7 Tips for Buying Homeschool Curriculum

It is spring and the end of school is near; the planning of the next year has begun. Auditions, registration deadlines, and curriculum fairs abound along with the sunshine, rain, and flowers.

On the one hand, it is hard for me to plan for next year because I am so focused on finishing this one; it takes most of my energy just to do school daily because my attention is divided by the many year-end events, the need to finish high school credits, and the sunshine begging us to come out and play.

Yet, on the other hand, I am still in 'school mode' which makes it easier to know where we're at in our different subjects. I have a much better idea than I will during summer about what needs to get done: whether it is just simply ordering the next level or that some area has been unduly neglected and is need of serious attention. 

Another benefit of having the coming school year planned before this one lets out means my books are either here, or will be soon, and then I don't get stuck in the back-orders of August, and we can begin school right away in the fall. With that reward in mind, it is worth the effort to do a little planning now.

This is my list of 7 tips for buying homeschool curriculum, or some thoughts on buying school books. My background is this: a homeschool mom who is finishing her eleventh year, who loves a Carole Joy Seid approach, and who is eclectic and literature based.


1) Embrace that there is always something new, no matter how long you have home-schooled.

Every year that you homeschool, you will need to buy books for the next school year. There is always something new  because, until you've graduated a student that you have home-schooled from birth to graduation, you are at least teaching one new grade each year. There is always something new because you're children's needs change as they grow, silly little creatures that they are.

However, after a few years of schooling, you will begin to gain confidence in how to pick books that work for your family's schooling style, even if it is new to you at that moment at the curriculum fair when you pick that book up. You've never seen it before. You haven't spent hours researching that curriculum on-line and then asking your friends if they have used it. Instead, you pick it up, look at it, buy it, bring it home, and it works. Wow! What an amazing sense of accomplishment and a gratifying feeling of success. If this hasn't happened yet, it will come after an unknown amount of failed decisions. They won't all be great but you'll eventually find your groove.

Although if you're on a roll, beware because you might be just like me. I was feeling confident in my homeschooling, having found a groove that was working for us. Then, BAM. I came up against something new that caused angst again. It was called high school. It came a bit as a surprise how much angst I had as we began high school and how uncertain and new I felt. It was uncharted territory and I did not like feeling like a new-comer all over again. However, I found relief in trusting the Lord anew, embracing the uncertainty, and then just doing it. It's a good reminder that there can always be something new enough to keep me humble.


2) If it's working, don't change it.

Now, I just said to embrace that there is always something new because it is always changing and now I am saying, "If it's working, don't change it." There is a difference between the changes that come due to children changing grades and having new needs, which is different than changing for change sake. Or changing because we are wondering if it is working, or if we could do it better, or if we're missing out on the latest and greatest new curriculum choices that have created a stir in our homeschool circles.

There are many voices out there saying this is the best curriculum. This can feed my insecurities or my desire for creative change, depending on the day. However, in these 11 years I have come to respect that it has taken a lot of time and energy to find a good homeschooling groove.

If it's working, don't change it.

I learned this the hard way by changing several subjects all in one year.  I couldn't do all of them. It felt like starting all over. We didn't accomplish a lot but I did learn not to do that again.  I have found in general that I only have the energy to take on one or two changes in a school year. So instead of trying to change everything or a lot of things,


3) Only change the part that isn't working.

Keep the parts that are working. For instance, if you buy a full curriculum set, and nothing works but the read alouds, keep the read alouds. Or on the other hand, if everything is working in the set, except the read alouds, skip that part and find some other great books to read.

This leads to the next point:


4) Make the curriculum work for you.

It is only a starting point. It is a guide. It is not the law; it is a help. I have found in the subjects that I am more comfortable such as language arts and history, I can be much more free-flowing in the curriculum. Whereas, it has taken me a lot longer to feel comfortable and find a direction in the math and science department.

My sister-in-law is just the opposite of me. She found math and science curriculum that worked for her and has hardly changed her course in that. But that is because she can adapt the curriculum to make it work for her. Whereas, it has taken her much longer to find language arts curriculum because she feels weaker in that.

Making the curriculum work for you leads me to my next point that:


5) In the world of student-learning styles, you must remember that teacher preferences count.

Being able to individualize education to each student is a wonderful benefit to homeschooling. And exhausting. Remember: you are the teacher; you are one person; and how you are made is an important consideration when it comes to curriculum decisions. 

You, the teacher, are the driving force. The curriculum that has you passionate and fired up, or that simply works for you, is the very best choice for you and your family. Even if no one else you know uses it. Even if everyone else is using a different curriculum. Especially if it is the newest, and latest, and greatest, and you just heard about it. But remember, if what you are doing works, keep doing it. Don't change it. The teacher's enthusiasm and interest count for much more than the individual students preferred learning styles.

You need to do what works for you so that you can get the schooling done.

In time, any teacher can learn to adapt the curriculum to the student. Remember it is a guide, and a help and should work for you.

The teacher makes the curriculum work...not the other way around. So, you need to also remember that:


6) It's okay to hate the curriculum you bought, discard it, and start fresh at any point in the school year.

It is okay to try it and hate it. Eventually you'll be okay with that. The more expensive the purchase, the harder it is to admit that it is not working and that you need to just embrace it as part of your learning curve. Sometimes I have found that I need to just try that bell and whistle. And I do. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it flops. Even now, we have four sets of empty work books on my shelf reminding of just such a decision. I just need to sell it and move on, or give it away and move on so that it can stop making me feel guilty. The sooner you can get it off your shelf, the sooner you can stop feeling guilty for that decision.

Yes, you need to stop feeling guilty and remember that:


7) You'll never have the perfect curriculum but if you keep pursuing the calling that God has given your family, you will have great memories with your children. What an honor and a privilege. That's what we will really remember anyways: all this wonderful time with our children. This curriculum buying headache: it's worth it because it means time with our kids.

What tips and insights do you have to share about buying homeschool curriculum?

Books to help grow deeper with God

I've been pondering for quite some time a post about my top favorite books. My top favorite fiction books are quite hard to narrow into a neat & tidy finite number that can be easily scribbled about on these pages.

However, as I have been thinking and writing and sharing some of what I am learning recently, I've realized that I am drawn again and again to the same books that help me in my walk with God.

These are the books that I read again and again. In some of them, I have taken to writing in the margins the date next to something that spoke to me and maybe something of the current circumstances that go with that date. As I reread the books, it is encouraging to read the longings in my heart that I prayed about that have been answered and to re-read the words that encouraged me during a particular season or challenge in my life.

The books I have found myself in repeatedly are the  Read Through the Bible in a Year checklist from Discipleship Journal, Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot, and My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

I have recently added two books to the rotation that I can see becoming regulars. They are 31 Days of Praise and 31 Days of Prayer, both of which are by Ruth Meyer. Another book on the honorable mention list is Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor.

Even as I write these few books down, I feel compelled to begin to mention the many other books that have helped influence and shape me.  

However, truly the biggest impact has been the encouragement to read the Bible directly for myself.

I read a passage of Scripture and then try to write the verse or verses that have stood out to me for that day. I say try because the writing doesn't happen every day. Yet, I like those days best. So that even when I am using a devotional such as Jesus Calling, I usually read the bible verses first, write the two or three verses down that are referenced and then read the devotional. Sometimes when I do this, I find that I spend more time -- or feel more spoken to -- in the verses referenced than in the devotional. Sometimes it is the other way around.

Before I began using devotionals more regularly, I read through books of the Bible, instead of the jumping around that occurs in the devotionals. I highly encourage this reading straight through of books of the Bible, and to reading all of it for yourself. It is good to understand the big picture, the whole word of God. Just keep reading bit by bit, day by day, year by year, for yourself. Read verses here and there due to devotional direction. Read verses in a book by book plan through the Bible. Read the passages that your pastor is teaching about. Read your Bible.

Though I find myself in the morning, reading devotionals, I still read through the Bible. I often use the read through the Bible in  a Year List and check off the books. 

If I am doing a Bible study or a devotional that day, I do that, but then, when I don't know what to do, I go back to my checklist of reading through the Bible in a  year and just pick up where I have left off.

It helps prevent me not reading my Bible just because I don't know what to read. So sometimes it has taken my three to five years to actually 'read through the whole Bible' due to my diversions. There have been other seasons when I have been determined to finish it in a year. For my son, who reads very fast, he finds a year is too long in which to read the whole Bible. He reads it much faster than that. I'm pretty sure that I have never done that.

However, my point is to find a pace that works for you and read through the entire Bible. And when you finish, begin again: either to read it in a year, or 3 months, or on the diversion trail that I have described. Do whatever pace works for you, especially for whatever season of life that you are in. Be encouraged that His word does not go back to Him void. He is faithful to bring forth fruit in your life due to the faithful reading of His Word.

In my reading times, I read a passage of Scripture, copy a verse or two that I really liked, and then I write some thoughts about what I read. Sometimes as I go through a particular book or passage, I will answer a few questions, selecting one or more from this list:

* What did I learn about God?
* What did I learn about Jesus?
* What I did learn about the Holy Spirit?
* What did I learn about man?
* What did I learn about believers?
* What did I learn about non-believers?
* Is there a promise to claim?
* Is there a command to follow?
* How can I apply this Scripture to my life?

Sometimes I will write down my prayer requests. Sometimes I will write down questions about the passage that don't make sense.

Also, when I read the Word has changed throughout the years. For many years, I read just before bed. Then, when I got married and started a full-time job, I found it hard to read at bedtime so instead I read in the nooks and crannies of my time. When I was a mother with young children, I often read during nap time, if I could stay awake. Now, with older children, I find that I can take a leisurely time reading the Word in the morning again. It sure seems luxurious; I am trying to enjoy it because life has proven that it changes. There have been seasons when I have been able to read a lot and study the Word for hours several days a week. There have been seasons when I read the verse taped to my mirror each morning and dashed off to my responsibilities for the day. And everywhere in-between (including days, seasons of laziness).

Just keep reading the Word for yourself. No matter how long it has been since you last picked it up, just keep reading: Day by Day, Week by Week, Year by Year. I hope this encourages you to do that. If I can do it, so can you. Really you can!

How about you? 

What tips do you have  about how to spend time in God's Word in order to grow deeper in your walk with Him?

The Plan for the upcoming 2011-2012 School Year

Hello! Welcome to all and especially to those hopping on over from the the Not-Back-To-School Blog Hop at Heart of the Matter.

Today's post will be focusing on curriculum.

Since I home-school multiple ages, I try to do as many subjects together as possible. That includes science, history, Bible, and read-alouds. Also, I adhere to a learning lifestyle that includes many books that we read aloud together, looking up questions as they come up, observing wild life around us. But I do recognize that there are some academic skills that we'll not master if we don't take the time to intentionally pursue them.

So the following list is mainly for our in-the-seat work.

Bible
Our main text is The Story Bible by Catherine Vos. We read aloud. Then the kids take turns telling me what they remember, also called narration in the Charlotte Mason method.

AWANA handbooks: they each take ownership of memory verses and projects. I'll need to help the Kindergartener since he'll be learing to read. I have one who graduated out of the program after achieving the Timothy Award. So my seventh grader & I will be memorizing whole chapters of the Bible together. This will be incentive for me to memorize Scripture.

Sunday school class, VBS, and life lessons as they come up.

Math--
In order to create a fun atmosphere in regards to math we have these resources around.
I Hate Mathematics
Math for Smarty Pants
Games for Learning Math by Peggy Kaye

Muggins, Math-It, Yahtzee & many other games
Math-U-See blocks, legos
Dice, coins, chips, fraction wheels, rulers

Making Math Meaningful by David Quine for the K, 5 & 6th grader
Life of Fred for the 7th grader


Language
English From the Roots Up, Vol. I by Lundquist
Emma Serl's Language Lessons (Both Primary & Intermediate depending on which student)
Four days a week prompts to write in a composition book.
Learning Spelling Through Copy Work

History
Our main text is V. Hillyer's A Child's Story of the World. We read a chapter and then the children draw a picture and write about it. As they get older, I'm requiring more be written. We emphasize using our best handwriting and applying grammar rules.


We're entering the Roman phase as we read chronologically. I hope to read some of Genieve Foster's Caesar Augustus World. I also look up books that will fit in this time period, using different book lists that I can find including a Carole Joy Seid book list, Valerie Bendt's Unit Study book. I also use Honey for a Child's Heart, Books Children Love, and the Read Aloud Handbook to find good books to read, not just for history but also for science and for fun. I love looking for new good books to read.

I will also check out a book or two from the library about crafts & projects we can do. We also have a global puzzle, spend time looking at maps, too.

Science
Considering God's Creation: We have several units left that I would like to cover: animal classification, weather, and some others. There are other resources listed in each unit that I use to supplement.

The Periodic Table for Elementary Students.

Nature Walks & Observations in a field trip notebook

Art
Artistic Pursuits by Brenda & Dan Ellis
Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt (oh.. to finish this project! it is up first!)

I also try to have lots of art supplies on-hand.


Kindergarten
Alphaphonics by Samuel Blumenfeld. I have taught the other three with this book. When we complete this book, they can get a library card of their own. (The local library will give you one when they are born. When we started the phonics program with the first born, none of them had cards and I thought this would be a wonderful incentive and directly related to reading! They loved not being restricted to the number of books because we had to share my card.)

Bob Books for practice of reading

Sparks handbook

Five In A Row Vol. I by Jane Lambert

Handwriting Without Tears

Making Math Meaningful-Kindergarten


Seventh Grader
Fix-Its by Pamela White, an IEW product. The student fixes grammar mistakes.

Other miscellaneous grammar workbooks that I picked up here & there. I still need to fill in the remainder of his grammar curriculum. This will be a focus while I'm hopping to other blogs.

Starting Points by Cornerstone Curriculum. I plan to do this over the course of two years. The program begins to teach how to discern worldviews and how they impact literature and history. In addition to the syllabus, the seventh grader will be reading: How to Read Slowly by James Sire, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Deadliest Monster, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Know What You Believe by Paul Little. This curriculum is to begin to teach Biblical world view thinking.



Other thoughts
In this post I am listing curriculum, if you click on a colored words it will take you to a website about that product. I tried to link to the writer of the product if I could. This is just for information. I haven't received anything to do this.

I appreciated when I began all the help that other home schoolers gave me. Still, when I need to focus on a new area, I'm thankful for the trading of resources & blog hops like this one.

If you would take the time -- which I'm assuming most of us don't have -- and clicked on my post from last year, you would notice we are using many of the same curriculum. We're in a groove right now that seems to be working -- and if it's working let's not fix it. The newest additions are for the oldest (a seventh grader) and the youngest (a kindergartener).

May we all have either a great School year no matter where we are educating our children!

When do your children go back to school? Some folks around here go back today, which seems way too early for a girl who always started the day after Labor Day. Did you look forward to going back to school as a child or were you terrified? Or tell us your plans for the upcoming school year.

On Fathers Reading to Childern

I read recently that seventy percent of all incarcerated inmates enter prison illiterate.

A long time ago, I heard a scenario described on the radio. A card company donated Mother's Day cards to a prison. The inmates could chose a card and mail it off to their mom. This idea went over much better than anticipated. If I remember correctly, the card company made at least two more deliveries of cards because there was so much interest.

They were a bit stunned at the interest but they were also spurred on. Since the Mother's Day cards were such a hit, the company decided to provide cards for Father's Day as well.

But...not a single inmate sent a card to their father for free.

Not just a lot less interest. No one mailed a card on Father's Day. This speaks volumes.

How much of the world could be changed by a father taking the time to read to his children?

A simple, almost daily act could change a child's life. Reading to children inspires a desire to read, exposes to new ideas, provides a time for touch, connection, and a way to say that the child is important.

The father of my children (just for the record -- he is also my husband) reads to them most every day. Even the twelve-year-old boy who dreams of adventures and moving out on his own, and who can read 20 books in a few days, loves to be read to by his father (and his mother, too).

I knew it was a gift how much their father loves them.

But perhaps it is an even greater gift than I realized that the highlight of our day is daddy reading aloud to the children.

* * * *

What about you? Do you think it could change the world to have fathers read most every day to their children?

Erase the Inward Groan or Enjoy Reading to your Preschoolers

Welcome to anyone who has come to visit from Jamie's Avant Garde Parent blog. I'm glad you're here.

I love to read to my children. Reading aloud is an important and a large component of our homeschooling days. Today I have written a guest post about the key element of loving to read to our children with no inward groan at Avant Garde Parenting. Check it out here.


If you went and read that post, you will appreciate that I read Big Red Barn last night to all four of the children. Usually daddy gets the evening read aloud slot, but he was on a deadline to finish a project. So I had that privilege. My oldest said, "I remember when you read that book all the time. And you could say it by memory. " And then the best part was that he said, "I love that book."

I replied, "Me, too."

So we read Big Red Barn, which they helped me quote when I paused. Then we read Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman. (Another book we read a lot in the days after clearing off the book shelf.) Then we dove into the big chapter book that needs discussion for the older three to understand it all.


With the way all of the children looked at the pictures and enjoyed the books, it shows that one is never too old for good quality children's literature.

And thank you my friend Kristi for nominating me as Parent of the Week and thank you Jamie for inviting me to your blog.

p.s. For those that visit the guest post, the wise tip came from Carole Joy Seid the first time I went to one of her seminars.

Carole Joy Seid Inspires Again

My new friend Hope, Carole Joy Seid & me

Last Saturday, hubby & I went to hear Carole Joy Seid speak for the 'many-nth' time. (I'm not sure just how many times we have heard her.) We brought along some friends who hadn't listened to her before. They went away as refreshed as we did. Hearing again, "Read, read, read to the children; take them outside; and bake cakes with them" resonated deeply within the heart of Kip & I. It is more than a way to home school; it is a way of living.

We have implemented many of her recommendations. We have decorated with books. The highlight of our day is Reading With Daddy. We have purchased real tools for the children. We have turned off the TV and most media (at least for them). We try to praise them for their work ethic and character. (I always need reminding to do lots more of this.)

We still have more things to work on especially spending more time outside and just being comfortable in nature. (Even though we all enjoy the outdoors, I find it difficult to go outside much. Part of it lately has been how hot it has been -- whew!) .

Even though hubby recently lost his job, we were able to purchase some new books. What a huge unexpected treat! Not only are we watching each and every dime that goes out the door (let's make those savings last as long as possible), this was also the first time in a few years where there have been any books left to purchase. Most of the time the books have been sold out before the seminar has started.

In addition to books, we also brought home two Seeds CDs. (The kids were so excited about this. If you haven't listened yet, go and listen HERE. You'll be blessed.) I must confess we were somewhat persuaded by the quote, "Wear the old coat. Buy the new book." We bought these books: The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter, Stephen Foster And his Little Dog Tray by Opal Wheeler, and Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth.

I am hoping to do more nature walks and simply observe outdoors in our yard during this school year. We have already begun! Just today, we had a big snapping turtle in our creek. We verified it in our field guide. We tried to get it into a bucket. We watched it swim away and then speculated on where it's hiding. I'm thankful for our yard that has such outdoorsy, woodsy kind of atmosphere right here in the middle of the city. It is possible to go right outside our door & enjoy nature. That's good news! May we keep it up all year long -- actually, may we keep it up all of our lives long.

Joyfully,
Kathleen

Click HERE for the link to Carole Joy Seid's website, but I will warn you there is not content from her seminars but mostly a schedule of where & when. You can get a little flavor of her speaking on the radio interview and hear her style.

Books, Books and More Books

McGooger Academy will launch its 2010-2011 school year on August 23rd with the theme of Books, Books, and More Books. I loosely follow the 'Carole Joy Seid' method which combines the best of Charlotte Mason, Dorothy & Raymond Moore, and a little bit of classical methodology. This translates into math, nature exploration, chores, time to create, some writing and MUCH reading (i.e. on their own, read-alouds by mom, read-alouds by dad, and some group reading out loud to each other and to their youngest brother).

My main plan is to use already purchased curriculum but not yet finished. Some of the books I hope to dent heavily:
* Considering God's Creation
* English From the Roots Up, Vol. I by Lundquist
* A Child's History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer
* Five In a Row Vol. 1 (for the pre-K student but all will enjoy, I'm sure),
* Emma Serl's Language Lessons (Both Primary & Intermediate depending on which student)
* Catherine Vos' The Child's Story Bible,
* Life of Fred: Fractions
* Making Math Meaningful by David Quine (three different levels),
* Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks
* Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt (oh.. to finish this project! it is up first!)

Additional items:
** nature & field trip notebooks (they draw a picture & write a bit (varies based on age of the child) about our nature walk or field trip)
** global puzzle, Rummy Roots, math games (Yahtzee, cribbage, muggins)
** AWANA handbooks
** sign language class
**Unit Studies Made Easy by Valerie Bendt (for further ideas, just in case (gasp!) I finish all this and need more to do!!)


And we'll read, read and read some more some great books. I'm sure there are more books that I want us to cover for there are many on our shelves and those of the library that we would like to read. But this looks like a good place to start.

May we be encouraged to walk out the path before us.

With joy & peace,
Kathleen

p.s. For more curriculum choices look at Heart of the Matter Online's Not Back to School Blog Hop and with Angie at Bring the Rain. I found these links through Edie's blog at lifeingrace.

Lions, Mountaintops, and Rescued Faith




"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver, "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King; I tell you." from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis has been a favorite author of mine for a long-time. In college, his book Mere Christianity rescued my faith from a Philosophy of Religion class in a way that my friends and that my memorized Bible verses couldn't do. But, what put Lewis in extra high regard for me was the year that I read the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to my children the first time. It was my first year of homeschooling; I had a 6, 5 and 3 year old. In order to accommodate their different reading levels, I was reading separate books to each of them: Johnny Tremain and Heidi to the oldest, Cricket in Times Square to the next and picture books to the youngest (at the time). I would fall asleep reading. (My excuse then? I was pregnant. (No such excuse today but, I digress.))

And then, I pulled out The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and began to read. The three of them were spellbound. And so was I. And Lewis rose further in my esteem than he had been before. I didn't know that this was possible! I was staying awake, looking forward to reading aloud, was rescued from reading three different stories at a time, and given insight to mull over as I went about my day. Can you ask for more than that? (As an aside: I will say, though, that the three year old was engaged in the first book but didn't hang through the whole series until she was a little older.)

I'm looking forward to re-reading my top three favorites: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. I will probably re-read the whole series; it just may or may not happen in July as part of this challenge.

The quote about not safe but good reminds me of the character of God (and also this post over HERE). I even used it as an analogy at Bible study when we were working through the fear of the Lord and what that is to look like. This image of the Beavers talking about Aslan came quickly to mind. Word pictures works so well.

And another favorite concept is from The Silver Chair.



"And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the Mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart. And pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters. " from the Silver Chair

Sometimes it seems so clear the directions from the Lord -- in a quiet time or at church. And then when I go to work it out in my daily life, it looks a lot different. Then, I am reminded of this things are muddier down here idea from Narnia and I am encouraged.

I'll be sharing some more insights as I go. Hope it encourages you to join us in the challenge.

Kathleen




What's on my nightstand?

No not all of these are on my nightstand! Whew! But one day
I would like to say that I have read all of the books on these shelves
(and before the First Born).
Right now I have read about 75% of them.

Over the weekend, we had out-of-town friends visit. I noticed that their son went to the car to get a book. I thought to myself, "I'm not reading any books. I don't have any books on my to read list."

Now why it took another person's son to reveal this to me is interesting since everywhere I go... and I mean everywhere...my children read...at the ball game (except the one playing baseball), at the oil change place, in the car going anywhere (even for a few moments down the road), in their beds, at the breakfast table. My children constantly have their noses in books. We even recently had two different people give us large stacks of books because my children are reading all of the time. But it must have been the newness of seeing someone else reading that triggered my compulsion to build a stack of books on my own nightstand. And then I discovered this:

And so I am joining in (albeit a day late):

On my 'nightstand':

1) Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, complete and unabridged. I read more books than my husband but this is one that he has read that I haven't. My oldest son and I are in a competition to be the one who has read ALL of the books on our bookshelves in our dining room (yep, almost every room in the house has bookshelves). And so this one must be conquered. Plus, I was recently reading on a blog somewhere about someone reading this book out loud to their children and everyone enjoying it. So that motivated me to pick it up.

2) John Newton by Aitken I purchased this at a Carole Joy Seid Homeschool Seminar (which I highly recommend if you are homeschooling or thinking about it). I have enjoyed all of the books she has recommended. I'm not sure why this one has gone unread. So now it too is in my newly-made stack to read.

3) Nick of Time by Ted Bell. I have chosen this book for two reasons. Last November, my sister-in-law and I were on a road trip to Chicago and started to listen to this audio book (and then I fell asleep; no worries, she was driving). The second reason is that my oldest son has read it and loved it. And so I want to read it, too.

4) Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I am going to participate in this July challenge. My goal is to re-read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. These three are my favorites. If I read through them quickly or just feel the urge, I may just read them all.

I know that I'll be blogging for sure about the Chronicles of Narnia as part of that challenge. And perhaps the others, too.

What are you reading this summer? Or do you have any good recommendations once I am finished with these?

Love, Kathleen

Beautiful Books Bang for Bucks

"Of making many books there is no end..." King Solomon

This weekend I wandered the exhibit halls of a curriculum fair where much evidence abounded that "of making many books there is no end" has continued into the 21st Century (even though the digital book revolution is looming). Books, books, and more books everywhere you look. When you add 4,500 people to those books, even a bibliophile like me can be overwhelmed. (Do you like my new word from the English From the Roots Up book?)

In the midst of crowded aisles, I uncovered a treasure titled Making Books with Children by Valerie Bendt. (Check it out HERE). I went to her workshop, purchased two of her books and a set of DVDS. The book and DVD explain and show how to make a hard back book complete with jacket and hand-sewn pages. These will be even fancier than my own childhood treasures. The books she brought were amazing, even her three-year-old had made one!

I dug out a few titles I had written as a child: Cat and Mouse Adventures; Three Miles From Nilypoo; Me, as a Lightbulb; and Ducken and Draker's Adventures. (Sound familiar anyone?) We began analyzing story elements today with famous titles such as Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully, Cowboy Small by Lois Lensky, Big Red Barn by Margert Wise Brown. But the children most wanted to delve into the ones I had written. They gobbled up the stories and liked them. What a compliment from my voracious readers!

It is a tad humorous that I needed someone else to tell me to do this with my children -- a thing that I did naturally as a child. But now I know the educational benefits that of making books so we can spend the bulk of our school time on this (for a few weeks anyhow). This project makes us all enthusiastic about school. Sprinkle some sunshine into our day and we're beaming (even in spite of a nail puncture wound from the first born's many backyard building creations, a tetanus shot, and a child that almost fainted (the one watching, not the one receiving). )

If from curriculum fairs I always bring home a puzzle, a game, some art supplies, fun books to read and make, they'll soon be begging me to go away for four days, right?

Love, Kathleen

P. S. Today's A to Z Challenge Post was hosted by the Letter B hence the bolded Bs.