So many books line my shelves that are part of a series. Some are written by one author who continues a story throughout many volumes. Others are contained in a series which presents many topics within a particular subject. There are series of fiction, series of history, of science and many others.
I thought we'd start our look at series with the subject of geography. Many of these are out of print, written in a living way which will help our children build relationships with those around the world.
This is __________ by Miroslav Sasek - This is a series of vibrantly illustrated tour of places around the world. Many have been reprinted.
The Twins series by Lucy Fitch Perkins - This antique series places a set of twins in various cultures. Some of these titles have been reprinted or are available for free in the public domain.
Children of All Lands by Madeline Brandeis - In the 1930's Brandeis traveled around the world with her young daughter and her camera. She took photographs of the people and landmarks and wove stories around these photos. They are out of print but not extremely hard to find.
Count Your Way Through ______ - A fun series that teaches the reader to count in the language as well as lots of cultural information.
Lois Lenski's regional stories - Lenski was a prolific author for children, and is best known for her regional stories giving us a lively look at life in various regions of America.
Picture Book of _________ by Bernadine Bailey and illustrated by Kurt Wiese - A series of books of the states of the US.
Rivers of the World series published by Garrard - This series looks at famous rivers from all over the globe written in an engaging way.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
A Series of Series
I remember when I was a young reader getting my reading legs under me, my 4th grade teacher gave me a book for an award. It was called Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Glen Road. I still have this very book 40 years later and fond memories of the path it set me on. I read many more Trixie books over the next year or so as well as other favorite series, getting to know the characters intimately as we spent hours together solving mysteries and having adventures.
Series are very important in the reading life of children. Young readers build confidence and fluency by reading thousands of pages. They are excited to learn what happens next in the lives of those they know so well. This sets them solidly on a path of reading for a lifetime. It's funny...when parents come into my library for the first time, they ask wistfully if I have a particular series they remember as a child. They wish to introduce their children to their friends from long ago. It's a special bridge between the generations.
The golden age of children's literature is replete with many series in many subject areas. Over the next few weeks, I plan to list many of these. Maybe you will find a forgotten favorite to share with your children or a new series of treasures to discover.
Series are very important in the reading life of children. Young readers build confidence and fluency by reading thousands of pages. They are excited to learn what happens next in the lives of those they know so well. This sets them solidly on a path of reading for a lifetime. It's funny...when parents come into my library for the first time, they ask wistfully if I have a particular series they remember as a child. They wish to introduce their children to their friends from long ago. It's a special bridge between the generations.
The golden age of children's literature is replete with many series in many subject areas. Over the next few weeks, I plan to list many of these. Maybe you will find a forgotten favorite to share with your children or a new series of treasures to discover.
Monday, August 17, 2015
A Day in the Life of a Librarian
Often when the conversation of operating a library in my home arises, I get variations of the following comments...
"You have a library...in your house??"
"You mean people come to your house to check out books?"
"What do you DO with 18,000 books?!?"
Occasionally I'm conversing with someone who wishes to do this crazy thing called "operating a private library" in her home and are trying to wrap her brain around the logistics of such an undertaking.
I thought I'd take a little time and share what our lives look like as we go about the business of sharing our treasures with 30+ families in our community.
My library hours are always posted in the right hand column of this blog. Patrons check their due dates with my schedule and plan their visit. On library days, we get up and milk cows and other farm chores. My boys begin asking almost immediately, "Who's coming to the library today?" They begin making plans based on my answer (getting ball equipment together, for example.) We have breakfast and I go over their schoolwork based on how busy I expect to be. Patrons are asked to let me know if they're coming. If the day will be light, we might be able to get in a semi-regular school day. If the day will be insane, I leave a list on the fridge to be completed independently. I also leave a self-serve lunch with instructions to bring me a few crackers or something around mid-day.
Before the library opens, I make sure I have paper in the printer for check-out sheets, swipe over the bathroom and check essentials like soap and toilet paper (those practical things...), maybe run the vacuum. I pull the check-out sheets of those whom I'm expecting as well as any books that have been requested.
Families come and go during the day with lots of chatter, laughter, encouragement, sometimes a few tears as burdens are confided. The children enjoy telling me about their favorite reads during the past month. They make their rounds among the shelves starting piles of volumes that may become treasured friends. Moms ask for my picks of books of various topics and time periods. Books are checked in and checked out, packed in totes and sent out the door.
After the library closes for the day, the fun begins. Reshelving the hundreds of books that are returned in an average library day can take hours a week. If my week is particularly crazy, I may not get it done at all, in which case piles of books accumulate on the book cases and the floor. Families don't seem to mind as they sift through the piles to see what has been returned that they might enjoy themselves.
So you may ask...is it worth it?
My answer is definitely...yes!
Yes, it can be stressful. Yes, it's often back-breaking work. Yes, I have no money to spare because I'm always buying books. But seeing lives enriched, relationships formed, and the excitement of children and families who are being touched by story is worth all the sacrifice.
If you're on the fence about starting a library of your own, don't hesitate. Your life won't be the same.
"You have a library...in your house??"
"You mean people come to your house to check out books?"
"What do you DO with 18,000 books?!?"
Occasionally I'm conversing with someone who wishes to do this crazy thing called "operating a private library" in her home and are trying to wrap her brain around the logistics of such an undertaking.
I thought I'd take a little time and share what our lives look like as we go about the business of sharing our treasures with 30+ families in our community.
My library hours are always posted in the right hand column of this blog. Patrons check their due dates with my schedule and plan their visit. On library days, we get up and milk cows and other farm chores. My boys begin asking almost immediately, "Who's coming to the library today?" They begin making plans based on my answer (getting ball equipment together, for example.) We have breakfast and I go over their schoolwork based on how busy I expect to be. Patrons are asked to let me know if they're coming. If the day will be light, we might be able to get in a semi-regular school day. If the day will be insane, I leave a list on the fridge to be completed independently. I also leave a self-serve lunch with instructions to bring me a few crackers or something around mid-day.
Before the library opens, I make sure I have paper in the printer for check-out sheets, swipe over the bathroom and check essentials like soap and toilet paper (those practical things...), maybe run the vacuum. I pull the check-out sheets of those whom I'm expecting as well as any books that have been requested.
Families come and go during the day with lots of chatter, laughter, encouragement, sometimes a few tears as burdens are confided. The children enjoy telling me about their favorite reads during the past month. They make their rounds among the shelves starting piles of volumes that may become treasured friends. Moms ask for my picks of books of various topics and time periods. Books are checked in and checked out, packed in totes and sent out the door.
After the library closes for the day, the fun begins. Reshelving the hundreds of books that are returned in an average library day can take hours a week. If my week is particularly crazy, I may not get it done at all, in which case piles of books accumulate on the book cases and the floor. Families don't seem to mind as they sift through the piles to see what has been returned that they might enjoy themselves.
So you may ask...is it worth it?
My answer is definitely...yes!
Yes, it can be stressful. Yes, it's often back-breaking work. Yes, I have no money to spare because I'm always buying books. But seeing lives enriched, relationships formed, and the excitement of children and families who are being touched by story is worth all the sacrifice.
If you're on the fence about starting a library of your own, don't hesitate. Your life won't be the same.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
In Awe of Dirt
This past Saturday I was privileged to attend a seminar by my friend, Nicole, of Sabbath Mood Homeschool blog. Nicole is becoming well known in the Charlotte Mason community for her encouragement to study science using Charlotte's methods. Even though I have been homeschooling for nearly 20 years with Charlotte's philosophy and have a son who is finishing up an engineering degree, I was inspired and encouraged to expand my vision for the sciences for my younger boys. I have not been as diligent with these two in seriously studying the world around us in an intentional way.
One of the things that convicted me was this quote by Charlotte...
"Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value."
Was our science teaching us to wonder and admire?
Then I remembered this quote by Charlotte...
"Children should be brought up, too, to perceive that a miracle is not less a miracle because it occurs so constantly and regularly that we call it a law; that sap rises in a tree, that a boy is born with his uncle's eyes, that an answer that we can perceive comes to our serious prayers; these things are not less miracles because they happen frequently or invariably, and because we have ceased to wonder about them."
Have we ceased to wonder about those things that happen frequently? The sun rises each morning. We see the stars at night. We breathe and our hearts beat. Do we consider these as the miracles they are?
I decided to choose for our special study this term a humble topic, something that we take utterly for granted. As I was browsing Nicole's site for ideas, I came upon this recent post. That was it! DIRT! We'll add to that her rocks and minerals suggestions as well. The miracle of the ground beneath our feet should fill us with awe of our Creator who has supplied us with many of the componenents necessary to sustain life in the soil. We are looking forward to our study.
I've begun pulling the books I have on these topics and ordering more. These include, among others:
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty
Life in a Bucket Soil by Alvin Silverstein
The Soil that Feeds Us by Eleanor Heady
Rocks and How We Use Them by Tillie Pine
Rocks and Minerals by Illa Podendorf
These, in addition to a field guide and experiement suggestions, will help us marvel at the miracle of dirt. I hope, as the new school year gets underway, you will choose a topic to teach your children to wonder and admire.
One of the things that convicted me was this quote by Charlotte...
"Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value."
Was our science teaching us to wonder and admire?
Then I remembered this quote by Charlotte...
"Children should be brought up, too, to perceive that a miracle is not less a miracle because it occurs so constantly and regularly that we call it a law; that sap rises in a tree, that a boy is born with his uncle's eyes, that an answer that we can perceive comes to our serious prayers; these things are not less miracles because they happen frequently or invariably, and because we have ceased to wonder about them."
Have we ceased to wonder about those things that happen frequently? The sun rises each morning. We see the stars at night. We breathe and our hearts beat. Do we consider these as the miracles they are?
I decided to choose for our special study this term a humble topic, something that we take utterly for granted. As I was browsing Nicole's site for ideas, I came upon this recent post. That was it! DIRT! We'll add to that her rocks and minerals suggestions as well. The miracle of the ground beneath our feet should fill us with awe of our Creator who has supplied us with many of the componenents necessary to sustain life in the soil. We are looking forward to our study.
I've begun pulling the books I have on these topics and ordering more. These include, among others:
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty
Life in a Bucket Soil by Alvin Silverstein
The Soil that Feeds Us by Eleanor Heady
Rocks and How We Use Them by Tillie Pine
Rocks and Minerals by Illa Podendorf
These, in addition to a field guide and experiement suggestions, will help us marvel at the miracle of dirt. I hope, as the new school year gets underway, you will choose a topic to teach your children to wonder and admire.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Extraordinary People
Ordinary people
have big TV's.
Extraordinary people
have big libraries.
Robin Sharma
Monday, June 1, 2015
20 Years and Counting
Today began a blessed milestone in my life. Today I began my 20th year of homeschooling. It's so hard to believe that little boy who sat on my lap for stories so long ago is grown and gone. My two boys at home are growing up before my eyes before I can grab the years and toss them to the wind. But that's the way of life.
We have shared so many memories over the years. Trips we've taken, sights we've beheld...books we've read... They've all woven themselves into the fabric of our lives to form us into individuals and bind us into family.
God has been so good to give us this opportunity to educate at home. We are thankful and give Him the glory for everything we have learned for His Spirit is our teacher, after all. Lord willing I will have seven more years of homeschooling. I'm excited to see how much more we can learn.
We have shared so many memories over the years. Trips we've taken, sights we've beheld...books we've read... They've all woven themselves into the fabric of our lives to form us into individuals and bind us into family.
God has been so good to give us this opportunity to educate at home. We are thankful and give Him the glory for everything we have learned for His Spirit is our teacher, after all. Lord willing I will have seven more years of homeschooling. I'm excited to see how much more we can learn.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
To See with Other Eyes
We want to see with other eyes,
to imagine with other imaginations,
to feel with other hearts,
as well as our own...
We demand windows.
Literature as logos is a series of windows,
even of doors.
One of the things we feel after reading a great work is
"I have got out."
An Experiment in Criticism
~C.S. Lewis~
to imagine with other imaginations,
to feel with other hearts,
as well as our own...
We demand windows.
Literature as logos is a series of windows,
even of doors.
One of the things we feel after reading a great work is
"I have got out."
An Experiment in Criticism
~C.S. Lewis~
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