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.

Raised by a Ranger

I've moved a bit in my life.  (there's an understatement)

As I've moved, I've noticed that the people I've met don't have the same perspective I have. Now, I'm completely cognizant that we all view the world just a little bit differently, because it's the world as pertains to us that we view.  And us is all different.

However, there are different subsets of us.  One of those subsets is the US Military.  It's kinda got its own culture going on.  I won't elaborate, just nod your head, okay?

There are smaller factions in the Armed Forces, one of which is the Army.  Going even more specific in our us classification, and you get to the Rangers. Rangers are the SEALS of the Army.  The toughest of the tough.  The roughest of the rough.

My Dad graduated second in his class.

Due to a terrible car accident, my mom was severely head injured and unable to care full time for my three year old self and my 3 month old baby brother.  This left Dad with the bulk of our care.

He really did a pretty good job, too, considering.  He tried to braid my hair before school.  He made sure we ate healthfully.  He tirelessly and painstakingly explained the answers to all our questions.  He was open, honest and loving in his interactions with us.  He was the most popular dad and he was my hero.

Yet, he was still a Dad and my raising was not the most...genteel.  I grew up around rough, rambunctious old cusses who promised to risk their lives for our country.  When I cried, I got a brief hug and a "tough it out".  My boo-boos were not kissed, they were squeezed (to flush out debris), then doused in the strongest germ-killer we had.  Movie night was old westerns and war movies.  Family vacations were old Civil War battle ground marches (don't believe me? We have pictures of 5 year old me next to one of a ton of cannon ball monuments at Chicamauga.).  We played He-man, not She-Ra; War, not House; built forts, no Barbies. When I had a cold, I got the yellow Listerine. Canker sore? Salt. Just one trip to the grocery store every 2 weeks.  Day 12, and there's no milk?  Go for the powdered, or tough it out, kid. 'Yes, sir'; not 'yeah'. The standard for respect and obedience was high and the consequences for insubordination were steep.

Forget stability.  We were in the Army!  We moved every one to two years, and when school was out, my brother and I went to live with our grandparents in Tucson for the summer.  It was hard, but not the hardest (as Dad frequently reminded us).  Actually, it was sometimes kind of fun.  A kid on a military fort has a lot of freedom. Dad explained, "The last place a crook wants to be is on an area of land populated by people who've been trained to kill." We were given the run of the place and ran our own lives most of the time.

Were it not for my life circumstances, I think I would have turned out pretty girly.  I've always been rather sensitive, observant, initially shy and feminine.  But how would anyone turn out after the childhood I've described?  All my thoughts were formed under the guidance of a man; so I kind of think like one.  I had to make do without much expectation of anything stable, or even any resources; so I like to get by with what I've got.  Instructions were not always calmly spoken; so I have a tendency to bark out commands. Our house was very no-nonsense; so, though I'm truly shy, I can be rather frank. I had to keep to my father's schedule; so I like things to run at maximum efficiency.  I had to make new friends every 2 years; so my personality is rather flexible.

Though I was slow to notice the differences, I've been gradually mentally chronicling all the ways my unique upbringing, and resulting outlook, collides with the rest of us.  I'm going to try to share these occasionally painful, frequently hilarious ways here. Maybe on Fridays. Look at the Blog title. Phew! Still not called, "The AnalRetentivery". We'll see.

Oh, and on an Army fort?  An enthusiastic yes, is "Hooah".  It's as ubiquitous as "ya'll" in the south, and just as easy to decipher who is an outsider by the way they say it.

Scissor cuts everything.

I was in the Library parking lot when I noticed that my shoes were a little...roomier.  Looked down. Saw a slice through the upper.  Thought: Boy.

My Boy finds mechanical/electrical things fascinating.  He likes to use useful things in new and interesting ways.  God has preserved his life through accidental quarter swallowing, sock meets light bulb experiments, adventures in window opening, etc.  This is just one reason why my kids walk around with random holes in their clothes. Because scissors can be used on more than just paper.

Here the culprit comes. "Boy, why is my shoe sliced?"
"Well. (he starts every sentence with 'well', 'probably' or 'maybe'. He doesn't like verbal commitment.) (He also always says "well" like a little John Wayne. He's never seen a John Wayne movie.) Well, Mommy, probably because I cut it."

He purchased a new pair for me, but then I got to thinking.  The shoes were still usable.  And they were a little plain for my tastes anyway.  We could jazz 'em up a bit...