Completing our three year cycle, here are the books I purchased this year for our first foray into modern times. Please don’t assume just because a book is in our home that it will necessarily be a good fit in your home. Use your own discernment when it comes to books for your family. Every…
As I begin to share book lists, I do need to make it clear that you should use your own discernment when it comes to books for your family. Every family’s tolerances and tastes differ, and mine are more laissez-faire than many. I buy no twaddle, and the books I get come recommended from good…
In the recent survey, one reader commented that she’d enjoy seeing more book recommendations for elementary boys. I know first-hand how difficult it is to keep voracious younger readers in books! So much that is targeted to them is simply junk, and so much of the good stuff really is best saved for a more…
I was hoping to read 52 books this year, but I didn’t quite make it. I read 48 books, which is still better than I’ve done in the last three years! There were several books that have been on my to-read list for years that I finally read this year, and I was so glad…
I have such a hard time answering when someone asks the seemingly simple and small-talk question, “What are you using for history?” The answer feels like nothing and everything. Nothing because I’m not using any prepackaged or planned history curriculum. Not AO, not MFW, not CC, not SOTW, nor any other acronym. There is no…
Six years ago on my previous blog, when my oldest who were 4 & 2, I wrote this: I have a secret. I can’t believe I’m making it public. I dislike reading aloud. Oh, I enjoy listening to books, whether it’s Matt narrating or it’s a book on tape. I highly enjoy taking books in…
Gearing up for 2012 book lists, here is my list from 2011, posted here before it is lost forever on my old blog. I read 44 books in 2011, with 6 still in progress. Forty-four was my total for 2010, too. A little short of my goal of 60, but still not too shabby for…
I have a whole collection of beautiful fairy tale picture books. I collect what some might call “scary” picture books: the art is gorgeous but haunting, and the tales include the bits about dancing in red hot shoes until dead or wolves’ stomachs being opened by honest woodsmen. I came across a hardback copy of…
By email a few days ago, reader Pilgrim asked me a question: Have you or could you review what you use for Pilgrim’s Progress and why? This is a great question! It’s also one that is good for me to think through well enough to answer, because the truth is that despite its fame and…