Posted in Books, Books and More Books
I'm cheating, posting a book review that I didn't write about a book I haven't read yet, but fully intend to ! This is a great review and inspired me to stop Saying I' going to get this book and actually go Do it! Mandi over at onecrazymom (see my friends list) wrote this review and said I could post it here. This book also happens to be written by a wonderful missionary-homeschooling-mother-of-4(so far)-adopted-children-in-Ireland who is a sweet friend. Barbara also wrote another nifty book called Wisdom from Proverbs: Devotions for Homeschooling Moms. And I do own that one =)
So read Mandi's review and go order a copy of Ned while I go instill some initiative and responsibility in my own kids!
Nov. 25, 2007 - Lessons in Discipline from the Barnardo Home for Boys
| I get a free download once a week over at Homeschool E-Store. Such a generous site that through their free weekly downloads has helped build up a wealth of lapbooks, unit studies and many other resources gor our little school! A couple of week's ago the free download was a book by the title 'Ned: Barnardo Boy' by Barbara Coyle. What an incredible book this is! If you have never read it I encourage you to either head over to Homeschool E-Store and download it or search the web for the hardback edition and order it! The kids and I were immediately drawn into this sweet story of a little orphan boy living on the streets of London having no knowledge of who his parents are/were or even how old he was. Life on the streets was difficult - sleeping in the freezing cold wherever you can find a place to bed down for the night and not knowing when and where your next meal would come from. But Ned's life was drastically altered when a series of events leads him to the Barnardo Boy's Home. What an incredible place this was! It was here that Ned learned to make his bed, cook and bake, clean, wash his clothes, do the dishes and so much more. The home began sending groups of boys from the home to Canada to be adopted. Ned was eventually among one of these groups. Ned went to stay with a childless couple who were amazed and richly blessed by Ned's work ethic and discipline that had been established during his stay in the boy's home. The story touched my heart in so many ways but the most impacting part for me has been the discipline established in each boy at the home. I had to ask myself if I was succeeding in this area with my own children. And since there is a chance we may be staying for a short while with my parents during our move I began to wonder if my children would be a blessing to their grandparents? Of course the kids being the apple of my parent's eyes are always blessings to my parents but would they bless them with helpfulness? Have they been adequately trained to pick up after themselves? To give their very best always looking for what more they can do as opposed to how much less they can do? Do they make their beds without being told? Take care of their dishes after each meal, again, without being told? |
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