Books

I tend to read non-fiction.  I will read fiction – but it’s usually a children’s book.  When my girlfriends press me, I read grown-up fiction and even like it, but those are few and far between since having Claire and now homeschooling.  This page is to help me track books I’m reading.  Please post any recommendations!

Personal

Homeschool

Back to Well-Trained Mind.  Can anyone recommend something motivational?

Read-Aloud Book

Almost too many and too fast to keep up with here.  We’re on a current Magic Tree House  kick.  Then there are the school-related books.

 

WANT TO READ:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert;   

John Holt’s homeschool books;

Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and Our World Through Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn - way too long, had to table it for now….Heard him speak on the Oprah XM channel and was intrigued. I’ve been interested in the whole Buddhist mindfulness thing for a while now, so will give this a try.  I have textbooks smaller than this so it may be a challenge.

1776 by David McCullough and Victory at Yorktown by Richard Ketchum - ok, I live close enough to alot of the action….

Getting Things Done by David Allen – recommended on another blog I read.  Had too much to get done to read it yet!

anything by Harold Kushner – I’m a fan

 

Books Still by the Bedside

A Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer 

 A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss – Guidance and Support for You and Your Family by Ingrid Kohn and Perry-Lynn Moffitt

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner - haven’t read a book with a pencil in hand for a long time.  Wonderful, thought-provoking, comforting all at the same time.  Highly, highly recommended!

Back to Library & Fine paid!

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - My favorite book series ever. I’ve read them and re-read them and now having a blast reading them to Claire. She was hooked after “Butchering Time”.  Sugar snow anyone?

 

 Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey Begins by J. H. Sweet and Tara Larsen Chang - Reading this for a “little girl” book club. 

 

Building of Foundations  Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2 by Bernard J. Nebel, PhD   – Claire won this at the GUESS Science Fair.  A full intergrated science program…so different for what I’ve been finding for 1st graders, that it is taking me some time to read and process it.  Much more “science-y” and technical than anything else I’ve seen.

The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease - I skimmed this a couple of years ago in the library and thought it was cool.  Reading it now to put into practice – spending time doing read-alouds that arent quick bedtime stories is not my strong suit.  Hope this will help me pick better books we both will like.

Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School by Rebecca Rupp - See “A Well-Trained Mind” comments!  Just trying to plan for next year and see what big things I missed this year.

Core Knowledge K-8 Sequence from the Core Knowledge Foundation - The spine of the “What your -nth Grader Needs to Know”.  Happy to see that, so far, I havent missed much for K. 

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit as told by Julius Lester – it was a bigger hit than I thought it might be.  It took about 2 stories before she was hooked.  Didnt hurt that Mom already speaks the dilect pretty well!

The Classic Treasury of Aesop’s Fables by Don Daily - Beautiful pictures; fun to listen to Claire try to figure out the “morals”.

About What Was Lost: Twenty Writers on Miscarriage, Healing and Hope by Jessica Berger Gross - Why is it again no one really talks about this?

5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft’s Flight from Slavery by Dennis Fradin and Judith Fradin – Review: Very interesting history not found in regular books

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children - I loved his books as an independent reading kid.  This one is perfect for reading to my animal-freak kid.  She even asks for it and doesnt want me to stop.  I’m thinking his adult books will be on the list soon.  Review:  Wonderful! Huge hit at our house!

Various Arthur Chapter Books by Marc Brown - for summer reading program

Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams by J.H. Sweet - we hosted this book club event (#2) and had a real fairy lunch complete with lemon jellybeans and made dream catchers.

Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osbourne – part of the Magic Tree House series.  Scienc-y so thought it might appeal to Claire. She liked it ok, but not as much as the Fairy Chronicles.

Overcoming Life’s Disappointments by Harold Kushner - follow-up reading for “Bad Things”.  Alittle harder to get through.  Lots of good points, but not as much about overcoming life’s disappointments as using those disappointments to be a better person.

Thistle and the Shell of Laughter by J.H Sweet  – Month 3 for “little girl” book club.  Claire loves this series!  She was so excited to see how many are left to read when we checked out the series selections at Barnes and Noble.