook) Glue into folder. Read Think About This and Navigation, pages 17-18. Inside the booklet, explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS.

This tells me that the information for inside the mini-booklet are on pages 17-18 in the text under the sections labelled as directed. So I will read that to my boys and they will then use the mini-booklet to explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS as directed.

See? It's like a study guide too!

Using the lapbook pages as a guide, we completed 2-4 lapbook elements each of the days we worked on it. And because we created a joint lapbook, we completed it more quickly!

Supplies needed?
Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2nd Edition Text
File folders--colored or plain
Your printer w/color and b/w ink
Printer paper
scissors
glue/tape
stapler/brads
pencils/pens/markers/crayons

That's it. Nothing weird or unusual.

Here are some photos of our completion of the TWO full lapbooks we have done so far--and we are in our third as of today.

Recording Star Classifications

Adding in the Dwarf Planet vs Planet Comparison

Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook almost completed

Cover of the Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook

When these are done, I will be able to store them easily for future reference if needed. If we had done the ENTIRE book with lapbooking, I would have 3-hole punched each folder and put them together in a binder to store.

I highly recommend this lapbook. It is available in instant download ($15)--which means no need for shelf space and print as you go. It is probably the MOST open and go lapbook I have ever done. I can say that because I have done a LOOOOOTTTTTT of lapbooks from many different companies. This one took the absolute least amount of time to complete. Period. The boys were able to cut everything themselves because there weren't weird shapes or thick paper. There was minimal coloring and not a lot of writing either. It worked perfectly in conjunction with the student notebooks we already had--and I would probably use them WITH the student notebooks for any further Apologia science. I feel they are each valuable and while you don't NEED to do both--yes you could do only this in place of the student notebooks, or only the student notebooks without this--I think they compliment each other perfectly.

The main con is that you need a reliable printer. And if you wanted one lapbook per student, you will be spending more on paper and ink than I did. By choosing to print some booklets in b/w instead of color, I was able to save some money.

I will take a moment to add that IF YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE IT ALL PRINTED ALREADY--there is an option from A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks to PURCHASE a printed copy of the lapbook for $35.00 (plus shipping). If you don't have a reliable printer or can't afford the paper/ink, this might be a good alternative for you.

Want To Know More About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks?

Over the last several weeks, we have been using the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook from the collection of Apologia Curriculum lapbooks created by A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks. You have seen how we have used them, but there were several other lapbook topics reviewed by our homeschool review crew--including some that coordinate with Classical Conversations! I hope you will visit the anchor post to learn more about what A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks offer!
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You can find A Journey Through Learning on these social media platforms:

* Facebook * Twitter (@AJTL_lapbooks) 

* Google+ * Instagram  

I am happy that this product worked well for us to finish our astronomy curriculum. It showed me that lapbooks work best for us when they do them as a team to share the work. Now we are eager to move on with our new science curriculum for 2017-2018!

Looking to the Skies with Apologia Astronomy {Curriculum Review}

Earlier this year, I received a newsletter from Apologia Educational Ministries, announcing the release of their Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition curriculum. The colors of the book leapt off the screen, and my oldest son (who was standing behind me at the time) pointed and said, "I want to do that book!" I told him that I would check it out at the homeschool convention in Cincinnati, which I did. It was gorgeous! I fell in love with the brilliantly colored illustrations and knew he would probably love it. But, it wasn't in the budget for this year, so it went on my wish list. You can imagine my excitement when the Schoolhouse Review Crew was given a chance to review the curriculum this summer! I hoped that it would be just the kind of science program our family would love.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

About Exploring Creation with Astronomy

Apologia Educational Ministries has long been known for their award winning science curriculum. Their Christian worldview of the sciences, makes them a must have for many homeschool families, and one of their most popular curriculum is the Young Explorers Series--geared towards elementary level students. The latest addition in the series is the Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. The latest edition has taken the already award winning curriculum, and upped the ante! By working closely with an engineer at NASA, the author Jeanie Fulbright has expanded the curriculum to include more incredible full color real life illustrations, infographics, new color coordinated schedule for all the curriculum components, fresh layouts for the activities, and new links for additional projects and research that can be done.

The Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition offers the following materials:
*Student Text
*Notebooking Journal
*Jr. Notebooking Journal (geared for K-3rd)
*Audio CD

And just released:
*Astronomy 2nd Edition Science Kit

The Apologia Science curriculum uses a Charlotte Mason methodology, combining read aloud, with journaling, hands on activities, lapbook style components, puzzles, copywork, and more! Because of the addition of the Jr. Notebooking Journal, you can make this a multi-age subject so even your Kindergarten students can join in with grade appropriate activities. The Audio CD allows for more student independence, as it is an audio text, allowing them to follow along in the book while the author reads it to them. The newest component is the Science Kit which was just released in September 2016. This kit offers 62 different activities--21 of which are exclusive to the kit and allows your children to take their lessons on astronomy even further!

Throughout the course of the curriculum, you child will learn about the sun, the planets, the asteroid belt, dwarf planets, and then an exploration of the stars themselves. All of the material is written from a Christian perspective, pointing the student constantly to the majesty and wonder of God.

We were given the Student Text, Notebooking Journal, Jr. Notebooking Journal, and Audio CD to review with our family.

How Did We Use Exploring Creation with Astronomy?

When I told my son that we were granted this review, he was so excited! When it came we admired how pretty it was and as we flipped through the text, we realized what a treat it was going to be to work through the program. Because Apologia sent me the Notebooking Journal and the Jr. Notebooking Journal, I was going to be able to work through the curriculum with both boys at the same time--something I really was looking forward to.

Because I love being involved in learning new things, we made the decision that I would read aloud the material from the student text. My oldest (Age 10) is more than capable, but I wanted to be able to add any extra explanation for the sake of my youngest (Age 6) since he was sitting in with us too. I do like the option of having the Audio Book on standby for the days when I am not feeling well, or I need them to work independently.

I read a little bit in the front of the student text to get an idea for how the program worked, including noticing that there was a link where I could find MORE materials, activities, and information for each chapter. I also learned about the little new color coded symbols and what they meant. At this point, I realized the program was an open and go variety--my favorite! So I grabbed the two notebooks for the boys, grabbed the text, and we got started!

I appreciated the Daily Lesson Schedule that was in the front of the boys' notebooking journals, and decided that we would follow it for the most part over the course of the review. There were 4-7 days in each daily lesson schedule, so this fit perfectly into our summer schedule of 3 days a week. We simply did 2-3 of the daily schedule days per week.

Here are some photos from our adventures in Astronomy:

Working on Copywork

Labeling the cards for our balloon solar system

Our balloon solar system

Making a solar eclipse with a ping pong ball (moon), the globe, and a flashlight (sun)

Working on the sun matchbook

Adding definitions to vocabulary

 At the end of the sun unit, there is an extra section that talks about the SOHO satellite, with a link to where you can print off more information, including making a SOHO model. The boys loved this idea, so I printed a model for each of them. We worked together to get it built, because there was a lot of cutting, pasting, and piecing the parts together--but it was well worth the hour we spent on it. The boys LOVE their SOHO models!

Learning about SOHO

Making the SOHO satellite model

SOHO Satellite all finished

As of today, we have finished the first two units (Introduction to Solar System, the Sun) which was about 11 daily lessons, and we will be beginning the third unit Mercury.

What Are Our Thoughts on Exploring Creation with Astronomy?

Baby Britches: I liked learning about the sun. It was fun to do the thing where we pretended we were the sun, moon, and earth and tried to walk around each other.

Little Britches: I like building the SOHO satellite and I like that there are a lot of different activities. But I think there are too many of those mini-books. I don't like making them as much.

Me: LOVE!!!
Really, this curriculum is perfect for us. When I read today that it was a Charlotte Mason methodology behind it, it made total sense. We are a Unit Study/Charlotte Mason style homeschool! I love the way the information is presented in the text and how it is broken up with the different infographics, or illustrations. I also like that the activities are woven throughout the lesson, instead of all at the end. The Notebooking Journals are an excellent way to keep track of the information being learned and I love the lapbook components, even if my oldest doesn't care for them as much. The addition of the having the scripture copywork, the puzzles (word search, crossword), as well as the pages to just let them draw or color, really makes the program ideal for all types of learners.

Having the Christian worldview is just the icing on the cake for us, and I get a happy thrill whenever I am reading aloud about how everything points back to the magnificent Creator of our universe. This book really gives glory and honor to God for His complexity and perfection in the way the universe works, AND I LOVE THAT!!

For a person who likes things to be slightly scheduled, I really appreciate the breakdown of the lessons, supplied in the notebooking journals. Having a suggestion of what activities to do each day really works for our style, and I like that I can mix it up as I go.

My only request, would be to put this SAME daily schedule in the TEXT, not just the journals. As the reader of the text, I would appreciate having that information at the beginning for my reference. I ended up photocopying the daily schedules from the boys notebooks, so I could have a copy for myself.

Is there anything I don't like? No, not really. At this point, it appears to be everything we would want in a science program! I am considering purchasing the new Science Kit for us to add in this year, but I don't know if I will or not. There are still plenty of activities and experiments included with the text.

Also, while we didn't use the Audio Book yet, as I said earlier, I love having it as an option. I KNOW there will be days this year when I don't feel good, or need them to work through their books independently.

Will we continue to use this product?
Absolutely! I have it written into our curriculum list for the 2016-2017 school year. It's not often I find something that BOTH boys enjoy! And the fact that it's science and I can teach it to both at the same time? Well that's just fantastic!

Would We Recommend Exploring Creation with Astronomy?

Yes! If you are looking for a Christian worldview on science for your family, please consider Apologia! If you are wanting a more laid back approach to learning where you spend more than just one day learning about a piece of the solar system, consider Apologia Astronomy! If you want to have something that is 90% open and go, consider Apologia Astronomy! If you want to be able to teach multi-grades with one resource for elementary, consider Apologia Astronomy! If you need a product that mixes the different learning styles together, consider Apologia Astronomy!

If you answered no to any of these...well, then I probably wouldn't recommend this to you. ESPECIALLY if you are wanting something that avoids a Christian worldview.

Want to Know More?

We have been enjoying our review of Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition by Apologia Educational Ministries. We've only made it through a few of the chapters, so make sure you check out some of the reviews by my fellow crew members to see other aspects of the book, we didn't cover!

Apologia is always having sales and sharing new information about their fabulous products, so make sure you connect with them on social media too! Facebook * Twitter (@apologiaworld) * Pinterest * Instagram  

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As you can see, we have been absolutely loving our experience with this curriculum. We are looking forward to continuing to use this book throughout our upcoming school year (which started TODAY!) so we can learn more about what the universe holds! 

Writers In Residence ~ All-In-One Curriculum for Even the Most Reluctant Writer {Curriculum Review}

Writing is a subject that Little Britches struggles with. He just doesn't enjoy it, and creative writing is usually the most dreaded--he simply doesn't have the confidence to write down any ideas he has. He's my reluctant writer, and it's a challenge to find a program that will work for him--he's also an auditory learner. Enter Writers in Residence from Apologia Educational Ministries--a program that was designed with the reluctant writer in mind. I was interested to review the product to see if it would be a curriculum that Little Britches would enjoy or at the very least, not avoid.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Product Information

Writers in Residence is a new to the market Language Arts curriculum from the always fabulous Debra Bell and Apologia Educational Ministries. This is a writing focused curriculum, to gently help your student find their own writing style through a narrative lesson plan which enables your child to work very independently through the program. Writers in Residence (which I will refer to as WIR in this review) incorporates lesson in grammar, side by side with the writing elements. One of the ways that this program teaches your child about writing, is by showing them REAL writing by some big name authors in the Christian book world. 
Writers in Residence is geared for grades 4th-8th, includes an All-in-One Student Workbook and an answer key, which provides directions and rubrics to help you know how to grade your child's assignments. The Writers in Residence complete curriculum retails for $89.00, but it is possible to get additional student workbooks if you are looking to teach more than one child.
We were given a copy of the Writers in Residence complete curriculum to use with Little Britches.
How Did We Use It? When the WIR arrived, I was surprised at how BIG the book was! It's nearly 2" thick and it has a great big spiral binding, which is ideal for workbooks. Because there isn't a teacher's guide, I decided to spend a day just going through the introduction to get a feel for how the program works. There are 20 pages just in the introduction! The main portion of the introduction is "How to use this book". This section literally shows you the purpose behind the book. How it's separated, how to make it work for your child, how to use it in co-ops, teaching method/philosophy, assignment cycle, thoughts on spelling, the role of the parent/teacher, grading, and even an end goal...and that's only a few of the things mentioned!

The next section kicks off the actual book, so I continued to look through it. There were pages with mini author bios of the professional authors included in the program, the six traits of writing, an introduction to the writing process, and a suggested daily schedule (yay!). At this point Unit 1 begins--and it starts with a Meet the Author interview. This is a nice touch and makes real writers more approachable. 
From this point on, we stuck to the suggested daily schedule for our lessons--with some modification as needed. I didn't require Little Britches to do all the reading--and we worked through it together. As of right now, we finished Module 4 and will be starting Module 5 when we come back from Spring Break. We did it at least 3 times a week, with me allowing some extra time for a few of the writing assignments.
Here are some pictures from our work:

Review on Identifying the Nouns in Sentences

deciding whether to do his memory sentences chronologically or topically

Adding predicates to complete the sentences

Adding subjects to complete the sentences

Rough draft of the first memory writing assignment--his special place is a Summer Camp he attends each year

Practicing vigorous verbs

Part of the Unit Review

End of a Module Rubric to check off all the completed assignments

His ongoing word collection--I think I need him to check his spelling on a couple.

What Are Our Thoughts on the Product?

Little Britches: "Well I don't like writing. But this one isn't too bad because I don't have to write stuff every day. And I already know a lot of this grammar, so those exercise thingys are easy to do. So far, I think I like this curriculum the best, because I don't have to write every day. But I don't love it. Or enjoy it or anything."
Me: There you go. That statement helps me analyze the program. And for the record, I don't think he'd EVER admit he enjoyed writing. LOL. This truly is for the reluctant writer. The approach is gentle, and so far has not had them have to come up with things out of nothing. They are given guides and reminders that very few writers come up with things from scratch. There are a lot of boy friendly aspects of the program--a lot of prompts about them writing about super heroes and archenemies. Perfect for the 4th-8th grade genre of kids! 
I really appreciate having this as an all-in-one open and go curriculum. I can simply grab the big workbook and have everything we need. The daily schedule is a wonderful guide on how to do each module in pieces--and it's in both the student workbook and the answer key. 
Speaking of the answer key--I like that the program encourages the student to check their own work. I can open the answer key to the assignment he's working on, and he can determine for himself how he did. I love how it fosters independent learning.
The narrative style of the workbook is very good and makes it a good read-aloud for any parents helping their child. I am glad to know they have designed this as a biblically based framework for children to learn how to communicate and write properly. 
I found the assignments to be very straight forward and easily understood. They were short which Little Britches appreciated. He liked having the rubric to check off the things he had done and to see what he had left.
I really liked the addition of the word collector activity. At first, Little Britches wasn't very hot on the idea, but he got into it and started collecting words from other schoolwork to write down in his word collector at the end of each module. 
I absolutely think you can use this book for multiple children in multiple levels--because it's written in a broad sense. The grammar activities are perfect for review, or new learning. The writing assignments are personal, so they will be different for each child. 
Anything I don't like? Honestly, no. I haven't found anything I don't like about the program at this point. I love the ease of use, and lack of time consumption for completion. I would have loved to do a curriculum like this myself in school actually--and I'm not a reluctant writer!
Will we continue to use this product? I definitely think we will. It's consumable and I think it will be a valuable jump start on writing for Little Britches. I can easily pick back up our other writing curriculum at any time when we are done with this one--and he might even do better on it thanks to this Apologia product.

Would We Recommend This Product?

I do think that Writers in Residence a good fit for the reluctant writer--but really ANY writer should enjoy the creativity and scope of the program! The exercises are short, and the writing topics fun and interesting for the grade level. The program adds in excellent grammar instruction as it relates to writing properly, and guides the student to expand their vocabulary with the "word collection" exercises. This is a good fit for someone who wants to be more of a guide rather than a teacher of this subject, as the student workbook is very much capable of being used independently. The program is very open and go--because it is an all-in-one workbook. If you have multiple students in the 4th-8th grade level, you can get each one a book, and then work together through it--or allow your older children to move at their own speed because it really IS written to to encourage independence.
The program is not something I will recommend for a family that isn't Christian focused, because this is a curriculum with references to God, and refers exclusively to Christian authors for the interview portions. 

Want to Know More?

We reviewed Writers in Residence from Apologia Educational Ministries. You have read our thoughts on the product, but what did everyone else think about it? Check out the rest of the crew reviews! You can stay on top of all the latest things going on at Apologia by following them on these social media outlets:

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld Twitter:   http://www.twitter.com/apologiaworld  @apologiaworld Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/ Instagram:  http://www.instagram.com/apologia
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While Little Britches still doesn't love writing, I think that this program has definitely given us a change from other styles we have used. I will be curious to see how it goes as we continue using WIR, and will hopefully add an update to this review closer to the conclusion of the curriculum. I will also be following Apologia to see when the proposed next volume of the Writers in Residence series will come out!

Fresh from the Bookshelf ~ Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms (Book Review)

Flourish. What does this word mean? When I think of a garden flourishing, I envision a garden that is lush and green with fruits and blossoms everywhere. When I think of a person flourishing, I think of someone who has a handle on their life, knowing what they want to do and are doing it with zeal and passion. Does this describe you? Do you flourish? If you are a homeschooler and/or stay-at-home mom like me, you might laugh at this idea as being something ridiculous. Who has time to flourish? I'm just trying to survive! Right? It is for this very reason that I am excited to share a book review with you today of Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms from Apologia Educational Ministries.

About the Book

Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms is a non-fiction book written by Mary Jo Tate (a homeschooler of 4 boys, published author, international editor and book coach) and published by Apologia Educational Ministries. Flourish is a book for moms. Especially moms who are trying to be homeschool teachers. Even more so, for moms who are trying to be homeschool teachers as well as working from home. Flourish addresses the issues that a lot of moms face--from time management to setting goals, to dealing with interruptions to managing your household to starting a home business or working from home...and much more! Each chapter tackles something that a mom might face and then analyzes it in detail.

Chapter Titles:
1. An Invitation to Flourish
2. Change Your Mind to Change Your Time
3. The FREEDOM Toolbox
4. Where Did My Time Go?
5. Aim High: Setting Goals
6. What Do I Do Next?: Seven Essential Planning Tools
7. We Interrupt This Program
8. It's Time for an Attitude Adjustment
9. Oxygen Masks and Monkey Bread Days
10. Training Your Children
11. Making Memories
12. Managing Your Home
13. All of Life is Learning
14. Solo Act: Flourishing as a Single Mom
15. Home Business
16. Moving Ahead

Within each chapter, the author analyzes aspects of life as a mom under the umbrella topic. Flourish is rich with quotes--quotes from moms, quotes from famous people and authors as well as quotes from the Bible. At the end of each chapter is a section called "Take Action!" which includes questions for you to ask yourself relating to what you just read. Sometimes they are open ended and sometimes they just ask you to think. At the end of the book, you will find an Appendix A and Appendix B. Appendix A includes valuable resources for taking what you have learned further--mostly lists of books and websites. Appendix B contains all the of the worksheets and forms that the author mentions throughout her book--or that she asks you to fill out as part of the Take Action! portion.

Each of these forms will be available as customizable versions for anyone who purchases the book. Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms is available from Apologia for just $15. There are samples of the Table of Contents and book for you to check out too.

My Thoughts On Flourish

Let me honest with you. Though I agreed to read this book, I really didn't think it was going to be "my style". I avoid "self-help" books. I just don't like them. I admit this just might be because I think I don't need them--which is probably a cry for help in itself. LOL! I put off reading this book for about week before I opened it. I got myself ready for it by printing off all the included forms before reading to have them ready. I looked at them and just got more skeptical. Time log? Goals? Lists? 

(groan)

But I decided to keep an open mind(ish) attitude and just embrace the book and see what happens. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that unlike some books in this genre, the author wrote Flourish in more of a dialogue style. I felt like I was just reading a blog post that she was sharing with me. Would you believe that I was already changing my mind about the book by page 1? What did it? Oh I think it was the list of challenges she gave that moms face in their lives. I read them and started checking them off in my mind. Hmmm. Perhaps this book could be useful. By page 4, I was highlighting sentences and quotes. And I was hooked.

The first Take Action! is a Pre-Book Self Evaluation which then guides you and obtain the most out of the book that you can get. And it also gives you something to use to measure your progress. I was flying on a plane while reading this book and didn't have my printed forms...but it was easy to just copy my answers down into a notebook because there are copies of each form in the back of the book to reference.

As I continued each chapter of the book I made myself "keep it real" and discovered that there were many times it felt like the author had been peering in my windows and observing me. I even got...uncomfortable at some of the analysis and critique. Why? Because it was like she was laying out my character faults right on paper. Debunking all my excuses for why I do things the way I do and why I "can't" change.

An example of this was in completing the time log for a week. This was part of the chapter Where Did My Time Go? (chapter 4). The author urged me to fill out a time log for the week in 30 minute intervals. To note everything that I did within those minutes-whether folding laundry, fixing dinner, taking a shower or use Facebook.

This really gave me an honest peek at how much time I waste that could be used for something more valuable that I always claim "I don't have time for." I am going to be using this form several times over the coming months to see if I show any improvement and to keep myself accountable--there were some SERIOUS time wasters on there.

One of the chapters I thought would be "useless" was the one on goals. I never considered myself a real goal setter--so I sure didn't need to read a whole chapter on something I didn't do...right? Ha! I really learned how the process of setting daily/weekly/monthly/yearly goals can be valuable to a homeschooling mom--even outside of the school. The more I started thinking about it and the more in depth I wrote for the Take Action! the more excited I became. I do have goals for a LOT of things--and I WANT to achieve them! (That's going to be a whole other blog post!)

There was one chapter that I had to take a deep breath for before reading it--especially once I realized how much I needed this book. I knew that it was going to be the chapter of serious soul searching...Managing Your Home (Chapter 12). I am not the worlds best housekeeper. I love a clean house. I LOVE organization. But I HATE the process. Dust bunnies are our family pet. Dirt is a color I have grown use to--I mean I do live in a farm and have boys. Dirty dishes are a permanent decoration on my kitchen counter. Get the point? LOL! Anyways, I was leery but also excited about this chapter.

It didn't let me down, but it was this portion that REALLY was the "Aha!" moment.

Let me tell you. I drew great comfort from reading this section and plan on re-reading it again and again. The Take Action! portion was also very helpful.

There were two chapters that were geared specifically to single moms and working moms. Though neither of these pertained to me, I read them because I do have friends who fit both these categories. I found them still very useful--especially the list on page 219-22 titled What Single Moms Need. It shared things I never even considered and things I can remember.

Would I Recommend Flourish?

I would absolutely recommend Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms. As I was reading it, I kept thinking of friends who "totally need to read this". Some of them aren't even homeschoolers! That's the beauty of this book; though primarily geared towards homeschool moms, I really think that you can find value in this book whether homeschooling or not. It's just a book for MOMS! There is something in there for every mom dealing with the burden of all the hats she wears. I think the author, Mary Jo Tate, touches moms because her own experience as a single, working, and homeschooling mom gives her credibility. She KNOWS what she's saying because she's lived it--and continues to live it. The way she shares HER struggles really helps tap into the heart of what the book is about.

The quotes alone are worth it...they are so inspirational and encouraging. This one by Sally Clarkson was one of my favorites in the book.

I have found the included forms (available in the Appendix B and as a download with purchase of book) to be very valuable--even though I dreaded the idea of using them at first. I am absolutely going to be keeping this book for reference and encouragement, and to loan out to friends. My next step is to complete the Post-Book Progress Check to see how things have changed in my thinking since completing the book. There is so much that I want to delve back into further--I see myself writing several blog posts about these subjects and my experiences with them as I endeavor to FLOURISH in my own life!

Want To Know More?

You can get your own copy of Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms by Mary Jo Tate from Apologia Educational Ministries for just $15! Included with your purchase will be the downloadable forms that are mentioned in Appendix B of the book.

Did you know there is a Flourish Facebook Group? You can also follow the author Mary Jo Tate on Twitter!

You've only read my experience with this phenomenal book...how about you check out what other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought about it! Rumor has it this book touched many of us in ways beyond expectation!

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I can't wait to really share some more posts about how this book has changed the way that I plan on doing things in this upcoming year--in this upcoming month--in this upcoming week. It will be exciting but downright scary to share my journey to Flourish...but I think that blogging about it will be my accountability. I hope you will continue to check back in with me to see how I'm doing!