Seize Homeschool Bravely: How To Squash Doubt, Trust God, And Teach Your Child With Confidence Designed By Jamie Erickson EBook

this. Will probably recommend and buy copies for friends in the throws of homeschooling, But I found that so many phrases and helps could be directed at any mother in her current choice of schooling or in other walks if life that leave them filled with doubt.
I'm Christian and I'm a homeschooling mom, but I didn't find this book to be terribly helpful, At one point I checked other reviews which assured me that the advice would become more practical after the first onethird of the book it did not.
Basically, the entire book is rarara you can do this because God has your back, Which is fine and even great if the book were called Religious Inspiration for Any Random Thing You Want To Do, I'm reading a bunch of homeschooling books right now so I will report back on which ones are most helpful,

Update: Best ones I found so far are:Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin Homeschooling by Tina Robertson, andThe Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education by Ainsley Arment.
I loved this book! It was exactly what I needed as we just decided to homeschool next year, Its filled with hope as well as the permission not to do it all! I love how seeped in Scripture it is and how the author points back to God constantly.
The reminders to be brave in God has been helpful for other areas of my life as well, Id definitely recommend this book to anyone homeschooling, I know it wont be an easy journey, but it will be worth it! Less fluffy than the title sounds, Not a comprehensive philosophy, but a combo of encouragement and practical advice for a range of problems, Felt like I was at a homeschool meeting listening in on particularly helpful, chatty moms, Wow wow wow! What a great book for those considering homeschooling AND those already in the deep end of it! Definitely gives you something to think about when it comes to priorities and goals of your homeschool journey as well as the selfdoubt and criticism from yourself and others you encounter.
Loved this book and I can see why so many people recommend it, Read: didn't love it as much as the first time simply because I'm in myrd year of homeschooling, so the panic of being a beginner has subsided.
But I still appreciate how wellwritten and encouraging this is!

I'll have to come back and write a decent review later, but this was absolutely beautiful.
A definite reread. This was such an encouraging AND honest book about homeschooling, . . the struggles and the triumphs are covered here, Lots of great supportive scripture included so if you are not Christian, you might not connect with the writing, It'll be a book that I go back to for advice along the way, This is definitely a book I want to buy a copy of so I can read it again from time to time, It definitely is uplifting and reaffirms my decision to homeschool, A fantastic read about homeschooling which I had

to read as we are starting that adventure in our home with myyear old.
This is a book I will refer back to again and again, As a potential homeschooling mom for my now three year old twins, I saw this book and thought it might be a neat read.
It was soooo much more than expected, It gave not only good advice for homeschooling moms, but I think almost anyone attempting a new challenge would benefit, This book is definitely a Christian based guide, with scripture references throughout, This biblical support for doing things that could be scary is what makes the book so strong, in my opinion, We are not only hearing the authors experiences and how she overcame challenges and what she struggles with, but she boosts her readers by reminding them that they do not have to be ready to homeschool or face a challenge because God is and that He is the source of true bravery.
Quiet the voices of "not good enough" and step courageously into guiltfree homeschooling

Many homeschool parents have a longterm relationship with selfdoubt.
"Did I make the right decision" "Could someone else do this better" "Am I robbing my kids of something by not sending them to regular school"

What if theres a better way

Not astep technique or a shiny, new curriculum, but a change in perspective that transforms the way you plan, teach, and homeschool

Homeschool Bravely teaches you to see homeschooling as a calling, helps you overthrow the tyranny of impossible expectations, and guides you through the common bumps in the road, including how to:


juggle school and parenting with toddlers at home
teach a struggling learner
plan with the end in mind
accept your own limitations without feeling guilty
stay the course even in the face of criticism
Reclaim your hope, renew your purpose, and transform your homeschool.
Because the truth is: God will use every part of your homeschool, even your fears, faults, and failures, to weave good plans for your kids.
I couldn't finish this book, Not at all what I was expecting, This book is FANTASTIC for new homeschool moms, Id even recommend it to veteran homeschool moms, I wish I had the money to buy it for all my homeschooling mom friends, Truly, I do. This is the most encouraging book Ive read on being a homeschool mom, I plan to read it every single year from here on out, for as long as we plan to homeschool, This will be one of those books that, similar to my Bible and other faves, will end up highlighted and annotated with curled corners and a reinforced cover.
Im so grateful to the author for sharing her heart here and Im definitely entering into our school year with more confidence and wideopen eyes.


This book is full of scripture, quotes, detailed references, and encouraging personal anecdotes from someone whos “been there, ” I highly recommend this book if youre new to homeschooling or if youre already burnt out on homeschooling and questioning life itself, Read this book and be encouraged, I really enjoyed this book, I love how so many of the things she talked about could be applied to many areas of life not just homeschooling, I don't know if we'll homeschool forever but for now I know that this is what God has for us, It can be easy to compare and worry if you're doing enough or doing it right but as she said in the book " God does not require my success just my surrender.
"Instead of worrying am I doing enough Ask am I doing what's mine too do"
Lots of other great quotes and always pointing back to God.
This is one I'll probably get a hard copy of, There was not enough information about homeschooling and too much information on scripture, The scripture was taken out of context many times and then applied to homeschooling very loosely, The entire book was made up of mostly that and other bible stories, I cannot tell you one thing I read about homeschooling other than to rely on God to help you homeschool and make the right choices and that there are other moms out there with the same situation.
She would say this will be a struggle, rely on God, pray, and then loosely relate that to some Bible verse, It was more saying that than it was talking about homeschooling, It was VERY vague and generic and I am real disappointed in that aspect, Other than that, it was an okay book, As a first time homeschooling mom, I get anxious a lot about the uncertainties of the new path that our family is taking.
I thought I need a selfhelp book because my selfdoubt is scaling up,

Of all the selfhelp books that I read, this is one of the few that really eased my apprehension, It made me trust myself that I can do it and be less selfcritical, I love that it is Biblebased and one of the things that I learned is to feed my faith and not my fear.
This is something that I would reread whenever my confidence is getting low,

I would definitely recommend this to my fellow first time homeschoolers, I picked up this book in May, right before we finished school for the summer, It has taken me this long to finish it because I basically took a break from even thinking about school as soon as I could.
But with starting up homeschooling again in the fall, it was time to finish this book,

What I Liked

Homeschool Bravely by Jamie Erickson is a book to encourage Christian homeschool moms who are doubting their homeschool choice or worried they aren't doing a good enough job.
I thought it completely lived up to that purpose, Erickson has so much hardwon, practical encouragement for homeschool moms, and she tells it all from her own experience,

This book is solidly a Christian homeschool book, Erickson weaves her faith through every aspect of homeschooling that she addresses, and I love that it's as it should be! Her encouragement is definitely geared toward Christian homeschoolers, and I appreciated alot of what she has to say, especially her encouragements to trust God for our homeschools, not on ourselves or crossing things off our todo lists.
She encourages Christian moms to keep their eyes on the big picture of why we are homeschooling in the first place, and that is always valuable to me.


What I Didn't Love

My only complaints with this book have to do with some muddied Christian messages in it.
Though Erickson refers to the gospel, and based on different things she says she seems to understand that we are saved by faith in Christ alone and His atoning sacrifice for our sins, it's not really clearly explained.
If a book is going to focus on Christian encouragement and teaching, and refer to the "gospel" so much, I really appreciate when the gospel is clearly spelled out.
Not everyone who picks up a book like this may have a clear understanding of how to be saved, This book didn't reach that bar for me of clearly explaining the salvation message,

The other thing I didn't love was the way Erickson took different Bible stories or isolated verses and applied them to a homeschooling point she was trying to make.
Sometimes I felt like she seemed to reduce everything Jesus did on earth as merely for our example, He is our example, but that is not the primary reason He came, Her use of Scripture felt forced sometimes, and also led to some theological interpretations I would question,

The best example of this is on page, Erickson writes:

"God constrained Himself when He took on human flesh, He gave Himself physical limitations, If God recognized the need to do less for a time, then why shouldn't you Why shouldn't I"

I think it's a big jump to use the fact that God became flesh in Jesus Christ to then state that God recognized a "need to do less".
I just cringe even typing that, I may be misunderstanding her, but I still need to point out that God is not like us, He has no need to rest or "do less".
He wasn't doing any less when He became flesh in order to live a sinless life and take the punishment for our sin upon Himself! Sure, in His humanness, Christ rested in His physical body.
But as He was also fully God, He was also doing everything God normally does, upholding all things by the word of His power Heb:, even while He had become fully man in order to become the sacrifice for our sins.
He certainly wasn't doing any less,



Anyway, aside from all that, I did appreciate how Erickson wove the Christian faith into her encouragement for homeschool moms.
Alot of her homeschool advice was right on the money, and I appreciated reading it, I'd recommend this book to Christian homeschool moms, while encouraging them to still read with discernment since I thought some of her use of Scripture and theological statements were questionable.
But there is certainly alot of encouragement to be had here,

Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, I started out this book with a small amount of skepticism in the first chapter thinking that it was going to be all "homeschooling is the best way and the only way!" and kind of cheerleaderish, but soon had my doubts laid to rest and was pleased to find Jamie bravely declaring the pros of homeschooling and encouraging us homeschool parents, but also kindly acknowledging that other schooling methods still have merit and are still a good choice and that every schooling choice has its pros and cons and that our relationship with God is the most important.

I was sending quotes to a friend regularly throughout this to encourage her and to share how I was being encouraged, and underlining stuff for me to come back and look through.
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