Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bookworm Lost

As we start out on this homeschooling adventure with our children I get a little overwhelmed looking ahead to what could potentially be their high school reading assignments.  I start thinking that maybe I should start now so that I may have most of them completed by the time they are ready for high school.  Then I relax (a little) and realize that I should enjoy books with them now that THEY enjoy.

I had to reflect a little on my reading history...

When I was younger (5th-8th grades) I read all. the. time.  My dad could barely keep up.  For whatever reason he didn't ever take me to the library.  Apparently it was just easier to take me to the local book store at the time and let me pick out a book or two.  This was a weekly or a twice a week visit and I would still find days with nothing new to read.

As I entered high school and assigned more reading and finding new hobbies and activities my desire to read dwindled.  It was also during this time that I realized that reading in a vehicle caused motion sickness.  It was something that I had never experienced before but it cut down the time that I normally had to read.  However, I had some phenomenal teachers in high school and felt that I was fairly well read... more on that later.

The story continues into college.  Reading was assigned and nothing for fun.   At this point in my life reading outside of things assigned did not seem appealing.  Anything but reading.  Sad.

I think later I got caught up in reading a lot of heavy spiritual things for classes that I took while I was on staff with CRU.  It's not that they were bad but reading something light and fun rarely crossed my path.  When I married I was introduced to people that were extremely well read.  I could barely hang with them.  I realized that I had also missed out on some pretty awesome classics - Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, etc.  I wondered why?  Then it hit me that my very liberal, feminist (although I love her dearly) high school teacher would not have approved of some of the story lines that these authors presented.  Again, sad.

More and more I am convicted that while I want to produce readers and see the desire at different levels in my girls... I am no longer a reader.  I must recover what was lost.  I've cut down on the time I waste playing games or dinking around.  I am looking into the lists I have made and would like to tackle them.  I am also wanting to find more interesting books for my girls.  I desire to make the library a habit and familiar place for them.

So, readers... suggest books... classics or otherwise.  I'll let you know if I've read them or not.  However, I cannot do things that are overly violent or overly sexual in content... I'll stop and drop anything that are too much in that area for me.  Just an FYI... and thanks for joining me!


5 comments:

  1. Thunder Cake for your girls. We all loved it! The Book Thief and To Kill A Mockingbird. Just a few of my favorites. - Cami

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    1. Thunder Cake looks great! I think I will add that to our library list.

      I have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it is my favorite book. I think I shall have to re-read it with fresh eyes. It's probably been 15 years since I last read it.

      I think I need to start a spreadsheet. :) Thanks, Cami!

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  2. Girl, we just need to sit & talk...and talk, and talk, and talk. I love discussing books, books stores, libraries, books shopping, book swapping, book borrowing...you name it. I have a library that I am always willing to share, so anytime you are in the mood to read something, I'll gladly lend it if I have it.

    For your girls, I would highly recommend Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle. Both are wonderful books for little kiddos, with fun illustrations and lots of learning involved. Sandra Boynton's books are usually funny (The Belly Button Book). I'd also recommend Laura Numeroff, Jane Yolen, and of course, Dr. Seuss.

    My most favorite kid books:
    The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
    I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
    Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman

    There's also a series of books called Good Night Our World, and it includes Goodnight America, Goodnight Arizona, Goodnight Philadelphia, etc. They are really neat books that highlight some of the landmarks of each area in a good night story. You can find the series on Amazon.

    Finally, a personal note:
    The book I Love You Forever, by Robert N. Munsch, pops up on practically every list of favorite kid books that I read. I find it especially creepy & stalkerish, though I understand the message. The Stinky Face book conveys the same message in a much less disturbing way, and all of us loved it (and still love it).

    End of epistle. :-) Let's get together & talk one of these days.

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  3. So one of the things my mom did really, really well was read to us. All the time. She read us everything (I mean not garbage...but every genre). L is getting there but A may be to young. Some of these books are probably too old right now for all of the kids but they won't be soon (and lots of them would work for L and maybe A since she's so verbal). And they come with a caveat of we weren't Christians and I haven't read them since I was a child so I can't speak to the world view they promote. Though I personally feel that all sorts of books can be/should be read and then discussed (but age appropriate is key): The Box Car Children, Encyclopedia Brown, The Great Brain (oh my this was my favorite. I even wrote the author once), anything Shell Silverstein, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Tuck Everlasting, Island of the Blue Dolphin, Little House on the Prairie, CS Lewis, A Wrinkle in Time, anything Roald Dahl, anything Judy Blume (oh, my freckle juice...LOVE), A Cricket in Times Square, How to Eat Fried Worms, Nothing's Fair in the Fifth Grade, anything Beverly Cleary, Stuart Little, The Giving Tree, The Velveteen Rabbit, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, Strega Nona, anything Robert Munsch, Stone Soup, The wind in the willows, secret garden, Charlotte's Web, anything William Steig...so so so many more.

    Oh my, all of the garbage and abuse my childhood was filled with...well, one thing my mom did right in spades was fill my childhood with the most amazing literature. She used to do voices to the characters. I pretended to be annoyed but secretly loved it. My brother and I used to fight about who got to pick the book. LOL

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    1. I am really glad that I have read some of the ones you mentioned. But gosh, Island of Blue Dolphin seems like ages ago. I will have to add all of these to my spreadsheet of recommendations. You just filled it up a bunch!!

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