Written by Heather Solos
Published at Betterway Home
About the book
From quick cleaning solutions, instructions for removing stubborn stains, simple fixes to wardrobe malfunctions, troubleshooting advice for home appliances, a guide to basic home maintenance, or ideas for how to fix quick, healthy meals, Home-Ec 101 will teach you real skills for real life. It’s everything you wish your mom had taught you, written in a funny, easy-to-understand tone. Cut the apron strings and equip yourself with the skills you need for everyday life.
My Thoughts
I will admit it…. I dislike cleaning. But it has to be done. I am pretty much given up on the joy of cleaning the bathroom and such by now. But as a homeschooler I also know about the importance of teaching my kids these skills. I think we are doing a good job on the vacuum and cooking departments but I know there are areas that need improvement.
Now available on the market is a cute little book titled Home-Ec 101. As many of you know, the Home-Ec lessons are now included in the curriculum. Actually it started for the year after mine when I was in high school… I have seen the kitchen included in an high school near home. Impressive. Almost wish I was a teenager again. Mind you, even though they are learning how to cook, I doubt that they learn the skills of cleaning a home.
The book is divided in sections.
- Clean It where you will learn to clean properly the floors, kitchen, bathrooms (yuck!) and more.
- Wash It where stains, odors and repairs won’t have a secret for you.
- Fix It which will guide you to become an handyman with basics information.
- Cook It which covers anything from which cookware/utensils to purchase to preparing a meal.
- Appendixes for homemade cleaning solutions, dangerous chemical combinations, emergency preparedness checklist, measurements conversion charts.
For the purpose of this review, I will concentrate on a specific section of the book – which is the one where I have more issues I think – Cleaning. The room that is the less organized in my house is more than likely my office. Yikes, with the books to review piled on the floor and paperwork all over my desk, no wonder I make sure that this door is closed when people come over (okay I admit that I don’t want kids going there so I lock the door of it…! Here I said it!). Still every once in a while even I get fed up and decide to do some purging… LOL
One year, when we had three kids back then, we decided to buy some shoe racks to put in the entrance of the house. Why? Because we were tired of stumbling on the numerous shoes there. Now our third son’s job is to make sure the shoes are place on the shoe rack when he gets up in the morning. He is five years old. There are days he complains but he understands that it has to be done. Sometimes an older brother will help him. Another job the kids are doing on a daily basis is to empty the dishwasher in the morning. As soon as they are up, they work together to empty it and place the dishes where it goes when they can. It helps tremendously to have them do that in the morning. There are no age to start learning how to clean. Each kids can have assigned tasks and help in the house. Even my three years old daughter helps in many ways…
Last fall, I tackled the school room. Mind you there might be some work to still do in there but it was very useful to have identified a specific shelf for each kids this year (see image on the right). My suggestion for someone who start after reading this book, is to start small. Take one room at a time. And divide this room into section if you need to. I know that I could become overwhelmed if I only take the BIG picture. And assign jobs to your kids. Yes there will be complaining at first and the “Do I need to do that?” question but keep in mind it is good for them to learn to organize and clean properly at a young age. It will be a blessing for their spouse in the future for one thing and you won’t be embarrassed when you visit them later in life too!
Throughout the book, the author gives tidbits of information about the importance of cleaning and taking care of your home. I particularly love this one…
Protect Your Investments
Regular cleaning protects the money that has already spent. This is especially true if furnishings were financed; without maintenance they depreciate even faster.
In the cleaning section, the author also included a daily chores schedule for each day of the week. I personally need to check this out as I find that my cleaning is mostly based on the feed up feelings I will have. If I could schedule it more, maybe I won’t get frustrated as much… For certain products we use to clean the bathrooms, I usually have difficulty breathing due to allergies to certain things. I am pleased to see that there is an appendix on homemade cleaning solutions. I will definitively visit this appendix to discover how I can improve the joy in cleaning the bathrooms… *grin*
Each section are designed the same way. The book is easy to read and will encourage you to find new ways to ameliorate your home management. This book is 240 pages but each and every single pages contains essential information for anyone.
As for the homeschool front, I am seriously considering including this book into my oldest son’s curriculum next year. He will be in grade 5 and I think it would be good for him to go through this book. It is written for everyone to read even a 10 years old. I almost wished there was questions for each chapter included at the end of the book so I can test him on his reading. I guess I will have to do this myself this summer.
Disclaimer: I have received a pdf version of the book while participating to a project of One2One Network. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.
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