Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
When we begin Classical Conversations Cycle 3 in the fall, my littles will be ages 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11. This is our second time through this cycle and my oldest son's last time. I've decided to create a book list all my own this year. (As opposed to previous years where I've layered over an AO list.) I have consulted my best "book buds" - Five in … [Read more...]
In Spring and Summer, we're very nearly all baseball all the time in this family. Since my crew loves the game, I thought perhaps they would love some books involving the game. These books are their favorites, but they are more than baseball books. They're just really great stories. So, maybe they'd be home runs with your gang even if … [Read more...]
"Art is one of the basics for little children. They love talking, listening to stories, and drawing or painting." Isn't what Susan Schaeffer Macaulay shares in For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School true? Put two of those together and I think you have some of the best building blocks for teaching art. I've made … [Read more...]
Guys, seriously so many good books in this world! I get so excited when I find some we love and I love sharing them with you. Here are some books we love reading that just so happen to teach us great things about animals. They're like science in a storybook. 1. I Love My Daddy, Because... - In beautiful drawings of daddy animals caring … [Read more...]
Ever since I read this article, I've been wanting to talk with y'all about it. These statistics on biblical illiteracy reveal a sad state of affairs. Researchers George Gallup and Jim Castelli put the problem squarely: "Americans revere the Bible--but, by and large, they don't read it. And because they don't read it, they have become a … [Read more...]
Our family listens to a lot of audiobooks for 2 main reasons: 1. My littles love them and 2. They learn so much. I couldn't even begin to count the times my littles have quoted a line, asked a question, or made a connection based on a story they've heard. We borrow from the library or buy favorites. When we buy, we usually get the CDs, burn them … [Read more...]
I love the conversations classically homeschooling our family has afforded. Because our core subjects are on the same topics, we are able to have conversations where everyone can join in. Today I was reading out loud to them, An Island Story, a child's history of England originally published before 1923. It's one of my littles' favorite … [Read more...]
Recently during my 7 year olds annual check-up at the pediatrician's, the nurse was asking him to answer a list of prescribed questions prior to the doctor coming in. It went something like this -- Nurse: "What's the name of your school?" My son: Blank stare. Somewhat impatiently, the nurse repeats: "The name? of your school?" I was giving … [Read more...]
My crew and I enjoy reading together a lot! I've made a book list to reference that coordinates with our upcoming Classical Conversations cycle, cycle 3. We certainly won't be reading each of these books, but I like knowing what's available and what comes recommended from some of my favorite sources. Getting to the library with four littles … [Read more...]
Do you have any friends you wish would create their own lending library? Friends whose libraries you would frequent even more than your local library, because you trust their selections to be wonderful every time? I have a few friends like that who I rely on and I thought you might like to see what they're reading, too. Christy at Without Love … [Read more...]