Homeschooling Thursday!

Boy, I'll tell you - it's been quite a week with Blogger... I'm trying to catch up from all of the hiccups that prevented posting.

So this week for homeschooling, I've decided to offer a list of living books especially for boys. It's not that girls can't read them , or wouldn't equally enjoy them. These are books with male main chracters and more male-oriented themes. It's often helpful for children to identify very closely with a story's characters, at least that has sometimes been the case with my own children. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a lovely sampling!

If you would like any of these books for your own library, please email the titles to our bookclub with "Living Books for Boys" in the subject and we'll get you a pricelist. We don't charge for shipping!

In case you are not familiar with the term living books, I'll do my very best to explain as briefly as I can. Of course, if you are a Charlotte Mason devotee, you'll know just what we're on about. Living books provide an enjoyable way to learn 'subjects'. They have an object lesson or contain rich material for learning, such as science or history. Historical fiction is a great example of living literature. Books like "Summer of the Monkeys" and "Where the Red Fern Grows" contain science information - real science, but in an easily digestible format. The aim of living books is to get the information into the child's head while nourishing their natural love of learning and stimulating further exploration of a topic.

The following list is a compilation of recommendations from several homeschooling moms (and kids!):

My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George
Frightful’s Mountain - Jean Craighead George
The Far Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George
Johnny Tremain (Julianne W also recommended this book!) - Esther Forbes
Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
Shakespeare Stealer - Gary Blackwood
The Kitchen Knight - Margaret Hodges
Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn - Tom Sawyer
Little Men - Louisa May Alcott
Jo's Boys - Louisa May Alcott
My Brother Sam is Dead - James Lincoln Collier
Surprised by Joy - CS Lewis
Beowulf
Crispin - Avi
Something Upstairs - Avi

Anything by James Herriot


From Julianne W:

He Went with Marco Polo by Kent
He Went with Vasco de Gama by Kent
The Eagle of the Ninth by Sutcliff
The Silver Branch by Sutcliff
Guns for General Washington Seymour Reit
Fingal's Quest by Pollard

From Tina in OH:

Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Two Little Savages Ernest Thompson Seton

From Bridget G at Our Magnum Opus

Farmer Boy Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Freddy the Pig Series Walter and Freddy Brooks
The Tom Playfair Series Fr. Francis Finn
Bush Boys series by James Tierney
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
With Lee in Virginia G. A. Henty
In Freedom's Cause G. A. Henty

From Kym B:

Cleared for Action - Stephen Meader
Rolf and the Viking Bow - Allen French
The Lost Baron - Allen French
The Red Keep - Allen French
Redwall Series - Brian Jaques
Secret Agents Four - Donald Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown - Donald Sobol
Midshipman Quinn Collection - Showell Styles
Flying Ensign - Showell Styles
Endurance - Alfred Lansing
Lost on a Mountain in Maine - Joseph Egan
Gentle Ben - Walt Morey
The Bronze Bow -- Elizabeth George Speare
A Triumph for Flavius -- Caroline Dale Snedeker
Theras and his Town - Caroline Dale Snedeker
Hittite Warrior - Joanne Williamson
Beorn the Proud -- Madeleine Polland
Viking Adventure - Robert Clyde Bulla
Cat of Bubastes -- GA Henty (audio version by Jim Weiss)
Wulf the Saxon - GA Henty ( audio version by Jim Weiss)
The Young Carthaginian - GA Henty (audio version by Jim Weiss)
Little Britches Series -- Ralph Moody

Enjoy! Next Thursday - a booklist for girls!

Blessings,

Nissa