Living Books Forum: A Book Ignited a Fire...A Learning Fire!

Do you have a childhood favorite read, one that impacted you so greatly you remember every page? 

Maybe a picture book, a chapter book?

After reading your favorite book, did you reach for others by the same author? The same topic or genre?

Not long ago one of the learners in my home read a book that started a literary fire, a fire that burned brightly for months, actually almost a year if you count all the extended studies ignited off to the side.

The book that started the fire? 

The Story of Florence Nightingale by Margaret Leighton

I remember the evening she finished the book. She closed the book, clutched it to her chest, and remarked, "That was a good book! I feel like I know Florence Nightingale. I know the trials she faced as she treated people. I know about her courage to do something other people thought she shouldn't do. That was a good book!"

"Do we have any other nurse books?"

Wow! The power of a story!

We walked to the bookshelf and pull a few others. One after another, they were read, each time adding another layer of learning. When she read the all books we owned, we looked for more. 

Eventually her study broadened to women who changed medical science. That leg of the learning journey became a biographical science project (really mini research projects grouped into one) which spark studies in human anatomy and physiology, later branched to health and nutrition. Each learning segment was sparked by the one before, but ignited by one book.

                                         The Story of Florence Nightingale by Margaret Leighton

Keeping great books--books that are alive and carry the reader into the story-- in my home is one of my greatest pursuits. Finding books which capture attention and ignite learning, all the while building reading confidence and fluency. Finding books is now part of my yearly planning as I consider curricula for the coming year. Sometimes I comment, "I used to spend hours thumbing through catalogs, now I reference book lists and search garage sales, used bookstores, and Ebay". When we find literary treasures, eyes light up. Learning fires are started!

                                              Are there books in your home that ignite learning? 

                                     Do you want to learn more about how you can spark interest? 

           Join us at Living Books Forum, April 5, just one week away. 

Workshop descriptions here.

Register here. 

Living Books Forum: Excerpt from The Wright Brothers: First to Fly by Madge Haines and Leslie Morrill

What is a living book? Another mom inquires. A term best defined by an excerpt, a sample. 

Here are a few excerpts from one in a series we enjoy, Makers of America. The book is titled The Wright Brothers: First to Fly by Madge Haines and Leslie Morrill and invites the reader on adventures of experimentation with the Wright brothers from the time they were young boys to their famous flight.

"One evening Wilbur said to Orville, 'I wish I could find the scientific law that made the small helicopter rise. Then I think I could figure out why the big one we made did not fly.'

'I'll bring you some books from the town library,' Orville offered. 'I know you have ready everything your're interested in, in Father's library.'

During those months while Wilbur was slowly gaining his strength, he used his hands in making light, delicate things. He became very skillful in using chisels and tools. He read books and magazine articles on the subject of flying.

As Orville came into his room one evening. Wilbur looked up from a magazine and spoke with a new note of eagerness. 'A man in Germany has made a glider that can carry him through the air.'

***

'Otto Lilienthal. He has been experimenting with gliders. He waits for a strong breeze, then he runs down a hill into the wind, and the glider actually carries him.' Wilbur was demonstrating with his arms. 

Orville reached over to take the magazine from his brother. 'Why don't we make one?'

Wilbur nodded. 'But we'd better do some studying first.'"

***

"With the wind blowing harder then ever, the plane kept climbing. Now it was ten feet off the ground and still in the air. Now it was flying right away from Wilbur.

The boy who had been watching jerked off his cap and waved and shouted, 'He's flying! He's flying!'

Orville did not hear. He was too busy trying to steer the plane and to think of what was happening...with 'the machine moving forward, the air flying backward, the propeller turning sidewise, and nothing standing still.'

In a few seconds the plane began to come down, but it did not crash. It settled gently on the sand.

'How long was I up?'

'Twelve seconds!'

There are living books for almost every subject, at every reading level, from beginning readers through adult. 

How do we incorporate those into our days?

One simple way is to have the books available, in your home, where children and young adults have them accessible.

Tina Farewell and I will be sharing how to build a home library with title your children will enjoy. Later in the morning Tina will be sharing how to teach grammar, vocabulary, mechanics and conversation from the contents of living books. I will be offering a workshop on using living books (real books) through the high school years. 

Workshop descriptions for ALL the workshops offered at Living Books Forum can be found here.

Come to Living Books Forum and you will gain lists of titles as well as practical helps to make learning engaging and memorable in your home.

What Have You Been Doing?

I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last post. What have you been doing, you ask?

Our summer started with a reunion in PA to celebrate my parent's 50th Anniversary. We came home, unpacked, and welcomed families into our home for annual evaluations. We love this time of year as we assess the progress of home educated children and encourage the mommas (mostly, though we did have one dad this year). Evals were a large part of our day, the other part, well Mike sent me off to write while he read aloud to the girls. I sat at the computer, writing and enjoying the giggles and laughs pouring from the living room.

Between June 16 and July 22 I polished the manuscript of my newest book, Celebrate High School: Finish With Excellence. The contents reflect the most commonly asked questions I've been asked, answered with the most helpful information we've discovered during our 6 years of high schooling. I added wisdom and practical helps I'd gathered and tweeked. Celebrate High School is packed with planning tips, record-keeping details, graduation and scholarship requirements, high school literature lists, sample course titles, NCAA guidelines, easy-to-follow instructions for writing transcripts, course descriptions and other valuable supporting documents, and Internet links for many high school-related topics. Sample letters and documents accompany explanations. The feedback I've received so far has been very positive. I am thrilled Celebrate High School has been helpful to many in just the first week of publication.

As I polished Celebrate High School, I prepared for a local high schooling event, Finish Well. Finish Well was a half-day conference Meredith Curtis, Virginia Knowles and I organized for families who were walking, or intended to walk, the high school journey. Held July 25, it was an event we hope to repeat in the Spring.

This week Mike is serving in the DR and Josh is spending week two in Mexico building water purifiers for the people of the Brickyard. When Mike returns, we will continue with two more weeks of evals before Mike heads back to school.

And so, you read what has kept me from blogging. It has been a productive summer.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Every wonder if a Saint Patrick ever existed? Or, if he did, what made him so famous? We asked the same questions and today we found our answers while reading Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert. Saint Patrick was one of the most famous and beloved saints, born during the fourth century in southwest Britian. His mission was to take Christianity to the Irish people. One of his greatest tools of evangelism was the three-leafed clover, the shammrock, with which he explained the Trinity. Now the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick is the reason we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.

Author Ann Tompert uses information from Saint Patrick's letter "Confession" to answer the many questions children (and their parents) have about the saint. The picture book was selected by Booklist as one of the top ten religious books for children in 1998. Ms. Tompert has written a bookshelf full of children's books including two other titles we have enjoyed.

Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert

Saint Valentine by Ann Tompert

Today as we read Saint Patrick and Saint Nicholas, we compared the saints, their missions, the locations of their homelands and their journeys. We used a globe to track the saint's travels. We discussed the similarities and differences between the saints and subtracted their birthdates to find out how far apart they were born. If we had clover in our yard, we would have wandered outside to pick some. We settled for cutting out a few we had traced on green construction paper. The shammrock shape is symmetrical, in case you wondered. I also went online to find out more about the author's personal story, as many times the life of the author brings depth to his/her writing. By the end of our reading, we had been emersed in the stories of two saints that impacted world history and answered questions about why we celebrate a current event, Saint Patrick's Day.

http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/01jan/1-11tompert.html

http://www.boydsmillspress.com/contributors/contributors/tompert_ann.html

Where's Cheryl?

Remember the seek and find books Where's Waldo? Well many of my readers have asked "Where's Cheryl?" In an attempt to answer that question, here are a few paragraphs from my current life chapter.

I have been busy writing two articles (set to print this fall) and several shorts (shorter articles and sidebars) as well as a homechooling high school handbook (larger than a handout and shorter than a book). With a recent increase of people seeking my consultation in regards to homeschooling high school, a handbook will help me assist them and give them something to carry away from our time together. Writing invigorates me! Sharing stories is a passion! Mix the two and you have the two most recent paragraphs in my story.

Those of you who are in Central Florida may be interested in an upcoming event I am thrilled to be a part of. Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at Lake Mary Public Library from 6:00-7:15 p.m. I will be sitting on a panel of moms who have homeschooled young adults through high school. Both ladies, Meredith Curtis (http://joyfulandsuccessfulhomeschooling.com/) and Virginia Knowles (http://www.virginiaknowles.com/) are dear friends of mine and honestly, they have been my teachers! I feel blessed to even share a platform with them. The evening will be a question/answer panel format and is open to those who are homeschooling high school students as well as those who might be considering homeschooling high school in the future. It is being offered free of charge. Come join us!

So, these writing adventures have kept me from my blog. I promise to share some of favorite stories here soon!