Homeschooling Organization

I have been pondering for the past two weeks what I would write about the book I finished last night. God has been using a lot of books I've been reading to really challenge me to think about what I read and to make me aware of who is writing the books and also of the perspective that they're writing from.

This morning, I finished reading The Organized HomeSchooler by Vicki Carauna. I was very curious to read this book because it has been given very hot and cold reviews on Amazon since it was published. I'll give you a brief rundown before I explain the thoughts I've had about this book more in-depth. I believe Ms. Carauna's goal in writing this book was to talk about the connections between organization and homeschooling and God and encourage homeschooling parents to be more organized, because God is a God of order and because it blesses our families. I think this is a very good book and though I have some minor points that I disagree with the author on, I do recommend this book.

This may seem like a little rabbit trail, but please bear with me...

There are two ways that many churches preach today. Many churches focus solely on practical, life application sermons. In response and for other reasons, many other churches focus simply on theological and doctrinal preaching in their sermons. There is a balance between the two, I believe. Both are important. If one speaks to the practical alone, God gets lost and it becomes a meal of milk alone...

¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:12-14 NIV

Practical teaching can often fall into the trap of spoon feeding people come come to church.

But, on the other hand, if one focuses solely on doctrine and theology, then the heart gets lost and it is easy to forget what it looks like to really live out our faith...

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17 NIV

I find that if we talk too much Christianese and don't talk about what that means to really live it out, we begin to take for granted what it means and we don't keep it on the forefront of our minds and hearts. Practical sermons do spur us on when grounded in solid Biblical teaching. This is why I enjoy Jerry Bridges' books so much--he finds the middle ground. He talks about theology and then looks at it from a practical perspective of what it looks like to live out our faith.

I would like to compare Ms. Carauna's book to a similar continuum with "Practical How-to's" on one side and "Spiritual, Heart Matters" on the other. Many people read her book looking for a book that fell almost exclusively at the practical end of the spectrum. These readers gave this book negative reviews. The reviewers are very honest about this in their reviews--I'm not assuming their feelings.

I think the positive reviewers recognized that Ms. Carauna saw that organization is both a heart issue and a practical issue and wanted to hear what she wanted to share about the heart matters as well as how to live out those convictions about organization in practical ways.

I think that sets the stage. This book is one that you have to read with a humble, open heart. It will quickly raise your defenses if you don't. Ms. Carauna is direct, as opposed to gentle, about confronting people's struggles and resistance to organization. She feels it is heart issue. In a culture where we are surrounded by gentle messages and encouraging words, it is refreshing to be challenged and spoken to directly. But...

BUT, as with any book, you need to remember that Ms. Carauna's words are not God's words--they are not the Bible. What she shares is what she thinks and it may not always sit well with you. That may be sometimes because it has shown you something God wants to work on with you, but it also may be because what she feels may not be what you feel God has asked of you and what He has laid on your heart and convicted you of. (def. conviction: a belief that you feel so strongly about you feel compelled to act upon it)

Ms. Carauna is a public school teacher and she homeschooled her 2 boys (born 18 months apart) for elementary school. She is married to a man who is the organizer of their home. Both she and her husband gravitate to organization. All of those things affect her perspective. She says on the first page of the first chapter, "I will share with you what works for our family, but I caution you not to assume that there is one best way to be organized. Every family is different, with different personalities and needs...I invite you on a journey to find out for yourself what works for you and what doesn't." pg. 12-13 I would encourage you to remember that as you read this book. I have 3 kids and I reminded myself several times that the author of this book had 2--and our third turned my whole world upside down!

My husband works a lot and I am the keeper of our home. He works very hard to take care of us, but I do the cooking and cleaning in our home. I have a friend, on the other hand, who's husband does the cooking and cleaning. I am sure that organization of our time and living spaces looks different because these differences.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is homeschooling and feels that God is calling them to look at their hearts and homes. This book is about organizing our lives as homeschooling families--not just about organizing our homeschooling materials. The beginning of the book addresses issues of the heart and issues of rebellion (which I have struggled with many times), then she progresses to how our hearts affect how our homes operate and what to consider when we plan how to become organized. She then talks about organizing our time, our priorities, our paperwork, etc. It wasn't until a moment ago that I realized that this book is really about Living an Organized Life--as a Homeschooler, rather than being organized in our homeschooling.

I don't give many books 5 stars, but I would give this one 4 1/2. This is a book worth reading...

Please note that I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Crossway Publishers for review.