My Little Robins

Loving and Learning in the Nest

What’s Our Education End Goal?

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It was bedtime and as usual, I skittered from bedroom to bedroom like a Brambly Hedge mouse. I pulled my toddler onto my lap and started reading him a story, trying to focus as sounds from my other son's bedroom drifted our way. 

The sounds of Daddy working on letters with our five-year-old.  Later I saw a paper filled with scratchy capital letters. 

Now this is probably not a big deal to most of you, but I forgot to mention that he is a reluctant five-year-old, one that I was totally content with waiting to start reading instruction until he was six or seven. 

This little episode begged me to ask the question, of my husband and myself, what's the end goal in our children's education? 

Related: Charlotte Mason Reading Instruction 

The End Goal According to the World

 It's not hard to determine what the traditional end goal is: fill your child with as many facts as possible so that they can do well in school and go to a "good" university and get a well-paying job. There is evidence of this end-goal in the two-year-old who recites their ABC's while Mom and Dad smile on proudly. We see concerned parents of three-year-olds wondering which preschool will be the most academic and offer a firmer foundation in skills. 

As a child grows, he or she is evaluated on their test skills and reading abilities, labeled as "below level" or "above the benchmark" indicating the level of worry that we should commit to that area. Thousands of dollars are poured into tutors and online programs and educational toys. 

During the high school years, even after-school activities are focused on looking good on a college application (the eradication of SAT scores as a meaningful evaluation for student achievement will further pour on the pressure for these extra-curriculars). 

And finally, if all the money and worry and labeling pays off, the child will end up in a university, where, if they acquire the prescribed knowledge and skills,  they will leave with a piece of paper that says they've graduated. If their interview skills are sharp enough, that piece of paper will translate into smaller pieces of paper, money, earned in the form of a job. 

I know I've taken a bit of writer's license to fill in the gaps of this end goal, but you can see the bare-bones of this process is to get a good school foundation, do well in school, go to college, and get a good job. I followed that system, and though it didn't exactly fail me, it left me disinterested in learning and unable to question what I was told to believe. 

Related: A Curriculum from Home Education 

But What If We Choose Homeschooling?

To choose homeschooling automatically pulls us out of this cycle, if only because we do not have the competition aspect to propel children forward. We might catch a glance of what someone else is doing on Instagram and think we need to do more, but ultimately our child's success doesn't come from how he or she measures up to their peers. 

We may very much want our children to go to college, but don't have our sights set on that when our children are five. If our young child isn't reading yet, we take a deep breath and remind ourselves that there is plenty of time, that just like potty training, this isn't a quick process and it'll begin when our child is ready. 

We focus more on the every day process of learning, because it's joyful and exciting and right, and that is also the end goal: to learn. We want our children to learn for knowledge's sake, not for college's sake. 

Related: Children are Born Persons

Home Education Goals

Related: Why My Kids Are Out of Control: Charlotte Mason's 4th Principle

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Goals

 In Charlotte Mason's vision. we are guided by three tools of education: 

Atmosphere, discipline, and life. 

Competition does not fall within the umbrella of these tools. Neither does forcing facts into our child's mind. 

Instead, these tools teach us that we can create an atmosphere of learning, by valuing it, and placing our children in front of things worth knowing. 

We can create a discipline of learning by instilling habits in our children that will encourage them to keep learning and growing as human beings. 

A life of learning is developed by recognizing that knowledge is food for the mind, so we present it through living books and opportunities. 

While using these tools, we can't help but for our goals to be different. Instead of competition and college, we hope for 

1. Enjoyment of learning

2. The ability to continue learning

3. Knowledge of God, the universe, and people 

In School Education, Charlotte Mason gave us a much-repeated quote about education. The goal of education is to set our children's feet in a large room, giving them many joyful experiences that they can grow upon. 


“Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. ‘Thou hast set my feet in a large room,’ should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking- the strain would be too great- but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest." School Education, page 170 

In short, the process of learning should be enjoyable, and not solely focused on the outcome. 

In Our Home

Our children might go to college, and that isn't wrong. But the road to get there should be enjoyable, "all living." Pushing our children along before they are ready, or setting learning up as a competition, isn't going to produce a long-term love of learning. 


Morning Time with 1THRIVE Wall Organizers

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Somehow, organization was easier for me in the classroom than it is in our homeschool. Figuring out how to best use systems to help our days run smoothly has been a constant battle so far. When I found out about 1THRIVE wall organizers, I knew that this could help us plan our days and organize our materials for morning time. See how we're using 1THRIVE as a part of our homeschool morning routine!

This is a sponsored post. I was not required to write a positive review, and all ideas are my own. You can learn more through my policies. 

Choosing Our Wall Organizer

The first decision I had to make was where to place our 1THRIVE organizer, and then which one to get. My husband and I decided that putting a command center in our kitchen where we have our homeschool morning time every day would not only help me organize our morning time tasks, but get our whole day off to a good start. We measured and chose The Megan, because we loved the chalkboard look that it offered (other similar organizers have a dry erase board instead). This wasn't an easy choice, because each organizer has subtle differences. But ultimately we knew we needed one of the larger-sized wall organizers for our busy family!

Our command center arrived in a big box (that entertained my kids for days!) with the frame and components wrapped separately. Nate actually moved some floating shelves to make room for it, so we had an extra, more complicated step before setting up. Otherwise, it would have been so simple! 

One of the coolest features of 1THRIVE wall organizers is how easy they are to use. We only had to hang the frame, and add in the components, which are interchangeable using their simple hook system. Almost all pieces are magnetic,  and many of them can be written on with 1THRIVE markers. We moved around bulletin boards, chalkboards, and hooks a few times until we thought it would be the most useful setup for us. 

Related: Preschool Morning Basket 

My husband is so handy! 

The Megan, all set up and ready for life! 

Setting Up for Morning Time 

Once Nate had it ready to go, the hard part was deciding what to include on the board.

The chalkboard calendar of The Megan is a really good size- so I set to work adding the month and our important dates to it. 1THRIVE recommends using only their chalkboard markers, and The Megan comes with 2: silver and bright blue. Once I had all the dates up, I added the kids chores that we're trying to make a habit this month. 

I then went around and found cards and schedules that we use for morning time for French, the Homeschool Garden, and memory work. The two bulletin board surfaces were perfect for these. 

On the hooks on the bottom, I hung some necessities for morning time: coffee mugs!  Scissors, a set of cards on a ring, or car keys would work great here too, but since this is our kitchen, the mugs work out well for us! 

Related: How To Juggle Working From Home and Homeschooling

In the big brass pocket, I put my planner, other papers we need for morning time (copywork, poetry, etc.) and anything else that is related to this time of day. I really like having my planner here because I tend to lose it or just plain forget to look at it. Having it stick out of this pocket helps me to remember to grab it every day during morning time, and take it with me when we head off to do the rest of our lessons. 

Morning Time with 1THRIVE Wall Organizers

So far, we've been using our 1THRIVE Wall Organizer for about a month, and I've definitely felt an improvement in my organization! I no longer scramble for the things we need in our morning time, and because the calendar is something that I look at multiple times a day, I haven't had any surprise play dates or events sneak up on me. I'm prepared! 

Homeschoolers know how hard it is to find a pencil when we need it! The buckets have been really helpful for organizing our pens and pencils. Since it's up high, my toddler doesn't dig into them and no one wanders off with or dumps the bucket. Un-messed-around-with school supplies is a huge win! 

I made a commitment to myself that I would only include things that we need on a daily basis on the bulletin boards of our 1THRIVE organizer. This has been incredibly helpful because if I were to put reminders for future events or notes that I don't read daily on the board, I would eventually train myself not to look at it. By including daily things on the board rather than reminders of future events, etc., I'm staying in the habit of looking at it every day. Putting our morning time plans and French phrases on the board has been really helpful because I can find them easily and see them throughout the day. 

Visit 1THRIVE

Here are some ideas for what to include on your 1THRIVE board to help you organize your homeschool or morning time: 

Bulletin Board

  • Memory work
  • Works of art
  • Craft supplies
  •  Poems
  • Bible verses
  • Schedules
  • Important notices from homeschool co-op

Calendar

  • Dates of meet-ups
  • Extra curricula schedules
  • Project deadlines
  • Birthdays
  • Family events

Chalkboards

  • Monthly habits
  • Chores
  • Memory verses
  • Inspiring quotes
  • To-do lists
  • Reminders
  • Messages to other family members
  • Notes of encouragement

Hooks

  • Car keys
  • Note cards on rings
  • Scissors
  • More buckets

In the Buckets

  • Pencils
  • Pens
  • Markers
  • Dice for math games
  • Lots of scissors
  • Glue

I'm so happy that we have this morning wall organizer now! It's helping to start every day off right, and each guest we've had over has mentioned it because it's stunning! You can get 10% off of your own 1THRIVE wall organizer using the code homeschool10 .  

You can also join the giveaway below. One US resident will win The Sarah wall organizer! 


Books We Read in March

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This year, I'm trying to expand my reading horizons by reading more broadly, reading more challenging books, and reading more in general. I think those goals were met in March!  (You can also check out what we read in January and February!)

One of the neatest things about reading this month is that a lot of the ideas I read connected (I'll tell you more about that below!) I

I've used affiliate links to share these great books with you! You can read more about affiliate links in my policies.  

Personal Reads

The Weight of Glory-

This was my first-ever CS Lewis read. I had attempted a few others in the past, but decided that since I'm more comfortable with challenging books now, I'd give this one a go. The lovely former-principle at the Ambleside School that I taught at gave me this book, and I had always harbored some guilt for not reading it. So, reading this book was doubly meaningful for me. 

This is a series of speeches/essays that Lewis wrote around World War II. Many of the ideas were comforting to me right now in these strange times. I filled my copybook with quotes from these essays, and my favorite is probably this one:

"If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance." 

I'll probably re-read this in the not-too-distant future, because I didn't quite grasp ALL of it and have heard that a re-reading helps for that! 

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger-

I *accidentally* bought this book for my husband one Christmas, thinking he had searched for it on Amazon.

But no! It must have been a recommendation based on the other books that I bought at that time, probably because it has been popular in Charlotte Mason circles.

Two things I really enjoyed about this book:

1. The writing was really clever. Not necessarily jaw-droppingly beautiful, but very clever. The author foreshadowed in a unique and captivating way, using subtle word play that kept me guessing. For example, knowing that there were 5 deaths that summer that helped to move him from childhood to manhood made me want to know who else had died. Also, because of these little hints, it wasn't overtly predictable. I really had no idea who the murderer was.

2. So much about this seemed realistic and painted a picture of a simpler time. It didn't feel like one of those "realistic fiction" books that while technically not including unicorns or fairies, weren't a succession of events likely to happen in real life.

The Gospel message was also clear in this book, which to me seemed gutsy and amazing.

BUT

I didn't love some aspects of the author's writing style. He seems to be anti-commas, except for when used in quotations and appositives. This made many of the sentences seem like run-ons, or at least clunky, even though they were technically accurate.

Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry-

Last year, I listened to Hannah Coulter and it was slow and soothing and enjoyable. It reminded me of my husband's family, who left the farm that had tied many of their lives together. I expected to feel similarly about Nathan Coulter, the story of Hannah's husband. While the book about his wife covered many years, his own story was mostly about his adolescence. 

I'm sure other people will find it more artful, but I mostly thought it was sad, and sometimes disturbing. Nathan found himself without a mother, living with his disinterested dad and older brother by his early teenage years. Much of his upbringing comes from men in the community who are well-meaning but rough around the edges. It's a coming-of -age tale that lacks a deep storyline, although the writing is beautiful. 

I read this book after Ordinary Graces, and I saw so many similarities that it was stunning. They are both coming-of-age tales, and both of the boys have a little grudge that they hold. Also, I don't think I've ever read a book that included blowing up animals, so to read these two that featured it back to back was surprising (and disturbing!) 

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto-

This is one of those, "You have to read this if you're going to homeschool" kind of books that I put off reading for way too long. This book was mostly anecdotal, and I wish it had included more actual evidence of his claims, but it looks like his other book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, does a better job including those. 

John Taylor Gatto won awards for New York City teacher of the year and New York State teacher of the year in 1990 and 1991. Instead of giving the inspiring speeches that people would have expected, he used it as an opportunity to point out what is wrong with the school system. The reasons that stood out to me the most were that-

  1) We take children out of their community and put them in a false replication, a poor substitution, of being with people who love them and are able to teach through life's circumstances. 

  2) Children no longer have time to become their own person because all of their time is taken up with school, technology, and extracurriculars. 

 3) WHAT is being taught in school has changed and become less rigorous over the years. Children could learn reading, writing, and mathematics in around 100 hours each. 

My experiences as a public school teacher align well with Mr. Gatto's observations, so this book was so meaningful to me. If you haven't had similar experiences, it's going to take some blind faith to trust his claims. 

Brain Hacks by Lara Honos-Webb-

I need some serious help with my executive functioning skills, and this book taught me what areas I struggle with the most, and how to work on those areas. I really appreciated that! 

There are five main executive functioning skills, and the hardest for me are organization and emotional management. These chapters included some tips that you would probably think were too simplistic and not helpful at all if you don't struggle with them. For that reason, I didn't read the chapters on the skills that I don't struggle with as much, because it started to seem silly to read the things that I already know and implement. 

This was definitely worth the read, but I think viewing it as a reference rather than a cover-to-cover read was helpful. 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy-

This book was SO rich and SO intimidating! I chose to listen to the audio book (I linked to the Audible version above)  because reading it would have taken me months, and then I wouldn't have any blog posts to share with you 🙂 

This book stood out to me for several reasons- 

1) It was easier to read than I would have thought a 150- year-old book could be

2) It was written just a few decades before the Russian Communist Revolution, and the discussions on education choice, Religion, equality, etc. struck a little bit close to home. I learned so much about what led up to the revolution, and some of the philosophical statements sounded like they came from today's social media debates. At one point, Levin told another that he didn't want to be forced to send his children to a certain school, and wasn't sure that peasants should be forced to send their children there, either. As a homeschooler, this had my attention!

3) The development of characters was so much richer than in modern day books. I had a feeling that the book was so long because Tolstoy had a hard time letting the characters go. Maybe he just wanted so spend more time with them and couldn't put down that pen. 

Children's Books

D'Aulaire's Book of Trolls by Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire-

I picked up this book at the library for my five-year-old who just loves legends, folk tales, and fairy tales. He loved this book! It's one story about many different trolls, so some of it is a little tangentially related, but delightful nonetheless. 

Five Little Peppers Midway- 

I read this to my daughter in March, and while we both enjoyed it, it wasn't our favorite Five Little Peppers book. First, there is some racism that I skimmed over. The best part about reading old books out loud, rather than handing them to my daughter to read, is that I can edit out anything I want. I did that here.

These books are generally difficult to read aloud because of the language, but this one seemed a little more difficult than the first of the series because not much happened. There was a lot of discussion and insignificant events. 

One thing that did stand out to me is that the Pepper children's education. (I always pay attention to the education of the past!) I realized that their education is more similar to John Taylor Gatto's version in Dumbing us Down than our modern system is! 

The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis-

It was enchanting to read this book, which records the beginning of Narnia. We read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe first, and then circled back to this one. 

Digory and Polly find themselves transported to another world by a nefarious uncle. They visit several different worlds, one of them which reveals an evil queen who tags along with them for the rest of their journey. These books frighten my kids a bit, so we have to read them in the morning instead of at bedtime! 

We actually have this set of books- I liked that they had a colorful, vintage feel to them. 

The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver by Gene Baretta and Frank Morrison

We picked this book up from the library and thoroughly enjoyed the modern recount of George Washington Carver's childhood. He was a sickly child, and found refuge in nature. His time exploring and learning through nature eventually led him to make many great discoveries about the uses of peanuts (but he did not invent peanut butter, which was news to me!) 

The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLachlan and Hadley Hooper-

This book tells the story of Henri Matisse's childhood, in a very terse sort of way. The first section of the books is literally one long sentence and that kind of bothered me. It started with, "If you..." and it just kept going and going. 

But the pictures are lovely and despite it's briefness, really painted a picture of Matisse's childhood and how he became interested in the things that he paid attention to. 

Stuart Little by E.B White-

I think we'll file this one under, "I'm glad we read it, but I hope we don't have to read it again." We recently read Trumpet of the Swan, and last summer, H read Charlotte's Web. This book wasn't as strong as either of the others that we've read. 

First of all, it's a bit bizarre. A family has a second son and discovers that he's a mouse. Early in the book, it's all about Stuart's life and how he manages life with his family. As he gets older, he sets off from home in search of a friend that he loves. That is the point that the story became less interesting and more bizarre!

Tumtum and Nutmeg- The Great Escape

We have a treasury of the first three Tumtum and Nutmeg stories, and this is the second story in the volume. After we finish the third story in April, I think I will be able to tell you that The Great Escape was my least favorite of the three. But one thing that stood out to me is that Emily Bearn did not lose her ability to weave a tale interestingly in this second book, even if I didn't like the plot as much. 

E. however, is just LOVING these books. He requests it every night, and for a child who at one point was not interested at all in books, this is huge! 

Do you follow me on Instagram? I post quotes from what I'm reading often! 


The Art of Observation: Charlotte Mason Object Lessons

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We lament that children spend most of their time inside. We weep that their main form of occupation, and in some cases, interaction with others, comes from screens. We wonder what the world will look like when a whole generation has floated through their days, half-asleep, seemingly unaware of a sunset or insect. 

So what is to be done about it? 

We train children to see, to find joy and delight in the world around them. 

"We all need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in the this beautiful life." Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, pg. 43

Related: The Complete Charlotte Mason Preschool Guide

From the time our children are infants, we have the opportunity to help them look closely at what's before them: their rattle, the family pet, a butterfly... During our children's early years, these are some of the most important lessons we can implement. 

When I originally wrote this post several years ago, I focused on the educational aspects: understanding of textures, ability to differentiate colors and shapes, sensory input of touching different objects. Now, from a different spot in the parenting journey, I see that the benefits are not solely educational. The most considerable gain is that we will raise children who are engaged in the world around them and who can take joy in the delights of Creation. 

This training to see of the early years occurs through nature play and living life undistracted, but Charlotte Mason specifically described object lessons for young children. Object lessons, now interpreted mostly as tools for Sunday schools, are in this case opportunities to present our children with something interesting, allow them to explore it with their senses, and  discuss what they're experiencing. 

Related: Created to Be In Nature

Object Lessons With Young Children

The baby is a wonderful teacher in this matter of object-lessons. To be sure, his single pupil is his own small self; but his progress is amazing. At first he does not see any difference between a picture of a cow and the living animal; big and little, far and near, hard and soft, hot and cold, are all alike to him; he wishes to hold the moon in his pinafore, to sit on the pond, to poke his finger into the candle, not because he is a foolish little person, but because he is profoundly ignorant of the nature of the contents of this unintelligible world. But how he works! he bangs his spoon to try if it produces sound; he sucks it to try its flavor; he fumbles it all over and no doubt finds out whether it is hard or soft, hot or cold, rough or smooth; he gazes at it with the long gaze of infancy, so that he may learn the look of it; it is an old friend and an object of desire when he sees it again, for he has found out that there is much joy in a spoon.” Parents and Children, page 181

"...so much joy in a spoon."  So much joy in anything interesting, as long as we are willing to look! Anytime your child experiences an object like this, they are participating in object lessons.

Related: Your Secret Weapon for Forming Good Habits

Things Worth Observing

My object is to show that the chief function of the child- his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life- is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavor of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with nature and Natural objects.” Home Education, page 96

Most of these "things worth observing" with our children will be found outside. Yes, there are some interesting items inside, but imagine the exercise our sense get when we are shifting our focus from the pinecone in our hand to the sunset on the horizon, or we feel the wind on our skin while water laps around our ankles. These experiences are far more limited in doors, where the wall is our farthest sight and our skin remains untouched in the never-changing climate of our home. 

He has a thousand questions to ask, he wants to know about everything; he has, in fact, an inordinate appetite for knowledge. We soon cure all that; we occupy him with books instead of things; we evoke other desires in place of the desire to know; and we succeed in bringing up the unobservant man (and more unobservant woman) who discerns no difference between an elm, a poplar and a lime tree, and misses very much the joy of living.”

Parents and Children, pages 181-182

More to Explore With Object Lessons 

  • The lessons can either be purposeful or casual (180).
  • The child will use his senses to find out all he can about an object (page 181).
  • Lessons should occur daily (page 180).
  • Vocabulary should be introduced if your child asks, but don’t throw difficult words in their just for the sake of it (189).
  • Encourage the child to observe using all of their senses by modeling observation (page 192).
  • Discuss a quality or two of the object, but don’t do an “exhaustive” object lesson (page 183).

Books We Read in February

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This year I'm devoting more time to reading, and I set a Goodreads goal of reading 52 grown-up books. In February, I read 13 books, the majority of those being children's books that I read with my children. In this post, I didn't include EVERY picture book we read, just the books that stood out. The books we read for our year 2 homeschool  made the list, even if we didn't love it (I'm looking at you, Alice in Wonderland!) 

We tried to find books to celebrate Black History month in February, and included our favorites here. I've used affiliate links to share these books with you (in some cases, at least!) 

13 Books We Read in February: Personal Reads

Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson-

This book...sigh....this book was so beautiful and influential and life changing. A MOPS mentor let me borrow this book, and I had never heard of it before, so I didn't dive in head first, but it only took me a couple of pages to realize that this book was sent to me by divine appointment. I had been thinking about humility in several different capacities lately, one of them being a quote that circulated around my Facebook feed a year or so ago: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." 

Hannah Anderson uses plant metaphors to show how we were created to depend on God. and how we ultimately overlook this fact by trying to do everything ourselves. "You're not God" is how someone summed up the original idea for this book, and that thought alone has changed my perspective since reading this book. 

I gave it 5 stars. I wrote down so many lines in my commonplace book because there were so many rich ideas. It was full of literary references, and with the nature influence, it is a perfect read for any Christian Charlotte Mason mom. 

Whose Body by Dorothy Sayers-

I found myself rushing to finish this book not because I was so engrossed in the storyline, but because I was eager to get it over with. My podcast co-hostess recommended this book, and there were definitely enjoyable parts. I've heard that the books improve throughout the series, and I'm willing to give some of the others in the Lord Peter Wimsey series a try. 

The writing was beautiful in parts, but in others, it was graphic. One phrase compared someone's head to maggots coming out of gorgonzola cheese. 5 points for creativity, but negative points for being disgusting. 

Related: Books We Read in January 

I think my biggest problem with it was the way that some of the characters were introduced. All of the sudden, there were new people there and by the way they were being discussed, it seemed as though we had already met them. I flipped back a few pages several times to make sure that I hadn't missed the introduction, but there WAS no introduction. It was just a character, who in at least one occasion, was present for many paragraphs before a name was even given. I found this confusing because of the large number of characters in general. 

I gave this book 3 stars, and was happy to see that Goodreads didn't wholeheartedly disagree with me. 

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner-

I've been wanting to read this book since the beginning of the pandemic, because it is set in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. I can see why so many people like it: it's entertaining, but there are a couple of things that I can't get past: 

The first half of the book is so heavily focused on death as a theme, which makes sense as the Bright family moves to Philadelphia, a hot-spot of the flu pandemic, where they work at/run a funeral home. The mother felt like death followed her around, and I just found that strange. It was almost as if she had replaced God with death, as she pictured it talking to her and moving around her. 

But then magically, the theme of death is just gone! Yes, there's still the funeral home, but it really just lifts out of the whole novel, which seemed strange to me since it was hit over my head with a phonebook for the first half. 

I've also realized that when authors write each part from different perspectives, it is difficult to fully develop characters. I struggled at the beginning of this book because three of the characters telling the story were very young, and it seemed to lack depth. And because of the nature of switching perspectives, every time it gained momentum, the perspective switched and any tension was cut like a ribbon on Christmas present. 

And my final grievance: the title "As Bright As Heaven"  is completely unclear until the last sentence of the book, and that last sentence had absolutely nothing to do with any of the themes that were present. Sure, the family's name is Bright, but the last line came in a very tangentially related sub-plot that didn't even seem to fit at all in the book. 

I gave this book 3 stars for the reasons I mentioned, although there were some *bright* spots. 

Heather and Snow by George MacDonald- 

This is a book that I'm happy to have read. I found it at a thrift store and since my daughter and I are reading George MacDonald for her year 2 homeschool, I thought it would be fun to read something for myself. I am not sure if I would tell you it was a "must-read" but if you have a little time to spare and want to be inspired to love your neighbor better, go for it!

George MacDonald was an excellent writer, and while some things came off as overly moralized and saccharine-sweet, I think it was more a product of the time than sub-par execution. Other aspects, though, seemed far beyond the times.

Kirsty is a teenager in the Scottish highlands in the 1800's, and she is likable from the start. Not only does she have nearly flawless character, she is not the old-fashioned character who is waiting to be rescued by a man. In fact, she turns down the proposal of a Lord, someone who would elevate her social status, because of his poor character.

The first half unfolded very slowly. We learn about Kirsty's life and family, and her brother Steenie, who has exceptionally strong faith in God, probably because he has special needs. I was so impressed that this boy was not presented in a condescending way, another aspect of this book that seemed to be ahead of its time. Steenie was especially good at loving others, and I loved that about him.

The book picked up when the boy who proposed to her put another girl from the village in a precarious position. Kirsty chastised him and ended up physically beating him up. Not your average old-fashioned book! I loved this about Kirsty, even if physical violence is never okay.

A big storm comes and shakes everything up in Kirsty's home and village. From this point on, I was hooked. I won't give away the ending, but I was so happy with how it turned out.

I'm teetering between 3.5 or 4 stars here.

Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland-

I found this on a homeschool blog and thought I would read it to Miss H, but it really isn't for children. It was definitely inappropriate for her. But, that wasn't even what caused me to abandon my read-aloud plans (because I just skipped anything inappropriate!)  Basically, Copeland's writing style is too hard to follow in a read-aloud. She writes about an experience, what she learned about the experiences, connects it to an event in the future, and then skips back to the original timeframe. It was really difficult for H to follow, even though she is a really attentive listener. 

When I stopped trying to read it allowed and read it on my own instead, I enjoyed it a whole lot better. I did end up skimming some sections because her style, that I mentioned earlier, made for a lot of repetition. 

If I could give multiple scores for different aspects of the book, I'd give 5 stars to her amazing story, 2 stars for readability, and 3 for age-appropriateness. I struggled to read about how people called this small-framed adolescent "fat," and I certainly wouldn't want my child or future teenager to take in those ideas. I recently saw that there is a young reader's edition, and I'm wondering how much of that it filters out. 

Children's Books

Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Hunstville, Alabama by Hester Bass and E.B. Lewis-

I picked up some books from the library for Black History Month, and this might be our favorite. It discusses how the sit-ins, boycotts, etc., affected the Civil Rights movement in the 60's. I was really struck by the line that said even though this was in general a violent time, this movement refused to use violence. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful in this book, and it gave us so much to talk about. 


The Overground Railroad by Leesa Cline-Ransom and James E. Ransom-

This was another powerful book that we picked up from the library. It talked about the overground railroad, the train system that  transported black people who left their roles as sharecroppers in the south for better lives in the north. 


Harbor Bound by Catherine Bailey and Ellen Shi-  

My boys, who love all type of vehicles, picked this out at the library. The illustrations are gorgeous and had us talking a lot about them. The story is not really a story. It's a description of all of the people and vehicles that are making their way to the harbor. I had to read it twice to get the point! 

3 stars. 


The Village Blacksmith by G. Brian Karas-

 This book brought Henry Wordsworth Longfellow's poem "The Blacksmith" to life for my little boys. I am not sure they enjoyed it as much as I did, but I'm okay with that! 


The Adventures of Tumtum and Nutmeg- 

This was my second read-through of this book. I read it to H for her kindergarten year, and my now five-year-old has been begging to read chapter books now, too. My son probably enjoyed it even more, because big sister was a little frightened by it. Tumtum and Nutmeg also made my cozy read-alouds book list. 

Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones-

We enjoyed this book that is a part of our Simply Charlotte Mason study of the Old Testament and Africa. The book is about a slightly spoiled Egyptian boy, who, because of his land ownership, comes upon a great deal of money. He wants to buy something for himself, but ends up buying a light-skinned slave girl in order to save her from a cruel owner. The boy, Kaffe, and Sari have wonderful adventures in Egypt, and then find themselves in the middle of a tomb-robbing scandal. There was quite a bit of action in this book, and my kids didn't want me to put it down! 

I know the topic of slavery is very sensitive, but it was really eye-opening to see it from a different perspective. Note- I linked to the Simply Charlotte Mason version, but it is available for slightly less from The Good and the Beautiful.

The Golden Goblet-

The Golden Goblet was a selection for our Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum as well, but it was intended for older children. I decided to listen to the audiobook with my children to make the most out of our curriculum. This book was so similar to Boy of the Pyramids, but was written about 30 years after it, so I'm assuming the older book may have been an inspiration. H really enjoyed it, but had to ask questions every now and then. E, 5, didn't understand it much but enjoyed the snippets he tuned into. 

Alice in Wonderland-

In our latest Thinking Love Coffee Chat (a bonus for email subscribers!) Amy and I talked about this book, which I just didn't love! We read it faster than we usually read our other literature books, solely because I wanted to be done with it. I think H enjoyed it more than I did. In volume 1, Charlotte Mason called this book "a delicious feast of absurdities." I didn't find it so delicious, just absurd! 

I didn't include any audiobooks this month because I listened to 27 hours of Anna Karenina, which I feel should count as several audibooks! But I still have 14 hours to go! I'll have to include it next month! 

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