From My Commonplace: Wisdom from Children's Literature

So…Michelle (Age 9) has taken to recommending books to me.  I have three or four sitting on my nightstand right now that she said I "really must read, Mama, because they were SO interesting."  Some of these I read as a child too, but have forgotten much of, others have been new to me.  Elizabeth Enright's Gone-Away Lake was one of those, although I really can't imagine how on earth I missed it since her series about the Melendy family (The Saturdays, The Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two) were some of my absolute hands-down favorites.  Gone-Away Lake is a delightful story of some children who happen upon some abandoned former summer houses around a swamp that used to be a lake and the eccentric but kindly old brother and sister who still live there.  Highly recommended.   This little nugget made it into my commonplace book (who said children's books were only for children?):

 

" 'If you could just hold onto it,' said Portia, sitting back on the warm grass.  Her knees were stiff from kneeling.

 

'Onto what? The weather?' Aunt Hilda sat back on the grass, too, and pushed her tumbled hair away from her brow with the back of her muddy hand.  She was a very pretty woman.

 

'The weather, partly, but mostly the time.  June like this, and everything starting to be.  Summer starting to be.  Everything is just exactly right.'

 

'But if it were this way every day, all the time, we'd get too used to it.  We'd toughen to it,' said Aunt Hilda. 'People do.  It's just because it doesn't and can't last that a day like this is so wonderful.'

 

'Good things must have comparers I suppose,' said Portia.  'Or how would we know how good they are?'

 

'Exactly!' Aunt Hilda went back to her weeding; and after a minute Portia did, too."

 

~Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake

 

 

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In My Bookbag This Week:

Devotional: Revelation, with a commentary The Final Word (Wilmshurst)

Theological or Christian Living: Ourselves (Mason)

Book Discussion Group Titles: Idylls of the King (Tennyson), Watership Down (Adams), The Everlasting Man  (Chesterton)

On Education: How to Read a Book (Adler)

Topics of Special Interest: The New World (Churchill)

Novel/Biography/Memoir: City of Tranquil Light (Caldwell)

Read-Alouds with the Children: On the Banks of Plum Creek (Wilder), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Lewis), Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold (Benge), The Milly Molly Mandy Story Book (Brisley)

On the Back Burner: Inferno (Dante), The Abolition of Man (Lewis)

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Click Here for more Words

 

 

Family Reading #16

Yes, that would be all three of my children reading while waiting for a wedding to start.  Cameroonian weddings involve all the guests having outfits made from fabric chosen by the bride and groom, in case you are wondering about the matching outfits. :)  They also involve a fair amount of sitting around and waiting for the next thing to happen, so I'm glad I thought to have each of them bring a book.  Apparently this is kind of a strange thing for children to do, though, as I had one person comment that it was so nice to see children reading rather than playing with electronics, and someone else (an adult) comment to my 9 year old that he had never read a book that thick.  Who knew we were so radical?

 

It has been officially far-too-long since I did a reading post.  So, here it goes. J

 

With the Littles (James Age 6 and Elizabeth Age 4.5)

The consistent favorite picture book choices lately have included Shirley Hughes' Alfie books and the Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem.  After lunch, I have been reading the two littler ones the Little House on the Prairie series – currently working on Farmer Boy.  (My Big Girl often comes and listens in too – I don't think one can ever get tired of the Little House books.)

 

Michelle's Reading (Age 9)

I can't keep up with this girl's reading anymore.  She's read LOTS.  But a recent favorite was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  She's read it about 5 times in the last 2 months, and she even prompted me to go read it again since she wanted to talk about it with me and I couldn't remember much more than the very basic outline of the plot from my childhood reading of it. J  She's also been enjoying the Noel Streatfield Shoes books – Ballet Shoes, Theatre Shoes, and Dancing Shoes are the ones that we have.  She is particularly delighted by the references to Shakespeare in these books – thank you AO!

 

James' Reading (Age 6)

We continue to buddy read each day from the Thornton Burgess books – currently just about finished with The Adventures of Johnny Chuck.  He's also enjoyed reading from our Thomas the Tank Engine treasury (these are the original stories, not the based-on-the-cartoon ones).  He dips in and out of lots of other books too…I think I need to start challenging him to read through some chapter books on his own rather than just dipping.

 

Featured School Book

Michelle has about 2 days left to finish Ambleside Online Year 2!  Her favorite book this term has been Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.  While she's enjoyed the adventure aspect of the story, her narrations (oral, drawn, and written) have also paid a great deal of attention to the clothing and fashion of the people concerned, which has made me smile.  It's kind of funny, but at the same time I see her making connections not only with the text and the illustrations in the text, but also ideas that she has gathered about medieval dress and medieval lifestyle from other books.   Making connections? Check.  Really living in the time period?  Check.   (Have I mentioned how much I love AO?!)

 

Bedtime Reading

We just finished Along Came a Dog, a Year 2 free reading choice.  This was a surprise favorite for my crew.  It's a fairly simple story about a little red hen who loses her toes when her feet freeze (so she trots about on her 'knucklebones') and the big, black stray dog that protects her.   I've caught James and Elizabeth pretend-playing that they are the little red hen and the black dog several times in the past few days, and all three children came dashing into the kitchen when I was preparing the Thanksgiving chicken last week to see the feet (whole chickens are always sold with the feet here) so I could show them which part exactly were the knucklebones.  Who'd-a-thunk?

 

Next up is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Their first trip to Narnia.  I'm almost giddy with excitement.  'Nuff said.

 

On Mama's Nightstand

Too much as usual. J  I won't even try to list everything out, although feel free to take a peep at the sidebar if you want the full scoop J.  A lot them are books that I am reading with discussion groups that are winding down for the holidays and will resume in the New Year anyhow.  I do have three that are in process that I'm hoping to finish by the end of the year, namely: The Universe Next Door (a "worldview catalog" – I read this in college for the first time, and was inspired to revisit it by a recent discussion on the nature and importance of worldviews over on the Forum), Introducing Covenant Theology (about the significance of covenants in Scripture, and taking the theme of covenants as an organizing principle for theology – interesting so far), and The Odyssey (which has been far more readable than The Iliad – I'm about ¾ through and can't wait to see how it turns out.)

 

What have you been reading lately?

Family Reading #15

A peek at what we've been reading at our house lately:

 

 

With the Littles

This week there's been a lot of Brambly Hedge and Virgina Lee Burton (Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Little House, etc.)  We're also working out way through The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book,  a collection of folktales from around the world.

 

Michelle's Reading (Age 8.5)

Well, she's been doing a lot of binge reading of Beverly Cleary books (especially the Henry Huggins series), the Boxcar Children, and Lucy Fitch Perkins Twins series (this week was The Belgian Twins and The Spartan Twins).  She has also read Baby Island, and just pulled out The Adventures of Dr Doolittle.   She's actually made some really fun connections with some of these books too.  It's fun when your child comes running to you while reading The Spartan Twins and says "Mom!  Did you know that there are things from The Wonder Book in here?  It's the Gorgon's head with the snaky locks and everything!"  Or wondering at the dinner table if Dr Doolitte might go to the Sahara Desert while he's in Africa – in Timbuktu, no less – on the very same day that you happened to read the chapter from The Child's History of the World about the great medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai for school.  Charlotte Mason tells us that education is the science of relations, and it is so very exciting to see that happening.

 

James' Reading (Age 6)

We are buddy-reading Thorton Burgess' The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse.  On his own he's reading a variety of Level 3 and Level 4 easy readers we got from our co-op library and the Billy and Blaze series.

 

Featured School Book

Okay, so this isn't the most literary choice, perhaps. J  But my map-loving children are adoring the new Oxford Atlas of the World that I splurged and bought.  It's huge.  But it's finally satisfying our need for details that the more compact atlases we have just don't.  I've always loved a good atlas.  So does my hubby.  And our kids are following suit. 

 

Bedtime Reading

We just finished Because of Winn Dixie which was enjoyed by all.  Our next choice is The Door in the Wall.  I had to stop in the middle of the first chapter because it was a longish chapter and it was getting late and Michelle was rather peeved at me for not continuing.  That's usually a pretty good sign….

 

Devotionally, we are enjoying Catherine Vos' A Child's Story Bible on weeknights.  We read through this story Bible when Michelle was four (and the other two were just babies), but even I am getting much out of re-reading it.  Catherine Vos is a really good storyteller.  Our current Sunday reading is the devotional book Exploring Grace Together, which has been thought provoking for the two older children especially and Pilipinto's Happiness which was written by Elisabeth Elliot's daughter Valerie about her experiences going back to live among the Waorani (Auca) people who killed her father.  We just finished an account of the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other missionaries in 1956 (The Fate of the Yellow Woodbee), so this is a fitting follow-up.

 

On Mama's Nightstand

In my morning devotional time I am working my way through the book of Matthew with a devotional commentary by JC Ryle and Kathleen Nielson's book Bible Study.

 

In my afternoon "study time", I am rotating through How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook, How to Read a Book, School Education (Charlotte Mason's third volume), and When Athens Met Jerusalem.  I was previously trying to read through all of Ambleside Online Year 4 too, but it proved to be more than I could enjoyably keep up with so I scaled back to a few selections that were of the greatest interest to me.  Right now that's Madam How and Lady Why, Kidnapped, Emily Dickinson's poetry, and Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution.  I'm also reading Churchill's Birth of Britain which is the Year 7 history spine, but corresponds to the time period that I am studying with Michelle in Year 2 and fleshes out the details a bit more.   My study time tends to be the 45 minutes or so at the end of the afternoon when I stop to have a cup of coffee before I need to start supper – usually I sit out on the porch because the kids are playing outside.  I will read a chapter (or section or two out of those books with longer subdivided chapters) out of two or three different books and just keep rotating through them, with a little more focused reading time on the weekends.  It's slow going, but it's better than nothing, and truly is enriching and invigorating to be learning along with my kids. 

 

 

In the evening I am reading my long-awaited copy of The Story of Charlotte Mason (this is out of print and hard to find at a reasonable cost, but I was able to snag a copy thanks to a tip from one of the lovely forum ladies).  I am enjoying it very much.  I am also still slowly working my way through The Lord of the Rings alongside my husband, too. 

 

And when I am just completely FLAT OUT…then I re-read bits from Jan Karon's Mitford series.  I love those books.  Happy sigh. J

 

Been reading anything good at your house lately?

Family Reading #14

A little peek into what we've been reading at our house lately...

 

With the Littles

I started reading A Bear Called Paddington with the little ones after lunch…I love Paddington Bear.  Happy sigh. J   I've also been reading lots of Brer Rabbit and Friends (AKA "Brer Rabbit and BRER Friends"), Brambly Hedge, and Tin Lizzie.  We also recently rearranged our bookshelf and have rediscovered the Obadiah series by Brinton Turkle.

 

Michelle's Reading (Age 8.5)

Michelle has been enjoying Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.  I think this is a free read for a later AO Year, however when she brought home a dreadfully abridged 'children's' version from the library after a 'library class' during co-op, I had to replace it with something.  (Don't ask me how I feel about abridged children's versions…)

 

James' Reading (Age 5.5)

Together, we've been reading through the Treadwell Reading Literature First Reader – filled with folk tales and simple children's poetry.  We really enjoy this reader series.  I've also caught him reading the instruction manual to his Papa's remote-controlled model airplane, the Tower Hobbies catalog, and other random books on the shelf that he doesn't want me to know that he knows how to read….

 

Featured School Book

One of the more challenging titles in AO Year 2 is The Little Duke, a historical fiction story based on the life of Duke Richard, the boy duke, who I believe was the grandfather of William the Conqueror.  Rich in historical details about life in medieval France as well as a compelling story with themes of revenge and forgiveness.  We're both enjoying it.

 

Bedtime Reading

We finally finished The Five Little Peppers - it was a sweet story, but did seem to drag on for a rather long time.  We were ready to move on when the time came.  After that we read through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – I had forgotten how funny this childhood favorite of mine was.   It was well-loved by all, and fairly quick read as well.  We've now started Brighty of the Grand Canyon.  Your gratuitous bonus photos today are our family's visit to the Grand Canyon in 2011.  My kids were SO little weren't they?

 

 

Since you can't see Miss Elizabeth hiding on my back in the family photo up there. :)  We ended up having a picnic in the car because it started to rain.  She was 16 months old, I think.

 

 

Oh, did you actually want to see the Grand Canyon, and not just my kids?! ;)

 

 

On Mama's Nightstand

Too much again, but what else is new. J Over the past month I have been finishing up some books and starting others.   I am reading and blogging through Charlotte Mason's third volume School Education.  The AO Forum ladies have recently started discussions on Three Men in a Boat (we needed something lighthearted for a change of pace after The Iliad!) and Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book.  Inspired by Brandy and our concluding discussion of The Iliad, I picked up the fascinating When Athens Met Jerusalem, a survey of how the Greek tradition profoundly affected the world into which Christianity was born.  Alongside I'm reading The Story of the Greeks, used in AO Year 6, since my middle school ancient history course is now a little foggy in my memory.   My husband and I are still slowly reading through The Lord of the Rings in the evenings too.  And that doesn't count my devotional reading…

 

I told you it was too much.   But it's all so fascinating…I'm not sure what I'd put down if I had to choose something to put down!

 

Have you read anything interesting lately?  I'd love to hear about it…

 

Family Reading #13

Some highlights of what we’ve been reading lately….

 

 

With the Littles

In the past week we both received our long-lost sea freight shipment (read: Christmas in March) AND Miss Elizabeth celebrated her fourth birthday.  All of that = a very nice stack of new picture books in our household.   Some of the highlights: Miss Rumphius, The Adventure of Brer Rabbit and Friends, The Story of Little Babaji, and Tikki Tikki Tembo.   (I think we may possibly own all of the books on the AO Year 0 Booklist now.)

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 8.5)

I asked Michelle what her favorite books she has read for free-reading recently were and she said Happy Times in Noisy Village because it is funny and Ellen Tebbits because it is a good story about girls.  J  (I admit that Ellen Tebbits were always my favorite Beverly Cleary character growing up as well.)

 

James’ Reading (Age 5.5)

We have been enjoying the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant.

 

Featured School Book

We are thoroughly enjoying Ambleside Online Year 2.   One book we’ve particularly taken to is Seabird, one of our geography selections.  This story tells of a multi-generational journey around the world alongside a history of various means of navigation.   Michelle likes it best when we are scheduled to read two chapters rather than just one. J   We also enjoy this book because the main character shares a name with one of our family members, and my husband’s family has a history in shipbuilding and sea-faring.  Real-life connections are always fun.

 

Bedtime Reading

We are continuing to enjoy The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew – very sweet story.

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

I finally received my copy of Laurie Bestvater’s The Living Page.  It is every bit as good as everyone says.  J  That pretty much hijacked all of my other reading over the past week or so.   Now that I’ve read the whole thing fairly quickly from cover to cover, I’m looking forward to reading back through it slowly, savoring, taking notes, and considering how to implement its ideas into our homeschool.   Stay tuned – I’m sure I will be sharing more thoughts on it soon.    

 

Gratuitous Bonus: my new custom-designed bookshelf for the school corner. :)

 

What have you been reading lately?

Family Reading #12

It’s been far too long since I updated you on what we’re reading…

 

 

With the Littles

The new Christmas books we chose have all been big hits around here especially Tin Lizzie (James’ gift) and The Complete Brambly Hedge (Elizabeth’s gift, although all three of them choose it regularly still, almost 2 months later!)   We’ve also been enjoying Beatrix Potter again (inspired by Brambly Hedge, I reckon) and The Dear Old Briar Patch (the little kids’ current chapter book read-aloud).

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 8)

She loved her Christmas book too, The Adventures of TumTum and Nutmeg.   She’s also been reading more about the Moffats, some Beverly Cleary, and The French Twins (from the Twins series by Lucy Fitch Perkins).  And now she's devouring the rest of The Borrowers series.   Oh, and Little House on the Prairie.  Again.  Always.  Repeatedly.  J

 

James’ Reading (Age 5.5)

James just finished reading the Treadwell Reading Literature Primer with me and is now reading through the Little Bear series.  He also recently enjoyed Richard Scarry’s Best Read-It-Yourself Book Ever!  (He was actually belly-laughing over this in the otherwise silent waiting room at the US Embassy when we went to have his passport renewed a couple weeks ago!)

 

Featured School Book

Now that we are about 3 weeks in, I asked Michelle what her favorite new book from Year Two was so far.   Her answer: “The Wonder Book because it is full of brave people who succeed, like Perseus.”  (Note: This is actually a free read, but we scheduled it in because I wasn’t sure I could make it work as a bedtime read-aloud.)   For the record, she has also been reading the unassigned portions of Fifty Famous Stories and Viking Tales from Year One and re-reading Just So Stories!

 

Bedtime Reading

We recently finished (and enjoyed) The Borrowers.  Now we have started The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, which all three children are enthusiastic about as well.

 

On Mama’s Nighstand

Dan and I have been re-watching the Lord of the Rings movies (we're turning them into a mini-series because we just can't sit up and watch a 3-4 hour epic all in one go!)  I've realized I've forgotten a lot of the little details, so have now picked up the books to re-read as well.  (As if I needed yet another epic with The Iliad already in progress!!)  I alternate this with Amazing Grace, Eric Metaxas’ biography of William Wilberforce.

 

Devotionally, I am enjoying the Tabletalk in-depth study of Romans and reading through the New Testament portion of their Bible-in-a-Year schedule.   I recently finished Kevin de Young’s The Hole in our Holiness and am now reading Carolyn Weber’s Holy is the Day.   All of these things have surprisingly dovetailed together to speak to me things I’ve needed to hear recently.

 

For personal study…well you already know about Desiring the Kingdom and AO Year 4.   I am also enjoying The Iliad with a group over on the AO Forum.

 

What are you Reading these days?

 

Family Reading #11

 

With the Littles

Some of the most frequently requested picture books lately have included anything Curious George or Eric Carle (especially Pancakes, Pancakes).   Our chapter book read aloud is More Milly Molly Mandy.  James (age 5) is starting to read a bit on his own and recently read Green Eggs and Ham out loud to me with only a little bit of help.

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 8)

This girl is becoming a voracious reader.  She has just about finished the entire Little House on the Prairie series (she says these are her very favorites).  In between various LHOP books, she’s also enjoyed Ballet Shoes, The Moffats, and Sarah, Plain and Tall.   In her stack to read next are a couple of the sequels to Sarah, Plain and Tall, The Middle Moffat, and The Saturdays (another of my very favorite books growing up – can’t wait to see what she thinks of it!)

 

Featured School Book

We are both really enjoying An Island Story, which is a very engaging narrative history of Great Britain.  British history is studied in Ambleside Online not just because Charlotte Mason studied it (I believe this is the actual book she recommended too), but also because it is part of America’s story as well.   What was the heritage of our forefathers?   What were the influences that eventually led the colonists to separate from their fatherland?   What foundational ideas and values are rooted in this heritage?   American history really does begin long before the Mayflower.   In recent weeks we’ve read a bit about the legends of King Arthur, how the gospel was brought to England by Augustine (not the Augustine, this is another one), and have just reached King Alfred.

 

Bedtime Reading

I usually make a list of books at the start of the year to choose among for our bedtime readings.  Ginger Pye was on that list.  It was so dearly loved by all three of ours that we have actually deviated from the list to enjoy the sequel, Pinky Pye.  I never actually read any of Eleanor Estes delightful stories when I was growing up – I’m not quite sure how I managed to miss them?!  At least I get the chance to enjoy them now.

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

In the novel category, I am reading The Daisy Chain on the recommendation of many over on the AO Forum.  I’m having a little bit of trouble getting into it, but those friends who recommended it have encouraged me to stick with it - many found it slow to get started with, but were sad to see it end because of the ‘relationships’ they formed with the characters.   So…we’ll see how we go.

 

In the devotional category, I have been enjoying the studies and articles in Tabletalk magazine.  Our local small group Bible Study just started a study of Isaiah 40-66, so I have also picked up a commentary titled Isaiah: God Saves Sinners to help some with the historical background and discussion preparation.  I’m also enjoying Sinclair Ferguson’s In Christ Alone.  (Take a little taste here.)  Ferguson is a new-t0-me author, but I am really enjoying him.

 

In the self-education category, I am continuing to enjoy AO Year 4 and the 20 Principles Study (although I think we only have 2 principles left!!).  I’m also dipping in and out of Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics, which is an interesting look at the way math is taught in the States and in China.  The Chinese teachers take a more conceptual approach to mathematics, American teachers tend to take a methodical, computational approach, sometimes bypassing true conceptual understanding.  I’m gaining some interesting insights into some of the underlying concepts to basic mathematical processes that I never really understood – and I always got A’s in math, too!!   Let me tell you – home education means mama education as well.

 

So, what have you been reading, my friends? J

Family Reading #10

 

Wow.  It’s been way too long since I updated on what we’ve been reading at our house.  So here it goes…

 

Picture Book Highlights

A recurring favorite lately has been Horton Hears a Who!  James’ birthday books have also been a hit: St George and the Dragon, The Kitchen Knight, and Chanticleer and the Fox.   I’m also venturing into chapter books with my littles.  Our current chapter-book readaloud is The Milly Molly Mandy Storybook.
 

Michelle’s Reading (Age Almost-8)

Michelle is becoming something of a voracious reader.  In my last Family Reading Post, she had just started Little House in the Big Woods.  She has since read through almost the entire Little House Series (up through Little Town on the Prairie), several of the All of a Kind Family Books, and is just now almost finished with Ballet Shoes.  I love that she is loving all of my childhood favorites…all of which were recommended to me by MY mother because they were her childhood favorites too.  Love it, love it, love it.

 

Featured School Book

One of the changes I made to AO’s reading list for Year 1 was to save Paddle to the Sea for later (we’ll read it together as a family during our next home assignment) and instead we have been reading about the Arctic and Antarctic regions.  We are currently enjoying The Eskimo Twins.  (I would suggest reading this together with your children and discussing it though – it goes into some of their traditional, animistic practices.)

 

Bedtime Reading

We are all loving Ginger Pye!   They all ask for it every night, right down to the 3 year old. 

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

When do I ever not have too much on my nightstand? HA!  Currently, I am spending the most time with the Charlotte Mason 20 Principles Study as well as my self-study of AO Year 4.   My current novel is Waverley…also reading along with a group on the AO Forum.  (Goodness, am I really that much of an AO Forum groupie!?)  Waverley is a tough read, and very slow moving in the beginning…I probably would have bailed a lot sooner if not for reading along with a group.  Now that I’ve hit chapter 42, I’m having a hard time putting it down.  Over the weekend, I had to force myself to read something else, so as not to get TOO far ahead of the group, so downloaded The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for something light.  I loved it.  It was a charming story, and a pleasurable pause from all the heavier reading I’ve been doing lately.

 

 

So there you have it.  Anyone else been reading something interesting lately?

 

                                                                                                        

Family Reading #9

 

Picture Book Highlights

Jan Brett’s Honey, Honey, Lion has been frequently coming through the rotation (fantastic book for sound effects, as well as Jan Brett’s beautifully detailed artwork). Elizabeth has also discovered my pile of Golden Books (my pile, as in they were mine when I was little girl), and has especially enjoyed The Poky Little Puppy.   (Michelle has enjoyed the Mother Goose Rhymes book, and has been copying, illustrating, and singing them…especially “Georgie Porgie who kissed the girls and made them cry”.  Not sure what I should think about that!!)

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 7-1/2)

In the last 2 weeks, she has read through 4 of the books in the Betsy series by Carolyn Haywood, B is for Betsy, Betsy at the Circus, Betsy’s Little Star, and Snowbound with Betsy.  These were favorites of mine as a child, and favorites of my mother’s before me.  Yes, the third generation in our family to enjoy these sweet stories.  I’d say they have a similar reading level to The Boxcar Children books.  Now she's reading Little House in the Big Woods. 

 

Featured School Book

Still loving AO Year 1.  This week we read our first selection from Parables from Nature.  Actually we listened to the audio version while following along, since I had laryngitis last week (fun, huh?)  This is one of the more challenging reading selections and I had intended to break the reading into two parts.  But she insisted we keep going until the end, and she narrated well.   We tried to read a bit of this book last year and it was still too challenging for her to really get into.  It’s exciting to see progress like this!  We have this audio version which was well done and enjoyable to listen to…even though I’ve recovered from laryngitis, I think we’ll continue to use it just to mix things up a bit.

 

Bedtime Reading

We’re reading The Runaway’s Revenge, part of the Trailblazer series by Dave and Neta Jackson.  This volume is historical fiction about John Newton.  When Michelle was dithering over her choice for our next read-aloud, I mentioned to her this was a story about the man who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”.   Her response:  “Well if it’s about the guy who wrote ‘Amazing Grace’, then I want to read THAT!”   We’re enjoying it. 

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

Too much, as usual. Notable books finished fairly recently: The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and At the Foot of the Snows.  Currently in Progress: you already know that I’m participating in the 20 Principles Study over on the AO Forum – this consists of a reading assignment every other week from Charlotte Mason’s Volume 6 A Philosophy of Education, For the Children’s Sake, and several other supporting readings from other CM Volumes or the CM blogosphere.  This will be ongoing for the rest of the year.   Really, really good stuff (follow along with some of my thoughts here).   I’m also in a book discussion group over there reading The Scarlet Pimpernel – let’s just say that I am having to exercise a lot of restraint not to read ahead of our group’s schedule (we won’t finish the book until July!).  So many twists and turns and intrigues.   When I need something in between reading assignments, I am dipping into Les Miserables (novel in English), Une Famille aux Petits Oignons (novel in French), or Family Vocation (nonfiction).

 

Family Reading #8

 

Picture Book Highlights

Since we got our shipment about a month ago, we’ve been enjoying many of our very own books that have been packed away for far too long, such as Mike Mulligan and More (a treasury by Virginia Lee Burton), The Grouchy Ladybug, and Katie Meets the Impressionists (the very book that got Michelle so excited about the paintings we saw in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris last year.)  Also notable was our new “Easter” book – The Prince’s Poison Cup – an allegory of what Christ has done for us by RC Sproul.

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 7-1/2)

Michelle has been enjoyed reading some of the Thornton Burgess stories on her own. Currently she is reading the first Boxcar children book AGAIN.  (She's read some of the others, but always cycles back to this first one.  She likes it when they are living in the boxcar.)   She also likes to read things that are far too easy for her…  I’m  working on finding a good balance between challenging her and reading the more “fluffy” stuff for relaxation.   (Any and all ideas are welcome!!)

 

Featured School Book

We are love, love, loving AO Year 1.   We are off homeschooling for the next couple of weeks while Michelle participates in the special co-op program for homeschoolers that our mission offers, and I am finding that I really miss the intellectual stimulation that reading and discussing our AO books provides.  So much so that we are having a ‘snack and story time’ in the afternoon and just reading one thing off of the AO list together – just so we don’t have to go a month without our AO books.  =)  She is enjoying it as much as I am.  One highlight lately has been Dangerous Journey, an abridged, illustrated version of Pilgrim’s Progress.  This isn’t actually on the AO Year 1 list, but I added it in as a replacement for Aesop’s Fables (which we read last year) and in preparation for Years 2 and 3 which have the original version of Pilgrim’s Progress scheduled.   She always wants me to read more of this one….

 

Bedtime Reading

We are reading Pollyanna, which we are enjoying…but I wouldn’t say is our favorite bedtime read-aloud ever.  Although...it is growing on us.

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

Too much, as usual. ;-) In the fiction department, I am reading North and South in English and Les Miserables (abridged) in French.  Hoping to finish both by the end of the month so I can participate in the book discussion of The Scarlet Pimpernel that’s going to start over on the AO Forum.  (ETA – I finished North and South last night.  Second time I’ve read it.  Am I the only one who feels really sad when you finish a book – even a good book with a good ending – just because it’s done?  I felt that way at the end of North and South.  Even for take two.)  In the non-fiction department I am trying to follow along with the discussion (also on the AO Forum) of CM’s Volume 5 Formation of Character and slowly wading through Poetic Knowledge.  Brandy over at Afterthoughts has a really good series of posts on this book of you are curious what it’s all about.  She is smarter than I am and can explain it to you better. =)

 

This is the famous floor-to-ceiling bookcase I was telling you about. Makes me happy to look at it...

 

Family Reading #7

James reading with his Grandma during our last week in France.
 

In honor of my brand new wall-lining bookcase, I thought it was time for a new books post....

 

Picture Book Highlights

For some reason, we ended up with several cowboy books on our last library trip (namely Cowboy Andy and Harry the Wild West Horse).  These have become the favorites in this pile.  Who knew my kids liked cowboys?  (Speaking of library, we are blessed to have a wonderful library and resource center for homeschooling missionary families less than 10 minutes walk from where we are living right now.  It’s fantastic.)

 

Michelle’s Reading (Age 7)

Michelle has been devouring the Boxcar Children series (many volumes available in aforementioned library).   I had heard that volumes 1-19 were the only ones penned by the original author and all the ones after that have been ghost written for mass production (and are therefore not as good).  We’ve found this to be true – while there’s nothing particularly bad about volumes 20+, the storylines in the earlier books have been much more engaging for her.

 

Featured School Book

We’ve just started AO Year 1, and week 1 went well.   Michelle loved James Baldwin’s 30 More Famous Stories last year, so she was really excited to see his 50 Famous Stories on the AO Year 1 reading list.  She chose to do her notebook page for week 1 on “The Sword of Damocles” which was from this book, so I take that as an indication that she’s enjoying it.

 

Bedtime Read-Aloud

We are almost finished with The Tanglewood’s Secret by Patricia St John.  I like the way that these stories weave spiritual truths into plausible storylines.   Given that this is the second Patricia St John book that Michelle has chosen in the past couple of months, I’d venture to guess that she is enjoying them too.

 

On Mama’s Nightstand

So many books, so little time.   I did recently finish a James Herriot trilogy (All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Wise and Wonderful) and really enjoyed them.  I had never thought to read these books before since they are stories about a vet, and I’ve never cared all that much for animal stories…but these were actually really good.   Far more about the people he met and lessons learned in the course of his life as a vet in 1930’s rural England.  And funny.  (Although, beware of some profanity.)    I am also working steadily through Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy of Education (Volume 6).   Wonderful insights here.  Hoping to blog my way through these at some point.  

 

So tell me...have you read anything especially good lately?   I'd love to hear about it!

Family Reading #6

A few of the interesting things we've been reading at our house lately...

Picture Book Highlights
We've been reading and re-reading the All About Alfie collection by Shirley Hughes lately.  Sweet, simple little stories about a preschool-age boy named Alfie.  I like these because they are very true to life (ie, things that could actually happen) and show Alfie making good choices, but not at all in a way that is saccharin or preachy.  I'd put this collection on my top 5 list for preschoolers.

Michelle's Reading (Age 7)
Working her way through another Boxcar Children volume, when she isn't peeking into the books I have stashed away for later or reading ahead in books we are using for school.... 

Featured School Book
Michelle has been very fascinated by The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. I'm not a big fan of Usborne books as 'spine' books for school..they aren't what Charlotte Mason would define as 'living books'. But I like keeping this one around as a reference resource.  Michelle loves flipping through and studying all the pictures in her spare time.  Most of the books we actually read from for history in school don't have pictures, so I like to be able to refer to the illustrated spreads for the time periods we are reading about.  Having some kind of visual point of reference has really made our history readings come alive.

Bedtime Read-Aloud
We recently finished reading A Little Princess, which I hadn't read since I was a girl.  I kept wanting to flip ahead to find out what was going to happen, always a good sign.  Unfortunately, reading off the Kindle makes this tricky....   Our new read-aloud is George MacDonald's The Light Princess.  Hmm, what's with the princess theme?

On Mama's Nightstand
Too many things, as usual, as evidenced by the sidebar.  My top three recent reads:
- SCM's new book, Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching.  Very interesting, very practical look at how math was handled in Charlotte Mason's schools.  I've been rethinking how we are doing math anyhow, so this was timely and helpful for me.  (And if this topic interests you too, go check out Math Week over at Afterthoughts!)
- The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge...historical fiction about the childhood of Richard, Duke of Normandy in the 900's.  I'm prereading this as it is one of the selections we'll use for AO Year 2, but I am finding it extremely interesting for myself too.  I love that I can learn and be enriched by the very same school books that I read to my young children.
- Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman.  Yes, I was (and if I'm honest, still am) the stereotypical 'good Christian girl' when I was in school.  And I've always struggled with whether or not anything I do is really good enough.   And ever since reading Jerry Bridges' book The Discipline of Grace last year, I've been thinking a lot about what difference God's grace makes in my life personally, and that of my family by extension.  This book is speaking to all of these issues.

What have you been reading chez nous?  I always love to glean new ideas...feel free to drop me a comment!

Family Reading #5

Some of the interesting reads we've discovered around here this week...

Picture Book Highlights
All of our children love the series about Camille the Giraffe by Jacques Duquennoy.  These simple French books are not high quality literature and border on twaddle.   But they are cute, simple, and have been a great way to introduce lots of French vocabulary.   We've been getting them from the library, but I think I may need to purchase a few to take with us when we leave.   All 3 kiddos ask for these regularly.

Michelle's Reading (7 next week!)
Yes, she's going to be 7 next week...that sounds so OLD to me. Sigh.  Anyhow, her favorite read lately has been the first book in the Boxcar Children series.  She has covered reams of paper with drawings of all of their adventures.   When Papa mentioned something at the dinner table the other night about an "orphan sock" in the laundry, Michelle pipes up: "I'm reading a book about orphans.  That means their mother and father have died."  Funny girl.

Featured School Book
We are most of the way through Among the Pond People by Clara Dillingham Pierson.   These cute stories really have a lot of facts about the various pond animals packed into them.  I've learned some interesting things myself!   This volume is part of a series of 5 that also cover the Meadow, Forest, Farm, and Night People.  We're looking forward to enjoying a couple more of them as part of our science and nature studies next year too.

Bedtime Read-Aloud
We finished Charlotte's Web, which was loved by all. Our current read-aloud is A Little Princess which we are enjoying as well.  We also recently ditched the devotional we were using and have gone back to reading from a Bible story book (The Children's Bible in 365 Stories) so as to better engage the two littlest in our "family" Bible time.  So far, so good.

On Mama's Nightstand
Too many!!  All of those books on the sidebar over there...yes I'm slowly reading through them.  Depends on the day and what I'm in the mood for. =)  I have also recently been on a Kindle downloading binge in part due to an Amazon gift card for my birthday and in part due to a huge list of FREE classic missionary biographies that someone posted over on the Ambleside Online forum earlier this week. =)  New to me books = Happy Mama.   Currently from this treasure hoard I am reading Sleeping Coconuts by John and Bonnie Nystrom.   We knew the Nystroms when we worked in Papua New Guinea.  Their story was familiar to me, but I am enjoying reading the backstory and their insights into what God taught them...some have been particularly timely and convicting.   I have also run across many friends, colleagues, and neighbors in the pages of this book...it's a little weird (in a good way!) to read about people I know in real life as book characters.  If you enjoy the missionary biography genre, you'll probably enjoy this book too.

What have you been reading this week?