Today we have invited one of our homeschool heroes, Sarah Mackenzie here to speak with you and bring the hope, because that's what she's done for us for YEARS.

Sarah's the author of Teaching from Rest, The Read-Aloud Family and several picture books, including Because Barbara, which officially released March 5th of this year!

She's the host of the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast, which has been downloaded

over 14 million times in more than 160 countries, and is the publisher at the boutique publishing house, Waxwing Books.

Her best work, though, is at home in the Northwest, where she and her husband homeschool their six children.

• Defining Enough (02:15)
• Seasoned Mom Chill (09:21)
• More than 18 Years (13:35)
• Memory Stacking (20:20)
• A Challenge from Sarah (26:02)
• All the Subjects, All the Time? (27:20)
• Filling in the Holes (28:28)
• Things We MUST Know (34:57)

More from Sarah Mackenzie

In addition to Read-Aloud Revival, Sarah has started a Publishing Company (Waxwing Books). She wrote a few books, got an agent, and each time as they would get far in the acquisition process, the publisher would say the books were too “Classic.” So her husband suggested she start her own!

Waxwing has three picture books out now (that can be enjoyed by large families with kids of all ages), and the newest one, Because Barbara, is about Barbara Cooney. As Sarah began digging into her life, she discovered how she was a creative force who had a zest for life that she passed on to her kids.

The best place to find Sarah is Read Aloud Revival and the Read Aloud Revival Podcast. On her website, there’s a great Tool to help you choose a read-aloud for your family! You can also check out Waxwing Books to see what they’ve published AND what’s coming next!

Remember sweet momma,

you are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

We’re coming to you today to talk about something that affects homeschool mommas everywhere…curriculum addiction (or curriculum FOMO).

• Just Choose Something (1:00)
• Year 1, Curriculum 1 (05:45)
• Favorite Curriculums (10:25)

Remember sweet momma,
You are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

Momma…you don't have to do it ALL on your own.

In fact…inviting your kids into the kitchen (if this fits within your capacity) has MORE benefits than you might have imagined (the eventual cooking that will be done by NOT you is only one of a very long list!)

We want to talk about not only those benefits...but HOW to actually get there and with us today to do that is...

Licensed occupational therapist, with over 20 years of experience working with kids ages 3-8 AND more than 17 years in the trenches parenting her OWN children.

She has a LONG track record of success supporting parents and their children because she meets parents where they ARE and gives them real help to gain clarity over their challenges and foster better connections with their kids.

• Getting Kids in the Kitchen (01:33)
• The Eject Button (06:45)
• A Helpful Safe Start (08:25)
• Peaceful Meal Times (14:35)
• Final Questions (26:50)
• More from Kelly (33:17)

Learn more about Kelly and her programs on her website!

You can also listen to HER podcast!

Remember sweet mommas,

You are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

What if your home could (largely) run without you?

What if your children (both younger and older) knew how to pick up after themselves (and were part of the team that picked up after the family as a whole)?

What if the necessary tasks of running a household were completed quicker and there was more time for FUN for everyone in the family?

Regardless of how you feel about chores, there is an abundance of research out there proving they CAN be a positive thing (think LESS Cinderella and MORE Cheaper by the Dozen)…

There are a MILLION ways to implement a chore system, but it IS a system, which means Brittany has one and she's been improving it every month for a LONG time.

We're so happy to have our fellow momma of many and delightfully inquisitive friend Renee Amato with us to answer some common questions about setting up and running a chore system.

• Chores Defined (02:15)
• Family Chores (06:30)
• Chore Assignments (12:00)
• Standards (13:13)
• Incentives for Chores (16:15)
• Ages & Stages (22:52)
• Chore Swapping (30:00)
• Payment for Chores (33:35)
• When are Chores Done? (36:00)

Get the Family Chores Breakdown, and never forget sweet momma...

You are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

Our guest today is all about elevating daily life with liturgical living practices in small manageable bites...and for our mommas of many...small and manageable is music to our ears!

She's a beautiful Catholic wife, educator, theologian, event planner, and trained ballet dancer. She specializes in the study and application of liturgical living, culture, tradition, & festivity.

After growing up in a family full of seasonal experiences, she married into a big Catholic family that was overflowing with liturgical tradition and fell in love with sharing it with others.

If the liturgy is for everyone, then a liturgical life is too.

So this begs the question...what ARE liturgical living practices? What does it look like to live a liturgical life?!

• Liturgical Living (01:45)
• Liturgical Living & Food (04:15)
• What Liturgical Living Looks Like (08:08)
• There's a Place for Everyone (14:33)
• Unrealistic Expectations for Mothers (17:00)
• Final Questions (20:22)
• More About Steffani (28:50)

More from Steffani...

Steffani Aquila is the founder of His Girl Sunday, a ministry and small business that welcomes individuals, families, and parishes into liturgical living that fosters interpersonal and story-centered Catholic heritage, identity, and tradition throughout the Church year.
She is the Director of Communications for the University of St. Thomas, Houston and she has a Master of Arts in Theological Studies. Steffani has 17 years experience working in Catholic institutions, is a national speaker, Catholic author, and runs an award winning Instagram account.
She is also a liturgical living contributor to the Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays. Steffani enjoys hosting feast day parties with her husband, reading theological books, and ballet dancing.

She has a beautiful Instagram.

You can find her on Facebook.

Steffani’s book will be out in October from Ave Maria Press, and it is all about how to build liturgical living, Catholic culture, and festivity in the home and in the parish.

Head to Steffani’s website and join her email list!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

Now, this is going to be a treat for ALL our homeschool mommas!

We have the absolute blessing of chatting with a Catholic Homeschooling and Certified life coach (who ALSO has an excellent podcast named Happy, Holy Mama).

She's got 7 stellar kids (all homeschooled), she's a wife of 17 years, AND she's devoted her life to helping Catholic families fall in love with God through their relationships and homeschooling lifestyle.

• Emily Brown (00:45)
• I Just Don’t Want Them to be Weird (04:30)
• The Litany of Not Enough (07:07)
• Calm Down & Connect (11:30)
• The Fountain (14:20)
• Mom’s Office Hours (17:30)
• You Can Never be Behind in God’s Will (29:00)
• Sacred S.P.A.C.E.S. (35:00)
• Final Questions (38:30)
• More About Emily (49:45)

More from Emily Brown...

Emily will be a Keynote Speaker at The Catholic Homeschool Conference

To learn more about her, head to her website

If you're interested in learning more about her membership, you can find it here.

Her brand new Homeschool Course is available now!

While you're checking out her offerings, don't forget about Emily's podcast!

Finally, never forget...

Sweet momma, you are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

Are you intentional about how you run your home? Or…do things just happen and ONLY when YOU do them?!

Would you like things to run a bit smoother?

Do you need help? A village? A little community?

Our next guest is back by popular demand, and she's got some ideas about ALL those things (and we think you'll like them!)

This isn't just some *expert* who's here to tell you what to do (we have a pretty strict policy against that around here)…

She's a homeschooling mom of 6 and her family owns a dairy farm in southern Alberta.

She's deeply connected with the unique struggles of life in regards to motherhood and has built a business by helping women create harmony, order, and cooperation within their home and family so they have energy and the mental fortitude to do all the things that God has asked of them (and the wisdom to discern what God is actually asking of them!)

• Habits & Systems (02:16)
• There's a System for That (03:38)
• Systems for Homeschooling (09:57)
• Choosing Where to Begin (13:37)
• The Big Five of Homemaking (18:15)
• The Next Steps (20:40)
• The Six Features of a Successful System (25:05)
• Do Your Systems Change? (31:53)
• The System That's Working the BEST for Tessa Right Now (35:25)
• Final Questions (40:45)
• More About Tessa (46:48)

Get the Morning High-Five

Check out her web site buildacountryhome.com

She has a course called Stressed to Blessed: Mastering the Art of Christian Homemaking and in the course she walks you through your whole home system, set up standards for your home (what you want to do, when you want to do it), and there’s a whole lesson on communicating these standards to your children and spouse to help them get on board.

Tessa believes that the home is the whole foundation for society, and as mothers it’s our responsibility to set a tone of order, peace, creativity, fun, harmony (siblings should get along) and she believes that children should be taught the skills to run a household.

You can find Tessa on Instagram @buildacountryhome

Remember sweet mommas,

You are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.

The fact that Mayhem begins with May just seems too apropos...

The end of school is mayhem...our schedules are mayhem...our minds are mayhem...our homes are mayhem...

Today we're talking with a certified productivity and organization expert, the owner of ClutterLESS, wife, and mom of 4.

The end of May feels like the end of the marathon…your legs are wobbly, medical attention may be needed…

How can we set up our homes to serve us in this transition from the end of school into the summer…and what are some of the ways Kelly sets up HER home so it runs in the background and she’s not tripping over her home in addition to the other chaos happening?

• How Alliteration Can Assist YOU (03:20)
• Maintenance Monday (04:32)
• Straighten-up Saturday (06:43)
• Meal Prep & Planning (11:30)
• Final Questions (17:00)
• More About Kelly (24:35)

You can find Kelly on Instagram @clutterlesskelly and on Facebook at ClutterLess Kelly.

She JUST re-vamped her website clutter-LESS.com, and you can head there to learn about her membership, her online course, and working with her online or in-person (depending on where you’re located).

Finally, get her Weekly System Guide!

Remember sweet mommas,

You are doing beautiful work!

Find the complete podcast notes on our website.

To find The Deliberate Day on Instagram, click here.

Looking for items shared in our podcasts?!

• Here's our Homeschool Plan Like A Mother Guide!
• Here's the Editable Homeschool Clipboard Template
• For the 12 Week Planner, click here! (Use code PODCASTMOM for 20% off!)
• Get your FREE Meal Planning Kit here.
• For the Favorites List, go here.
• If you're planning an adventure, you'll find the Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide here.