Posts Tagged ‘literature’
Memo Monday: The Lately Edition
Written by Jacque on July 14, 2008 – 12:51 pm -Welcome to Memo Monday. As usual, I am posting this late. I have no excuses. I have been chatting online with my friend and fellow HSBA writer, Christina, for about an hour now. I could have gotten it done. Before that, I was chatting with my friend, Danielle, who is not a writer on HSBA, but just decided to really blog, and she actually joined the May & June 2008 Swap too, to my surprise!
I worked late last night on The Homesteading Carnival: Southern Sunset Edition, and could not force myself to get this done. I am a last-minute, does-better-under-pressure kind of woman, you know. Besides that, I kept finding other things to do.
I have been participating in Robin’s meme: Super Spiritual Sunday Links for a couple of weeks and was recalling my favorite links last night. In addition to that, my DH, Matt, wanted to watch a movie late last night, and I told him I would, if he brought it upstairs, so I typed and pasted as we watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Sounds like a good name for a Memo Monday, huh? 
I think I would have to stop at the Good though.
In my last few Memo Mondays I covered Online Homeschool Groups, Gardening, Gas Prices, and Vacation Planning. I am kinda stuck on what else to write about. That means you are stuck reading my “Lately” post. I just got a sleepy babe to sleep. Jocelyn used the weed-eater on our jungle, but there is much more to overcome. We published Growing in Grace Magazine -July Online Edition on July first, and I got the August assignments out a few days ago. Or was that just yesterday?
I am getting so excited about school plans! I am reviewing some Knowledge Box Central lapbooks for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and I am just ready and rearin’ to go! A really neat resource I am reviewing is America’s 50 States by Learning with Weblinks. Awesome! Even Amanda looked through it and said, “Wow! That is neat, Mom!”. The lapbooks I have include the Elections one, and it will be fun to do that one in this 2008 Presidential Election year! Homeschooling real life! Awesome!
I also received two In the hands of A Child Project Packs, which are lapbook instructions too, and they are right up our alley! One is American Government, which will go great with the KBC Elections lapbook, and also Plants, which, if you know us, is totally us!
To be honest, I am a make-my-own curriculum teacher, and I had not seen these resources before. I am so pleasantly surprised with them. I already had the Modesty Lapbbook download, which I had received free from CurrClick, and I am excited to get to that with our children. I knew that the lapbook instructions - packets came in EBook format, but I did not know that you can purchase some of the lapbooks from KBC already assembled. We have a good printer and many hands to help assemble, so I wouldn’t need that option, but since that is how the Lapbooks came to me to review, I thought it was odd. Now I know. Now you know!
Also on my “Lately” list is Peanut M&Ms. Yes, I am going to talk about M&Ms. They are an infrequent treat. I wanted some chocolate, Amanda brought me my favorite, Peanut M&Ms. She also brought home a Dark Chocolate bar, but those are good for me, right? Well, that is what I read: Benefits of Chocolate
Amanda is currently reading Run, Baby Run, by Nicky Cruz for a GGM Interview with him or one of the actors in the upcoming movie. Be on the lookout for that!
I also ordered Eric the rest of the set of The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black. I was so glad that the Schoolhouse Store offered that he would sign one of the books! I didn’t tell Eric, but he is going to be SO excited! The boy has literally read the first three of his own six times! He borrowed the last three from the library, but wanted his own to read the other five times, I guess! What a thrill it will be to see his face when he opens it and see Mr. Black’s message personalized to Eric! Isn’t that fun?
Rachel and Eric also read The Sentinel: City of Destiny, by Landel Bilbrey, which I have yet to post (sorry Mr. Bilbrey).
Last, but not least, you have to check out the new E-Book: The Schoolhouse Planner. I think one of the lovely HSBA ladies will be reviewing it here soon, but you can always get a sneak peek. It is really awesome! It is interactive, which I love! My laptop is my scheduling brain, and I forget about papers, so it is really cool for us.
Since I love The Homesteading Carnival and Carnival of Homeschooling (though I rarely remember to submit before the deadline), I might as well give you the run-down of carnivals this week. There are so many that are beneficial to the homeschool mom.
Carnival of Homeschooling
current issue:
Jul 08, 2008
The Daily Planet
next issue:
Jul 15, 2008
Red Sea School
current issue:
Jun 10, 2008
Learn Me Good
next issue:
Jun 11, 2008
Learn Me Good
Learning in the Great Outdoors
current issue:
Jun 01, 2008
The Miss Rumphius Effect
next issue:
Jul 14, 2008
Alone on a Limb
Music Education Blog Carnival
current issue:
Jul 01, 2008
So You Want To Teach?
next issue:
Aug 01, 2008
Music, Technology and Education: Mustech.net
The Charlotte Mason Carnival
current issue:
Jul 07, 2008
Hearts and Trees
next issue:
Jul 22, 2008
Praiseworthy Things
The Homesteading Carnival
current issue:
Jul 14, 2008
Walking Therein
next issue:
Jul 21, 2008
HowToMe
If you like to do memes and love the Psalms or Hymns or Worship songs, please feel free to join me for Saturday Psalm and Praise every Saturday. It has been a joy to read everyone’s favorites, hear the songs playing on their players and just get to know friends on that level.
I posted a contest on my blog for Baby-Wearing Mommas, if you are interested: Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride. You have until midnight on July 31, 2008.
Have a great week!!
Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, books, boys, carnivals, chocolate, Friends, gas prices, government, Growing in Grace Magazine, Homeschoolblogger, homeschooling, homesteading, HSBA Swap, Knowledge Box Central, lapbooks, literature, M&Ms, memes, modesty, planning, Project Packs, reviews, TOS, vacation
Posted in Curriculum Picks, Large Family Homeschooling, Memo Monday | 1 Comment »
Saturday Poetry and Literature: Summer Reading
Written by SuperAngel on June 28, 2008 – 3:39 pm -
School has ended for almost everyone and summer has begun! It may seem that since you don’t have school anymore, you will have plenty of free time… yeah right! I don’t know that there is plenty of free time for homeschool moms. During the summer months you don’t want your children to stop learning because they are out of school. Our homeschool schools through the summer. Although we don’t get our workbooks out, we still use everyday lessons to learn and gain understanding or a new concept. One thing that we absolutely love to do is reading!
So let’s talk about summer reading. Summer is a great time to get a list of books you want to read. I have 7 younger siblings of all ages, so I get quite a few different books from the library for them.
Some of the ones that the 11yo and 8yo are going to read are:
The Little House on the Prairie Series
The Kingdom Series
We also have a 14yo and she is going to read:
Anne of Green Gables
Our 17yo is not a big reader, but she has just finished:
The Bridge to Terabithia
I am the avid reader here, and my list is pretty long, but the specific ones I am looking forward to reading are:
Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (almost finished with)
Rosa of Linden Castle by Christoph von Schmid
The Cross and The Switchblade by Dave Wilkerson
Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz
The Infinite Day by Chris Walley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss (for the fourth time)
There are a few reading programs online that I have found that you can join for the summer.
TOS’s Summer Reading Splash . TOS wants to help make reading fun this summer! Splish the Frog will be around too. The site says:
“Each week, here on our blog, we will be posting a new topic question. We’d like you to think about these and then e-mail your answers to us by clicking here. E-mailing your answers is much safer than leaving a comment. If you have your own e-mail address, that’s fine; if not, have your mom or dad e-mail your answer to us. Each Friday we will have a drawing and we’ll be giving away some fantastic books (and series of books)! Also, we may pick YOUR answer to post here on our blog- just for fun! You’ll want to check out our Summer Reading Splash webpage also- here you’ll have access to downloading our log sheets. We will have one for younger children and one for older children available. Please, please, please keep track of ALL the books you read. At the end of the program, we’ll have a special prize for those of you who turn in your reading logs (more details to come!)”
HSB Literary Club is also continuing reading through the summer. Currently we have just started reading Rosa of Linden Castle by Christoph von Schmid and are very behind on our schedule because the moderators went on vacation! Now they are back and ready to get started again.
Don’t let summer put learning on hold! That’s why we homeschool. To have freedom to learn the way we want. Reading is an excellent way to learn about everything.
Another thing you can do after you read the book is blog about. Write a review and blog about it. Blogging is a great way not only to share books with other homeschoolers, but also to never let the learning stop!
What are some of the books you are reading? What about your children? Have they made up lists of books they want to read?
Tags: books, Homeschool, Lists, literature, Summer Reading, The Old Schoolhouse
Posted in Saturday Poetry and Literature | 3 Comments »
Saturday Poetry and Literature: Reading Literature
Written by SuperAngel on December 22, 2007 – 8:44 am -
Winter. A great time to sit with your coffee in front of the fireplace, snuggled under a warm afghan, reading a new book or an old favorite. Just make sure you don’t forget yourself, reading for hours, forgetting that the horses need to be fed or dinner needs to be made.
Reading literature has become a passion for me. I really love it. I wish more people had the love of reading a good book as I do. Reading is the entrance to a world of new thoughts. It enhances your way of thinking. To share a love of books is to share a love of learning. Books need to be a part of everyone’s life. There are countless things you can learn from books.
I acquired my love of reading and literature very young. I loved being able to read about people’s lives and learn from them. I loved getting lost in their world and putting myself in their shoes. I think that books give a very interesting look on life and many situations.
I also don’t think one can ever have enough books. We even have multiple copies of some of our books. We have more than one copy for a couple of reasons: 1) More than one person can read it at the same time. 2) You can give your extra copy of your children’s favorites to them when they leave to have their own home. 3) It is easier to do a study on one book when you have enough for everyone. We were very blessed to have been able to purchase quite a few of our books from the library. They had them for sale for $.50 each because they were upgrading to newer books and disposed of the older, better classics. It is unfortunate that our world has degraded so much that we no longer have a sense of what is good and wholesome.
We have so many books our walls are lined with bookshelves and are filled up. I love to walk into a house and see full bookshelves. It tells me that there is a love of books. I agree with Cicero who said, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
I don’t know about you, but I love the old books. The ones with the cloth covers and the yellowed pages. I love the shape of them. I love how they are so thick, yet small enough that you can hold them in one hand. It reminds me of the olden days when children used to tie their books together with their belts and head to school. It is so nostalgic to me. I love thinking of those times. I also prefer hardcover books. They have that nostalgia to them. I can’t bend it as easily and therefore it won’t get ruined by me squeezing it as I get into the story. 
Although softcovers do allow easy accessibility for keeping the pages apart.
Reading definitely enhances your vocabulary. Because I have read so many books and of so many different genres, I have a very good vocabulary. I have learned so many new words by reading literature. I have a ’sophisticated’ way of using my words, if you will. I was once told that I talk strange (for a teenager) because of the words I use and how I use them. I would rather be told I had a strange way of talking, then talk like other people my age, with the “like whoa, man, like that is like so like cool, dude.”
To have a love of literature and reading is to have a love of words and their meanings. When I read a book and there is a word I don’t know, I love to get out our 1828 Webster’s Dictionary and look it up. It thrills me to find a new word and its meaning. I love books that have the meaning of words at the bottom of the pages. It is neat to read it and then go back and read it knowing what it means to the story.
Another great reason for homeschooled children to read literature is that it can be counted as schooling. You can incorporate many of your other subjects into reading literature. If your child doesn’t care for textbooks, give them a book to read. If you are studying the 1800’s, get out David Copperfield, if you are studying Romans, get out The Robe. You can learn a lot about the culture, customs, and events going on at those times from reading literature about the times you are studying. Those are just some of the great ideas that you can come up with using literature.
There are so many great books that you can read. If you aren’t an avid reader and are kinda lost as to what you would want to read, there are multiple literary clubs online that you can join.
One is the HSB Literary Club. We just finished discussing The Hedge of Thorns. What a wonderful book that was!! That book cannot be recommended enough, I think. We will start discussing The Inheritance after the beginning of the year. I sure would love to see you there. Also, you do not have to have an HSB blog account to join in the discussion.
There is also the Society of Avid Young Readers. They are currently reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They are reading a book a week, so if you want to read the above, better hurry over there.
So what are you reading?? What do you prefer-Fiction or Non-fiction?? Classic or Newer books?? I would love to know.
I am reading a couple of works right now. I recently finished up The Dark Foundations by Chris Walley and The Hedge of Thorns by John Hatchard. I am now reading Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. I also plan to get The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.
If you are looking for a great place to purchase some wholesome books, there is The Old Schoolhouse Store, which carries the Lamplighter books. Those are some of the best books. They have wonderful inspiring stories that also have very important lessons and virtues in the storyline.
Something I found that was quite neat is GoogleBooks. Some of the books you can actually read as a whole online. I did this when I was waiting for my Walley book to come in. Of course, nothing beats having the hardcover in your hands, but it was great that I could start to read it while I was waiting for it.
Also, Mom found these 2 websites Munsey’s & Books By Henty that you can download books from. The second one is only G.A. Henty books, but we found G.A. Henty, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen on the Munsey’s site.
There are so many books that you will never be able to read them all, I know. But instilling a love of reading in your child will help them immensely in life.
If you are not sure about what books you want your children to read, there are several lists that have age-appropriate books. AmblesideOnline has lists for children divided up to school grades. I also have posted a list of books I have read. Now, its not all the books I have ever read because that would be way too long, but it a list of ones I wrote down as I read them and it is mostly Classics. I would be happy to tell you when I read what books and if they would be a good read for your child. I know I am no expert, but if I have read it I could probably give a good idea about the book and its storyline.
I hope this has encouraged you to read more books and to let your child learn to love reading. Books are a gift that keep on giving.
Prayers and Blessings as always,
Tags: Ambleside, books, Classics, Dickens, Douglas, Henty, Homeschool, Lewis, literature, reading, The Old Schoolhouse Store, Walley, Webster
Posted in Saturday Poetry and Literature | No Comments »
