A Jane Austen Education

“I was twenty-six, and about as dumb, in all human things, as any twenty-six-year-old has a right to be, when I met the woman who would change my life.” - William Deresiewicz When our book club was discerning a few books to read in 2016, my dear friend Diane suggested A Jane Austen Education. I …

The Jungle Book

23 years! That’s how long it’s been since I first read Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.  That was the first year we homeschooled, and I was casting about our home library for literature I could teach from without having to buy curriculum at the last minute.  My father-in-law had admired Kipling, and my husband had …

84 Charing Cross Road

Marks & Co. 84, charing Cross Rd. London, W. C. 2 England Gentlemen: Your ad in the Saturday Review of Literature says that you specialize in out-of-print books. The phrase "antiquarian booksellers" scares me somewhat, as I equate antique with expensive. I am a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books and all the …

Pattern Blocks

My children love pattern blocks. Absolutely love them. Years ago I bought our first set and quickly learned that these were going to become an essential toy in our love of learning home. if you're looking for something to promote logical thinking...They promote logical thinking, cultivate pattern recognition and they help to prepare the mind …

Orange Childcraft, 1: Poems of Early Childhood

“Good reading is as essential to the nourishment of a child's character as good food is necessary for the development of his body.” -  Angelo Patri, Childcraft 1949 The 1949 Orange Childcraft Volume 1: Poems of Early Childhood leads off with a brilliant introduction by Angelo Patri about the essential value quality reading has in …

Year of the Black Pony

“It took stiff-necked courage and grit to ranch in Oregon country in the early 1900’s.” The Year of the Black Pony is a story about family and fortitude more than it is a story about a horse. The horse, however, is a character worthy of being in the title. This hard but beautiful story is …

Once On A Time, A. A. Milne

Many years ago, I first heard the famous quote by CS Lewis that “a children’s story which is only enjoyed by children is a bad children’s story.” That observation has served as a good reminder to me that books I cannot enjoy are probably not good books for my children overall. Looking for audio books …

Spelling II: Standardized Spelling?

Part two of our Spelling Series:   “The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like.” - Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw The other day, my daughter (who is just now beginning to homeschool her …

War Horse

“I shall not call him my master, for only one man was ever my master.” Two books have made me cry in front of my class while reading aloud.  One was Little Britches, the other was War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.  It’s not that I only cry about horses.  It is the suffering of innocent …

The Potato Peel Pie Society Book Club

This group is a place that unabashedly pursues Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through literature. We are a bookclub that leans towards classics and we welcome people of many worldviews and philosophies, but we make no apologies about being a team of Christian moderators who appreciate the Classical Christian Revival that is growing. This book does …