Mrs. Binz has written yet another very practical, very readable, very applicable book here. I have three teaching degrees (2 BS, 1 MA) plus many years of public and private school teaching experience, but when it came to homeschooling, I was rather overwhelmed. I could easily manage a class of 30+ kids more or less the same age, in select subjects that I was told to teach, with the provided curriculum, within a rigid time frame. Being given a lump of clay with which to do whatever I wanted/whenever I wanted left me bewildered at all the choices! So we muddled through, doing a pretty much ok job, I think. Both of our daughters excel in some areas, average in some, and are a bit slower in others. (Fairly normal.) But now that I have an entering high schooler, I am even more confused by the choices than ever before. I have spent literally hours and hours this spring wading through curricula descriptions, college entrance requirements articles, scholarship how-tos, and so on.But nothing has helped me as much as Lee Binz has. I have devoured many of Mrs. Binz's books this winter and spring, and I am SO THANKFUL! Looking back over the past 9 years of homeschooling, I wish I had read many of her books at the beginning of our journey. In particular, Creating Homeschool Balance would have helped me. From the very first chapter, paragraph after paragraph contains practical advice.Concrete examples:1. I really wish I would have understood to put my weakest subject first, both in curriculum dollars spent and in priority of teaching. for me, it was math. We tried three different curriculum first, because I was trying to save money. Finally, after a couple of years of tears, anger, and a lot of frustration, we invested in a more expensive curriculum that has been a great blessing. After making the financial investment, I began making it the first subject of the day, which also has made a great difference.2. Mrs. Binz discusses the difference between "perfectionism" and "mastery." I found that discussion very helpful, as both my daughter and I struggle with perfectionism.3. Her discussions about seasonal stressors and the "tyranny of the urgent" were very helpful. Even though I had plenty of public and private school experience with not finishing the curriculum by the end of May, for some reason, I thought with homeschooling there would be no excuse for not finishing. Looking back, we've had so many reasons to be thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling (special needs child, caring for elderly parents, etc.), but I still struggled with the rigidity of the yearly calendar and how to keep schooling (read: get a certain number of pages finished) when faced with curve balls.Overall, I highly recommend Mrs. Binz's books. I wish I had read many of them before I started homeschooling, but it's not too late for me to learn from her now.