Family Reading #1

Trying something new this week...I don't have time to write a detailed school update post as often as I'd like (and who knows, maybe those bore y'all to death anyhow), so I am going to try and share shorter tidbits here and there.  And since reading is is huge part of both our school life and our family life,  I will try to pop in with some highlights of what we are reading every now and again.  =)  Enjoy!

Reading on the train ride to Paris

Picture Book Highlights
We got James a couple of picture book missionary biographies for his birthday: What's in the Parcel?, Could Somebody Please Pass the Salt, and Does Money Grow on Trees?   I am really liking these!  They are interesting anecdotes which highlight the faith of each person, the way God was at work in their life, and/or the importance of sharing Jesus with other people.   They are simple and very appropriate for little ones - a great introduction to Christian heros. There are others in the series which I think will appear on the next birthday list. =)

Michelle's Reading (age 6-1/2)
Her hands down favorites right now are the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel.  I love that she is enjoying these classics from my own childhood.  I purposely did not use them as read-alouds when she was younger because I wanted her to be able to read these on her own.
Featured School Book
For part of our "character development" subject, we are reading SCM's new reader Hymns in Prose for Children.  Written on approximately a 2nd-3rd grade level, these lovely little essays help to inspire thought of God.  Michelle reads the passage outloud to me, then we talk together about what we learn about God, what He has done and/or what He desires from us.   We are also using the accompanying copywork book.  Michelle copies about 2 sentences at a time into her copywork notebook, we talk a bit about the mechanics (capitalization, punctuation, etc), and then she illustrates  it.  (So yes, we are getting character development, reading practice, handwriting, grammar, and drawing all in one go!)

Bedtime Read-Aloud
Raggedy Andy Stories by Johnny Gruelle.  Raggedy Ann Stories is one of Michelle's most often requested audiobook choices, so she is enjoying the sequel.

Mama's Reading
Oh goodness gracious, I always have my fingers in a bit of everything these days, but I have really enjoyed a couple of the narrative children's history books that I have pre-read so I can decide how and when I will use them for school.   Usually this means just a few chapters to get a feel of for the book, but I was so drawn in to Our Island Story by Marshall (history of England from ancient times through Queen Victoria) and The Story of the 13 Colonies by Guerber that I just kept on reading.  Does that make me a nerd if I read history for fun?  No, don't answer that please. =)

What about you?  Has your family enjoyed any good reads lately?