Sep. 14, 2009 - Classic Kids Book List That EVERY Child Needs: Three
This is part three in the series as the book lists I have to share are VERY long. Keep checking in for new lists. Some of these books you may or may not recognize from your own childhood. One thing I love about book lists is being reminded of good books I may have forgotten about. Time to rekindle some pleasant memories and make new ones with our children today.
Here is the next book list:
Series Books:
Mist of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (and other sequels) Betsy Tacy by Maud Halt (10 in series)
TJED is based on Classically based books and mentoring. Start buying and reading the suggested books and see which ones will work for you and your family library. For those who missed where I got these book lists, I received from a good friend who is well versed in classic books for kids and has a house filled with bookshelves full of classic books for children. Several afternoons she had me come and copy down the titles so I could start my collection. Thank you, Linda! Happy reading, everyone!
Sep. 7, 2009 - Classic Kids Book List That EVERY Child Needs: Two
This is part two in the series as the book lists I have to share are VERY long. Keep checking in for new lists. Some of these books you may or may not recognize from your own childhood. One thing I love about book lists is being reminded of good books I may have forgotten about. Time to rekindle some pleasant memories and make new ones with our children today.
Tate, Suzanne (Especially because shes is NC born and lives in the outer banks of NC -Nag's Head)
*Did you Know?
"Gruelle created Raggedy Ann for his daughter, Marcella, when she brought him an old hand-made rag doll and he drew yupa face on it. From his bookshelf, he pulled a book of poems by James Whitcomb Riley, and combined the names of two poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie." He said, "Why don’t we call her Raggedy Ann?"
Marcella died at age 13 after being vaccinated at school for smallpox without her parents' consent. Authorities blamed a heart defect, but her parents blamed the vaccination. Gruelle became an opponent of vaccination, and the Raggedy Ann doll was used as a symbol by the anti-vaccination movement." (Source: Wikipedia)
TJED is based on Classically based books and mentoring. Start buying and reading the suggested books and see which ones will work for you and your family library. For those who missed where I got these book lists, I received from a good friend who is well versed in classic books for kids and has a house filled with bookshelves full of classic books for children. Several afternoons she had me come and copy down the titles so I could start my collection. Thank you, Linda! Happy reading, everyone!
Here is the posted explanation straight from the group's page:
"This idea is based on the book "Flat Stanley". A Flat Traveler is a person, animal or thing made out of paper. You print or draw your Traveler, laminate it and then mail it along with a blank journal to someone in another area, state or country. The host family treats your Flat Traveler as a guest and takes it places they go. After a short time your Flat Traveler is mailed back to you along with a completed journal and perhaps some photos, postcards and/or souvenirs. You look over your Flat Travelers journey and plot it on a map.
Some families keep a scrapbook with all their journals, souvenirs and photos inside. Some families send out one Flat Traveler and other families send out dozens! You can make this project as simple or as detailed as you like. This is a fun way to learn about geography and history among many other subjects!
This group has been formed to give homeschool families a group of participants to contact world wide. As a member of this group you should be prepared to host Flat Travelers from other families as well."
What a fun and educational project to do, especially for homeschooling families! :)
A few days ago, I read an online article on The Boston Globe by David Abel. The article was explaining how the New England prep school the Cushing Academy is riding their entire library of our 20,000 books and replacing it with digital screens, places for laptops, etc.
The first question that entered my mind was how the library cannot invite the digital books and books online along with the books? I’m all for the convenience of modern technology, but there are many things that technology cannot completely take the place of without consequences and one of those is books. What has been working well for centuries shouldn’t just end because one generation found an invention they liked better. It was mentioned in the article that the staff of Cushing believe it is the start of a new era. The problems I foresee, aside from losing the pure love of books, are what if there was a power surge? What about the effects on the eyes as people do more reading on a computer screen? Like the television the computer screen can affect the brain waves as well. The author also pointed out various other problems with digital "books" such as sand, liquids and the cost of accessing the materials as many of the materials online are not free.
I'm also not in agreement with the library bringing in a coffee shop containing and encouraging the use of legally addictive stimulants for youth. Not just any coffee shop mind you, but a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine. We travel an hour away to go to libraries in a large city nearest us. We have access to almost twenty libraries that inter-loan.
I cannot imagine not being able to browse through the shelves, picking out books that catch my eye. Sometimes the spiral bound cookbooks are my favorites to browse, or books that are warn on the covers and pages dog-earring showing me that this was a well-read and well-loved book. I write ebooks and articles, most of which are featured online. That still doesn’t replace the value of a book in my mind. Call me old fashioned but I love a book, a real book.
Aug. 8, 2009 - Christian Family Radio and Classically Based Catalog
On the way home from the grocery store I was listening to this wonderful broadcast on the radio station. I wrote down the website on the grocery receipt so I wouldn't forget it when I got home. I'm so glad I did! I highly recommend this website it is called Family Research Council at www.frc.org . It is radio programs from the family Research Council keeping you abreast of news from Washington with a Christian mix.
Articles made into news broadcasts include things like this. Click the link to download and listen to this newscast:
"Science Czar or just plain bizarre? Hello, I am Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council. Among President Obama's growing list of czars is the White House science czar, Dr. John Holdren. Holdren, along with the sky is falling scientist Paul Ehrlich, who wrote the now-discredited book entitled "Population Bomb" in the 1960's claiming the world was overpopulating and would be out of food by the end of the 1970's, wrote a text book together. Holdren and Ehrlich's book, which they wrote in 1977, was entitled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. In the book Holdren advocates for radical government action to limit population growth. Among the proposals, forced abortions for women, involuntary sterilization through infertility drugs placed in food or the water supply...." For more visit frcradio.org
This website is very enlightening and I have been making it a habit to listen more to the talk radio shows.
The other thing I wanted to share with you was the Veritas Press catalog. A friend of mine shared this catalog with me as she knows I'm doing TJED which is Classically based.
Things I love about this catalog:
It is broken into grade levels so I can, at a glance, be sure I'm not looking at something too easy for the child I'm buying for.
I love the suggested books per grade level. I'm using it as a guide to gauge the kid's school this year. For instance for my eldest (Calypso), it suggested she read the Lord of the Rings series. Well, she's on book 2 already! Right on!
It even includes classically based math books, which I have been on the search for. One for instance by Harold Jacobs.
Hope this post give you some ideas and a couple of new places to visit.
Aug. 4, 2009 - Classic Kid's Book List That Every Child Needs
I found my notebook with the promised book list! Tis the season for me to get back into my homeschooling life, so I will be better about posting. Promise. {smile}
Series Books:
Twig by Elizabeth Orton Jones
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull
Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop
Miss Hickory by Carolyn Bailey
Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes
"Do you know what is wrong with people who never read nursery rhymes? I will tell you. When little boys and girls grow bigger and older, they should grow from the outside, leaving a little boy in the middle; even when they are quite grown up, the little child that once they were should be within them. But some unlucky people grow older from inside and so grow old through and through."
We have been reading several poetry books as a family. The book Honey for a Child's Heart has a section about Poetry which inspired me to get back on track with reading the children poetry aloud. We're currently reading "The World of Christopher Robin" by A.A. Milne as a family and we love the silliness of them. Some other wonderful poetry books aside from our favorite Dr. Suess:
Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books-
mostly nursery rhymes, but pictures are magnificent!
Mar. 17, 2009 - Our Homeschooling is Always Improving
I recently found and loved the guidelines set in The Well-Trained Mind. It goes along with TJED so well, but I needed a more rigid idea of what needs to be done for my kids but with the classical mentality that I love and feel strongly about. I've been ordering some of the books suggested.
In addition I have a friend, a mentor, who owns hundreds of Classic children's books I had NEVER even heard of! I thought I had at least a mediocre idea of children's literature. I found that I am but a babe, a child myself in this wide world of classical children's literature. I spent two separate days copying all of the book titles in her many bookshelves. I still have another day or two to go to finish. I have hundreds of books on my list to get. When I have some extra time I will be sharing this list. She then took me to the numerous used book stores and helped me pick out additional titles of children's classics to get, many for $1 or less.
Two of those books are from the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series of which there are four, I believe. We begun reading the first one aloud. I highly recommend this book! It is an easy to read aloud book meaning it is easy to imitate the characters and it is enjoyable. My five year old and up absolutely love this book and beg me to read just another chapter. Even my husband laughs with the kids during some of these funny adventures. We have read almost half of the book in three separate sittings, so it is also a quick read. I am so glad we found this series!
M, my almost eight year old daughter, is listening to the CD that is the audio companion to The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. She loves it and the songs that go with it. I love hearing the younger children repeating all the alphabet sounds too.
Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899; German: Johann Baptist Strauß; also known as Johann Baptist Strauss, Johann Strauss, Jr., or Johann Strauss the Younger) was an Austrian composer famous for having written over 500 waltzes, polkas, marches, and galops. He was the son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother of composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss. He is also the most famous member of the Strauss family. He was known in his lifetime as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. He revolutionized the waltz, elevating it from a lowly peasant dance to entertainment fit for the royal Habsburg court.
I recently purchased "Johann Strauss Jr Most Famous Waltzes". What a beautiful compilation of his works. It contains over and hour's worth of music that is invigorating and makes you want to dance.
We listened to it again last night while I was cooking dinner. The younger girls were so inspired that they all dressed up in their ballerina outfits, tutus and all and danced around the house. We love all of his music. Our absolute favorites are:
"Tales from the Vienna Woods"
"Roses from the South Op. 388"
"Fruehlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)"
May I also say he was quite a LOOKER! ;)
Listen to it, I promise you'll love it!!! Johann Strauss was a genius of a musician!
These suggestions came from the book "The Well Trained Mind". I loved them so much I decided to implement them in our homeschool library trips:
Each child picks out one book in each of the following subjects:
*One science book
*One history book
*One art or music appreciation book
*One practical book (i.e. hobby, craft or "how-to")
*One biography or autobiography book
*One classic novel
*An imaginative story book
*One book of poetry
The kids can pick out any title, but they have to have something in each category. Each child has a week to read each book before they go back again the next week.
At our colloquium this week, we had a great time talking about "The Age of Innocence" and planning for the rest of the year. We still had enough books we're dying to read that didn't fit in our year's schedule. *Smile* We thought about having an online discussion forum to talk about the book with those who can't make it for whatever reason, but read the book.
We decided to go ahead and start a second Colloquium meeting, this one for Statesman. We plan to read things like the Federalist papers, etc.
For March we are reading "Follow the River" by James Alexander Thom
Book Summary:
"Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people."
The book reading list is now as follows:
March: Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
April: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (The first half of the book)
May: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (The second half of the book)
June: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
July: Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare
August: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
September: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
October: The Short Stories of Edgar Allen Poe
November: Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
December: The Other Wiseman (Suggested by Linda)
As far as the Statesman Colloquia we will meet the second Wednesday at the same time. I will send more information for that.
For March we'll be reading: 1776 by McCullough
At the next meeting we'll decide which to read next but our suggested book list is:
1) Future Shock by Toffler
2) The Roots of American Order
3) The Federalist Papers by Russell Kirk
4) Democracy in America by Tocqueville
5) The Constitution of the United States of America
6) The Declaration of Independence
7) Common Sense by Thomas Paine
8) John Adams Biography
9) The True End of Civil Government by John Locke
10) The Social Contract by Rousseau
11) The History of England by David Hume
Mar. 1, 2009 - I Went Used Book Store Shopping and...
these are the books I got today super duper CHEAP! I'm so excited and so are the kids. My Chrisy was intrigued by the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr and she read the entire book while we traveled from store to store.
Kid's List:
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Maples Dodge
A Little Princess by Francis Hodges Burnett
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The World of Christopher Robin by A.A. Milne
The Handy Biology Answer Book by Naomi Balaban
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Parakeet Handbook, The (Barron's Pet Handbooks)by Annette Wolter
Hello Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
I, Columbus: My Journal, 1492-1493 by Peter Roop
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
For Me:
1776 by David McCollough
Sonnets from the Portuguese And Other Poems by Edwin A. Abbott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Selected Poems of William Wordsworth edited by George W Meyer
Teaching Your Children Values by Linda Eyre, Richard Eyre
The First American Cookbook: A Facsimile of "American Cookery," 1796 by Amelia Simmons
Speaking of Women's Health: The Book
Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham (1948)
America's Garden Book by Louise And James Bush-Brown (1958)
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer
The New York Times Garden Book by Joan Lee Faust (1962)
Herbal Medicine by Dian Dincin Buchman
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by Nesta Helen Webster
This blog is for the purpose of sharing my triumphs, joys, troubles and stresses of raising and homeschooling my seven children while pregnant with #8.
We are a military family currently living in North Carolina.
"It is in the digging that life is lived.
And I believe it is joy in the journey,
in the end, that truly matters."
Books Read for 2009
31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Detectives Don't Wear Seatbelts by Cici McNair
The Runner's Diet by Madelyn H. Fernstrom
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Biggest Loser Fitness Plan
The U.S. Constitution for Everyone by Mort Gerberg
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
You Can Heal Your Life Companion Book by Louise L. Hay
The Well Trained Mind
Doctrine and Covenants
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
You Can Heal Your Life By Louise Hay
1776 by David McCullough
Follow the River by Thom
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Through the Window of Life by Suzanne Freeman
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Judge Me, Dear Reader by Erwin Wirkus
Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth
FedEd by Allen Quist
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Books Read for 2008
The Chimes by Charles Dickens
Prevention's Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss By Chris Freytag
Shrink Your Female Fat Zones By Denise Austin
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
Anna Karenina By Leo Tolstoy
The Virginian by Owen Wister
Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol K. Truman
The Bonds That Make You Free
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L Wilson
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Hiding in Plain Site By Ken Bowers
Going Home (Brides of Webster County #1) by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
It Takes a Mother to Raise a Village By Colleen Down
Ten Peas in a Pod by Arnold Pent III
One Tattered Angel by Blaine M. Yorgason
Finished 2007:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Homeschooling Methods by Paul and Gina Suarez
I'm Going to be the Greatest Mom Ever by Terri Camp
If it Weren't for Eve, I'd be a Perfect Wife by Terri Camp
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
She's Gonna Blow by Julie Ann Barnhill
I Didn't Plan to be a Witch by Linda Eyre
Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner: Personal Discoveries of a Mother of Twelve by Jaroldeen Edwards
The other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff By Vicki Jo Anderson
Arm the Children by Arthur Henry King
Books Read as a Family 2007:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
King Arthur Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang
Ten and Twenty
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Finished 2007:
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digital books and books online along with the books? I’m all for the convenience of modern technology, but there are many things that technology cannot completely take the place of without consequences and one of those is books. What has been working well for centuries shouldn’t just end because one generation found an invention they liked better. It was mentioned in the article that the staff of Cushing believe it is the start of a new era. The problems I foresee, aside from losing the pure love of books, are what if there was a power surge? What about the effects on the eyes as people do more reading on a computer screen? Like the television the computer screen can affect the brain waves as well. The author also pointed out various other problems with digital "books" such as sand, liquids and the cost of accessing the materials as many of the materials online are not free. 
also known as Johann Baptist Strauss, Johann Strauss, Jr., or Johann Strauss the Younger) was an Austrian composer famous for having written over 500 waltzes, polkas, marches, and galops. He was the son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother of composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss. He is also the most famous member of the Strauss family. He was known in his lifetime as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. He revolutionized the waltz, elevating it from a lowly peasant dance to entertainment fit for the royal Habsburg court.