Hello mommies and daddies!
A few weeks ago, I volunteered to review a homeschool book.
I was so inspired by the author, and homeschool mom Ms. Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag.
For not only is she an author herself, but has also been training her children
in creating their own literary works of art! She has also homeschooled her
children for over a decade now and is generously sharing her thoughts and
experiences in this book. All these on top of being a multi-awarded author, international speaker, and parenting coach.
This is my honest review of her tenth book Homeschool Moms At
The Feet of Jesus (31 Days of Encounter With Our Lord). Mommies, I know you are busy so reserve your free copy now of the e-book via this link: https://mailchi.mp/3d2b27341282/homeschool-moms-devotional. You can also Download for FREE during the virtual book launch on June 30 and July 1.
Amazon Prime members can download the eBook for free before and after the free book promotion. Regular Amazon.com customers can purchase the eBook at $4.99.
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Our family has been homeschooling formally and informally
since my eldest was 3 years old. But to tell you a secret, I have been praying
about homeschooling even when she was still in my tummy. Nobody in my family or
friends’ circle has ever homeschooled but I really felt drawn towards it. If I
may say so, I felt called to do it.
Fast forward to today. We now have 2 children, the eldest is
7 and our bunso is 4. We have collected a bit of homeschooling materials both
from the Philippines as well as from providers from the U.S. Our shelves are almost
bursting with homeschooling textbooks and workbooks from our learning provider,
as well as picture story books we have collected (this is honestly what we
prefer more). Naturally, our lives are also bursting from a lot of different
things – more responsibilities, an almost pre-teen who loves to read and
ruminate about life, a robust and kinetic pre-schooler who we have not been as
focused on compared to her Ate. From external appearances, you would maybe
think that “they’re okay, they know what they’re doing.” And in a small part,
perhaps we were in that ‘okay’ zone.
And then this pandemic.
From my point of view, 2020 was really too stressful for
almost everyone that even if we decided to push through with a year of
homeschool enrollment, I felt that we were just doing the minimum. Which was
weird because we were all at home 99.9% of the time; and really, if you were
just quarantined at home, then you’d have lots of time in your hands. In my
mind, this should have been a good year, at least with our homeschool. I
wasn’t happy with that, perhaps my daughter who is an excited learner was let
down as well. I have also told my husband many times, this wasn’t the kind of
homeschooling that I want to offer my family. Should we then move them to
another form of schooling – private or public? There was a struggle of wanting
to provide them with the best but not knowing where to start because honestly, I
want it all at once. Yes, we know that every day we are learning and that we
should enjoy the process (no matter how difficult to get there) but the pandemic
brought us a lot of insecurities about life that sometimes we are just longing for
a successful end result in an instant. A reassurance that we will be okay, that
we will be victorious. In that “I-want-it-now” mentality I was operating in, I
never looked to the blessings and small successes that were happening in the
day-to-day living and learning. I may have perceived them but I surely
dismissed them as well ☹
Ms. Teresa’s book Homeschool Moms At The Feet of Jesus helps ease
that desire for “one and done”. The book is designed as a choke-free, easily
digestible, 31-day encounter for us parents (whether you have been
homeschooling for a long time or are currently thinking of taking the leap of
faith), so we can pause for a short while each day and bring our worries, fears,
dreams at the feet of Jesus.
Yes, you can definitely finish this book in one sitting –
probably when kids are taking their nap or are again taking long to finish their
meals haha! But my personal suggestion is to really use it day-by-day to help
you in managing your homeschooling for today and the future. It’s not done-for-you
(DFY), it also isn’t just do-it-yourself (DIY). Even better, we are called to do-it-with-Jesus (DWJ..that's new?!)!
I love how she shares her family’s experiences through each
day of the book. Perhaps the one that resonated with me the most is Day 21 –
Rest in Jesus. As I have shared, the year 2020 stretched us in all directions and we
are a bit broken and are never the same. I never thought that having a proper
rest could also be a way of honoring Jesus, especially when we have 1,001
things that needed to be done asap. In the theme of this book, this is how we
can truly be at the feet of Jesus. For us to come to him, for our children as
well to come to him. This is a powerful reminder that we are not called to be
successful, but we are called to be faithful (quote from Mother Teresa). When we give ourselves time to rest
and lay it ALL at the feet of Jesus, tired but knowing we are faithfully doing our
best with our family then we can experience a beautiful release and a way of
praying and believing that His will be done in our lives.
Get this book if:
- You are a homeschooling parent - we all experience things differently but there are a lot of very similar circumstances we can learn from.
- You are deciding whether to homeschool - honestly the children all learn a lot from home, maybe you can start on this month-long journey to help you decide.
- You want a 31-day experience-based learning that can help you be more open with your fears and dreams in homeschooling and bringing up your children. Tip: finish the book, both the reading and writing per chapter, all the way to the end and you'll get your very own homeschooling game plan which you have accomplished the DWJ (see above!) way.
- You literally have a lot on your mind and you can't focus day in and day out - consider this as your 31-day devotional focusing on a Bible verse and how it can illuminate the road for you as a homeschool parent. Sometimes we just forget to pray or set our thoughts on Jesus, this is a good way of doing both.
- You are a homeschool dad - this is really bite-size for every day, but full of lessons. I'm sure pogi points pa when mommy sees how you are learning from this :)
