Carnival of Homeschooling - 200th Edition - Party On!
Yes, this is the 200th edition of the COH!
(Today, October 27th, also happens to be my birthday!)
Thanks for responding to the COH invites.
Come on in and settle down... we have some great reading in store for you!
Read more...
No Bones About it! The Sum of Our Parts Series Book One
In this educational picture book, kids will have fun while they learn about their skeletal system. Written in rhyming verse with additional "factoids", readers will be given a good introduction to the bones in their body. This is a great way to get across need to know information. I bet as you read along you will easily grasp the material. Illustrations abound, and include examples of the bones being taught. Here's an excerpt: "And, now, count your ribs-a ticklish lot. Read more...
A Dog of Flanders
A few years ago, on a video that we watched there was an advertisement for an animated version of A Dog of Flanders that looked good. I went back to the video store and found a copy of A Dog of Flanders, but when we got it home it was a live action version. We watched it anyway and enjoyed it. De la Ramee, an English woman of French extraction, wrote many romance novels that were popular in her day and several captivating stories for youngsters. Read more...
How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture
This book had long been recommended to me, so when Mark (now graduated from high school) studied world history in tenth grade, we combined it with a study of Western culture and philosophy using Schaeffer’s material. I just recently got around to reading it myself, and it is one of the most enlightening books that I have ever studied. Read more...
Here Lies Arthur
This fresh retelling of Arthur is narrated by Gwynna, a girl who's taken under Myrddin (Merlin) the Bard's care after her village is burned down. The author spins a whole new take on the legendary Arthur. For starters, Myrddin is no more a wizard then you or I. He is a conjurer of tricks and slight of hand, with an uncanny ability to weave embellished stories. The magic is easily explained to be nothing more than illusions and telling people what they want to believe is true. Read more...
Alida’s Song
Set in the early to mid 1950s, this book tells the story of a summer in the life of a fourteen-year-old boy whose parents were always fighting and often drunk. He nearly flunked the eighth grade like every grade before it and is in danger of being drawn into the gang life of the city where he lives. But he receives a letter from his grandmother Alida, who is working for the bachelor Nelson brothers on their farm in northern Minnesota and invites the boy to spend the summer there. Read more...
Castle in the Mist: Planet of the Dogs, Volume 2
Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war? The dogs from The Planet of the Dogs are back! Now that a year of peace has existed between the people of Stone City and the people of Green Valley, a new threat has arisen. Prince Ukko of the Black Hawk tribes does not like the fact that King Bik of Stone City has given up warfare, so he has Bik’s children, Nik and Nikki, kidnapped and brought to his Black Hawk Castle in the mist on Lake Ladok. Read more...
Humberto, the Bookworm Hamster
Humberto is a hamster that loves to read. Except for when he's riding his hamster wheel, he has his nose in a book. He even listens to audio books when he's sleeping. Nothing wrong with a well-read hamster, that is until it gets in the way of forging friendships. Humberto doesn't realize how precious friends are until a storm hits and places his would be friends in jeopardy. Read more...
The Double Cousins and the Mystery of the Missing Watch
If you had a long lost relative, what do you think would be the best way to go about trying to find him? Ten-year-old double cousins Max Rawson and Carly Johnson, along with Max’s younger brother Chad and Carly’s older sister Dorie and younger sister Molly, all arrive for their annual summer visit to their grandparents’ ranch. Read more...
Brisingr
Well, we read Eragon and Eldest. So I guess that we had to read Brisingr to learn about the further adventures of Eragon and Saphira. Brisingr was to have been the third book of the Inheritance Trilogy, but Paolini said, “Because of its complexity, Brisingr ended up much larger than I anticipated—so much larger, in fact, that I had to expand the series from three books to four. Thus, the Inheritance Trilogy became the Inheritance Cycle.” This is a disappointment. Read more...
National Velvet
Next to dogs, horses are about the most popular animals for young people’s stories. Marguerite Henry has written many good horse books, and Walter Farley has a whole set of “Black Stallion” books. Read more...
Journey to Nowhere
We moved to a new home this year. Compared to what moving was like 2 centuries ago, ours was painless. We had tons of help from friends and had professional movers take care of the big stuff. Plus it helped that we didn't need use an oxen and a covered wagon to take us to our new homestead! Imagine life in the early 18th century – it was no easy task to move. Read more...
Eldest
In this long awaited sequel to Eragon, young Eragon Shadeslayer, having lost his mentor Brom but rescued the lovely elven princess Arya, watches helplessly as his friend Murtagh is carred off by Urgals and then leaves his new found allies of the Varden to go to Ellesmera so that he might study with master Oromis and develop his abilities in using Gramarye (magic) with the hope that he can help defeat the evil emperor Galbatorix. Even noting some problems with it, I liked Eragon. Read more...
Doomwyte: A Redwall Tale
Set your paws on the track of a great adventure my friend. Who stole the great-jeweled eyes of Doomwyte long ago? What is Korvus Skurr and Sicariss the snake planning next? What mysteries and adventure await you in Redwall Abbey? Get ready for the latest installment in the Redwall series! The story starts out when a magpie caught in a storm is trying to seek shelter. Read more...
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Justin Morgan’s main claim to fame in history has been as the owner of an unusual runt work horse raised in Vermont and originally known as “Little Bub” which became the sire of a famous American breed of horse named after its first owner, the Morgan horse. However, Justin Morgan was not a horse breeder. He was an early American school teacher, singing master, and composer. Read more...
Dead Fred, Flying Lunch Boxes, and the Good Luck Circle
Ppeekk (pronounced “Peekie”) Rose Berry is a thirteen-year-old eighth grade girl who has just moved with her dad, a vacuum cleaner salesman, and mom, who is a pastry caterer, from Indiana to Delray Beach, FL. Because she played peek-a-boo with her parents when she was young, they nicknamed her Peeker, and when she got older she changed the spelling to make it unique. Read more...