We heard them early in February this year, shrill piping in the marshy places near our favorite nature walk. Winter returned for a couple of weeks, and when next we tramped that path through the park, they were still boisterous, but their voices were a little lower pitched. Since moving to Virginia, the chorus of… Read More Books that Open Doors to Nature
I know we are past halfway through March, but hope late is better than never. Though life is busy, even hectic, a life without reading is dreary, especially in February. 1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I thought I had read it before and do like to reread an Austen every year, but as I… Read More February’s Reading
In Ourselves, Charlotte Mason discusses the role of conscience in our lives. Without question, the conscience needs instruction. But how is it to be instructed? “Life brings us many lessons––when we see others do well, conscience approves and learns; when others do ill, conscience condemns. But we want a wider range of knowledge than the… Read More Our Books, Our Teachers
I plan to continue posting my monthly list of books I finished the previous month and apologize for being a bit behind in doing so—not a good habit to start off a new year. Alas, travel and illness interfere with the best laid plans. I have embarked on several lengthy and weighty tomes that will… Read More Books I Finished reading in January 2017
This is a third re-post of an article intended to explain the fundamentals of what a living book is. Emily’s description provides an acronym to help you learn the criteria and guide your discernment: Over the past few weeks I’ve been helping a friend choose books for a comprehensive science curriculum she is writing, a… Read More Re-post: What’s In a Living Book, or, Why We Collect the Books We Do
Here is the second in my original series that attempted to describe what a living book is. Recently, I spoke at a local homeschool meeting about living books and afterward a mom thanked me and said, “I have been so busy teaching and raising my children that I have forgotten how important stories and books… Read More Repost: What Is a Living Book, Part 2
I’ve had so many conversations of late where moms have asked my opinion about living books, I find I can’t do better than repeat what I said the very first time I posted a blog to this website when it was brand new, back in the winter of 2011. I hope you enjoy the re-run.… Read More Re-Post: What IS a Living Book?
Where does the year go, we usually wonder. At least part of this past one was spent in reading all kinds of books. I’ve posted those I finished each month through October, and here are those I finished reading in November, but postponed listing because of Advent. I look forward to one more week of… Read More Books at the Finish
Living Books Library wishes you and your children a blessed Christmas. Here are a couple of poems to accompany your last-minute preparations and celebrations. It is the end of the year in the world, and the beginning of the year in the church, a calendar reminder of the truth that “Behold, he makes all things… Read More Fourth Week of Advent
Christmas gifts and Christmas journeys fill our thoughts and days this month. We share this experience with thousands who have gone before, not the least of which was the mother of our Lord, as these poems acknowledge: Mary’s BurdenByEleanor Farjeon My Baby and Burden,Tomorrow the mornI shall go lighterAnd you will be born. I shall… Read More Third Week of Advent