Book Worm

Back in our moving days, I had to laugh with our movers over how many book boxes they were required to load.

"What we lack in technology, we make up in books."

We get teased by friends for having books in every room in the house...even the bathrooms.

So, it's natural that when the Miners added a 3rd person, little baby books would pop up on our shelves. Compiled is a list of all the books we love. We like too many books to list here, so I'm going to save us both some time and only include the books that are continually brought to anyone to read, are never on the bookshelves, or are gasped over anytime we see them in the library, bookstore, or Dr's office.

Our bookshelf in real time.

Kids should always be reading books that are
1. Too easy. Below their reading level.
2. Just right. At their reading level.
3. Too hard. Above their reading level (translation: YOU read these books to THEM)

I'll organize my list by these parameters. Gradually, of course, the "just right" books will become "too easy" and then everything will get bumped up. I'm gonna assume the reader is just starting to read. Also, if there is an author of too many beloved books, I'll simply list that author.

Baby Books
These are technically read alouds, but they come first in a kid's life, so here they are:
Tana Hoban (Black & White is my go-to for baby showers)
Sandra Boynton
Chica-Chica Boom Boom
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Good Dog, Carl
Good Night Moon

Wordless Books ("too easy")
David Wiesner
Chalk
The Snowman (we also love the 80s cartoon)

Power outtage in dead of winter? Break out the flashlights!

Early Readers ("just right")
Bob Books (goes well with Ordinary Parent's Guide)
Phonics Practice Readers
McGuffy's Eclectic Readers
Pat Hutchins
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Frog and Toad (and others by Arnold Lobel)
Little Bear
Level 1 Readers are fine, but beware! Many contain too many sight words for beginning phonics readers. Here are some of our favorites in that category:
Richard Scarry
P.D. Eastman (I find Seuss too cloying)
A Fish Out of Water

Back when our Expedit was half toys.

Readers Non-Fiction (Hard enough to be read alouds)
Christian Liberty Science Reader 1
 Pompeii Buried Alive
Titanic Lost and Found
King Tut's Mummy Lost and Found

When you don't want to forget to take your book...

Read Aloud Picture Books ("too hard")
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Chica-Chica Boom-Boom
Little Bear's Little Boat (and many others by Eve Bunting, including the Ballywhinney Girl)
Jon Agee
The Biggest Bear
Mrs. Twiggly's Tree
Andrew Henry's Meadow
The Caboose Who Got Loose (and others by Bill Peet)
Tedd Arnold
Robert McCloskey
Barbara Cooney
The Library (and others by Sarah Stewart)
Fireflies
Chris Van Alsberg
Knuffle Bunny (and others by Mo Willems)
Three in One
Life of Fred (technically Math Curriculum, but we love the stories, too)
Light Ship (and others by Brian Floca)
Jack's Garden
Paddle to the Sea
Owl Moon
Calvin and Hobbes
D'Aulaire books
Manfish
A Pair of Red Clogs
Ping
The House the Pecks Built
Mouse, Look Out!
Greg's Microscope
Alice and Martin Provensen
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine

Poetry
A Child's Garden of Verses
When We Were Very Young
Now We are Six
Christina Rossetti

Chapter Book Read Alouds
Boy (and others by Roald Dahl)
Elizabeth Enright
My Side of the Mountain
Lucy Maude Montgomery
A.A. Milne
C.S. Lewis
J.K. Rowling
Lois Lenski
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Eleanor Estes
Beverly Cleary
All of a Kind Family
The Borrowers
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Treasure Island
Hatchet
Where the Red Fern Grows
Harriet the Spy
Poppy (and others by Avi)
Kate DiCamillo
The Indian in the Cupboard
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler

Non-Fiction Read Alouds
The New The Way Things Work (and others by David Macaulay)
The Dangerous Book for Boys
Janice VanCleave
The Life of Fred
Story of the World
Brian Floca
David Shannon

Stay Tuned! We add new favorites everyday!

Kinder Curricula

Bonjour! I am very slap-dashy about this blog.

So what else is new.

I've had a few people ask me about HOW to start homeschooling, or what books to read, or what curriculum I like, so I thought I'd put it out there for future reference (and for myself as I forget this stuff).

When we started Kindergarten the first time 5 years ago, I had one Kindergartener and one hanger-on. Lu was my 4 year old, and Josher was 2, then 3 and interested in sitting on the couch with us during baby Ben's morning naptime.  These were such precious, snuggly learning times. In fact, though we've tried many other schooling scenarios (school at the kitchen table/"homeschool room"/separate working areas, etc), we love "couch school" the best.

 First comes Bible. Always. God comes first in our lives and hearts, so He comes first in our schooling, too. For Kinder, we memorize large portions of scripture by reading through the whole thing once, talk about the meaning and then read through again. That's it. We continue reading it through twice daily until we can all say it from the heart. It usually takes about 2 months. (start with Psalm 23, and then work through your favorites)

Second, Literature. I use Five In A Row as my literature/guided activities guide. The basic premise of Five In A Row is reading the same prescribed book 5 days in a row, bringing out one element from Social Studies, Language Arts, Art, Math and Science.

Third, Science. I use Christian Liberty Science Reader 1. We love how it details the lives and purposes of everyday creatures and directs the reader to worship God as Creator.

Fourth, Math. We like Right Start Math A. Through Right Start, my boys have been able to see the relationships of numbers and are able to manipulate them more easily. This is a much more "natural" math, based on research of how children really think about math.  Proving that there is no prescribing one curriculum to everyone, my daughter needs the less-deep-thinking, more scaffold-ed approach of Saxon.

Fifth, Reading. The Ordinary Parent's Guide To Teaching Reading is my favorite. This book starts with all the vowel and consonant sounds and takes the reader (and their parent) right on through to "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".  It is also scripted, which gives me comfort that I've explained it "right". After the first 26 lessons (all the sounds of the alphabet), the reader can read their very first Bob Book. What a feeling of accomplishment for a young one!

That's it! Don't do any more--not even if they are begging. Help build their anticipation for learning. If all 5 subjects are too many, try breaking them up and school once in the morning, and once in the afternoon, or drop Science or Literature or both or swap those subjects with sometime that's more appealing to the child.

Try to make it enjoyable. (It won't be enjoyable all the time)

 Learning is hard work, and we are teaching them to do hard things for God's glory.