Preschoolers and Peace e-book (Crew Review)

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Deanna

I first stumbled upon Kendra Fletcher’s blog, Preschoolers and Peace, back when my oldest was just entering the preschool years. As our family has grown, I have found myself returning to the blog over and over to find advice on how to homeschool with lots of little ones in the house. So when I was given a chance to review Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at your feet, I knew that I would find wisdom to benefit our family.

What is it?

Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at your feet is an e-book that gleans from some of the most popular posts on the Preschoolers and Peace blog. The book sells for $2.99 and contains a wealth of information in thirteen short, easy-to-read chapters. In it you’ll find wisdom about how to run a household and homeschool when you have young children. If you want to go a little deeper, the “Resources” section at the end of the book contains links to articles related to each chapter for further reading.

Here’s a peek at the Table of Contents:

Introduction
Ch. 1 What a Homeschooling Mom Needs
Ch. 2 Preparing Yourself to Homeschool Older Kids With Little Ones Underfoot
Ch. 3 Planning Around Preschoolers
Ch. 4 How Do I Keep Them Busy?
Ch. 5 What Does a 2-Year-Old’s Day Look Like?
Ch. 6 How Do I Get Any Preschooling Done?
Ch. 7 How Not to Just Kill Time
Ch. 8 Circle Time, Or How We Pull the Little Ones In
Ch. 9 Preschool Boys
Ch. 10 When All of Your Kiddos Are Preschoolers
Ch. 11 Preschool Chores
Ch. 12 Planning for Preschool
Ch. 13 When Mama is Worn Out (or Pregnant)
Meal Planning 101
A Final Word of Encouragement
Resources

Many of the chapters are about establishing a routine with little ones and offer lots of ideas for ways to get the most out of their early years, making it helpful for any mom of young children, regardless of whether or not she has older ones as well.

My Thoughts on Preschoolers and Peace

I wish I had had this book a few years ago! As I said before, I’ve found a lot of helpful advice from the Preschoolers and Peace blog, but having all of this in one place is fabulous. I initially printed out a copy so I could highlight and make notes, but that meant I missed out on all the links, which add so much to the value of this little book, so I think reading it on my computer would be my preferred way to go through it, even though I usually try to avoid that with e-books. (I was given a pdf copy for this review, but the book actually comes formatted for Kindle.)

The main thing I wish I had read back when Ian was Chapter 7: “How Not to Just Kill Time.” Kendra gives suggestions for moms about filling their days when they only have little ones, things like “organize my recipes into a system that works long term” (because as they get older that would be SO helpful!) or “read the classics I haven’t read” (since it’s hard to find ANY time to read once you have a few more little ones running around).

I also loved the ideas she gives in Chapter 4: “How Do I Keep Them Busy?” Whether you’re trying to find something for little ones to do while you homeschool older siblings or just want some ways to entertain your preschoolers, you’ll definitely find something new to try in this chapter.

We’ve already started moving toward including the little ones in our morning school routine, so I was really encouraged by what Kendra wrote in Chapter 8: “Circle Time, Or How We Pull the Little Ones In.” I was freshly inspired to keep up my efforts in this area and excited to put into practice some of Kendra’s suggestions to help our family’s “Couch Time” (as we call it) go a little more smoothly. (I’m thinking I may need to get her Circle Time e-book next!)

Through it all, I appreciate Kendra’s godly encouragement for other moms and the reminder to keep Christ first in all we do. For example, when she talks about “Preparing Yourself to Homeschool Older Kids With Little Ones Underfoot” (Chapter 2), her focus is on prayer.

“I realized at some point that I needed to get into a habit of praying, because all too often my first thought was, ‘What do I need to do to fix this situation?’ rather than running to prayer. I needed to remind myself that God has the answers for me and that He wants me to put all my hope in Him, even with the seemingly minor details, such as how I was going to manage nursing the baby while trying to keep the toddler from getting into the trash can and helping that third grader with her math. Even that” (page 6).

Reading this brought me such a sense of relief. I’m not alone. Other moms have the same struggles. Even better, here’s a mom who has been there and can remind me to look to God when I’m in the throes of parenting lots of little people.

I found this book to be incredibly encouraging, and I highly recommend it to any mother staying home with young children.