I’d like to introduce you all to my first Relevant sponsor, Everyday Homemaking.  In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that this is my mama’s company.  The great news is that means I can definitely vouch for these products!  They’re what were used in my household growing up, and I know they work.  If you asked me for answers to questions addressed by Mom’s books, I would either direct you to these very books, or I’d give you the very same answers. 🙂

So what is Everyday Homemaking?  It is many years’ (and many children’s!) worth of homemaking and homeschooling experience summed up in a handful of books.  After being asked the same things again and again, Mom got smart and wrote the answers down. 🙂  Along with clear explanations of the basics, there are some very clever and unique solutions.  (How do you keep your children from losing all of their school supplies, for instance?)

Everyday Cooking is Mom’s recipe collection.  This is the food I grew up eating.  🙂  Although it’s not 100% perfectly whole-foods, there is a strong whole-foods emphasis.  It’s also full of real-life time-saving kitchen tips.  And right now there’s a steep sale on the 2010 edition as inventory is cleared out to make room for the 2011 edition.

The Everyday Family Chore System contains the pieces for putting together a chore chart just like we used when I was a teenager.  If you have your own chore chart already, you’ll still appreciate the overall instruction included for including children in the regular maintenance of the home.  The very best part of this book is the “how-to-do-it” cards!  These are 3×5 cards to copy or cut out that explain exactly how to do each chore – a great tool to use in conjunction with the chore chart in the book or whatever chore system you’re using now.

My Homeschool Planner is just that — a homeschool planner.  It’s not overly complicated, and is very adaptable to whatever your style of schooling is.  I still use it every year with my children.  A few “extras” are included at the end of the book for keeping track of extracurricular activities, an overview of your curriculum for the year, books the children have read, etc.  There’s a also a section for writing down your goals for the year, along with a short (one-page) but excellent article about setting goals for our children.

Home Education 101 is sort of a “special case.”  Originally, this was written as a curriculum to be used by experienced homeschoolers as they mentor homeschooling newbies.  It is perfectly-suited for that purpose!  However, the teacher’s book is also fantastic as a homeschooling resource, even if you aren’t taking or teaching this sort of class.  (The teacher’s book has all of the answers, so if you’re purchasing it just for yourself, you definitely want the teacher’s book — the green one — as opposed to the Parent Workbook.)  People have been known to purchase the whole book just for a single chapter — “getting dinner on the table the same day you homeschool”!

I can wholeheartedly recommend any and all of these books, as well as any of Vicki’s articles or other resources you find on the website.   (And yes, Mom absolutely did/does what she talks about in her books.  She’s amazing!)  Do be sure to visit the website, as well; there are some great articles there.