Homeschooling for 3

As you may know, I’ve been working on my own website about this very subject. Working from home, homeschooling and remaining sane is possible, but it takes a bit of time to get the balance just right for your family. So, when I read the eBook “HomeWork – Juggling Home, Work and School Without Losing Your Balance“ I was excited. The project was overseen by The Old Schoolhouse and is a compilation of individual experiences, insights and stories of homeschoolers who are doing it all under one roof.

It was refreshing to read how other families are dealing with the unique challenges that homeschoolers who work from home face. The businesses and stories are varied and very interesting. Some of the people interviewed are at the beginning of their homeschooling journey and are incorporating their preschoolers into the business as well as the educational routine. Then there are families that have older children who are not only helping their parents with the family business, but are starting their own side pursuits. I find this phenomenon to be very encouraging.

As a mom, homeschooler and small business owner, I sometimes wonder if I’m really doing the best things for my family. Reading these stories has benefited me in the following ways:

• Reading how other families’ children have blossomed because of helping out with the family business has encouraged me to include my children more in my work. And I am also looking at different ways that my oldest daughter who is 9 years old can start earning her own money. I’m considering the Amazon affiliate program since she’s just started writing book reviews with her pen pal friend on Blogger.
  
  
• Every homeschooler is on a different path that leads to the same goal – mature adults capable of taking care of themselves and others. I need to stop comparing my journey to other families since all that does is cause unnecessary stress.
  
  
• Finding the educational curriculum or program that works best with our children is a key to success in our businesses.
  
  
• Flexibility and the ability to delegate responsibilities to our kids is another key to a happy family life and business. There is no better way to learn a skill than by exercising it daily. So, my daughters will be in charge of my never-ending filing. What a great way to learn about organization!
  
  
• The experiences my family has running our business will create lasting memories that we’ll cherish later in life. So I need to “relax” a bit and enjoy the ride more.
  

Another really wonderful bonus is that the people interviewed were willing to share their contact information with the readers. This is huge for me because it will be a pleasure to swap ideas and gain/give encouragement to other HomeWorkers. In my community, I am one of the few homeschoolers who also earns money to maintain our home. So, although my group is supportive and understanding when I have to bail out of activities, I don’t always feel like they really understand my situation. I’ve made notes in my book to contact a few of the moms just to setup my own internet support network. J

So, if you’re thinking about ways you can create an income from home, this encouraging and inspiring book is a great resource of ideas. You can pick up your copy at The Old Schoolhouse today.

I am the first to admit that fundraising has always been something of a mystery to me. My first experience with raising money was last year when my daughter became interested in Alex’s Lemonade Stand. It is a charity that raises money for pediatric cancer research. We held our Lemonade Stand event at a community street fair and did okay. But I’ve been wondering ever since how we could have done better. The book Easy Fundraisers for Your Homeschool Organizations has opened my eyes to the many different avenues to reaching our next fundraising goal.

Carol Topp’s book focuses on five easy (and effective) methods to raise money for your homeschooling groups, co-ops, etc. They are:

• Coupon and Reward Programs: General Mills has a program that works well with homeschooling groups and Carol tells you how to make this one of the easiest fundraisers you’ve ever seen! I wasn’t aware that some grocery and retail stores will actually make donations to nonprofit organizations as a reward for shopping with them. Were you?
  
  
• Shopping Reward Programs: These programs return a portion of a shopper’s purchases (typically 2-4%) to a nonprofit organization of their choice. The author’s group received $500 during one year’s participation.
  
  
• Food as a Fundraiser: I never would have thought of this as an option! Her real-life examples are
  
  
• Donation Drives: A great way to raise money. And if you’re group qualifies, your donors can write off the donations. Carol explains how this works in the book
  
  
• Income from Your Website: By joining affiliate programs you can set up an ongoing donation process for your co-op. Carol tips you off on the best program for this type of fundraising.
  

And did you know that under specific circumstances individual homeschooling families can do personal fundraisers for themselves? Carol also gives the low-down on reporting fundraiser income as well as additional fundraising ideas to bounce around with your co-op group. And as with all of the Wee Books sold at The Old Schoolhouse, there are additional website links to expand on the topic of fundraising. This book has put the “fun” back into fundraising for me.

P.S. And if you’d like to make a donation to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, please click here. Thank you!

I’ve been working from home for over six years so I think I have a bit of experience when it comes to this subject – the ups and downs of educating and working under one roof. But I recently read a Wee-book entitled “The Pitfalls and Possibilities of Being a Work-at-Home Mom” that has really helped me to refocus on my own purpose of working from home. And the author, Carol Topp, was able to do all of this in just seven pages – excellent for homeschoolers who have lots of young ones running around. J

The point that really jumped out at me was the need for a simple business plan. When I started working from home I didn’t take the time to setup a business plan, and that really caused me to stumble/bumble along for a long while. Although I knew what I was good at what services I wanted to offer, I didn’t sit down and crunch the numbers, and amount of energy that it would take to be profitable. I’ve finally gotten a handle on it, but reading the simple steps that it takes to setup a good working business plan really made me see how silly I was to just forge ahead blind.

Another point that Carol prompted me to rethink was about my time management. Lately I’ve been feeling out of control in that department, but her simple (and realistic) suggestions has me rewriting the schooling/work plan. I have been in danger of burning myself out by trying to do “everything”, but now I realize that I need to set true “work hours”, turn on that answering machine and do what is truly important for me and my family. Her tips for getting the family onboard with my new schedule are also a godsend. So, this week will be one of reorganization and more communication with “my team” so that we can get start hitting more of our goals and having more fun.

For those people who are contemplating joining the party, Carol’s balanced and practical advice is a good place to start before you make a decision one way or the other. Her explanation on the difference between work-at-home jobs and home-based businesses is dead on. I speak to many people who are totally confused on that subject. The distinction is an important one and she handles it masterfully. She also gives great examples of advertisements that anyone searching for legitimate work-at-home or work-from-home jobs should memorize. A lot of direct sales and network marketing distributors are using places like HotJobs and Monster to advertise their business opportunity. Unfortunately, many distributors do not place their ads under the proper classifications and this can be very confusing for those not in the know.

So, if you’re thinking of starting your own business or are looking for employers who want work-at-home employees, I highly recommend picking this Wee-book at The Old Schoolhouse. You won’t be sorry.

Wow! That pretty much sums up my experience with Michelle Eichhorn’s Wee Book “Science on the Wings of a Butterfly”. I am humbled and greatly appreciative of the way Michelle approaches the subject. I am not a huge science fan. (Probably too much time spent in those stinky science labs at school!) Even when I buy science curricula for my kids, I rarely use it. I’m quite content watching The Magic School Bus and doing science experiments on the computer. Needless to say, my husband is in charge of our families’ scientific education. J

From the moment that I began reading this particular Wee-book, I was enchanted. I know that sounds silly, but there’s no other way for me to express it. Her descriptions and writing style really drew me into the subject and left me with a strong desire to know more. I actually checked my print out to make sure that I hadn’t lost any pages! Her resource guide at the end of the book is really cool and my girls liked the idea of adopting a Monarch butterfly. As a rule I don’t like bugs, but Michelle has opened my eyes to some of their more positive aspects.

My daughters have always expressed an interest in moths and butterflies, but I haven’t been a font of information on them since I knew so little myself. Now I can impress them with my newly learned facts. For example, butterflies always rest with their wings up, while moths rest with their wings flat. Go Mommy! Michelle also placed simple instructions on how to attract butterflies for closer inspection. She has so motivated me that I – the anti-outdoor living mom – am anxiously looking forward to a trip to the store to pick up the supplies necessary for our very own butterfly garden and puddle.

The long and short of it is that this is an excellent Wee-book for anti-insect people like me as well nature lovers. She treats her subject with respect of not only the butterflies, but their Creator. She is an excellent communicator and has transmitted her love for the subject to me. This is a priceless gift that I plan to pass on to my children. This quick, but powerful, reading has been greatly appreciated by my family, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too.