Book Review: School of the Family

The book, School of the Family, written by Chantal R. Howard is a memoir about growing up in a homeschooling family and later becoming a homeschooling mom herself. Chantal’s  parents had a special affection for the Eucharist and passed the love to their daughter.The stories are interesting and follow a logical order, taking the reader from Chantal's parents early lives to the present. Through stories about her youth and experieces as a homeschooling mother, she tells readers of the ups and downs of life and how they overcame it all with the love of Jesus.

The book was truly inspirational, especially to a homeschooling mom wannabe like me! I especially loved that Chantal included a “Family Rule” blue print at the end. It has some great suggestions for ideas to add to daily life to make it more focused on Jesus.

I really wish that Chantal had dedicated more than one chapter to this topic. I think that it would be a wonderful idea for another book. “School of the Family” also portrays Chantal’s family as real people, not perfect people who never make mistakes. Her father struggled with alcoholiusm and her sister had many problems in her youth before reverting back to her Catholic faith. Chantal also has a brother who suffers from a birth defect. She tells how all of these things have worked to teach her about her faith. 

The only thing that I did not like about the book was that the summary on the back of the book described the book as a hands-on manual for moms. I would describe the book more as an inspiration for moms. The only hands-on material was the final chapter, describing the "Family Rule". Overall the book was a wonderful read and I would recommend it to all moms, especially those who are interested in homeschooling.

You can purchase this book here.

I wrote this review of The School of the Family for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and Oplatki Christmas Wafers.
Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Thanks for stopping by! Alicia Tweet