Read Aloud Thursday January 2014
Amy has been doing Read Aloud Thursday for a long time and I participated some a while ago, but it looks like she’s switched to monthly, which is more my speed for participation, so I’m going to try again!
It has been a slow Read-Aloud month for us. We’re reading during Circle Time and less regularly at lunch. We’ve been more consistent during dinnertime.
Circle Time
- We’ve continued with Parables from Nature. This is a difficult Ambleside read, but I’m glad we’re doing it. I bought the paper copy before owning a Kindle, so we read from that.
- We alternate weeks with Gyo Fujikawa’s Fairy Tales and Fables. I don’t always love his version of the tales, but the art is sweet and I love that.
- Every day of Circle Time we read a selection from Everyday Graces from Karen Santorum. We’re in the Table Manners section now.
- We’re also reading William Blake’s poetry from one of my favorite series: Poetry for Young People.
- Finally, we’re very much enjoying Peril and Peace, which is giving us a nice view into early church history. They don’t delve overly deeply, but enough to whet appetites. We’re reading about Augustine right now, waiting with bated breath for his conversion to Christianity. While somewhat disjointed as a storybook, it has been perfect for our use.
Lunchtime Read
We are all greatly enjoying When the Sirens Wailed by Noel Streatfield of Ballet Shoes fame. It came recommended as a good introduction as to why children were evacuated from London during World War II. Since we’re studying Narnia this year, understanding why the Penvensie children were sent to the Professor’s home is important. This story is doing so much more, introducing the culture and difficulties of the period in an approachable way. The hardest part is the accents and some strange to me syntax from poverty stricken, uneducated Londoners of the time. So far, recommended, in our reading the evacuation from Dunkirk just happened, though …
Dinnertime Read
After dinner we’re reading Created for Work. While aimed at boys, we’ve all found much to think about in Schultz’s treatment of the subject. We don’t always agree with some things he has to say, but it has given much fodder for discussion.
Thanks for sharing these! I purchased the Parables from Nature recently and wasn't sure about its difficulty (though we have some time before we even begin year 1, so really no need to worry yet…). Good to hear that it's worth it. We love Poetry for Young People, too. Our library unfortunately only has one in this series (Robert Frost), but I'm hoping we'll be able to acquire a few of them over the next few years.
I like "Parables from Nature" but they're very, very difficult to read and to listen to. Sometimes we listen to an audio version from Librivox (free download). A lot of people – even AO people – don't care for this book. I think it does a good job of seeing God's hand without being too moralizing.
I'm SO glad you've joined in! I love reading about your Ambleside selections.
I have a few of those Withrow books, but I haven't read the first one. I need to get them out and remedy that!
I didn't realize Streatfeild had written anything besides the Shoes books. I'll have to look into the one you mention.
I'd love to hear more about your Narnia studies!
Amy, I don't really do AO, I use it the way they really don't want you to … like a book list. LOL
The Withrow books aren't great literature, but they do a good job introducing us to "that great cloud of witnesses."
We're using this book list and mostly reading, talking, writing about the books this year. We'll do some food and that's about it 🙂 This month was some background – the kids have read some Asgard stories and The Snow Queen and we're going to read The Aunt and Amabel today. February begins LWW 🙂
Thanks so much for the link!
Amy, I'm also planning to use some Christian-specific resources like ROAR! and Journey into Narnia. I just remembered that the compiler isn't a Christian and doesn't list those resources. I'm excited about a book called The Magician's Twin in particular which talks about how Lewis relates to science – but that's for me.
I often read aloud at lunch,too. Many memories of reading at the table over the years. I have Parables of Nature but haven't read it….might need to take a peek.
A great selection of books. I attempted Parables of Nature years ago and finally gave up. I need to start reading Created for Work with my 11 year old son.
I'll have to look into "When Sirens Wail" because my Benjamin loves all things WWII!
Heather, me too! It's a very good story so far.