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In our continuing pursuit of the joy of the written word, we have embarked upon creating our own homeschool library. The actual collection of books was started in my father’s childhood, continued in my own and has been vastly added to through the childhoods of our own eight children. Prior to building the actual bookshelves we found that we had piles of books in every room, every corner, and on every surface. We all knew where our favorites were so location was not a problem. Literally every corner of our lives was happily consumed by books. Ultimately it was time for a bookcase. Well, actually a library. So with this in mind we have been building a “school house” and “library.” It has taken us over a year but we have finally done it!
Athena immediately dedicated herself to the Herculean task of unpacking the books (our close friends that we had not seen for a year!) and organizing them by subject and alphabetically by author. This monumental activity took her 12 hours a day for more than a week. She chose categories: fiction, biography, travel, history, science, foreign language, religion, philosophy, poetry, reference, etc. Within the categories she alphabetized each book by author.
I was very nervous with all this organization. I am used to playing a mental game of Clue with my books, “I last saw this volume in the kitchen, under the table, with the candlestick.” I honestly wasn’t sure if I could find the book I wanted by searching for it on the shelf. Athena ignored my concerns and powered on.
Athena the Library Queen
Everyone in our family has worked hard to make our school house dream a reality and with everyone’s help we now have a fully functioning library and schoolroom with 1000’s of the greatest books a child could dream of; we have beautifully illustrated classics, enticing modern dramas, wonderful history and science books filled with paintings and maps and internet links.
Now for a great home education: all we have to do is sit back, choose a great book and read, read, read.
| “It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations–something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.” |
| – Katherine Patterson |
Quantum and Jack London share a moment together
Let Me Count the Days: Homeschooling is learning to read and reading to learn.
Filed under: Humanities, Uncategorized | Tagged: books, homeschool, homeschooling, library, literature, reading, research | 375 Comments »
Homeschool Happymess: A Naturally Inspiring Approach to Education 
