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August 2020 Reading Recap

Raise your hand if you hide from your family so you can finish a book!

(I don’t actually “hide” - but sometimes folding the laundry or cleaning up in a specific room might take me a bit longer than usual.)

I feel strongly about homeschool parents reading - reading widely and well. It’s fun to keep track of the books I’ve read and now start to look at patterns - which genres I choose and why - and how those patterns coincide with current events and the events going on in my own life.

Reading also helps me become well-educated - it assists me in my quest to figure out what I think is important for my children to know.

 Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.— Nora Ephron

I read for all of the same reasons as Nora Ephron - “Reading is bliss!".

August Reading Recap at Homegrown Learners

I accomplished a lot of reading in August thanks to audiobooks. This has been a huge change for me in the past year, and when people tell me they just can’t pay attention long enough for an audiobook I tell them I had to TRAIN myself to listen.

Whether it is my son reading aloud to me (and I’m modeling listening) or I’m listening to an audiobook, listening is a SKILL that you are never too old to cultivate. I believe this skill of listening is translating to more than just books, too.

Books Read in August

August’s books were a mix of historical fiction (my favorite genre), homeschool development, memoir, and fiction. Intentionally I also pulled in a cozy mystery and fantasy, too.

Historical Fiction

I would recommend every book in this category! Each taught me something about a particular time period in history and added to my body of knowledge.

When We Were Young & Brave was probably my favorite - it is a story I knew NOTHING about - the internment teachers and children in a British run missionary school in Japan during WWII.

Homeschool Development

Memoir

  • The Beauty in Breaking

    I never go wrong with a Book of the Month Club selection. I love my membership in BOTM because I’m always guaranteed a good read that many other readers will be discussing, too. This memoir, by an African American doctor working in Emergency Room medicine, opened my eyes to a problem in our health care system that desperately needs to be fixed. It also addressed issues of racism and inequality in our healthcare system.

    (If you use my BOTM Club link you can get a discount on your first order.)

Fiction

Genres I Wouldn’t Normally Read

Both of these books were a pleasant surprise for me.

The first is a fantasy and the second is a cozy mystery.

I found 7 of the Maisie Dobbs books at a thrift store for $.50 each and I will definitely be reading all of them! (Apparently, this was quite the find because a lot of avid readers have been telling me how jealous they are.)

The House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favorite audios of all time - it was just so whimsical and magical! Normally I don’t enjoy reading those types of books on my own, but I’m thinking maybe I’m wrong about that!

“Bookish” Necessities

A lot of followers on my bookish Instagram account requested I share about some of my book accessories.

Sigh. Yes, I have “bookish” accessories and my family thinks I’ve gone round the bend.

  • My favorite book light - this light keeps my marriage intact because it allows me to read late into the night while I’m in bed without disturbing my husband. I love it.

  • The iBeani - this is a great little beanbag for my iPad or Kindle - I can prop either device in it while I’m reading in bed or sitting on the sofa. There is also a pocket for your phone. I can see this being a GREAT gift for a college student! (see the carousel below for a picture of mine - I got the cute forest animals print that you see in the picture and it’s ADORABLE!)

Do you have a favorite book right now?

Tell me about it in the comments below!

August 2020 Reading Recap at Homegrown Learners

Five Good Things: Family Favorites

It’s been quite the whirlwind start to the school year!

Our pace has picked up a lot - in comparison to the extremely relaxed days of quarantine.

As I’m interacting with people in our private FB group, talking to homeschool moms I know in person, and answering emails, I’m discovering there are many of you NEW to homeschooling this year. While I know it might not be what you had planned, it is my prayer that you will see the joys and benefits of homeschooling even on the hardest days.

It’s a joy and an honor to serve you in this homeschool community!

Today’s installment of Five Good Things contains five things that we’ve been loving as a homeschooling family. (I think you’ll find at least one in here you’re bound to love and use, too!)

Five Good Things: Family #Homeschool Favorites

Five Good Things: Current Family Favorites

  • Classical Stuff You Should Know

    This podcast is WONDERFUL!

    We’ve been enjoying some of the episodes about Medieval Literature as a family, but I know a lot of parents who listen to this podcast on their own - just for fun. If you’d like to become more familiar with all things “Classical” in a humorous way, this is for you!

  • iBeanie

    Raise your hand if you love to read! (ME)

    I love to read on the iPad at night so I don’t have to keep my husband awake. My hand would always get tired holding the iPad (first world problems, huh?), and this iBeanie is so helpful. Plus, it’s super cute!

  • Art For Kids Hub

    This has been a favorite in my house for YEARS. I just recommended it to a mom today. My son was just using it last week. (You get the picture.)

    These drawing tutorials are humorous, educational, and just FUN. My son always enjoyed doing them on a big whiteboard with lots of dry erase markers - and saved a very few to complete on paper and save.

    There’s just so much to choose from here - and it’s great that the tutorials are done WITH children and at all ability levels. Everyone can gain confidence this way.

  • Super Simple Planner

    This planner is the best one I’ve found (and put into practice) with my homeschooler. As a high schooler, he needs to keep track of his assignments for the week.

    This planner is just SIMPLE. No frills (great for a boy) and plenty of room to write. My son is using it faithfully, so that’s a WIN!

    (I purchased this one at Staples, but this one on Amazon looks to be almost the same.)

  • Shut the Box

    You might get tired of hearing me talk about this game. I wrote an entire blog post about it.

    (It originally started off as a pub game in England, so it has an interesting history to it.)

    All ages enjoy this simple game, and it’s one that kids can play by themselves, too. It’s great for math facts and you can then make up all kinds of games, too.

Are you inspired to use one thing from these five? What is it?

Let me know in the comments below!

Five Good Things - Family #Homeschool Favorites