of books and learning

Seth's bookshelves reorganized and refreshed.

What you will find below is a small serving of articles and posts I have enjoyed in recent weeks.

  On Reading Aloud

Happily and suitably, the better language in the better children’s literature grabbed my children’s attention as the books with Disney characters never could. The patterns of the language engaged their ears. My children have remembered those poems of their early childhood for these many long years after I read them, repeatedly read them. Best of all, the patterns of that language engaged our collective minds. I found myself speaking to my children in that kind of language and with the rhythmic patterns of the literature that I read to them. My words felt incomplete unless they had a sort of poetry to them. My tongue sought to replicate what my ear had heard from my own mouth. I found myself needing to speak in complete sentences, needing to complete my thoughts. What a gift to child, to have that in his earliest understanding of language. To deny him the goodness that is our language is to impoverish him, no matter what your other circumstances.

“I suggest you clean up your room, If Papa trips there, it’s your doom!”

Homeschool Reflections
(You can find out a little more about the daughter-part of this post from here).

I read Charlotte’s books. That’s my number one best advice. READ HER BOOKS. Get if from the source. I wish I’d done that the first five years! Once I did, our school and life improved dramatically. Now that I have a grasp on the philosophy, it has made teaching very natural and more intuitive. I stopped looking for a step-by-step guide because once I understood her method, the how-to began to flow naturally out of that.

Sowing Living Book Seeds
(In the last year or so I have been contemplating the possibility of one day having a private lending library to share with homeschooling families.  In the meantime, I am always eager to loan our own items to friends who desire to have the "right" books. I found this post inspiring and encouraging toward this dream.)

We feel a bit like the disciples facing five thousand hungry persons looking to Jesus for help and hearing him say, “you give them something to eat.” We know our resources and efforts are insufficient for such a time as this, but we have read the Living Book and believe that He can bless and multiply our meager offerings. We believe that some child, in some book, is going to be impacted by some living idea that takes hold and nourishes him – perhaps one of tomorrow’s great leaders. Greater still, we believe that many children learning through nourishing literature will take delight in the beauty of story and, realizing the purpose of God’s story for themselves, will grow up to raise godly children who will increase His light in the world.