Being a Work at Home Homeschool Mom

Being a single income homeschool family is tough. Especially when you add in food allergies (it makes groceries more expensive), therapy, etcetera. We are working to become debt free. Our family has a dream of a small homestead where we can grow and learn and love and scatter hospitality like confetti. We want to live generously and also have a place where our boys can grow, have friends over, and explore and appreciate God’s beautiful creation and our task of subduing it.

Reading through Money Making Mom, a practical and inspiring book, from MoneySavingMom.com‘s Crystal Paine, I know that direct sales is the best fit for our family. Working outside the home isn’t an option right now. And the company, Usborne Books & More, obviously sells books. Something I have been passionate about for longer than I can remember. I am both a bibliophile and a bookworm! I believe literacy is the most important skill a child can be taught. If they can read well, they can learn. If they can learn on their own, then they have been taught well.  I truly believe that this opportunity with Usborne books will allow our family’s impact to be increased significantly by both what we will be able to give and share and by the gift of literacy we are sharing.

Why I Chose Usborne Books

Books simply must be quality. Both in content and in construction. I have been impressed with all the Usborne books we have as well as the ones I’ve seen that we don’t have yet. 🙂 As I said earlier, I love books and am passionate about literacy. I also went by the recommended guidelines in Money Making Mom for choosing a direct sales company:

• Choose a company that actually gives you a paycheck. Setting up direct deposit was very easy!
• Choose a company with a history of honesty and integrity. Usborne has been publishing quality children’s literature since 1975. They are quick and thorough with customer service. Usborne offers a wonderful buy-back program for damaged books. I have spoken with Usborne consultants who have been with the company for 15+ years and they all speak well of Usborne’s integrity as a company, as a supporter of community, and as a genuine opportunity to create additional income with a product you can feel amazing supporting.
• Choose a company that pays you well. As a new consultant, you will make between 25% and 30%, based on your sales volume in that month. When you choose to become a Team Leader, you’ll make even more. We have one of the most generous compensation plans of any direct sales company. You will find this business to be quite lucrative. The average income of a home show is $100.
• Choose a company that requires very little money up front. Usborne has two very affordable  kit options (I chose the mini-kit and the Education Consultant kit addition):
  1. Mini New Consultant Kit: Includes 8 titles and all your business supplies including your website.
  2. New Consultant Kit: Includes 22 titles and all your business supplies including your website.

For me and my family, Usborne is a great fit. If you are considering becoming a work from/at home mom with any company, or already have a business or idea, then you should make the investment in Money Making Mom. It addresses practical ideas for earning additional income, how-to’s, marketing, dealing with self-doubt and naysayers, stewardship of your income, and more. It even has lots of advice about blogging!

Now, about those books . . .

Sharing Usborne Books is Hard (but not like you think)

When I opened my Usborne Consultant kit, it felt like Christmas. I was giggling and happy and loving the new books. And then my boys came into the room. That’s when the trouble started. They wanted my new books. <- Ridiculous, I know. How on earth someone who loves books like I do ended up with two book-obsessed little boys is beyond me!

So I did the only thing I could think to do. I tried bribing them away with a snack. 😉 It didn’t work. I ended up sharing. And sharing. And sharing. Ok, so I don’t really mind. I’ll even share with you.

Usborne has a remarkable selection of titles. Over 2,000! Accelerated readers, homeschool curriculum resources, activity and sticker books, board books, young adult series, incredibly beautiful illustrated classic children’s stories, and more. The mini-kit I received included:

• the Shine-a-Light Secrets of Winter
• Magic Painting Book
• Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster
• Astronaut’s Handbook
• That’s Not My Monkey
• I Can Draw Animals
• Deadly Animals

There has been lots of reading on the couch, and Mr. T has been “reading” to Mr. F constantly. They are simply enamored with these books. I am actually surprised at how much they choose these Usborne books over their usual favorites. Except for the Shine-a-Light books. Almost all kiddos love flashlight reading. These two are no exceptions. Check out the video below to see the Secrets of Winter in action!

The boys love flashlight reading together! Mr. T has been getting books out of the box since it arrived. In a vain attempt to keep the books “safe”, I have been storing them in the box rather than on a shelf while we build our own collection. There are so many wonderful homeschool titles available! I have my own wishlist (which might be a little excessive, but again, I’m a book lover!). I also put together a list of Cycle 1 books for all my Classical Conversations friends. Even though we ditched CC, we are still using our Foundations manual and Timeline Cards.

There you have it! My love of books combined with the stellar guidance from Money Making Mom and our family’s desire to live well and give more has resulted in a new business adventure. I’m beyond thrilled to be able to live out a tiny piece of the Proverbs 31 life!

Do you have your own business? Leave a link below (remember this is a family site, so please no links you wouldn’t want your children to visit!) so we can all support our homeschool mom community!