Love the Journey Book Review

We love to share books and resources with our readers–especially those that we truly enjoy and know will encourage and help equip you to do your best as you homeschool your children. This book is one of those resources! Three moms on the Hip Homeschool Moms team were given the chance to read and review this book, and now we’re happy to share it with you!

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Cassandra Shares:

Reading Love the Journey is like curling up with a trusted friend and chatting about the things dearest to your heart.  It is a very readable, highly accessible guide for new homeschoolers, though I believe it will benefit home educators at any stage of the ‘journey.’

Something I particularly love about Marcia’s guidance is her emphasis on understanding and implementing our ‘why’s.  I’ve been homeschooling for about six years now.  I get the wonderful opportunity to talk to lots of lovely new homeschool moms.  Just like I was in the beginning, many of them are completely focused on the ‘how’ of homeschooling. You know, the questions like, Which philosophy?, Which curriculum?, How do I teach this or that?, What books should I read?, Should we be doing a co-op?, and so on.  I want to offer heartfelt and sound advice, but sometimes it’s hard to put into words what I’ve learned after many ups and downs on my own journey.

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I was nodding in complete agreement as Marcia expressed the importance of knowing our ‘why’ before we even start to think about the ‘how.’  Yes…that’s it.  That is a golden piece of advice for any new homeschooler – because we all want to chat for hours about the ‘how,’ but how many of us really truly know our deep-down ‘why’?  This ideal in itself makes me cry three cheers for this book.  YES!  We flounder because we haven’t clearly stated our reasons for WHY he are homeschooling in the first place.  Only prayer, reflection, talking with our husbands, and really soul seeking can give us our vision. Then, with this in our hearts and on paper, we can march forward and embrace the ‘how’ (the practice) that will lead us in the right direction. My own quest to answer this question led me to write a page on my blog titled Why Homeschool?

Marcia encourages us to ask questions like:  What are we trying to achieve?, Where do we want to end up? and What would wild success look like?  After all, if we are on a journey – don’t we want to start with the destination in mind?

Marcia also moves on to discuss everything from forming your own educational goals to investing in tight-knit family friendships, home atmosphere, scheduling, building trust with your children, perseverance, gratitude, the importance of our personal relationship with God, and countless practical applications of various homeschooling aspects.

I would happily pass along this book to any new homeschooler who comes across my path.  (But it’s also one of those books I’d always want to get back!)

Love the Journey is full of friendly, encouraging, biblically sound advice from a mom who has walked the path of homeschooling and has learned how to ‘love the journey.’  Big two thumbs up from me!

Leann Shares:

One of the aspects that I love about this book is that, in the beginning section, it gives homework assignments that help the reader personally think through and determine the whys behind why you homeschool and how you are going to educate your kids.

Another thing I particularly enjoyed is that the author broke down Deuteronomy 11 so that the last 3 sections of the book deal with a Christian homeschool “when you sit at home,” “as you walk along the way,” and “when you lie down are rise up.” I loved that! It discusses so much! It covers curriculum, schedules, how to manage it all, and even how to end the day in a happy and loving way.

I truly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to other homeschooling families! Whether you are a potential, new, or veteran homeschooling mom, this book has something to offer, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Brenda Shares:

Love the Journey is aimed mainly at parents who haven’t yet decided to homeschool or who are in the early stages of homeschooling. As a former homeschool student and homeschooling mom, I’m not in either category, yet I still found the practical homeschooling tips applicable and even learned some things! (Note: The book is also written from a Christian perspective. If you’re not a Christian, you may not agree with some of the advice/teachings shared in this book. I found, however, that there were enough practical tips to make the book worth reading for non-Christians too.)

Although I was intimidated by the size of the book when I first got it, it is easy-to-read and written beautifully. I enjoyed some of the old-fashioned phrasings and sentence structure that is missing from most modern non-fiction.

By far my favorite part of the book was the practical tips. Although the author went out of her way to say that her book wasn’t meant to be entirely practical, I found practical applications and illustrations on almost every page.

My favorite section dealt with creating a peaceful attitude in the home. Marcia appears to believe in gentle, respectful discipline, which I appreciate. In the book, she mentions the importance of creating a calm spirit of peace in the home, and even offered practical tips on how to achieve one, which I definitely found useful.

I also loved her thoughts on how parenting and homeschooling are different sides of the same coin. Focusing all on one or the other, she says, is not as important as finding balance between the two. I liked the idea of homeschooling simply being an extension of parenting. It takes some of the pressure off and definitely helps set up a friendlier bond between parents and children.

Marcia is also a fan of not rushing academics in the preschool years, which I also agree with. She talks some about the importance of play and body development before introducing “higher” forms of learning.

Overall, Love the Journey is a fascinating look into the life of one of the founding homeschooling families. Marcia offers tons of practical advice that all homeschooling families can put to good use. Her section on finding your teaching style and the “why” for your homeschool is incredibly useful for parents new to homeschooling.

If you are a Christian family new to homeschooling, definitely check out Love the Journey!

EXTRAS: 

If you’d like to listen to a webinar by Tapestry University on choosing the right curriculum for your family, just click THIS LINK to listen to the recorded webinar.

For a basic description of Tapestry of Grace, click here.

For videos that describe and explain more about Tapestry, click here.
For free downloadable samples of Tapestry, click here and here.

To Buy Your Own Copy:

If you’d like to buy your own copy of Love the Journey, you can do that by going to the Tapestry of Grace store website.

 

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22 Comments

  1. Wow…I can not believe that I have already been homeschooling for six years since my eldest began kindergarten! What a journey!

  2. We’ve been HSing for five years now and each year is totally different! I need all the help I can get to teach my five children!!
    Blessings!

  3. We just started homeschooling in September.
    The Rafflecopter wouldn’t let me go to the Tapestry of Grace website….

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