2012 Reading

I went on a book-buying binge (okay, it was assisted in large part by some generous Christmas gift cards) and now have some great reads on their way to me in the mail. I'm not sure where I'll begin, but I'm going to take this late winter and spring to do some reading (and, hooray!, annotating--because I will *own* these books at last!).

Homeschooling for Excellence, The Colfaxes (I read a borrowed copy several years ago)

Family Matters, David Guterson (ditto)

For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer MacCauley (I've read much of this, but not all)

When Children Love to Learn (apparently a practical, detailed book on implementing the Charlotte Mason style of education)

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics, by Liping Ma (a little inspiration)

Marva Collins' Way (more inspiration!)

I Saw the Angel in the Marble (ditto)

I also want to read a bit more in Educating the Wholehearted Child (Clay and Sally Clarkson) and, of course, my perennial favorite, The Well-Trained Mind--I found a first edition of this at the thrift store last year, so I'm working from that and ignoring the fact that it's not totally up-to-date. (The library has an up-to-date copy!)

I am also considering downloading free copies of Charlotte Mason's books onto my kindle, so that I can start reading those. I find her approach, particularly in the early years, to be logical and inspiring, and I'd like to delve more into her own ideas.

After I read through all of these books, I plan to spend some time in the summer looking through Ambleside Online, Simply Charlotte Mason and Charlotte Mason Help websites. (Who am I kidding? I've already studied these websites a lot! But I will study with more specificity this summer.)

Finally, I will craft our kindergarten plans. To be honest, I already really know what they will look like....generally.

*Extremely short lessons in math (probably Miquon, supplemented by a little math program I am creating myself), phonics (I'm creating my own program, relying heavily right now on The Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading), and writing (copywork--easy peasy).

*read-alouds (mostly picture books still, though I may begin a chapter book).

*nature study--which basically means walks outside and honing our powers of observation. Lots of discussing what we see. Drawing. I am going to make Outside Time a huge, huge priority in our kindergarten day--whether we are just outside taking walks, or mucking around in the garden, feeding the birds, going to the park, going for a jog, whatever.

*poetry, music, and art--just for fun, no pressure, no textbooks, nothing dry. Listening and looking.

*A once-a-week homeschool group, which is academically-oriented, but because I don't believe much in formality for 5 year olds, we are joining it so that we can have social connections and community--I think that's quite important. Viva la community!

The nuts and bolts are fairly obvious to me at this point. What I really want to do, through all my voracious reading and thinking, is to catch tight to my vision, learn from others, ignite my own passion and ideals and get the fresh air that comes from reading good books.

Happy reading!