REVIEW: Time4Learning.com

I've looked at Time4Learning many times over the years we've been homeschooling. All of my children enjoy computer games, and I thought it looked like fun. They offer curriculum for preK through middle school, and even have brand new high school levels. Subjects include language arts, math, science (beginning in 1st grade) and social studies (beginning in 2nd grade). You'd need to add handwriting and reading practice. I was excited to have the opportunity to review the 1st grade curriculum with my son, who is 6. For the purpose of the review, I received a 6-month subscription to the 1st grade level to use with him.

I put Isaac in the 1st grade level, because when I read the descriptions of the work required, I thought like he should be able to handle it. However, he had a hard time with some of the initial activities. There was one that required him to hit the space bar when a moving line went across the correct sight word. He didn't know the sight words and was frustrated by the activity, even after I helped him figure out how it worked. The great thing about Time4Learning is, if your child needs to work at a different grade than they're signed up to be in, you have access to one level up and one level down from their current grade. He did fine with 1st grade math, but needed more practice with reading before being able to do the 1st grade reading activities. He did manage some of them, but overall, he was better suited with the kindergarten level in that area.

Isaac has really enjoyed using Time4Learning. He asked often to watch "the blue mouse," and chose which games he wanted to play. I had hoped he would be able to work independently, and as he got more used to how things worked he could to some degree, but since he was in the 1st grade level I did need to sit with him and explain things sometimes. Obviously, that's not the end of the world, but it didn't accomplish what I'd hoped, and that was to keep him busy while I worked with my 2 older girls.

Time4learning offers a lot of great resources for parents. Check out a demo for any level here. You can see an overview of the subjects they offer and how many activities there are per topic. They have printable lesson plans, and you can print a list of completed activities with your child's scores, so you can see their progress.

They also have timer settings. You can choose the minimum length you'd like lessons to be, as well as set a timer for the "Playground," which is an area where kids can play games just for fun. If you set your lesson time for a minimum of 15 minutes, your child must work for 15 minutes before they can get into the playground section.

It's also completely flexible. You can work on things any time, and anywhere you have internet connection. That's a huge plus when homeschooling! It doesn't require having large piles of books around, which I could see helping someone living in a small space or who needed school to be portable. 

One thing I learned from their FAQ, which I thought was worth noting, is that as a curriculum provider, they cannot be accredited, but their curriculum is used by accredited schools. Their printable pages can be included in a portfolio for your student, if you're in a state that requires that. 

As I've mentioned, Isaac had a good time with Time4Learning. I can see this being a good fit for people who work from home, or even away from home, so their children can still be at home too. For us, it's a fun supplement. I love to have him learn while playing games, because it can be tiresome for a small boy to be "told what to do" all the time. I do prefer real books and math manipulatives he can hold in his hands. I want him outside more than I want him in front of the screen. The games are fun, but for us to use this as our primary curriculum would require far too much screen time, in my opinion. 

Time4learning.com is available for $19.95 per month for your first student (PreK-middle school) and $14.95 per month for each additional student. The high school curriculum, which includes 4 courses, is available for $30 per month. For a 9-month school year for Isaac, that would total almost $180. That's really not bad!

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REVIEW: A Child's Geography

I love KnowedgeQuest and their products. I have most of them and have been very happy with all of them. I love their "What Really Happened" biography books, and their book on Canada, and their 50 States book, and most of all, I love their MapTrek book. My girls and I enjoy their Timeline Builder app (my review is here), and I'm looking forward to using their Medieval Life app as we study that time period this year.

I have enjoyed using the previous two volumes of A Child's Geography by Ann Voskamp, and when I heard about Volume 3 coming out, I pre-ordered it. I was so happy when it arrived! I immediately took the lovely large map that came with the book to be laminated and printed out the papers I thought we might want for my binder. Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest is the author of this newest volume. She's a homeschooling mother of 6 with a passion for geography. The books in this series are aimed at children in grades 1-6, but I used this book with my middle schoolers, and they enjoyed it. There is plenty here for older children.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the electronic version of the book. For the purpose of this review, I received a PDF copy of the book, A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World, as well as everything included on the CD that comes with the physical book, also in PDF form. (I like to use a free app called Documents by Savy Soda for reading PDFs on my iPad.)

The CD includes the following documents to enhance your studies:

• A PDF version of the book, so you can read it on your computer or tablet
• An 11x17 printable map
• Chapter-by-chapter activities
• Extra Reading suggestions, if you want more information as you go through the book. This
  
  docuement includes websites, biographies, picture books, fiction books, cook books, and websites.
• Beautiful maps, as only Knowledge Quest does, with both labeled and blank maps for map drills
• Recipes to go along with geographical areas
• Timeline dates
• Travel Log information, with a list of places to be sure you mark on your maps
• Prayer Walk - information about each country "visited" in the book, and suggested ways to pray for the people there

The book is written to sound like you're walking through the countries of the classical world with a guide. It's written narratively, with beautiful pictures of the countryside, along with ancient artifacts and ruins, pictures of life as it is there today, and wildlife you might encounter. The photography in the book is simply stunning. If you can't be there yourself, the pictures are surely the next best thing!

Each chapter is broken into at least two parts, and sometimes more, which keeps the readings short and manageable. At the end of each section, there is a "Field Notes" heading, which encourages you to write your thoughts in a "field journal." This is when you have your children narrate back what you've read, and there are questions to ask to be sure they got the pertinent information, as well as a list of events you can add to a timeline. In the back is a glossary, with the definitions of the vocabulary words you find in bold print throughout the text.

My girls and I sat at our table. I read to them, and they narrated to me. Then, I had them write their narrations in their field journals. I found printable journal paper in half-sheet size, so we could fold it in half and put it in the little binders we used for our travel postcards from the first book in this series. I thought the smaller notebooks made it seem as though we had real field journals.

As we worked our way through the first chapters of this book, I had one child inform me she thinks narration is "boring." I was, to say the least, astonished. This child has done narration since the beginning of her education, and she thinks it's *boring?* Come to find out she simply didn't like doing the same thing repeatedly, so I encouraged her to come up with different ways of keeping her field journal. She could draw a map, or a picture of an animal from a particular region, or whatever she felt would make her field journal something valuable to her.

We studied ancient Greece and Rome over the last school year, so this book fit right in with what we learned. It was a nice way to spend a few weeks over the summer, looking at pictures of the places we've studied and seeing what life is like there today, as well as learning more about the history and topography of the region. Asa we continue, I plan to use lots of the included recipes. Both my girls like to cook and will enjoy honing their skills on some fun new things.

I love having a hard copy of the book to hold, and look at the pictures. I find more and more often, though, that having a digital copy is helpful, too. I am not always the most organized person (ahem) and while I can always find my iPad, books have been known to wander away after school time, and we're stuck looking for them when we need them next. It's handy to be able to pull up the digital edition so we can continue with our studies and look for the book again when school is done for the day. Also, if we want to take school outside, I'd much rather take my iPad than haul books.

Intrigued, but want to know more? You can download a PDF file of the first three chapters of A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World here. This book is available from Knowledge Quest for $24.95 for the ebook, and $39.95 for the paperback book (which also comes with a 22"x34" wall map, a $9.95 value included FREE).

GREAT NEWS: I am authorized to give away one free copy of A Child's Geography Vol. 3 to a lucky winner! Enter through Rafflecopter below. The giveaway ends September 14 at midnight EST.

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THAT'S NOT ALL! Knowledge Quest and many sponsors have come together to offer an excellent giveaway package worth more than $650. This giveaway also ends September 14 at midnight EST. Check out these awesome prizes and make sure you enter!

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Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations. 

REVIEW: "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again" from Greene Bark Press

I wasn't sure what I would think of this little board book from Greene Bark Press: Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again. I'm on my third child, after all, and felt I should probably be able to manage teaching him how to cross the road without too much trouble. When I thought about it, though, I realized I hadn't worked on how to safely cross the road with him very much. We live in a neighborhood with only one entrance. There is very little traffic, and the drivers go slowly and watch for people all the time. We walk around the neighborhood, on the only road which is a circle, but we haven't had much opportunity to practice actually crossing a road.

Additionally, this third child of mine is rather independent. He's fairly confident he can to handle himself in any situation, whether he's had the experience before, or not. So, when the opportunity came to review this board book, I asked if I could take a look.

It's a quick-reading story about a little duck named Wally Waddlewater. He wants to mail a letter to his grandmother, but has to walk quite a ways to find a mailbox. He would like to go by himself, but his first attempt to cross the street doesn't go so well. He looks one direction, but not the other, and nearly steps out in front of a car. His mother is there to help him, and she guides him again through all the steps to crossing the street safely, including - even looking around any obstacles that might be in the way, blocking the view of the oncoming traffic. That's one thing we laugh about - "Isaac, are there any elephants in the way? No? Then we're good." We are all about the fun at our house!

When Isaac and I read this book together, we enjoyed it.  I thought he might be a little old for the book, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much he liked it. First of all, it rhymes, which makes any story more fun to read. Secondly the rhyme for crossing the street is easy to remember, and Isaac likes to say it with me when we talk about crossing the road. "Remember what Wally learned? 'Look left, look right, look left again.'" It's much less confrontational than "ISAAC! WAIT FOR MOM BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET!" Heh.

This is a great book for any child to learn crossing the street. It seems like such a basic thing, but little kids get told to do a LOT of things. It's nice to have a book that teaches them important concepts in a fun way. It would have been great to have this when my girls were little and we lived in a busy neighborhood. I could see this book being well-received in preschools.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again is an award-winning finalist from the International Book awards, which is a division of USA Book News. It's intended for children ages 3-8. It is available from Greene Bark Press for $8.50.

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Our Charlotte Mason Community As Yet Unnamed

Last year, I posted about beginning a small Charlotte Mason-inspired co-op with another family. It worked out wonderfully well, and we've now met for two sessions of our new school term. Never mind that none of my planning is done for what we need to do at home. We were all excited to begin.

Here's what we're covering:

• Shakespeare
• Hymns
• Picture Study
• Handicrafts
• Folk Song
• Composer Study
• Poetry
• Nature Study

We cover the first for items on the list, then break for lunch, and then finish up the last four things. We don't have a strictly set schedule, since it's just our two families. Since we don't always have an extra adult to watch the littlest people, we have extra interruptions sometimes, but they're getting better.

Our Shakespeare play for this term is Macbeth. There were two reasons for choosing this one: (1) my girls are studying Medieval history this year, so Macbeth fits right in, and (2) Charlotte Shakespeare was performing the play in August so we were able to go see it. I know I'm better able to understand the story, having seen it performed, and I think it gives the children a good start, too. I had to laugh at the vastly different reactions of our children to the play. Sara's boys liked it, but my girls were ready to leave at intermission and were pretty sure they'd been traumatized for life. One thing for certain: the play serves as an excellent lesson to choose your mate wisely.

Our first hymn of the term is "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken," which just happens to have music written by this term's composer, Haydn. It's such a beautiful hymn! We will study two of Ambleside Online's suggested composers this year, Haydn and Tchaikovsky, and then branch out and take a look at John Williams.

Our artist for this term is John Singleton Copley. He was an American portrait painter around the time of the Revolutionary War. So far, we've learned that portrait painting was not considered art then, but was an occupation. There weren't any cameras yet, so if you wanted a picture of yourself, you had to sit for a portrait. His painting of Paul Revere is fascinating. We've also looked at his painting of a shark attack, and the background of that painting was interesting, too. I thought the boys would enjoy that one, with the shark and everything, but all the children seemed to find it disturbing. I suppose I should have used the alternate painting, which was Copley's family portrait. I think Sara and I both decided to display that one in our homes for the next couple of weeks. The good news is, none of his other paintings we'll study are nearly that exciting. We will look at 2 of AO's artist suggestions this year: Copley, and the Hudson River School, and then look at Giotto, to go along with the medieval studies at my house.

For poetry, we're going with Ambleside Online's Year 5 selections, because that's the year Sara's boys are studying, and our poetry studies have been so woefully neglected, we just need to read something. This term we're getting to know Rudyard Kipling. I'm looking forward to reading his poetry. The girls enjoyed reading his Just So Stories a couple of years ago, and many poems on AO's suggested list are taken from those. Our first poem was A Boy Scout's Patrol Song. That was a fun read!

Sara is in charge of handicrafts, and she found a simple pillowcase pattern from Conkerr Cancer. The kids are making pillowcases to donate to this organization, who will give each one to a child with cancer. We had a good time choosing fabrics, and we're going to make some for our cousins for Christmas, too.

Finally, Sara started off our nature study of mammals with cats! We all love cats. There are several specimens to observe at my house! This last week, we looked at wolves, and dogs. The Handbook of Nature Study didn't give us much information on wolves, and said that we'd find all we needed to know in the pages of good literature. Ms. Comstock recommended the Jungle Books as a place to find out about the habits of wolves in India, and said she would list suggestions at the end of the section, but we couldn't find them. We discussed possible books by Jim Kjelgaard we ight read to learn more. If you have any suggestions for good books on the natural history of wolves, I'd love to hear about them.

Last year, we discussed making a yearbook of our co-op activities, and we didn't get around to it. I hope we will be able to do it this year, and will have to try to remember to take pictures. We're looking forward to another fun year!

REVIEW: "Beauty in the Heart" Bible Study Book from Doorposts

I am always looking for interesting Bible studies to use with my children. We read in our Bibles daily (well, most days) together, and discuss what we've read. I have a small commentary that we use to help us summarize points from the section we're reading, or to bring up questions about important things I don't want us to miss. I like this method and it keeps me accountable for reading with my children.

However, I like to use additional materials as well, and when the opportunity came up to review Beauty in the Heart by Pam Forster, from Doorposts, I was thrilled to take a look at it and work through a portion of it with my girls. We received a comb-bound copy of the book to use. It's intended for ages 12 and up, and I have to say that my 12 and 13 year old girls were plenty challenged by this study. I learned a lot myself.

What I liked very much about this book is that not only did we learn about what comprises true beauty, we also learned the basics of different methods of studying the Bible. They recommend a Strong's Concordance, which I have, and a Nave's Topical Bible, which I didn't have, so I ordered one.

There are 10 chapters, each taking up to a week to complete, for a total of 86 days of study, or about 17 weeks if you work on the study for 5 days per week. The chapters are:

• Beauty in Submission
• Beauty in the Heart
• Beauty in Trusting God
• Beauty in Humility
• Beauty in Modesty
• Beauty in Serving
• Beauty Without Discretion
• Beauty in Crisis
• Beauty at the Gates
• Beauty in Review

The Bible study methods include inductive study, verse study, character study, verse study, and word/topical study. Although the study is written for girls, there are alternate questions for boys included. The book states that boys can encourage girls to grow in Godly beauty, and that it's important for them to learn to discern between true and false beauty in relationships as they consider marrying.

We spent the review period on the first chapter, a couple days per week. The chapter is titled "Beauty in Submission," and is an inductive study of a portion of I Peter. I printed copies for us of I Peter in the KJV. We read the entire book aloud together, stopping after every few verses to narrate and discuss. Then, we used the method described to mark up our passages (we used highlighters instead of pens). We weren't quite ready to mark up our Bibles, and I have done inductive study with printouts before. For the next part of the study, I made up tables for us like the one in the book, so we could organize what we'd highlighted. We spent a few days organizing our findings and discussing them. We took our time, because we're still getting used to the KJV, and we looked up verses in other versions of the Bible if we had questions.

I'm glad I decided we would work through this study together, because it is not easy going! There is a *lot* to be learned from this book. It's laid out so nicely - we read in I Peter about "the way holy women of the past who put their trust in God used to adorn themselves," and then go on to study those holy women and their stories. I love the way inductive study draws you into Scripture and helps you see the details of a passage.

This is a brand-new study, available for $14.00 from Doorposts. Click to see a PDF sample here. They currently have a special offer: if you purchase the printed workbook, you can use the coupon code "beautystudy" and receive a free PDF copy of the book! This offer expires on August 31, 2013.

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Charlotte Mason and Living Books, Part 5

Today, we're going to talk about some resources for locating living books. It's not as difficult as it might seem to find them!

One source I've already mentioned this week is TruthQuest History. There are book recommendations for all ages, and each period in history. You can use it as a history curriculum, but it's worth the price just for the amazing book lists the author, Michelle Miller, has compiled. Michelle runs the Children's Preservation Library in Michigan, a library of living books containing 20,000 volumes. Makes you want to move to Traverse City, doesn't it? She's also written several articles for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine on living books. Here is a link to a fabulous article she wrote on how to tell if a book is living.


My favorite go-to place for book recommendations is Ambleside Online. Their book choices are excellent, and as I've mentioned, we use a good portion of their curriculum. Whenever I want a book for my nieces and nephews, I go there to see what wonderful choice I might find. My nieces and nephews love to read, and I have never sent them a duplicate book when using AO's list.

Another website that has a great list of books is the 1000 Good Books List, put together by Christine Miller of Nothing New Press. She has the books organized by age level, and by category within the age lists. She also publishes a lovely book called All Through the Ages, which is a list of books organized by chronological and geographical history.

I have had the privilege of visiting Living Books Library a couple of times, and the lovely ladies who run it, Liz and Emily, are book gurus. Liz writes for their Journal (blog), and has put out several "Top Picks" lists on various subjects. I
used many suggestions from her list of favorite historical fiction books from the Middle Ages.

There are some great books with book suggestions, too. Here are some of my favorites:

• Picture Perfect Childhood by Cay Gibson - a wonderful book full of lists of picture books for all occasions and situations. 
• Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt (Also check out Honey for a Teen's Heart and Honey for a Woman's Heart - I don't have these, but they are probably great)
• Books Children Love by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson
• Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

I hope you've enjoyed our incredibly brief sojourn into the world of living books this week! I find that I have a LOT more material to share, so I may plan some future posts. I'd love to hear if you have any resources to share, or favorite books!

Charlotte Mason and Living Books, Part 4

Today, we're going to look at a fun subject for living books: science. This post has taken me much longer to write than it should have. I keep going off on rabbit trails as I look up books to share.

As I mentioned on Monday, I first discovered that science could be fun with a level 1 science reader about an octopus. Since then, I've found TONS of great books on science for young children! Most of them are older, but there is one current series I love: The Cat in the Hat Learning Library. There are all kinds of topics - even one on maps! I like them because the facts are presented in rhyme, which makes the books more fun to read, and the information easier to remember. Isaac, my 5 year old, enjoys having these read to him, and my girls like them too, even though they are 12 and 13. Mostly I think they just enjoy having me read to them, even if it's rhyming science books. Do check out the website. There is some great stuff there. We also enjoy "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!" show on PBS/Netflix.

An author I love, who writes books about natural history (defined, according to Google, as the scientific study of plants and animals, presented in popular rather than scientific form) is Jim Arnosky. We have several of his Crinkleroot books, and they are just lovely. Crinkleroot is a crusty old outdoorsman, who walks you through the woods in the books, pointing out different things related to the topic at hand - birds, butterflies, trees, etc. Mr. Arnosky has a fantastic website, with coloring pages and all kinds of nifty stuff. There are a few of his Crinkleroot books in print, and you can purchase the entire collection on CD. He has also written several "All About" books, about different animals, with beautiful illustrations.

Yet more favorite books for my girls have been The Burgess Bird Book for Children and The Burgess Animal Book for Children. (The links take you to the Baldwin Project, where you can read the books online for free to see what you think.) We discovered these books thanks to Ambleside Online, and the girls read them eagerly for school last year. They are stories about birds and animals, as Peter Rabbit encounters them in his woodland life. It's a wonderful way for children to learn without even realizing they're learning. Lots of people love the bird book! There are some lovely resources at the My Soul Doth Delight blog, and Satori Smiles has a fantastic Burgess Bird Book Companion. The Teach Beside Me blog has a nice Burgess Animal Companion.

You might be thinking, as I did, "Sure, living books are all well and good for little kids, but what about high school? I can't possibly do science in high school without a textbook, can I?"

My answer is: Yes, you CAN!

Kelly Christenberry, a homeschool mom using Charlotte Mason's methods, has put together some lovely lesson plans for biology and chemistry, which you can download for free on her blog, Grace for the Day. I am slowly collecting the books, and planning to use them with my girls, I think - although, since I began working with Liz at Living Books Library, she's helped me choose some books that are more along the lines of what Charlotte Mason would have used. Miss Mason would have had her students working on multiple science topics simultaneously. This coming year, we're going to start working through a book called The Study of Plant Life by Stopes; Liz told me that Miss Mason would have had her students working on botany constantly, along with natural history. We're also going to read Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley for earth science, Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us (AO recommends this edition for young readers), and, if you can believe it, The Life of the Spider by Jean-Henri Fabre. Liz assures me that even if I don't like spiders, Fabre's writing is so amazing that we will enjoy the book. I'm taking her word for it. *shudder*

The goal, as always, is to choose books that will inspire students to connect with the material - to help them see how the information fits into the overall picture of Creation. I have read plenty of science textbooks in my time, and my children will have to do so if they find their path leads them to college. However, for the time I have them, I want them to love learning, and to engage with what they learn. The best way to do that is with living books.

If you're interested, here is a link to a book Charlotte Mason actually used for science in her schools: The Sciences: A Reading Book for Children by Edward S. Holden.

Tomorrow we're going to talk about some places to start looking for living books.

Charlotte Mason and Living Books: Part 3

Let's talk about history!

One of the things I like most about homeschooling is getting to teach my children more about history than I remember learning in school. Do you remember trying to read history textbooks? What a snooze! There was nothing interesting about learning history that way. The girls and I did try a textbook once - it was supposed to be one of the "good" ones. After years of living books, they hated it, so we stopped and came up with a new plan.

As I mentioned on Monday, Charlotte Mason advocated living books for children - books that inspire them with great ideas. One of the first books we read that gave my children a love for history was Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall. We learned about this book from the Ambleside Online curriculum. Honestly, when I first started reading it, I was skeptical. However, we persevered, and my girls loved this book! I ended up purchasing a hardcover copy for each of them.

Charlotte Mason also advocated teaching history chronologically. Doesn't that make sense? I know I didn't learn history chronologically; I have no idea why history was presented as it was throughout my years in school. Chronological history gives an overall picture of how we got where we are.

During this upcoming school year, we will study the Middle Ages. Many of the books we'll use will be from Ambleside Online's Year 7 list (my girls are 12 and 13), but I wanted a different spine. My friend Liz Cottrill from Living Books Library helped me plan out my curriculum for this year, and she recommended The Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills. Along with that, we will read some biographies - King Alfred, Joan of Arc, St. Francis; and we will read some great literature: Beowulf, Robin Hood, King Arthur. I also have quite a lovely collection of historical fiction put together.


In Charlotte Mason's schools, all children, from Year 1 through Year 12, would have been studying the same period in history together. A child just beginning in school would step into wherever the school as a whole was in the history cycle (I believe they did two, 6-year cycles through history). I like the 6-year cycle. You learn history at a pace that allows you to hang out and get to know the people and the times.

The trick, then, was to find a way to bring my little man, who is 6, along with us on this journey. I used a couple of resources to find books that he would like. First, Liz wrote an article on her blog with her Top Picks for Middle Ages Historical Fiction. Do you know what I found there? Virginial Kahl's fabulous book, How Many Dragons Are Behind the Door? I loved that book as a child. My mom still has our old copy at her house, and I have refrained from sneaking it back to my house because there are six other grandchildren to enjoy the book, in addition to my own three. (This is where you comment on my remarkable restraint.) I learned from Liz's list that Ms. Kahl published several other books about this time period, and even though they are fictional picture books, you can learn a lot about the Middle Ages from them. You may have heard of The Duchess Bakes a Cake, which is one of the books used in a popular homeschool curriculum for younger children called Five in a Row. I don't actually have that one yet but I've been collecting all the Virginia Kahl books I can find over the summer.

Another resource recommended by both Liz and Ambleside Online is Truthquest History. The author, Michelle Miller, has written a lovely history curriculum including extensive lists of living books. Her books are worth getting for the book lists alone! I picked up a copy of her Middle Ages guide, and went through it to find books appropriate for Isaac. Liz recommended The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla as a good book for Isaac on King Arthur, and there are several more from the TruthQuest lists in my pile for him.

I'm particularly excited about one book we will read together this year: King Alfred's English. My friend Courtney at the Classical Circus reviewed it last year, and I thought it sounded amazing then, but didn't remember to get a copy. Another library friend of mine, Tenley, mentioned that she is going to use it with her son for their Middle Ages spine, so I finally picked it up, and plan to read it with my girls this year. It's about the development of the English language, from Old English to modern times, and it incorporates history, along with linguistics. I majored in linguistics in college, so this book is right up my alley, and I'm hoping my girls will find it interesting too.

That's a little glimpse into how we will use living books in our homeschool to cover history during this upcoming year. If you have any books you love on the Middle Ages, I'd love to hear about them! Tomorrow, we will talk about living books for science.

Charlotte Mason and Living Books: Part 2

Yesterday, we talked about what a living book is. Today, we're going to talk about some living books we've used and loved, beginning with some that are important for young children.

Ambleside Online is a wonderful online curriculum guide, free to use, with a goal of being as close as possible to the curriculum Charlotte Mason would have used in her own schools. The wonderful ladies on the AO Advisory have read countless books, seeking the best possible literature to use in their curriculum. Their website is a wealth of information, and if you have an interest in Charlotte Mason at all, I encourage you to visit the website. They have a forum there, too, where you can ask questions and receive answers from wonderful, experienced folks using Charlotte Mason's principles.

Ambleside Online had been recommended to me by several people I knew who were Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, and it's the first place I looked to figure out what I was supposed to be doing. The booklists they have are fabulous. If you take a look at their list for kindergarten (Year 0), you will see that there is an abundance of excellent stories: Winnie-the-Pooh, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, et al, and Brer Rabbit, just to name a few. They also recommend nursery rhymes (Mother Goose) and classic folk tales like "The Little Red Hen" and "Three Billy Goats Gruff." Some of these books I knew, and some I did not. My girls loved them all!

Year 1, or around age 6, is when Charlotte Mason recommended beginning "seat work" for children. In AO's list for this year, as well, there are wonderful stories like fairy tales, Aesop's Fables, Just-So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, and Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin. There is some history, but AO points out that it focuses on people, rather than events.

Young children connect with stories. Fairy tales can seem rather grisly, but children are able to process big ideas through listening to a story in a way that would otherwise be impossible, I think. Also, young children are better able to connect with people rather than events and facts, which is why biographies are so important. Reading about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Christopher Columbus, hearing their stories, stepping into their worlds through the pages of a book - these things mean so much more to a child than simply memorizing the facts of their lives.

Another thing I love about fairy and folk tales is the insight they give into different cultures. You could add local legends to your reading for anyplace you study, and gain a whole new dimension in your understanding. One year, we read Tales of Ancient Egypt by Robert Lancelyn Green, while we studied Ancient Egypt, and Norse Myths by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire at the same time as part of our early American/Viking studies. Not only did we find it fascinating to read the different stories with regard to their nations of origin, but contrasting them brought about a lot of great discussion. I'm not sure you could find two cultures more dissimilar in their thinking than the ancient Egyptians and the Vikings!

I'll never forget when we read Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin. We'd been listening to the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis at the same time. When we read "The Sword of Damocles" and heard about the king named Dionysius who was known as a tyrant, Abbie piped right up and said, "Just like King Miraz in Prince Caspian!" It is just delightful to watch children making connections, isn't it?

Simply Charlotte Mason has a great article on The Power of a Story. I encourage you to go over and read it for yourself.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk about using living books for history.

Charlotte Mason and Living Books: Part One

When I started homeschooling my oldest child, she was five, and I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't bear the thought of sending her to school for an 8-hour day. How could that possibly be beneficial to a young child? A friend, whose daughter took ballet with mine, talked to me about homeschooling. She told me about the book, The Well-Trained Mind, and let me come to her house and see her books. I was sold! It took a little bit more convincing for my husband, but before long, both of us were sure homeschooling was the best option for our family.

We started out using some of the WTM suggestions for kindergarten. Emma didn't like them very much, and I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I thought maybe adding some Bible stories to our school time would help, so I did a search for a Bible study for her age, and came up on My Father's World kindergarten program. It was a perfect fit for us, and we loved every bit of it! The best part for Emma was that everything was integrated. The handwriting and reading portion was related to the science which was related to the character training. The math involved simple activities, such as filling in the daily calendar, filling out a hundreds chart, counting popsicle sticks and making them into bundles of 10, and counting money (pennies at first, etc.)

When we started using the curriculum, there was an amazing book list in the back. I will never forget when we got to the unit on the octopus. I found two of the books on the list: An Octopus is Amazing by Patricia Lauber, and Nico's Octopus by Caroline Pitcher. I wasn't expecting much; science books were boring, in my mind, but if they wanted us to read about an octopus, that's what we were going to do.

I was amazed. I had no idea I would learn so much from a "Let's Read and Find Out" Level 1 science reader. I felt like a bit of a goob, honestly, that I did learn so much - why didn't I know that information already? Well, really, how often does one need to know facts about an octopus? But - I loved knowing.

The teacher's manual for our kindergarten curriculum mentioned Charlotte Mason, and I wanted to find out more about her. You can't seek information about Charlotte Mason without hearing about living books. Also, the Well-Trained Mind talks a lot about living books. So, what exactly is a living book?

I have read a lot about living books, and heard many people speak on the topic, but I believe most of the definition I'm about to share with you came from a workshop I attended taught by Elizabeth Cottrill and Emily Kiser, at the Charlotte Mason Institute conference last year. They shared the following characteristics of a living book:

• It expresses truth clothed in beautiful language
• Usually written by one author with a passion for their topic
• Usually narrative in form
• Usually a primary source, although sometimes a secondary source can be better-written

Children connect with living books. They are inspired by them; they want to talk about them, and want to learn more. Someone once told me (maybe Emily) that if I read a book and had nothing to narrate when I was finished, I could count it as "twaddle." If it didn't make me think, it wasn't worth my time. I've tried to remember that. 

I'm going to talk throughout the week about living books we've used and loved for different topics. For today, I will leave you with this quote from Miss Mason about the importance of living books, using the modern English paraphrase from Ambleside Online for simplicity's sake:

REVIEW: "Little House on the Prairie: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" DVD

Like many children, I grew up reading the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read them often - they are lifelong favorites. When I read them to my girls for the first time, I still cried when they thought Jack was dead, even though I knew better. I love reading about Laura's adventures throughout her life, and I love sharing them with my children. Now, I have actually heard of people who don't like these books, but I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with them.

There was also a television show that ran from 1974 until 1983, and if you're around my age, you grew up watching it - at least the reruns. In my mind, Laura Ingalls Wilder will always look like Melissa Gilbert.

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to review the Little House on the Prairie: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder DVD from Dean Butler with Legacy Documentaries. Actually, it was really hard to choose between this one and the one on Almanzo Wilder, and I would have been equally happy with either one. The documentary itself runs for around 75 minutes. The DVD also includes a "making of" video, as well as trailers for "Pa's Fiddle" and "Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura."

I watched this DVD with my girls, and I have to tell you, it was wonderful. Dean Butler (who played Almanzo Wilder in the television series) has given everyone who loves these books such an incredible gift! I am going to try really hard not to narrate the entire thing so I don't spoil it for you. Here are some highlights:

The really cool thing about this documentary is that it really starts after the ending of Laura's books, and is about her life as a writer. For 13 years, she wrote a newspaper column called "As A Farm Woman Thinks" for a local paper, and wrote poems in a little column called "Tuck Me In Tales." (The poems have been published in a book called Laura Ingalls Wilder's Fairy Poems; you can find it inexpensively used on Amazon. You're welcome.) She used her writing to help support Rocky Ridge Farm - the place where she and Almanzo started over after the hardships of their early years of marriage.

I learned that Laura's daughter, Rose, was the one who really encouraged her mother's writing. Laura traveled to San Francisco to stay with Rose and be "groomed to write for the national market."  She wrote for McCall's magazine. (She wrote to Almanzo that writing for a magazine was difficult and she'd rather raise chickens!)

It wasn't easy to get her books published. She was writing during the Great Depression, and it was difficult to sell any writing. However, she finally found a publisher in Harper & Brothers who knew children growing up in the Depression would be inspired by the courage, optimism and strength Laura described in herself and her family. Thank God for that publisher's insight! The books are still inspiring children (and adults) generations later.

Rose Wilder Lane sounded like a bit of a stinker. She was divorced, which had to have been a huge deal back then. She moved back to live near Laura and Almanzo, and that's when most of Laura's books were published.

It was interesting to read about things Rose thought should be changed or left out of the books. For example, when they got to Little Town on the Prairie, Rose wanted to change the main character to Laura's younger sister, Carrie, so that the heroine would continue to be a young girl. Laura refused, because she felt her readers were growing up with her character in the books. I can't even imagine not reading through Laura's life, can you? Also, Rose wanted to leave out Mary's blindness because she thought it was too depressing. Laura stated that she could not continue to write the books without that part because it was too significant in their lives. Again, I can't imagine the stories without Mary's story.

Think about this: Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up traveling in a covered wagon and lived with no electricity or indoor plumbing - or even glass windows. Before the end of her life she saw trains (took one to see Rose in San Francisco) and even flew on a plane. Her life spanned the most incredible period of American history. When her books were being published, there was no such thing as "Young Adult" literature; that term was coined in the 50's, so Laura was really blazing a trail. The documentary said that when readers would drive by her house, she would welcome them into her home and even give them a tour. Doesn't she sound lovely?

This is the first time I've realized a true connection with an author. I love books, love to read, but I don't often read biographies. I don't want to be disappointed in the creators of the worlds I love to visit, you know? However, when I watched this DVD, I felt like I was learning more about someone who was a very dear friend, even though I never met her. (I'm not THAT old.)

All right - I could keep going, but really, you need to get this DVD and watch it for yourself. It's available from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum for $24.95. You know you want one!

There is also a DVD available about Laura's husband, Almanzo, entitled "Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura," available from Legacy Documentaries. I haven't seen it yet, but I am going to get one SOON.

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REVIEW - Global Art from Gryphon Publishing

In my search to find things my children to do together, I've found that crafts appeal to all of them. My girls both love to make things, and Isaac is constantly creating his own (usually quite messy) "art projects." Global Art: Activities, Projects and Inventions from Around the World from Gryphon House looked like a great resource. I received a copy of the paperback book to review.

I like how this book is organized. The book is about 190 pages, including 138 projects total. They are grouped into 7 chapters, one for each continent. Each project is labeled with the country of origin, and there is a picture of a globe with a star showing about where the country of origin is located. There is also a paragraph about how the project relates to the culture. For example, the Wycinanka Ludowa (paper cut) projects are from Poland:

At the beginning of each section, there is a reading list with books about the continent you can read with your children as you work through the different projects. I was able to find many of the books at my local library. I live in a small town with mediocre libraries, so I feel confident that most people should be able to locate at least some of the suggested reading at their library.

The suggested age range for this book is grades K-5, and the projects are coded with icons denoting Experience Level, Art Techniques, and required Planning and Preparation. I found the planning and preparation codes to be useful; they told you if you'd be likely to find supplies around the house. Even at the highest level, all the supplies listed should be easy to find locally.

My girls, who are 12 and 13, did most of the projects we worked on. While my kindergartener was capable of doing some of the things, he was not terribly interested in "structured" art projects and it was difficult to get him to sit down and work with me. The book is intended for a younger age group, but my girls found the projects challenging. For example, even though the Transparency Scene (Poland) project looked simple enough, it required a fair amount of forethought and planning, and they weren't expecting that. It was good for them to have to think it through. It also took them a while to figure out how to cut out their paper dolls so they stayed together in a line - we had lots of laughs over that! It really wasn't difficult, but they didn't read the directions the first time.

Here are some of the projects we worked on:

I love that the art projects are connected to specific countries, and that there is information about the origin of each craft. I also like reading a book to illustrate more about the culture of the country whose craft we're doing. The only drawback, to me, is that most of the projects are "crafts." They are not terribly useful, and I don't often like to do crafts for the sake of doing crafts. However, I do think it's fun for the kids to make things that help them connect with the people and places they're reading about. Overall, this would go nicely with geography studies, particularly for the younger crowd. And, if you have a child who would do well with a fabulous idea book and some supplies, this would be an excellent resource.

Global Art is available for $16.95 from Gryphon House Publishing.

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