This is another awesome book in the Management for Moms Series. I can’t say enough good about these books. They are chalked full of helps and encouragement and make me feel that I can really do this!! Again, this is a wonderful book for not only the moms, but also to hand down to your children as they prepare for their own homes.

She shows us how to make it where our homes are presentable at any time not just after working our heads off for days getting ready for company. She understands what it is like to have children and trying to juggle everything, but she has given us a handbook to help with making it easier to handle.

She shows us how to schedule our priorities.

• God’s claim on our time
• A human being, not a human doing
• Big rocks
• Take inventory
• You become effective by being selective
• Report for duty

A mother’s work seems to never end. From the time we crawl out of bed (for me 4:30 am) until we go to bed at night. But if we can get a hand on the “stuff” in our lives, we all enjoy it more.

She tells us “Don’t forget your brain, Mom!” She strongly urges us to use a planner to help keep things going a lot smoother. She tells us to make a planner to the season that we may be in at the moment. She tells us what she highly suggest goes into this planner so that things go a lot smoother for everyone.

Everyone works better with a routine. Some may think that is boring, but it doesn’t have to be. You can change it up from time to time, but we all do better if we doing things more on a routine. Mrs. Washburn gives us a glimpse into what her routines were like:

• Morning
• Homeschooling
• Naps (for everyone)
• Habit of Happiness
• Errand Day
• Bedtime

She goes into talking about moving things from one end of the home to the next. So she has made up 3 categories to go by.

1. Keepers – items that stay basically permanently.
2. Leapers – items that enter and exit regularly.
3. Creepers – the items that are transients.

She give pointers for keeping the costs of food down and how to do it. She calls us SILK families (Single Income, Lots of Kids).

Do you like laundry day? Around my house every day is laundry day. She gives tips how to get this necessary chore done quickly and as painless as possible.

Another topic she talks about is our vehicles. This is one area that I’m really glad we don’t live back in the “olden days” now. But as all things they needed attention. She talks about caring for it, what to keep in your car in case of emergencies, and how to make it more enjoyable to travel.

This 63 page book is PACKED full of some really awesome helps. You may know some of the things in it, but believe me, if I can learn from this I’m sure you can, too. As the Bible teaches, the older women are to teach the younger and I find this to be so true with these wonderful books.

MATCH highly recommends this wonderful resource.

To get your copy check out Marcia Washburn’s website at http://marciawashburn.com. Watch for her monthly articles in the newsletter for more wonderful helps.

We have looked for something like this for years and Rebecca Farris with The Well Planned Gal has nailed this series!!! In MO we don’t have to test our students but we highly suggest testing them in some way at least every 3 years so that you know where your student(s) stand.

These books cover:

• Math
• Language Arts
• History
• Science
• Bible

Mrs. Farris covers several parts in this book. She starts off with the Parent Assessment Test. This section covers:

• Assessing Your Child
• Individual Subject Tests- You will go through different sections answering what you feel your child can do.
• Assessment Summary –  You will score the test area that you just did of your child.
• Assessment Notes

The next section you will cover is the Student Placement Test. This section covers:

• Administering the Test
• Individual Subject Tests – This is where the child will take his/her tests.
• Placement Guide & Key – This is where you will find what is covered in each section and what the answer is.
• Placement Summary = This is the area where you will score each section.
• Plain of Action – This is where you write out your plan of what your child needs to cover after the test.

Parent Teaching tips are covered in the next section. This covers every area. She gives helps on how to help your child get each part of each subject. This is an awesome bonus that I find very helpful in all 3 levels (grade 3, 7 and 10) that I got to review.

The last section of the book is the Milestones area. This covers what to expect in each grade, how your child is growing, feeling and learning. She has done a super job with this section! She covers:

• Your child should be able to – What 80% of children are comfortable doing.
• Your child may be able to – What 50% of children are comfortable doing.
• Your child may even try to – What 20% of children are able to attempt.

I can’t say enough good about this group of placement tests. The book that you want to purchase is the year you are finishing up. If your child is finishing the 5th grade, you want to purchase the book for the 5th grade book.

To buy this awesome book go to https://shop.wellplannedgal.com/index.php/shop/start.html. Take advantage during the month of April the discount that they have given for these awesome tests.

MATCH highly recommends these tests! Thanks so much Mrs. Farris for all of your wonderful work in a much needed area!

Click here to order your assessment books.

As you can see in their ad in this newsletter, Baldknobbers Inn is offering a combination package for homeschool families of 1 night’s lodging and tickets to the Baldknobbers show. They sent our family to the show so we could review it for our members.

I never attended the original Baldknobbers show, which ran for over 50 years, 47 of those years in the same theater. Last year the Mabe family moved to Branson Famous Theatre, and introduced a new show, described as “fresh, fun, exciting, fast-paced, energetic”. The show consists of a mixture of “new country” covers, sprinkled with some tributes to country artists now gone and American heroes, and rounded out with a few minutes of country gospel. Throughout the show Droopy Drawers Jr. and Hargus Marcel add in comedy.

The pre-show is a one-man show with a little music and a lot of humorous stories. We were disappointed at the amount of off-color humor that was included in this segment and hoped the main show would be better. While it was not as prevalent, the main show still had its share of off-color jokes. The music was too loud for my tastes – only on the slower quieter songs could I understand more than a word here and there. However, the rest of the audience seemed thrilled with the entire show. I have often said that if music sold based on my tastes, a lot of musicians would be out of work. If you enjoy the type of show I have described here and some off-color humor does not offend you, than take advantage of the offer Baldknobbers Inn has for you next time you are in Branson – like when you come for homeschool days at the Butterfly Palace. However, because of the humor, MATCH as a Christian organization cannot endorse this show.

The Balknobbers Motor Inn is a great place to stay and they are offering us a wonderful discount. They also have great discounts to other places in Branson. Let them know that MATCH sent you.