Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life Vol. 2 - Education

Summa Domestica #2

by Leila Marie Lawler

Most wives possess a deep, existential intuition that they bear primary responsibility for creating the home environment, in cooperation with their husbands, who protect and provide for it. When Leila Lawler started out as a young wife and then became a mother, she had no idea how to keep a house, manage laundry, or plan and prepare meals, let alone entertain and inspire toddlers and select a curriculum to pass on the Faith. She spent decades excavating deeply rooted cultural memories that had been buried under an avalanche of feminist ideology. Lawler developed and meticulously presented these on her popular website, Like Mother, Like Daughter, and has now collected them in this comprehensive, three-volume set to help women who desire a proficient and systematic approach to home life. The Summa Domestica comprises three Family Life , which delves into the essentials of establishing the home; Education , which explores the basics of teaching children and preparing them to learn on their own; and Housekeeping , which presents detailed instructions on taking care of the house, meals, and laundry in an active and populous household. All at once lively, funny, calming, and complete, The Summa Domestica an indispensable how-to book on making and keeping a home that will serve your family best.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Nonfiction, Catholic, Family

388 pages, Hardcover

Published December 20, 2021

About the author

I am wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of a growing number of little ones, living in Central Massachusetts.

I encountered Christianity as a high school student (but really from my earliest memories through fairy tales and The Chronicles of Narnia) and entered the Catholic Church in 1979, the year I was married to Philip Lawler, noted Catholic journalist, author of The Faithful Departed.

My own journey of learning the faith has given me an appreciation for the difficulties and excitement today's family faces in living its Christian calling. I try to encourage all kinds of audiences, online and in person, to commit to the renewal of family life.

I practice "kitchen sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website for practical and theoretical insight into in all aspects of daily life. I write on everything from cooking and knitting to education and recovering what I and my daughters call "the collective memory" -- things we like to share about our creative life and also things we don't want to forget that were passed down from family to family in a more generous era.

I am co-author with David Clayton of The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home and author of God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pius XI's encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It should be noted that I consider myself a kindred spirit of Auntie Leila’s. If you’ve ever heard her talk about herself as someone torn between reading a good book and cleaning the house - both of which I’ve gleaned much about from her blog- you can see why. When someone asks me who has most influenced my homeschooling style, I usually say Sarah Mackenzie. But reading this book I am faced with the fact that even when I didn’t know it, much of my homeschooling philosophy has come from years of reading Auntie Leila’s blog. And I may be biased, but what a peaceful philosophy it is! It is not fully summed up in this quote from one of her final chapters, but a good chunk of it is: “Think of it this way. If you have all sorts of books, you are outsourcing your task of teaching the children everything. What a relief! A home library leaves you free to pursue your own interests. In turn, pursuing your own interests leads to a richer environment in the home, which furthers the education of the children.” Volume 2 of The Summa Domestica is truly a continuation of Volume 1. Home culture leads to education, education flows from your home culture. Order and wonder!

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight to read this in print, underlining and talking about it with a friend, versus the occasional blog post here and there.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource. I've now added about a hundred books to my wish list- for myself and for my kids. So many good suggestions. Plus good tips for all areas of home schooling and general parenting.

[Katie Groom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course. These books continue to inspire. Thankful I’m beginning to ponder the question of education now even though Lily is still sort of a toddler who makes funny noises and cries because she can’t put three shoes on at once.

[Lauren Mitchell]

Philosophical, practical, and inspiring. I have much more to think about when it comes to developing my thoughts on educating my children, but this book has set such a beautiful standard and example, I feel that maybe, just maybe, I can to achieve something like she has suggested. There are her clear principles of education and child rearing, but also granular details—a great help for me. And written so well, which makes it a delight to read.

Provides many resources for diving deeper here and there in the scope of education.. I’ve got some reading to do. :)

12/2025
Reread this gem and it has sparked something in me that it just couldn’t have when I read it two years ago. Now having a child I’m home educating, it’s all more real to me.

[Elise T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Auntie Leila's 2nd installment in the Summa Domestica series! This volume addresses home education, read-alouds, and encouraging spiritual growth in one's offpsring. I enjoyed this book, particularly her read-aloud and audiobook recommendations, and I completely agreed with her on discernment regarding media & literary selections. However, I think I liked the 1st volume better. Although I certainly have elements of Charlotte Mason philosophy in my personal beliefs regarding home education, I don't think I will be quite as hardcore as the author when it comes to homeschooling; the idea of writing my own curriculum around books is daunting, and I think I would prefer to rely more heavily on workbooks for helping my children master geometry instead of expecting them to read Euclid's Elements (although if they have the will and the attention for that, more power to them!). I can't say I always agreed with Lawler's theological perspective since I am not Roman Catholic; I also caught some gnostic thinking seeping into her philosophy when she mentioned that the nurturing of the soul is more important than the nurturing of the body. This statement could easily lead to the belief that the soul is good and that the body is bad. Yes, our faith is more important than anything else and must be preserved at all costs. What must not be forgotten, though, is that God gave us our bodies and minds and wants us to take care of them. Feeding the soul leads to also nurturing the body.
In spite of these hang-ups I had, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and will certainly return to it for Lawler's commentary on high-quality literature!

[Jenna Hetmansperger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is worth owning and pulling out over and over.

[Alicia McCallum]

I love the intention behind these books, but some of the advice is just… GAH! Only one thing really frustrated me in this volume. I preferred it over the first one. I really wanted to like these books, and in some ways I really do… but in some ways I do not. What I do think is SO cool is that this lady blogged throughout the years along with her daughters and then condensed her decades of experience and opinions into three beautiful books. What an amazing legacy! I just don’t see completely eye to eye with her on some points, and I wish I did and could just rave about these books. The illustrations though, I LOVE.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much good advice! I will doubtless return to this volume often for reference.

I do think it shows a bit more than the first the marks of being blog posts cobbled into a book. There is plenty of practical wisdom but it is not a comprehensive volume on education or child-rearing. Certainly worthwhile, but less a manual than a collection of chatty conversations.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this to people who are beginning their homeschool journey as food for thought. For those who have already started their homeschooling, I would say it's more of a reference book, as these same ideas are put out by many homeschooling resources.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good! Packed full of actual suggestions, I found this volume more gratifying than Vol. 1. Also it’s a better match for my state in life!

[Anda P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I’m not Catholic, this book was very helpful.

[Caitlin Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this series so far. This volume focuses on home education with practical tips such as reading lists. I think this will be a book that I reference in the years to come.

[Caitlin Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much practical advice. Love this book.