Fiddledeedee

This is an exciting day of here at It Coulda’ Been Worse. I’m posting my very first book review. I KNOW! Who knew I had time to, you know, read books, what with all the treachery my children serve up for me each and every day.

As a homeschooling mom, my opinion is that Sonya Haskin’s The Homeschooler’s Book of Lists is a MUST HAVE reference book. I’m going to just stop right now and thank Sonya for all the countless hours she has just saved me from having TO LOOK ALL THIS STUFF UP. Now I’ll have more time to clean toilets, scrub floors, and fold mountains of laundry.

Or not.

Sonya has left no stone unturned. She has organized over 250 useful lists according to academic area. Covering many areas of History & Government to Art & Music, and everything imaginable in-between. I even printed out the Measurement Equivalents page in the Mathematics section for use in a recipe last weekend. My mind is so full of useless television trivia from the 70’s that there is just NO MORE ROOM IN MY BRAINS. Clearly, I needed a cheat sheet. And The Homeschooler’s Book of Lists provides a Reproducible Master’s List on CD.

Sonya is a busy homeschooling mom of five children. I asked her how long it took her to compile this list. I mean, you’ve got to be one organized mama to juggle five kids and write this book.

“I began mentally compiling this information about five or six years ago and I thought, “Man, we (homeschoolers) really need a book with all this information in it!” I made mental notes about the kinds of lists I wanted in a book like this and kept that tucked away in one of my brain’s file folders. When the door opened for me to do the book, I accessed that folder and then simply had to do the research to make sure that I had all the facts straight. I also added in a lot of new list ideas based on the recommendations by friends and other homeschoolers. I am really an organized person, but it’s honestly much more organized in my head than in real life.”

I highly recommend that you not only look into Sonya’s book, but take a peek at her website as well. You can find it here. She is fascinating. Sonya overcame a very difficult childhood, and I found her testimony riveting. She also deals with chronic pain. She is truly an inspiration.

In 2001, Sonya was awarded Foster Parent of the Year. She has a heart for unmarried pregnant teenagers and has welcomed them into her home to guide and care for them. She credits her mom as a tremendous influence on this decision. As her own mother was an unwed teenager when Sonya was born. Her story is all about God being glorified in everything. Especially the most difficult of life’s circumstances.

Sonya also mentors a lot of new homeschoolers. I asked her what would be the best piece of advice she would offer. This is what she had to say.

“Forget about curriculum and plans for the first seven years of a child’s life. READ lots and lots of books to them. Play games with them. Teach your child to love God, obey parents, and be kind to others. Meanwhile your four-year-old might want to read. Your five-year-old might show an aptitude for math. Your six-year-old might love geography puzzles. They can still do academics for fun, but if you place your primary focus during those first six or seven years on helping your child’s heart be in the right place, then you will find that the following years will be a blessing.”

Good advice. If you ever get a chance to hear Sonya speak at an event, be sure to ask her about her unicycle. She shot right up my “cool meter” when I found out that she entered a bike-a-thon on one wheel.

In all honestly, I highly recommend The Homeschooler’s Book of Lists. I give it 5 out of 5 Fiddles. (And I’ll get right to work on that graphic.)