Review: Apologia–Flourish (TOS Review)

  We just finished the awesome book, Flourish: Balance for Homeschool Moms from Apologia Educational Ministries as a review!  Those of us who are moms know that being a mom is hard work.  Being a homeschooling mom is EVEN harder!  There is always so much to do and it never seems like there is enough time to do it all!
This book has been really great to help better plan and time manage.  It is filled with lots of great tips, great quotes and scripture too!
The book is written to help you put into action the concepts being taught.  When you purchase this book you also receive free downloadable pages for taking notes, implementing lessons and keep track of goals!

At first it may seem like not all of the chapters apply to you (Mary Jo Tate, the author, talks about home business for example), but everything in this book can by applied.  Whether you homeschool, work, or do it all and more!

She talks about the need for Organization, Routine, Accountability, Goals, Planning, Good Attitudes, Balance, Priorities, Family, and more.  She has great ideas and examples to help add all these things to your life!

You start this book with a self evaluation questionnaire:  (see picture above).  This book gives you a lot of time to reflect as part of the learning process.  There are many days I feel as if I have run around like a chicken with my head cut off and accomplished NOTHING!  (Please tell me we all have days like that!).

It was great to be able to see what I HAVE accomplished, what I could have fit in if I had planned a little better, and more!

One of my favorite quotes from the book is:

“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end.  It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.”  - Margaret Thatcher

That is especially true for me, a to do list, DONE gives a great feeling of satisfaction to me.  This is what I am striving for, yet…this book helps to keep that TO DO list realistic, manageable and achievable! 

author Mary Jo Tate  

One awesome strategy introduced in this book is the STOP DOING LIST – deciding what you spend time doing that is NOT worth your time!  I thought this was great, how many times do we fill our time with menial tasks, things that don’t really matter in the long run?  Things that we don’t want to say NO to, because well, we are too nice to say no?!  Sometimes we have to say NO, sometimes we need to put less important (but good) things to the side to make room for the better and the best.

Other important bits – Establishing boundaries, letting go of guilt, having a positive attitude. 

Each chapter ends with a section titled TAKE ACTION! 

This is definitely more than a book you read idly.  You’ll need pen and paper to get the full use of this excellent read!  A self-help book that requires immediate action!  You can get the book for $15.  I recommend it for all MOMS!

Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlourishAtHome
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maryjotate