Here are a few of my favorite resources that I have actually used myself and discuss in the blog. I hope they bless and encourage you as they have me. **Click the images to access the resource.
Marriage Resources
Love & Respect is a great book to get started learning about the innate differences in how men and women are wired and how we can have a fruitful relationship by being cognizant of those differences and sensitive to them in our own actions and communication with our spouses.
5 Love Languages is a book that helps you and your spouse to more precisely identify the best ways to love each other. Even though it is hard for me to believe it, not everyone likes foot rubs. To love our spouse, we need to love them they way they receive love. This is a great eye opener!
The Love Dare is a really good book to read alongside the devotions and Fireproof movie to guide you in taking concrete steps toward bettering your marriage. A very practical tool to help both you and your spouse love each other well. Be careful because there is a parody book with a very similar cover. So be sure to use this link.
When Sinners Say “I Do” by Dave Harvey is an invaluable tool with the study guide to help your marriage without trying to fix your spouse. We have grown a lot through this book and study guide, more than any counseling or other resources so far. It isn’t condemning but it also isn’t a selfish look at marriage the way many secular marriage resources are. Highly recommend!
What did you Expect by Paul David Tripp is a wonderful book for those of you who may have realized that your “honeymoon” phase expectations were not quite reality. Marriage is hard work. But that doesn’t mean you quit. Words of wisdom to keep your marriage strong and help you through the trials.
Preschool/Kindergarten Curriculum
This Math Whiz is a battery operated device with no internet connection that allows children to run through math problems from arithmetic to division of all different levels. It has sounds so that you can pop in to assist when necessary. It will continue working through the problems that were missed from each set until the child gets them all correct.
Siegfried Englemann’s Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is one of the most highly recommended books around for teaching your children to read. It is so great for homeschool families. You simply sit next to your child with the book and read your lines and wait for the response. If he/she responds incorrectly, the book tells you exactly what to do. You don’t have to prepare the lessons ahead of time and each one takes only about 20 minutes.
50 Science Things to Make and Do is a great project book for my preschoolers. They like picking a science-y project each week that we likely have the materials for hanging around the house. We have made foaming monster volcanos, shadow puppet boxes, sprouted our own lemon trees… Each project explains the science behind what is happening to guide you in guiding your little ones.
Why Homeschool
The IndoctriNation documentary is super informative about the state of public schools in our country. It is easy to drop your kids off at school, have parent-teacher conferences, review report cards, even ask your kids how the day went and volunteer when necessary. But children are often there for 8 hours a day or more. It’s difficult if not completely impossible to know everything that goes on inside. This is eye opening for even the most involved parents.
They’re Your Kids is written by Sam Sorbo (the wife of Kevin Sorbo, TV actor and character Hercules). She discusses her own insecurities about her abilities to homeschool her children. She even put her kids back in school only to take them out again. Highly recommended for anyone wavering and doubting their abilities as a wife, mom, and teacher.
Encouragement
This booklet, Motherhood, Hope for Discouraged Moms, is a quick source of encouragement on those hard days. Or maybe most days. In the thick of it, who has time to read a book? Not me. But just taking a peek a paragraph at a time can be the jolt of compassion and support you need. It hardly costs more than a cup of coffee these days and is chock full of encouragement to keep you going. More than the most caffeine-filled cup can give you.