Friday, July 15, 2011

What I am reading.....

What am I reading? Not a whole lot! I have found that during this season of my life, with a bunch of littles running amok, I don't always have a lot of time for reading. Most reading I do is children books, or the short magazine article. I am reading a daily Bible reading plan, which I am amazed that I have stuck with it. Unfortunately, I don't always have follow through in that area.
But, I do have two books that I have been squeezing in during "quiet times" or after the kids go to bed. I am reading, "Anne of Ingleside" by L.M. Montgomery. I love her books. I read through the Anne series faithfully almost every year. This is actually my second time reading this particular book this year. I love to read this book when I am feeling frustrated with parenting. Not at my children, but frustrated with myself. I just read this book and realize that I take myself too seriously sometimes and that laughing is allowed. Not only allowed, but MUST happen. One of my favorite lines in the book is from Susan, the housekeeper, "Some folks think they (babies) are luxuries,' I said, 'but at Ingleside we think they are necessities.'" It just makes me smile.
The other book I am reading is called, "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay Clarkson with Sally Clarkson. I am really enjoying this book. Some of my favorite quotes, regarding books...
     "Give us a house furnished with books rather than furniture! Both, if you can, but books at any rate!" by Henry Ward Beecher
"To be a genuine lover of books no house is completely furnished which has not a good many of them, not arranged formally in one room, but scattered all over the house." Margaret E. Sangster
"Books are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of books-even without taking them from the shelves they seem to speak to you, to bid you welcome." William Gladstone
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." Charles W. Eliot
Shelves of books just make me happy. Especially old books. Old hardback books, that have been well-loved. Dog-eared pages. It just makes me happy.
This book encourages home-teaching according to the Charlotte Mason theory, which has captivated my attention since first hearing about her. She believed in teaching children from "living books". Whole books. Great literature.  So this year for homeschooling, I am taking a step off the edge and trying a free curriculum called Ambleside online. They give you a book list and week by week what you should be teaching, and you do your thing. You can buy the books or get them from your public library. But they are whole books, not textbooks. So I have been having fun getting my packages from Amazon the last few weeks. I want to have a good private library for our children, especially since the public library isn't very close for us to use frequently and is pretty small. Plus, trying school this way has cut my curriculum bill in half. Which is amazing.
I am hoping to instill a love of reading in my children so that in the future that is what they will turn to for entertainment rather then the television or computer.
What are you reading????

1 comment:

the joyful potter said...

:o) I just stole your Charles W. Eliot quote for facebook - love it! I am reading another great home teaching book by Ruth Beechick called A Biblical Home Education. And good work on your Bible-in-a-year reading - that's the most important book of all!