Homeschooling my oldest son has always been a breeze.  He learned to read when he was 3, and my greatest educational challenge with him was poor penmanship.

I was not prepared for the struggles I faced with our second son.  He wasn’t ready to read at age 3.

Or at age 4.

Or at 5.

Or even at 6.

Some days I felt like I was a failure, and other days I thought he wasn’t trying hard enough.

School wasn’t fun for either of us.  It was disappointing, frustrating, and exhausting.

We had him tested at age 7 and found out that he is dyslexic.  At first I felt like I had been punched in the gut.  I worried we would continue to struggle together for years.

But we didn’t!  In fact, his diagnosis was the key to unlocking his tremendous potential, and the turning point in his education.

Here are some ways we turned things around:

• I knew that working one on one with my son would be his best chance at success, so I stopped entertaining ideas about putting him in school and going back to my easy life.  I committed myself to home schooling for the long haul and started figuring out how to do it better.  I read and researched and tried different methods and curriculum in each subject until I found some things that worked for him.
• We began thinking outside the box.  Some of our new methods were unconventional (such as learning through games), but it didn’t matter.  I was tailoring his education to suit his needs, and we started seeing success for the first time.
• I stopped doubting myself as a teacher and him as a student.  I am grateful that my son never suffered the embarrassment of struggling in a classroom setting, but I confess there were days when my attitude discouraged him. I became more patient and more positive, viewing each challenge as a solve-able puzzle instead of an insurmountable obstacle.  We both gained confidence and began to enjoy school more, approaching difficulties as a team.  This had a positive impact on our relationship as well as on our school day.
• I began to employ a two-pronged approach of remediation and accommodation, which allowed him to move forward in areas of strength while continuing to work on areas of weakness.  Before his diagnosis we spent all our time working on the things he couldn’t do well and never found time or energy for other things.  Our new strategy meant that at least part of every school day was enjoyable and felt productive.  His self confidence grew, and he had more energy to tackle things that were difficult.
• We began using audio books for history and literature.  He began to truly enjoy learning for the first time.  Audio books changed his life so much that we built a website (and a home business) dedicated to helping kids get inexpensive access to the best educational books.

That little boy is a teenager now.  We are still successfully–and happily–home schooling.  Through the use of audio books and other technology, he is an independent, thriving student. He doesn’t have quite the same love for school that his older brother has, but he likes it just fine.  Some things are still hard, but it is no longer a daily battle.  Even the challenges have turned out to be blessings in disguise, shaping our son’s character in wonderful, God-glorifying ways.

I’m so thankful that we stuck with home schooling!!!  The fruit of it is sweet and vastly outweighs the challenges and frustrations.

Counter-Cultural School was nominated this year for Best Special Needs Blog in the Homeschool blog awards.  I don’t feel deserving of any mention in the blog awards this year, as I have been posting only sporadically since getting pregnant and having our baby.  But I do thank you! 

This blog covers a wide range of topics, but in the past year I have tried to focus special attention on homeschooling the dyslexic child. 

If you are visiting from the HSBA Post blog awards, I hope you’ll take time to read some of the articles about dyslexia, or to listen to my free podcast about our journey with dyslexia and what we are doing in our homeschool to help our dyslexic child.  You can find the podcast and all the articles linked in the right sidebar under the title The Dyslexic Child. 

Our family also created the website My Audio School to help accommodate our dyslexic child, who learns best by listening.  If you have an auditory learner and you are looking for educational books and other audio resources, please check it out!

I’ve been going over my Home Library Builders post series with a fine-tooth comb this week, in preparation for my talk on Tuesday for the Ultimate Home School Expo. I’ll be speaking on The Homeschooler’s Library, gathering all the information I’ve sought to share in this series into an audio podcast.

You can log in on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. CST to listen to this live Preview chat. I’ll also be posting this series on the blog soon. I’ve found a way to record each episode in a brief, 10 minute podcast and load them all onto one widget. You’ll be able to click on just those episodes that you want to hear.

In the meantime, it has come to my attention that these posts are very heavily weighted toward books for boys. I reached out to my readers a few days ago, asking for suggestions for books for girls in keeping with the categories in Philippians 4:8. I’m going to compile a list here of suggestions I received.

Heather recommended all the Louisa May Alcott books, such as Little Women, the books in the Anne of Green Gables series, The Little Princess, Heidi, and the Little House books. I didn’t really even think of those as books for girls, as we’ve read most of them and loved them all. These are great suggestions. Heather also mentioned the series FaithGirlz, female missionary biographies (such as those about Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, Edna McMillan, etc.) and the Children’s Heritage series. She also mentions books in the girls section at Vision Forum, which is a favorite for us, as well. Their link is in the sidebar of the blog.

Teacher/Mom notes that many people have mixed feelings about the American Girls series, but she uses them in her homeschool as a way to bring up “talking points”. I have read some of the very large, hardback American girl books with my boys (ssssh!!!) with the title “Welcome to…..[Kit’s, Felicity’s, etc.} World.” Most of these books have very little to do with the featured American Girl and a lot to do with the history of the featured time period. We have, surprisingly, enjoyed these books!

She says that she enjoys sharing many of the older series from her own childhood with her daughters: Betsy series by Carolyn Haywood (as well as other books by this author), Liza, Bill and Jed Mysteries by Peggy Parish, the “Shoes” books by Noel Streatfield, the Betsy and Tacy books by Maude Hart Lovelace, and the original Nancy Drew series.

Michelle reminded me of the book “The Witch of Blackbird Pond”, a book about the Salem witch trials which kept me up half the night once when I was a teenage girl.

Stacie recommends the Daughters of the Faith series by Wendy Lawton, which includes books based on the lives of Olive Oatman, Mary Chilton, Harriet Tubman, Pocahontas, Phylis Sweetly, Mary Bunyan and more.

Carissa adds, “my dd has really enjoyed the All of a Kind Family series, which I don’t think has been mentioned. All of my children, boys and girls, have enjoyed Summer With the Moody’s and the other books in the series, by Sarah Maxwell.” We liked Summer with the Moody’s, as well…it is hard to find books about homeschooling families, but Sarah Maxwell (a homeschooled child herself, daughter of Terri Maxwell of Managers of Their Homes fame) wrote these books about a family of homeschooled kids.

The vision behind My Audio School is to provide a site where audio books from the public domain can be downloaded in one easy-to-navigate spot. A young child or a dyslexic student would have a very hard time getting content for himself from Librivox or other public domain sites. I wanted to do the legwork so my sons could easily find all their audio content, but the site turned out too good to keep to myself.

Much of the content my children need next year for history and literature can now be easily streamed, chapter by chapter, from My Audio School. This will enable even my emerging readers to take more ownership over their schoolwork, as they can now sit down with their history and pick up easily where they left off.

The beautiful pictures and wonderful, classic book titles give me the feeling that I just upgraded my library…yet it is all free, in the public domain.

We’ll be leaving Ancient Times and moving on to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation and Revolutionary War in a few weeks….so the current content on My Audio School reflects that. I have more projects in the works for other time periods, but for now, please hop over to My Audio School and think about how you might be able to use it!

Several months ago, when I started this Home Library Builders series, I promised to write a post about finding books and organizing your library. This is a topic near and dear to my heart…I am always on the lookout for a treasure!

I use Tapestry of Grace, a curriculum centered around living books. Some weeks I might use as many as 20 different books for my students. My children are getting a rich and broad education, but it can be a strain on the budget and difficult to stay organized.

So what is my strategy?

Planning ahead

First, I take a look at my book lists, week by week. Tapestry gives me a breakdown of all the books I need every week, for a total of 36 book lists in all. I put each week’s list in a page protector, so I can mark on it with a Sharpie marker, without defacing the reading list. Tapestry is a classical program, which means that four years from now, I’ll be repeating this material again, albeit at a more advanced level for each child. My current 3rd grader will be reading books that his 7th grade brother read this year, and my preschooler will need the books my 3rd grader is reading. It helps to keep a record of what we have and what we need and what we liked so that I can refer to it in future years. By marking on a page protector, I can make notes that will help me now and in the future. Four years from now, I can slip off the old protector and replace it with a fresh one, making notes for a new trip through the material.

Decisions, decisions!

Tapestry gives me lots of choices. If I don’t have a given book, there are several alternates listed. As a general rule, I try very hard to get all the literature books that are recommended, as there is only one Huckleberry Finn. I often am able to substitute history titles with something that is already on my shelves. If I don’t have a certain geography book about Japan, but another similar title is already on my shelf, I make a note of the title I’ll be substituting on the page protector. By staying flexible and being willing to substitute equivalent titles I can save my budget for those must-have books.

Keeping my Options Open

Next, I open several windows on the computer. One is for my local library system, a window for Amazon, a window for Better World Books, a window for My Audio School, a window for Audible, and a window for Baldwin Project.

I look at each book on the list, checking how many weeks it will be used. Anything that will only be used for one week is typically at the top of my library list. I do a quick search and if the book is available through Inter-library Loan, I mark an L on the page protector by that title. When the time comes, I’ll order it through the library. My library can be slow, so I don’t use it for critical or time-sensitive titles. Often, I’ll order the suggested resource as well as all the alternates, and use whichever one comes in on time.

The library is a great place to get those hardback picture books for my young children. Those are expensive to buy, and typically will be read a couple of times and then put away. They are often readily available through the Inter-library Loan system.

Once I’ve gone through the titles, choosing which ones will be substituted and which ones will come from the library, I take a look at how to get what is left. Anything that is going to be used for multiple weeks, or which is critically important to our study, or which cannot be substituted (such as literature titles) is a good candidate for purchase. I have several children, and I know I’ll be using most of these books again.

Getting Books for Free

First, I check the free sites. Many of the old, classic literature titles are available in the public domain. Baldwin Project has lots of these titles available for free. There are also many available through Gutenberg Project, but I prefer the easy-to-navigate format at Baldwin Project. I don’t like sitting in front of a computer screen to read aloud, but my children don’t seem to mind silent reading from the screen. This is a good choice for us for those books.

Of course, I always check My Audio School, too! I say “check” even though this is my own website.  We have over 500 resources on the site now and I can’t even remember all the titles myself, LOL.

I can’t tell you how much money we’ve saved this year by listening to our books in audio format from public domain sources! It has been such a blessing to our dyslexic son and our emerging reader, and has saved my voice, too! I still read daily to them, but this gives them extra audio content while I am busy. My oldest son loves it as he can multi-task, listening to books in audio format while cleaning his room or building models. We stream the books from the computer, burn them to CD or download them to Mp3.

It does take a lot of time searching out these free resources. Now that I’ve done the work for you, you might want to take advantage of what My Audio School has to offer. Lots of free books are on the site, and for the cost of purchasing just one audio book you get links to hundreds of resources. Every single book on the site is available to download to Mp3, or individual chapters can be streamed from the site. I’ve also included links where you can read the books for free online.

Paperback Swap is another site I use for getting free titles. You post books that you no longer want online. In exchange for offering up 10 titles, you get two credits for free. Each credit allows you to request one book. Anytime someone requests one of your books and you send it to them, you get another credit. I’ve gotten a few of the books I need for next year for free through PBS. They make it very easy to mail the books, as you can print shipping labels and even postage from home if you have a paypal account.

Buy Used and Save the Difference

Next, I check Better World Books. This gem is my favorite place to get books. The used books are all donated by libraries, and used titles typically cost around $4 apiece. Profit from all sales goes to support literacy efforts around the world, and shipping is virtually free within the continental U.S. (and very cheap to other countries). Better World uses carbon offsets for shipping, and I typically pay about 10 cents shipping on $10 worth of books. I also like Thrift Books for used titles. I like to refer to amazon to read their reviews, and occasionally I’ll buy a book from them, as well. Their shipping is so high now for used books that sometimes you can get the title brand new with free shipping for little more than the used title would have cost.

Books on MP3

Although we use our website My Audio School for public domain books, Audible is another good source for audio books that aren’t in the public domain. My curriculum makes suggestions for each child’s literature. Several times a year I choose one selection from my oldest child’s list and we read it aloud as a family or listen to it on MP3. We all enjoy these family read-alouds. They are not at a level that my young children could read them alone, but they are perfectly able to enjoy and understand them as a read-aloud. Rather than purchasing three separate books for that week, I can get one excellent audio book that we can all enjoy together.

Other sites

I also check Tapestry’s Bookshelf Central, as they have competitive pricing on many of the books that are recommended as primary resources. Book Closeouts is another favorite site for classics and biographies purchased inexpensively. One more site that I regularly check is Library and Ed, a wholesaler that only sells to libraries, educators and homeschoolers.

Book Sales

Usually, anything I haven’t found online goes on a list which I keep in my purse. When I head out to spring books sales, my list goes with me. I’ve been known to drill this list into my 12 year old’s head, so he can be on the lookout, too! Last week I bought an R.M. Ballantyne book for 50 cents at a book sale…the seller must not have known what she had! I came home a happy girl, indeed.

Of course, I watch “for sale” boards on my yahoo groups, and borrow books from friends, as well. Once a book has been downloaded or purchased or borrowed, a notation on the page protector reminds me that it is taken care of.

Organizing books…don’t knock it ’till you try it

I have a system for organizing my history and literature books. Since the classical cycle lasts four years, I label my books accordingly. All books for Ancient Times get a red dot on the spine of the book. I use the little dots purchased for tagging garage sale items, and secure them with a small piece of scotch tape to the spine of the book (as the sticky back doesn’t adhere well to the spines without a little help).

Before taping the label on, I write a number on the spine to show which week it will be used. Number 1 for our first week of school, or 2-5 if the book will be used weeks two through five. Then all the books are arranged in order on a particular shelf…one shelf for my oldest child’s books, another shelf for my younger children’s books. This helps me to see at a glance exactly what we have, and to find it easily throughout the year.

Since we are literally using hundreds of books a year, spread out over different grade levels, this system of organization is a lifesaver for me.

Books for Renaissance and Reformation get a yellow dot. Green dots are for the time period from Napoleon to Teddy Roosevelt, and a blue dot adorns the spine of all books about modern times. I have a couple of shelves for each color. Next year, we’ll be studying Renaissance and Reformation…but if I find a great book that I’ll need for Modern Times at a book sale this spring, I’ll go ahead and buy it. Purchasing books in advance, when the price is right, is another way to save money.

I won’t need to purchase many titles at all for next year, because I’ve been collecting the books I need little by little for the past few years. And thanks to my system of organization, all of my Modern Times books are labeled and together. If I find something new, I know right where to put it, and I can feel confident that it will be there in three years when I need it.

The next post in this Home Library Builders series will be Whatever is Excellent: My favorite books for the Classical history cycle

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

A classic is a book which has stood the test of time, captivating generations of readers. It often touches on topics which have universal appeal, such as love, friendship, betrayal or loss. Many classics are referenced in other works, allowing the well-read person to make connections between the two. For example, my son and I were recently watching the movie August Rush (not a classic!) and he immediately recognized several elements from Oliver Twist in the movie.

Although many classics are admirable, for these reasons and more, not every Classic is worth reading. Just as I would never watch every movie that wins an Oscar from the critics, there are many so-called “classics” which our Christian children should not be reading, such as books containing sensuality. I don’t give my younger children books with serious moral dilemmas which they are unprepared for. I look for books where the hero is a positive role model and avoid books which cause the reader to feel love and sympathy for someone who is disrespectful or immoral.

Reading Aloud with Older Children

I still some schedule read-aloud time with my 7th grader, because there are many books that are profitable for him to read with me, though they would not be good for him to read alone.

Last year, for example, my son and I read C.S. Lewis’ book The Great Divorce. Lewis paints an intriguing picture of heaven and hell in this allegorical story. Although I trust Lewis as an author, and would allow my son to read the entire Narnia series alone, it was important to discuss this particular book together, in light of its spiritual content. As we read we often paused to discuss passages that were difficult to understand or where we might disagree with Lewis. The book also raised questions in my son’s mind about spiritual matters, and it was important to be there as the questions arose.

Choosing books for strong readers

The books our children read will have a great impact on who they become, for good or for ill. Just as we would not allow them to play with fools and mockers, so we must protect their minds and hearts from authors who would seek to lead them astray. I would not allow my young child to spend hours alone, talking to a stranger. Do I allow him to read books I know nothing about?

Choosing Books for Voracious Readers

Early in this Home Library Builders series I addressed some of the concerns faced by parents of reluctant readers. But what about those voracious readers, who can never get enough? How do we choose books for them? Long ago I realized I would never have time to keep up with my oldest son. The days of pre-reading all his books are long gone, as he has more time and opportunity to read than I do these days.

Often my son has already read the books his curriculum suggests. Occasionally he re-reads a particularly excellent book, and I trust he will read with more understanding now than he did four years ago. Usually, however, I like to offer him new choices in his reading material.

In choosing books for him, I often rely on authors with whom we have experience, those whom I already have grown to trust. I also lean heavily on certain Christian curriculum providers, drawing new titles from their reading lists. Of course I draw from the curriculum I use, Tapestry of Grace. I also look through the Veritas Press, Beautiful Feet Books and Sonlight catalogs when looking for new books. I trust the screening they have done for me. Books that appear on more than one of my lists deserve definite consideration when I choose what we’ll read. It is also helpful to search extensive booklists like All Through the Ages by Christine Miller or Let the Authors Speak by Carolyn Hatcher when looking for new titles.

I am careful to consider age appropriateness when drawing from lists like these, particularly when choosing literature titles. Although my 7th grader reads at a high school level, that doesn’t mean he is mature enough to discern worldview on his own as he reads. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 appears on many high school reading lists, but a quick read-through of that book showed me that although my son would understand it, he was not old enough for it.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Some of our favorite books and resources are on sale this week!
Books and Audio for Mom

Some of my top reads for the year are on sale. One of my favorites for this year is
To Have and to Hold. I wrote a review of this book in my Library Builders post on Hero Stories. If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend this title set during the early days of our nation.

Mother is another book I enjoyed last year. This simple book tells the story of a girl who despised the thought of becoming just a mother. She goes off to make her way in the world, but through a series of providential events the Lord causes her to see the true beauty she had always overlooked in her own mother. Her plans for the future change, as well.

Beloved Bride tells the love story of Stonewall Jackson and his wife through their beautiful letters, written while he was away serving his country. This encouraging book gave me a different perspective on Jackson.

If you haven’t read Passionate Housewives, Desperate for God, I highly recommend it. This book is a breath of fresh air for the woman who wants to embrace her calling to serve God with zeal in her home. Every day the media and our culture bombard us with lies, telling us that a woman can only find true happiness when she lives to please herself. God calls His daughters to a different standard, and blesses them abundantly as they die to self for His glory.

Thoughts for Young Men is on my must-read list for my son as he begins the teen years soon.

The Sinking of the Titanic is a reprint of a vintage classic, telling the true story of men who sacrificed their lives for women and children because they believed in the Christian family value of “women and children first”.

My oldest son has begun reading R. M. Ballantyne books lately. I’ve begun reading them, too! If you like G. A. Henty, these are similar in genre. Excellent writing, boy heroism, Christian worldview, adventurous plots and rich character development make these reprinted classics great reading for older boys. The Pirate City and several others are 50% off right now.

Every year at Thanksgiving we read an excerpt from
Of Plymouth Plantation, a reprint of William Bradford’s original diary. This fascinating book details the persecutions that the pilgrims endured, what led them first to Holland and then to America, the trials and blessings of their new life and much more. I’ve read the book in its entirety myself, and look forward to my oldest son reading it next year for school when we study Jamestown.

You know how much we love feasts in this family! Incorporating elements of a historical Thanksgiving is meaningful and fun.
That’s why we use The Thanksgiving Primer
each year. This guide was prepared by the Plymouth Plantation museum staff, and includes accurate information about the First Thanksgiving: menus, prayers, music and historical anecdotes.

We’ll also be reading Stories of the Old Dominion for school next year. This book tells the story of the true heroes of America’s War for Independence, including Washington, Henry, Captain John Smith, and several others. The book was written to inspire character in the hearts of children who would one day grow up to fight their own battles.

For the whole Family

I am currently reading Missionary Patriarch: The True Story of John G Patton and it is everything a missionary biography should be. The Lord is exalted, the reader is encouraged, touched and challenged, and the story is fascinating. As soon as I’m done reading it myself I plan to re-read it with the kids. It is that good.

This year for our devotions we’ve been reading through the Bible. Often we have turned to Balancing the Sword, a two volume study tool designed to enhance time in the Word. All the questions in each volume can be answered directly from the text, and we’ve found this a helpful way to keep the kids focused during the reading. Each volume contains several questions (with answer key) for every single chapter in the Bible. There is also a CD-Rom with a customizable Bible reading plan included.
My children love to play with these Papo knights knights! There are several on sale, including this blue one with the mace and this red one on a horse. My four year old gets out a bin of plastic knights virtually every day, and my older boys like to collect and display them.

One of our favorite toys is the
Three man slingshot. We have a big backyard, and we love to fill a bucket of water balloons and see how far they’ll fly.

During our sons’ ninth year we present them with an engraved sword, in a special family ceremony honoring them as half way grown. We purchase the swords through Vision Forum, which sells very high quality swords at reasonable prices. This English Adventurers Sword is currently on sale. These are just a few of the items on sale, and some of the prices are truly rock bottom!

This post in the Home library builders series continues the theme Whatever is Lovely, looking at Poetry, Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

I enjoy reading poetry with my children! It is one of those things that I haven’t been able to work into our normal daily schedule, so we try to take time once or twice a year to do it as a mini-unit. Sometimes we choose a particular poet, like Robert Frost, and read some of his works. Other times, we just flip through one of our anthologies and read whatever strikes us.

Poetry for Young Children

For my young children, poetry is mainly about listening and learning to enjoy. They are not required to write poems yet. I’d like to investigate Andrew Pudewa’s Developing Linguistic Patterns through Poetry Memorization for possible future use in our homeschool. I just heard about it and it looks wonderful! If anyone has used this, send me a comment about how you liked it.

All of my children have loved A.A. Milne’s poems. His books Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young belong on every child’s bookshelf. We have them on tape, as well, read by Charles Kurault. The children have memorized many of these delightful poems just by listening in the car or at bedtime. As an added bonus, these are poems adults will also love. I never mind reading or listening to them. It is worth searching for the version recorded by Charles Kurault.

Creating a Family Vocabulary

By the way, when you hear the same poems over and over again, especially as a family, the wording becomes a part of your vocabulary. We often find ourselves quoting from some of these A.A. Milne poems, and everyone knows exactly what is meant. If my oldest son wants something and he knows it is costing me a bit of time or trouble, he sheepishly smiles and quotes from The King’s Breakfast, “Nobody, my darling, could call me a fussy man, but I do like a little bit of butter to my bread!” He is instantly understood.

Another of our favorite poets is Carl Sandburg. From Daybreak to Goodnight has folk art drawings and some humorous poems for children. As an aside, we also like Sandburg’s prose. He is most famous for his Rootabaga stories, but our favorite is The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle, and Who Was In It is still available here for $6. Poetry for Young People is also a good series. It is inexpensive and has many titles, each dedicated to a different poet.

Poetry for Older Children

Last year our oldest son used Matt Whittling’s book The Grammar of Poetry in this endeavor. The idea behind the book is to learn about different rhyme schemes and meter, alliteration and personification and then to write your own poem using what you’ve learned. There are also examples of famous poems included in the book.

He enjoyed doing a unit on poetry, but I think this book would be better for a slightly older child. I plan to revisit it again in eighth grade, as there is a lot of great content in the book. Last year, though, I felt that in some cases he “lost the forest for the trees”. He was so focused on getting the right number of weak and strong stresses into his poem, rather than just listening to the musical rhythm and letting it flow. So this year I am keeping it simple.

This year we are taking a break from marking stress symbols, and figuring out how many feet there are in a line of poetry. Instead, we take about five minutes before his writing time and go over one element of poetry. It has been helpful to solidify what he learned last year in the Grammar of Poetry book, without devoting time to go over all of it again in detail.

We talk about the components of a limerick or a haiku or how to do an ABAB CDCD rhyme scheme. I try to pull an example or two from the internet or from our Top 500 Poems anthology, which was so generously sent to me by a CC School blog reader after she saw my Wish List post! Then he applies what he learned by brainstorming and writing his own poem, often on a history topic that we are studying. Today, for example, he wrote a limerick about Alexander the Great. Last week he wrote an excellent poem about the Battle of Thermopylae.

Poetry and Struggling Readers

Today I had my eight year old sit with me while I casually flipped through the 500 Poems anthology. My goal was not poetry reading at all, truth be told. I wanted to see how his tracking was, as he sometimes skips lines while reading. A friend told me to have him read aloud the first and last letters in each line of a poem, and see if he skipped any lines. We did this as kind of a game, and I read the selected poems aloud before he told me the letters.

I was stunned when this reluctant reader insisted on trying to read each of the chosen poems to himself. This child never picks up a book unless directed to do so, and there he was, nose buried in one of the thickest books in the house! I can only speculate that the short lines, wide margins and rhyme patterns made the reading seem easier to him. I plan to investigate this in the days to come. I’ll let you know if I find poetry helps this emerging reader gain confidence and desire to read alone!

Shakespeare Study

Many families following a Charlotte Mason approach study Shakespeare every year. We use the Classical Method, and have only studied Shakespeare once every four years. My children do enjoy listening to Nesbit’s Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare on mp3 from time to time. We also have a print copy of Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, as this is another recommended version for children.

I have read that the Lamb’s Tales is easier for children to follow than Beautiful Stories for Children from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit, but the Nesbit version is still my favorite. There are many editions of Nesbit’s classic. This version (published by Barnes and Noble), is my favorite! Every page has a beautiful detailed border, with classic period illustrations throughout.  My favorite illustrated version is out of print, however.  Even though we only study Shakespeare once every 4 years, we still listen to Nesbit’s book of Shakespeare stories about once a year, just for fun.

True Confessions

I confess, I love this book so much that when I found out it was discontinued, I bought every copy I could scrounge on clearance (going from store to store in my quest) so that they could be distributed to worthy friends who would recognize what a treasure they held! So take a minute:  head over to My Audio School and bookmark Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children.  You and your kids will really enjoy it.

Learning About Shakespeare’s Life

Of course, it is important to learn about Shakespeare, as well. My young children like this book
William Shakespeare and the Globe Theater by Aliki.

My oldest son foundThe Shakespeare Stealer Series by Gary Blackwood to be exciting reading. This historical fiction book follows an orphan-turned-actor in his adventures as part of Will Shakespeare’s acting troupe, navigating intrigue and betrayal in Elizabethan London.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is, of course, another author which deserves his place in every home library. His books pit good against evil in sharp contrast, and his phrasing is masterful. We read A Christmas Carol every year at Christmas, and attend a theatrical performance, as well. We also enjoy the Focus on the Family Radio Theater version, available here for free.

My oldest son read Oliver Twist, and I look forward to introducing him to more Charles Dickens as he gets older. Netflix has several Dickens movies, including some that can be streamed online. Preview, if you have young children. Many of Dickens’ novels deal with young children being harshly treated, and some scenes would be unsettling for young viewers. For young children, I recommend the picture-book biography about Dickens,
Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Having an excellent library in our home is a high priority for me. I firmly believe that character is shaped and influenced greatly by what we read. It is important to me that every time my children pick up a book, it is an excellent one. I wrote a post a few months ago about choosing the best books, so I won’t rehash those ideas in this post. Suffice it to say that my guiding principle in evaluating reading material for my children and myself is this:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

This post is the first in a series dedicated to helping you build an excellent home library. I am including many links so you can see what these books look like. One of the posts in this series, however, will be about finding books through the library and through used book sources. I only buy new when I absolutely have to!

Whatever is true…

We read a lot of biographies in our home. It is valuable to read the stories of those who have gone before us, learning from their successes and failures. I particularly like reading missionary biographies and stories of faithful Christians which encourage and inspire myself and my children.

A good biography will tell “whatever is true”, not glossing over the struggles in order to portray a person who always went from glory to glory. Our family finds it encouraging to read real stories about real people to whom God was faithful, even in the midst of hard times. Truth alone does not make a book excellent, however. Some famous people aren’t worth reading about, so use your judgment.

Last year for Christmas I received two excellent books in this biography category. Beloved Bride tells the story of Stonewall Jackson and his wife through the loving letters he sent her while they were apart. He is best known as an amazing general, but he also had a remarkable marriage. I enjoyed every minute of this book. Another good marriage biography is Marriage to a Difficult Man, an encouraging book about the life of Sarah Edwards, wife of the famous theologian Jonathan Edwards.

Last Christmas I was also given Scots Worthies, which details the stories of faithful Scottish men who died for Christ during the 16th to 18th centuries. I confess, I haven’t made it all the way through this hefty book, but I intend to, even if it is slow going. This is not a “light read” by any means, but it is an encouraging one.

Another great biography for women (NOT children) is True Grit:Women taking on the World for God’s Sake by Deborah Meroff. This book tells the inspiring testimony of nine modern-day female missionaries. Brief fact files between the stories reveal global abuses faced by women and girls in other countries. It gave me lots of things to pray about.

My children and I will begin reading Trial and Triumph this spring, which tells the stories of many Christian martyrs. There are several excellent Christian biography series for older children, including the YWAM-published Christian Heroes Then and Now series and the Leaders in Action Christian Heroes series.

One of my favorite children’s biography series’ is difficult to find in the United States, but worth looking for. If you are in Canada or the UK you’ll have an easier time. Heroes of Faith and Courage has colorful pictures, an interesting story about the featured hero, and sidebars with extra information. For example, the book about Martin Luther has several sidebars which explain false doctrines and practices which led to the Reformation.

We don’t confine ourselves to Christian biographies only. I want my children to have a thorough understanding of history, and biographies play a crucial part in that, particularly for older children.

In choosing biographies about historical figures, it is important to keep subject matter age-appropriate. Last year when we studied World War 2, my younger boys read just one biography, My Secret Camera. This was a simple photo-journal introduction to the fact that Jews were made to live in ghettos during World War 2 and they were persecuted. That was the most I felt those boys could handle, and we read it when our youngest was asleep so that he wouldn’t hear it at all. The rest of their World War 2 study focused on age-appropriate battle tales rather than biographies.

My oldest son had already read Diary of Anne Frank with me when he was entering fifth grade. Anne Frank focuses on the time the family spent in hiding, with nothing said about concentration camps. It was a good “next step” for him at that age. Last year he was more mature, and we read Corrie Ten Boom’s biography The Hiding Place. This book has many pages which detail their lives in a concentration camp. Although I felt my son was mature enough to read that book last year, I didn’t want him to sit down alone with the material, so we did it as a read-aloud. I still do several read-alouds with him each year, even though he is an excellent reader, so that we can be “on the same page” as we discuss difficult topics.

A biography series I like for early elementary is Childhood of Famous Americans. For beginning readers I like On My Own Biographies and Rookie Biographies. Landmark and World Landmark are excellent series’ for this age group, too.

I highly recommend getting a book like All Through the Ages to aid you in your search for good biographies. Christine Miller has put together this exhaustive book which arranges over 7,000 living book titles by historical era, geographical region, and reading level.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

We love listening to audio books! We never take a long car trip without them, and frequently we even listen when we are bopping about town doing our errands. We listen at night before bed. We listen together and we listen alone. We can’t get enough!

I hope this post will be informative and helpful. Keep reading for links to some of the best sources for audio books and a list of some of our all-time favorites.

Where we get our Audio Books

We don’t buy books on tape or CD very often, as we have found MP3 to be cheaper, generally. When we do buy books on tape, we often purchase from Library and Ed. This wholesale site is only for teachers, libraries and homeschoolers, so you will have to fill out an online form stating that you fall into that category before you can even see their catalog.

If you are eligible to purchase from them you should definitely check out their catalog. Their prices cannot be beat! They have lots of the Focus on the Family Radio Theater, which are some of our favorites. They also have a lot of Your Story Hour CDs. We don’t listen to Adventures in Odyssey, but they sell those, too.

Audible.com is the most comprehensive source I’ve found for MP3 downloads. We get most of our audio books there. New members can often get a 3 month membership for $7.95 a month, giving them one book per month. At times, we have paid $22 monthly for 2 audio books a month, other times we have paid an annual fee of about $10 to get 30% off of all books and access to sales. We also request audio books from the grandparents for birthdays and Christmas. If they join Audible, they can purchase books with their credits and give them as gifts.

Our children have an inexpensive MP3 player with speakers, and sometimes we burn the books to CD.

We also use Librivox for free audio downloads. The books on Librivox are all in the Public Domain, and they are read by volunteers. They usually don’t have the same quality of narration that you find on Audible, but they have many classics that I need for school. We enjoy using these books a lot, but the site is virtually impossible for my younger kids to navigate. It takes forever to search for books, and there is nothing interesting to look at amidst all the words. Many titles are not appropriate for kids, either.

That’s why I built My Audio School, so that I could find the gems amidst the rocks and put them in a child-safe, user friendly format that my kids can use for their school books and pleasure listening. Now that we have My Audio School, we are using audio books almost daily.

I hope you’ll check out the links to great audio books on My Audio School. You can stream lots of great books right on the site, including Edith Nesbit’s Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children or Treasure Island.

Librivox books are very easy to download: if you have an iTunes account you can just click “save in iTunes” and it automatically imports the book. When you are ready to listen, click on the black triangle beside the title and “get” each chapter file. If you don’t have iTunes, you can still easily download books to your Mp3 player…each player has its own instructions, so check your manual. We find this to be easy and it takes just a minute. We also frequently stream books from the computer…the kids play quietly on the floor or sit on the couch while listening. I often open one window and stream an audio book, then minimize it so I can listen while I am working on other things on the computer.

You can also get two free audio recordings daily at the new site Blue Behemoth. Usually they offer sermon audio for adults, but frequently they offer one or two episodes of their fantastic Jonathan Park creation science radio drama for kids. Check back daily to see the current available free downloads. Go to the Jonathan Park website to learn more about this incredible series and to listen to this week’s episode for free. You can purchase this series through Vision Forum. If you are willing to buy it on cassette tape, the price is very reasonable.

I can’t say enough about Jonathan Park. My kids listen to the series over and over, and they have learned to think on a very deep level about creation science through the tapes. And while you are on the Vision Forum site, check out their fantastic audio version of Pilgrim’s Progess.

I haven’t tried Simply Audiobooks yet, but I am intrigued by their site-concept. They have a rental program, similar to what Netflix has for movies. You pay a monthly rental fee and get your audio books in the mail, then send them back when you are done. Still, the fee is rather high, and there is so much on My Audio School now that I don’t know if we will ever find a need for Simply Audiobooks. I guess when I am purchasing audio I prefer Audible so that we can keep the books. As of this writing, if you join Audible it costs about the same for one purchased audiobook as Simply Audio books charges for one month of rental (allowing one rental download per month). I have books I bought 4 years ago for my oldest son that my younger ones are listening to now. I’d always rather own than rent.

I use TalkShoe when I want to record something short for my children in my own voice. A book like Arnold Lobel’s Days With Frog and Toad is easily and simply recorded using nothing more than your computer and a telephone. Once you’ve made the recording, kids can stream the audio live from the computer or you can burn it to a CD or download to an MP3 player.

Some All-time Favorites
It is hard to make this list, as it could go on and on! We love ALL the Focus on the Family Radio Theater productions, especially:
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Les Miserables
At the Back of the North Wind
A Christmas Carol

We have dozens of recordings from Audible. Here are a few the kids have loved:
Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare
Paddington
G. A. Henty’s In the Reign of Terror
James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small series (we love them all)
Cricket in Times Square
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Little Men
Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (dramatized versions)

If you liked this post, please look for more posts in the Home Library Builders series. You might also enjoy the podcast The Homeschooler’s Library, which can be downloaded or streamed from the purple widget player in the sidebar of this blog.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”