library

As you may know, I intend to home school Poppy.  It is important to me to establish a rich library of books for her to listen to and read. Most of our everyday reading books we take out from the fabulous Richmond Branch of the Tasman District Library or I source them second-hand from Trade Me (our NZ auction website).  Some have been given as gifts and are most appreciated.

However, many of our favourites are ones I read growing up alongside my brothers and have now been dusted off and added to Poppy’s library.  I’m so grateful to my parents for keeping these treasures and allowing me to share them with Poppy.  I’ve rediscovered my love for these beautiful stories and fondly remember the many books featured throughout my childhood.

One strong anchor of our home schooling language arts experience will be reading aloud from excellent quality literature.  Rich literature will also become the core of Poppy’s learning experiences in history, geography and the natural sciences. There are many great reading lists online including this one from Classical-Homeschooling.org:

The criteria used to judge inclusion are: Does the book have literary value? Does the book re-emphasize a Christian worldview or heritage in some way? Does the book teach, through whatever means, what is moral or just or true? Does the book encourage to love and good works? Does the book exemplify warmth, tenderness, courage, humor, and other values and characteristics that we desire our children to be exposed to? Does the book nourish the intellect and fire the imagination? Does the book cross age barriers to be enjoyed by all?” Link to the beginning of their list.

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2 Comments

  1. American public education has become so very limited. One is only allowed to teach what the National Education Administration allows a teacher to teach. As such dissenting opinion and critical thinking have taken a back seat to rote memorization. I applaud you for the step in giving Poppy a classical education.

    Perhaps when Poppy gets to high school age she might enjoy the following books that I found fascinating. When I got to graduate school and started studding and conducting the experiments personally, I found that I felt lied to (or attempted to be indoctrinated) by American public education. I wish I had these two books in High School.

    Icons of Evolution by Jonathan Wells
    http://www.amazon.com/Icons-Evolution-Science-Teach-About/dp/0895262002/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230743643&sr=8-1

    The Privileged Planet by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards
    http://www.amazon.com/Privileged-Planet-Cosmos-Designed-Discovery/dp/0895260654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230743680&sr=1-1

  2. Thanks Hana. It wasn’t an easy decision, however I’m very committed to offering her an alternative to the mass-produced government curriculum. I appreciate your suggestions…. I’ll keep them in mind for later years! I’m sure I’ll be learning a lot on this journey too!

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