Links for some old books we hope to sink our teeth into!

http://www.mainlesson.com/displayauthors.php <-------this site is fabulous as it organizes by subject or author. 

http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/

September Update

I know it is about time for an update! I don't have a lot of time, but there are a few things I want to mention. Hopefully I will find time to update with some pictures soon.

• We have the new & exciting privilege of meeting with Jonathan's old school friend Anna once a week! She is homeschooling as well. This is a lot of fun not only for the boys, but for me as well since I have made a new friend with her mother Stacie.
  
• We are still studying bees. Currently we are reading:

The Bee People

A very delightful classic I must say (1899)! I had downloaded it as a freebie several months ago, and when we decided to do our unit study I remembered I had downloaded it. (What a nice coincidence huh?)

Here is a little synopsis I found on another site:

An attractive introduction to the curious structure, habits, and activities of bees, in which readers learn how the bees' wondrous body parts equip them to gather nectar and pollen, construct the hive, and nurture the young, and how the different kinds of bees interact in the life of the hive. Over one hundred pen drawings [emphasis mine... these are beautiful!] by the author illustrate the features described in the text.

We are also reading another nice little book called The Brownies at Home by Palmer Cox (written in 1893). I absolutely love it! The entire book is written in poetry form, and the little "brownies" are illustrated all throughout the book. The boys enjoy looking at the pictures and choosing which ones they like the best. Evidently, as I have looked into the brownies, they were very famous in their day. Books, toys, dolls, and even a camera were named after them! The copy we have is black and white, but this picture above gives a good idea of what the brownies look like. This particular book is about the months of the year. Justin & Jonathan are working on their very own Spelling & Vocabulary notebooks based on the Noah Webster's American Spelling book (The Original Blue Backed speller). These are not only a great way to keep up with their education, but they are also very fun and entertaining! I give them a new list of words, they are to look each of the words up in their dictionary, write the definitions,write a story about the words, and possibly draw pictures for chosen words. Their stories are very entertaining! Ryan is learning to read! I know I mentioned we checked out Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons from the library. I had to take the book back, so there was a break of time where we didn't get to go over the lessons. Thankfully, I was able to order it from Amazon and we have our very own copy now. - I am also reading story books to him from the library. - Along with these lessons, we are going through Disney Number & Counting & Alphabet learning workbooks.These are cute workbooks I found at the Dollar tree. He traces numbers and letters & counts. He enjoys working through these with me as we snuggle on my big bed. -On his own he does a LOT of drawing and cutting out with his scissors.

Audio School!

I love the idea of learning through audio. Here are a couple of things I am currently using as supplements:

~Audio math CDs (for example, I am using the one pictured above right now to help with multiplication tables).

~Audio books (the boys just finished listening to the Chronicles of Narnia's:The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe). They can learn in the bed at night too!

~Audio internet mp3 files. My favorite sites for those are the following:

www.yourstoryhour.org

http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/

Pilgrim's Progress

Today the boys listened to "The Dangerous Journey" (a children's online audio-picture book about Pilgrim's Progress). They LOVED it!


Pilgrim's Progress was always one of my favorites, and it has had a huge impact on my life. Because of that, I feel that it is important for my children to hear and understand.

I will never forget the "narrow way" and "Mr. Wordly Wise".

Recently, I have had several opportunities to discuss apologetics with non-believers.
When someone tries to twist Scripture, tries to entice me into thinking it is ok to sin, or tempts me to question my beliefs even though I know their "wisdom" does not match up with Scripture.

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'" 1 Corinthians 3:19-20

I want my boys to be clad with the armour of God so that they can defend themselves against the wiles of the devil. In my opinion, the earlier... the better! Pilgrim's Progress is a good companion to the Bible I think!