I am so excited! With my husband’s blessing I am going to develop an online Homemaking911 class. I have a million ideas of what to include in this class.
I get many questions from readers, and that will be a large part of what we cover, but I NEED YOUR INPUT! Please share with me any thoughts you have in any of the following areas?
1. What would you (or homemakers you know) want to learn in a homemaking class? If you could speak with experienced homemakers what would you ask them?
2. Who are some of the writers, websites or books you have loved?
3. What have been some of the best tips or hints you know that can help other mothers?
Thank you very much for your input. I cannot wait to get started building the content for the class!
God bless,
Malia Russell
www.homemaking911.com
What are the best timesaving tricks that can be implemented with the least amount of effort?
Here’s one: At one of the SECC homeschool meetings, they had a panel of speakers answering various questions. I think it was Therese Cooper, although it might have been someone else. The subject was how to keep your house in order when you spend all your time homeschooling. The answer was, “What bugs you most?” After some thought, she had decided it was the bathrooms. So she put a can of clorox wipes in each bathroom, and first thing every morning, the designated kid had to wipe down the toilet seat & rim (where the boys pee) as part of a 5-minute prep-the-house activity at the start of the homeschooling day.
That simple idea has helped my bathrooms tremendously! And it was so easy and quick! Much easier than planning a monthly cooking session 🙂
Rebecca.
I enjoy Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions. I’d love to learn more about implementing this “slow” food type of cooking into our busy homeschooling life. The best tip I can give right now is to restock the diaper bag when you get home from an outing. ;0)
Thanks for starting this project to help others like myself,
Becca<
This is wonderful Malia! I look forward to learning from you.
The “frugal” part of our lives I’m working on right now is becoming less and less dependent on “groceries”.
I’m in the process of finding a good “bread” recipe. Something easy to make and works well with sandwiches.
So far, I think I’ve found a good white bread recipe but not a wheat recipe yet.
Another thing I’m working on is finding someone who will sell fresh milk. Yes, I know this is illegal in most states, but us country folk take care of each other! The preservatives in our foods as well as the hormones is scaring me to death.
We already raise our own chickens and they do provide eggs. We hope to purchase a Dexter cow sometime soon. Right now, even being frugal isn’t paying the bills. It’s only allowing us to barely keep up with the rate of inflation.
We make our own laundry liquid, dryer sheet mixture & handsoap. I’m sure there’s much more I am doing, but hesitate to put it all down right now.
Anyway, that’s my 2 cents worth. I’m sure there is much more we could be doing.
I look forward to learning from you!
Oh, and I would LOVE to learn about medicinal herbs & the OLD WAY of doing things – like our grandparents did.
How did they prepare good meals when an item was not in season?????
Hi Malia,
The question I have for an experienced homemaker would be an easy way to set up weekly menus when someone doesn’t really like to cook that much. So, I am interested in inexpensive, quick, easy, & healthy meals for my family.
Thank you,
Shelly 🙂
Hi Mike! Hey, thanks for leaving a comment. I have seen that book in the book store. It might be a good starter book for a mom or college student, too. For homeschoolers, it may be a good thing to assign a teenager to cook once a week and use a fun, easy cookbook like that. I will keep that in mind when developing the content for that section.
Thanks for visiting. Be sure to stop over and leave your web address in your signature line. I know folks would LOVE to see your business. If you do not actuially put it in the post, others cannot see it. We do get lots of WAHMs visiting our site.
Blessings,
Malia
“If you could sit at the feet of an older, godly woman, what kind of things would you ask her?” Oh, to have the opportunity to sit with my grandma just one time since being an adult woman. She died when I was 20, and I did not know then what I know now (sigh), but I wish I’d had the insight to ask her how she did it all. Raise 5 kids and tend to the house, and manage during the depression, and instill in all the kids the belief in God, and the importance of family. Just what I wish I could have had.
That is so precious! My own grandmother died when I was 18, and I never even knew what to ask her! By the time I knew what I needed to know, it was too late. Let’s keep that in prayer. I am getting other folks to partner with me on the content for this class, and if we could fine some older, Godly women to help contribute, what a blessing that would be!
Malia
Malia,
I know I NEED some organization/decluttering lessons.. from A-Z and then some.
This is an area I pray about continuously.
I am organized outside the home, most of the time, but when it comes to my home
that is an area of weakness.
Thanks!
You’re a blessing!
Malia,
I have been leading a book club for homeschooling mothers this semester using the book The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. It is full of godly wisdom and encouragement and would be a wonderful resource for all interested in homemaking that builds a family.
You sent me pondering on the question about sitting at the feet of an older godly woman. I am very blessed to have 2 older godly women in my life on a regular basis, and I “soak” from them every week. I guess I would ask what life lessons they learned along the way. Events that shaped them, or tips that really made a difference for them.
For me, the concept that “the freezer is your friend” has made the most impact on me as a homemaker. From advanced meal prep, to the frugality of buying on sale and freezing, to the way to preserve fresh garden veggies – it has been the best set of advise.
I would love to learn more about herbs and how they can be used for everyday illnesses, and how to use them for kids doses.
I would love to learn how to get into a group of a few families that go in together and buy a cow, with the intent of splitting the meat, and some chickens, and split expenses and the labor.
Another thought, I know that in the near future I will be looking into making my children’s clothes. It is not to save money, as we are blessed to have another family that provides hand-me-downs, but it is the choices for girls these days. The lacy, see-through, short, tight, words-on-the-behind, options for young girls is just trashy, and we are trying to instill modestly in our children. So – I know that I will be in search of some great patterns – the basics: shorts, pants, dress, shirt. I know how to sew, but if there are other moms that don’t – to help organize a class might be helpful.
Just some thoughts. Good luck!
Julie
Hi Malia,
I just stumbled on your website after reading an article you wrote for TOS Magazine. I am enjoying every minute of it and before I go off to fold laundry 🙂 I wanted to reply to this question. If I could sit at the feet of an older more seasoned mom I would love to have her talk to me about the day to day relationship building that takes place when mom and kids (particularly daughters) work side by side and how to implement and protect that time. I did not have this as a child and I so deperately want it for and with my kids. I am looking forward to your class. Thanks for all you do!
Nicole
The most valuable part of an online homemaking class would be the consistency. In my experience and in some of my friends’, so often we have taught the first child those needed homemaking skills, but when the time comes to teach the others it tends to get pushed to the side, or because one child knows them we may forget that the others need to be taught them as well. An online class would help to keep the busy mom on track with teaching these greatly needed skills. If it were a class in a chat abled room, it would be beneficial to the student to be able to ask questions directly with the teacher. Sometimes it is also difficult to word and get the point across on how to do particular skills. This way they could ask for more specific directions
What a great idea. I would love an online homemaking class! So many of us were not trained in homemaking skills and don’t pursue gaining these skills until we are thrust into marriage or after having children. On top of that, most of the time, the older women in the church are not keepers of the home so they can’t teach the younger women. That leaves many of us to turn to books. You can’t ask a book questions though, they just aren’t interactive. An online class would allow women to take the class from home and to be able to interact with other women for ideas. I think that it would fill a desperately needed gap in this generation of younger women. I would be SO interested.
I’m praising the Lord for this conference and your ministry 🙂
I really enjoyed your talk the other day. There are so many things that I could use in a Homemaking class. However, the number one lesson I would love to learn would be, How to make my home a place of peace, security, and love for both my husband and children. In other words, how to feather my nest for them and not just myself.
Thanks for the opportunity to share.
The best part would be having such a thing 😀
Women my age [40] and definitely younger ones haven’t been taught this – I didn’t have Home Ec in school.
It would also be encouraging to associate with some likeminded women, that still appreciate the womanly arts.
It would be nice to listen/read to encouragement and support for our choices instead of discouragement.
Thanks
Hi,
I think the most valuable part of an online homemaking class is a focus on why we do what we do- to serve the Lord. We can get homemaking tips anywhere- books, blogs, websites, tv but very few focus on serving the Lord. We have to remember this. Our work is valuable and when we do it for the Lord, it is invaluable!
Thank you.
I think the most valuable part would be how to make and best store food in freezer and canning. Cooking in bulk batches would save time and money later. I just don’t know how to start.
Learning how to make food items that seem like bought items – especially snacks
In other words – one way to save money is not to buy things like Poptarts and Fritos – but my family is use to them and like them – I’d like to learn somethings that hubby and children will still like and save money
An idea for online homemaking class: bulk meals menu planning
The most valuable part of an online homemaking class would be getting to sit here and listen to it with my daughters so we can all learn more together!
Basic cooking recipes for processed foods. I just now learned how to make refried beans. I’ve been a mom for over 30 years! lol!
The most valuable part of a homemaking class would be anything that would help change ,me from a well meaning but disorganized and haphazard lady of the house to something closer to June Cleaver or even better, to a Proverbs 31 lady!
I want to see material about motivating children to do assigned tasks cheerfully.
I think the most valuable thing would be tips and helps on how to tackle the long-term maintenance types of things.
Let me explain, I grew up moving very frequently! This continued through the first few years of marriage. Now we’ve lived in a home for 8 years! The longest I’ve lived anywhere…ever!
So I would find it valuable to know what to do to ‘maintain’ the house, and how to prioritize those things over time so it’s not overwhelming!
Thanks for this opportunity!
What would be the most valuable part of an online homemaking class? The accountablity of getting it done.
Easy and ready to use printouts/charts, and great motivation for working for the Lord and understanding how to obtain a servant attitude towards our families and homes (for homemakers and our daughters).
A good discussion on the “how to”s. How to best juggle all the different responsibilities, including homeschooling.
It is important to learn how to approach tasks so they won’t overwhelm you (scaring you from trying at all) or rule you (leading to a life of perfectionism and being overly demanding).
The most valuable part of an online homemaking class for me would be :
sharing tips with other Moms and finding what works for them.
The best thing would being able to learn something new without having to
leave my family to do so! Something that I would then be able to share with
my family.
Thanks for all the wonderful information you have on your site!
I would like ideas on simple, fast, healthy, cheap meals to make for supper during homeschooling time.
The best part of a home making on – line class – accountability and
motivation.
Accepting what we can get done as being enough – not beating yourself up for it not being perfect!
The best part would be getting taught by someone other than me. Right now it is – hit or miss and learning from my mistakes! lol
As the Queen of Intentionality…(or should I say best of intentions..ha ha), I would love the accountability of breaking things down and really doing them. I “know” the skills or can find tutors online, I speak on the skills at conferences, but in reality, best of intentions equal work and it would be great to do this with other ladies/kids all on the same road with the same heart for our families. I am a meal planner for my home based business, and find that is easy for me, but decluttering or maintaining the house…ugh! How does homemaking translate on a day to day basis, with many other responsibilities as well? I would love for all of us to share our gifts and encourage each other on the journey with the things that are easy for us, those tricks of the trade, so that maybe the tasks that are difficult for us will slowly become less daunting.
blessings on the journey,
Jen
http://www.easyfamilydinners.com
http://www.familylifememories.com
I would really like to see some type of class on organizing time for mothers who,unfortunately, need to work outside the home and then try to keep up with things AT home.
What We would like to see in an online homemaking class:
The most useful thing to our family in an online Home Ec class would be little “How This is Done” pieces. These could include, but not necessarily be limited to, descriptions of how to do the job in question, a checklist the person doing the job could use to make sure they were following along right, and maybe even a picture or pictures of what it should look. “How This is Done” could be applied to cleaning, cooking, baking, errands, organizing, I think really anything you can imagine. It would be up to you.
While many families have mothers that have come from good homes and know these things and can teach their children, there are increasing numbers of women that have reached adulthood without ever having learned these things for themselves. Some people, like myself, are simply limited physically in what we can model for our children, but still want them to learn. A baseline of “How This is Done” pieces would make your course appealing to both adults and youth.
If I were to sign up for you Homemaking class I would most want to learn about training children to do chores. I have five children ages 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2. I find it difficult to keep everyone working and I usually end up doing all the work myself.
Thank you Malia, for your talk this morning. I am so motivated to bring order to my home!
Hi Malia,
I know you are working on a homemaking newsletter. Here are the questions I have mostly related to cleaning that I’d love answers for:
What is the best technique/product(s) to throughly clean:
1.shower doors/soap scum buildup in shower stall?
2. smudge marks on hardwood floors?
3. light colored vinyl flooring in kitchen, which is a high traffic area. Dirt gets into little grooves in the flooring. How to get it REALLY clean and shiny.
4. wood window shades?
5. how to remove stuck on hairspray from bathroom counter tops?
6. wash walls?
Here would be my topic. What would you define as Biblical success in homemaking? As far as what would it look like and what verses would you give to support it. This would kind of be as apposed to what we might think is sucess vs what God says.
I think organizational skills in homemaking is the most important. I have 2 grown daughters, I tried to teach them good homemaking skills, cleaning, organizing their rooms, daily routine of cleaning and taking care of their own belongings. Apparently I did not do such a good job, they have trouble now as homemakers and moms trying to keep up with their homes and with teaching their own children!! Please help!! J
God bless you for all the work you do, may your rewards be many!
Joyce (in Virginia)
I would love my daughters to take a homemaking course with me (or on their own as teens like to do!) My 16 year old is doing “Home Ec” as a subject, but it’s not exactly the curriculum i was hoping for. They just see housework as drudgery, rather than managing family life for God’s glory.
An online, fill-in-the-blank, or quiz/project would be great! Maybe interview moms with big families as a project?
Even though I’m a mother of 4, my mother didn’t have the patience to teach me alot of things like, cooking (I can’t stand to cook, but, I have to), I would love to learn to organize everything & have step-by-step instructions on how to organize my life. I’d love to learn how to cook (even though we don’t have much money), and how to keep my sanity throughout it all. How to figure out what to keep & what to get rid of. How to sew. How to garden. How to do everything I need to do without feeling so over-whelmed with it all! I have to manage 6 people & I don’t know where to start first! The only meats I know how to cook is chicken & hamburgers most of the time. I’m scared to cook other meats because I don’t know what to do with them & I don’t know what to do with alot of foods! My mother was never an encourager to me so I feel like I can’t ever do anything right. Where do I begin? And helps?
I would like help with cooking and cleaning. I feel overwhelmed with my house and I am not consistent in what I do. I work full time as a nurses assistant but it is graveyard shift. I am exhausted most of the time and I feel bad because my daughters are embarrased to have friends over sometimes. I clean every day but I can’t seem to keep up. I have them help too but I am not good with making them, or myself stick to a schedule (they are 10 and 15). My husband helps some of the time, but not much. I feel like a failure a lot of the time. When my mother-in-law comes over I feel horrible because her house is spotless and mine isn’t. I just don’t know how to get the deep cleaning done. I constantly see things that need a really good scrubbing but I don’t have the time then or sometimes the energy. Cooking does not come easy to me and that is a struggle too. When I was growing up I was constantly criticized for any cleaning I did and I don’t know if there is an emotional component going on here or not. Any help would be great. Thanks…. 🙂
I would like some help keeping a joyful attitude, so maybe a lesson about where to find inspiration, motivation, and joy for all the little things we do everyday.
I am also interested in advise conserning paperwork, organization, what to keep, how and where to keep it. It tends to get stuffed into drawers at my house ;(
I absolutely love this site, btw, and look forward to an online homemaking class. Thank you
2 Great Tips I have gotten…..
-Freezing meat flat in a freezer bag allows it to thaw quickly making impromtu meals easier
-homemaking binders can help you stay organized(chores,fincances, family birthdays, addresses etc)
Best of luck with your project!