Favorite Books and Resources

[ShangriLewis]

Would everyone like to share their favorite books and resources?

Mine is John Holt's Teach your own. It was about as eye opening as Biblical Parenting. Both of these books were a battle for me to read because they went against all of my knee jerk reactions. They both really opened up my eyes and my heart and changed who I am today.

The skylark sings with me is another book that took me a few times of putting down and picking back up. It's a collection of essays and it's good casual reading. Kind of like a homeschool devotional. David Albert is married to a woman and they have two lovely adopted young women they homeschooling. He writes for Home Ed magazine, as well. He is a humble thoughtful mind.

http://www.skylarksings.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...24124?v=glance
I actually preferred the second book.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

As for actual teaching resources, I really like KONOS (www.konos.com) unit studies. We are very relaxed with our schooling. I wouldn't consider me a full on unit study teacher. But, I love that we can pull out a study when they boys are interested in something. I feel like it's a good curriculum for me to use because I'm not a slave to it. I just pick what I want and I don't have to spend so much time trying to be creative. I usually just let the boys pick what they want to do. The timeline is really appealing to the boys and they do seem to remember the people we have studied. I just wish I had a better place to put it because it's really big.

I'm adding another book I enjoyed. It's Ready, Set, Read by Barbara Curtis. It's a Montessori approach to reading. It doesn't take a bunch of expensive materials unless you want to buy or make sandpaper letters. (We are just using flashcards.) This is a great approach if some of the other phonics programs just don't appeal to your family or if you are looking for something more hands on. I did a review on it on the board, so you can do a search for it as well.

Edited to add a new article: http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/CanA...nschooler.html

[Leslie]

I kind of like the Charlotte Mason series in a simplified summary. It's a way for busy people to get a halfway accurate, fairly thorough picture of the whole series because it's actually taken just about page for page from the series, but condensed into one easy-to-read volume. And then it has the added sentimental value of being something I wrote myself. Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's series (the one she wrote for parents of children younger than age 9) is also available in a modern paraphrase.

They have the added benefit of being online so that anyone who wants to can read them for free.

[erinee]

I love the original Charlotte Mason series. It just resonates so much with my ideas about how children learn best and how they should be treated. Ambleside Online is an amazing resource with so much information for those who want to use the CM method, even if they don't choose to use the AO reading list. And like Leslie said, it's all free!

I also use FIAR and love their messageboard. And Heather, you will be happy to hear I just ordered KONOS volume 1! I had picked up just the Obedience unit used at a homeschool book shop and loved what I saw, so we are doing it when we return from our vacation in September. Then I found volume 1 in its entirety used on a KONOS curriculum email list I'm on. I am so excited. I know unit studies aren't very CM, but my kids really love the hands-on stuff. I think we're going to have so much fun. We'll drop the FIAR when we are doing a KONOS unit but we'll keep up the AO readings (only a few minutes a day). I think all are wonderful resources.

Those are my favorites.

[ShangriLewis]

Family Math are great books for more relaxed Math learning. Copy them out and put them in ziploc bags or make a Math Box!
http://www.lovetolearn.net/catalog/i...%20math&skip=0
http://www.lovetolearn.net/catalog/i...%20math&skip=2

[booboo]

Homeschooling the Challenging Child by Christine Field has been very helpful to me. It has lots of website addresses in it including one for chore charts for children with ADHD. This is a great book for people who really struggle with homeschooling or with kids with special needs. I even found sites in here for kids with math issues and I shared them with a coworker who struggles with math. He is around 20 years old and he says they've been very helpful to him! (this is a guy who failed basic math last year in college!)

Sorry, I'm rambling again..

[Beyond Blessed]

I love using www.edhelper.com - it fits my teaching style and the boys learning styles - I can print out just about any kind of worksheet you can imagine and upload my own spelling/vocabulary lists. It rocks I'm a paid member, but I think it was only $20 for a year. It has all the main school "subjects" - except I can't find anything for a foreign language.

[ShangriLewis]

http://www.fun-books.com/

I just realized that I never listed this link. I have seen others mention it from time to time.

Two books: Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto and The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. The first one helped to give me hutzpah and the second helped to give me a vision.

[SonshineMama]

Relaxed Home School and Joyful Homeschooler by Mary Hood. Anything by Mary HOod really is a great resource

[ShowersofBlessings]

I just checked out Homeschool Your Child for Free by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski. It lists bunches of helpful websites and other freebies. The lists are annotated and grouped by subject. I am definetely going to put ths on my "wishlist."

[blessedw/4]

Check out this website:
www.mfwbooks.com

The creators of this curriculum have such a beautiful Christ-like world view and such a heart for passing that on to the next generation.

[CelticJourney]

New favorite resource - Discovery channel's www.Cosmeo.com. It's a homework help site, but it has 30,000 videos. We are doing World Geography and watched a video today about the middle east.

[illinoismommy]

MORE MORE!! I want read more! I know there are more out there than these

[mumw/lov]

My ds is into trains. We are using his intrest to help him learn some preschool stuff. Anyone know any train songs to learn some letters?
mumw/lov

[LisaM]

John Holt has already been mentioned but I believe his books are worth another post.

I'm almost finished with How Children Learn by John Holt and it is one of the most amazing yet humble books I have ever read--after spending 4 years majoring in education at a very progressive University where constructivist learning was emphasized!!

It's an older book and considered a classic so it is in most public libraries--another plus!! If you can't find this book, read any of John Holt's books. You won't regret it.