But you don’t need to just read the books and plink out the tunes on your own. You can also purchase a thumb drive that contains all the music referred to in each book. And if that wasn’t enough, you can purchase a Student Activity Book, a Coloring book, and another thumb drive with files to create a lapbook.

The question is, how much is too much? Well, how much time do you want to spend studying music? I have been teaching through the Student Activity Book One. It contains about 4 lessons for each reader. The lessons repeat their content for each reader, so you know what to expect. Each set of lessons starts with comprehension questions, a lesson that points out good character traits shown by the composer, and some activities like mapping the composer’s travels, or recipes to make food from their time and culture. It spends time talking about music theory and music styles because there is a difference between classical and baroque music. It introduces the instruments of the orchestra as well as how different kinds of orchestras are arranged.

The Student Activity book is quite an in-depth study of music, not just composers. It’s not exactly a living text, but it is hands-on, and it often refers to the files on the thumb drive for the Lapbook activities. There are two Activity books, Book 1 covers Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Mozart, Paganini, and Handel. You can purchase the complete study here. Book 2 covers Chopin, Schumann, Wagner, Foster, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and MacDowell.

Quick Facts:

• Living books about composers for any age.
• Add the music thumb drive to play the music referred to in the books.
• Make it a full-year study of composers, music styles, and orchestra by adding in the Student Activity and Lapbook.
• Book 1 is for Grades 2-4.
• Book 2 is for Grades 5-7.
• The Activity books are flexible in that you can choose to skip a certain aspect of study and not miss out on the rest of the course. (i.e. the character study is a bit long and boring and irrelevant).

by Hester VanBraeden

Hester is a second-generation home-educating parent who is keenly aware that her own education is not complete, and comfortable that it probably never will be. She has many years of experience with children, books, and curriculum. She loves to travel to worlds and times beyond the present with her children through many books. Hester and her husband have four children and live in the lower mainland of BC.

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The Mitchells Series

The Penderwicks Series

The Fairchild Family Series

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Advent has a long and interesting history with various traditions popping up throughout.  Advent means “coming” in Latin.  Today Christians use the season of advent to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world and it is also symbolic as the church waits for Christs’ return.

It is common to light a candle and read from the scriptures on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day.  There are numerous ways that a family can use this season to teach their children about Christ’s birth and his return. I encourage you to develop traditions that mark this time.  The traditions can be used to draw you away from the overwhelming pace that is so typical of this season.  They will remind you and your family about the joyous anticipation that awaits believers.

This package will take you through 24 days of Advent with a wonderful 25th book to open on Christmas Day. Each book has been carefully selected to help kids think about waiting and preparing. It includes classic tales of the season, from the real story of Saint Nicholas, The Nutcracker, and of course the tale of a Grinch who stole Christmas. It ends with a beautiful book that tells the story of Christmas using art masterpieces and texts directly from Scripture. This package will have a little something for everyone to revisit every year.

Package includes:

The Littlest Watchman
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
The Little Fir Tree
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
White Snow, Bright Snow
The Little Drummer Boy
The Christmas Story
Christmas around the World
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
The Mitten
Christmas Day in the Morning
The Little Match Girl
The Nutcracker (W/CD)
Christmas in the Big Woods
Papa Panov’s Special Christmas
Katie’s London Christmas
The Polar Express
An Orange for Frankie
The Miracle of St. Nicholas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Snow
Good King Wenceslas
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
A Promise Kept

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Keep-er
/ˈkēpər/
1. a book that has worn edges, dog-eared corners, and pencil markings because it has been poured over many times
similar meanings: treasure trove, gold mine, cache

The books listed here are all keepers.  Many of them should probably just remain in your “to periodically review” pile as there really is too much to be mined during the first read-through.

Mere Christianity is a Christian classic and Pride and Prejudice is a literary classic.  Don’t miss out on either of these.  For the Children’s Sake is an educational classic and is a title commonly seen on recommended reading lists for homeschooling mamas along with The Well-Educated Mind.

Other titles that are sure to inspire you on your mothering and homeschooling journey are Mere Motherhood and The Life-Giving Home (on my personal wishlist). Pick up a copy of 30 Poems to Memorize or On Reading Well and you’ll be encouraged to fill your mind with beautiful things.  In Age of Martha, you’ll be challenged to rest, allowing time for contemplation.  Finally, amongst all the moving parts of a homeschooling family, you’ll never regret the time you spend reading aloud to your children.  The Read-Aloud Family will help you get started or revive you whether you have toddlers or teenagers.

by Adrianne Curwen

Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 23. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children.  She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there.  Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Communication Specialist for Classical Education Books and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new.  She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important missions field walk with Him.

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There is something here for all dads. A few of these books will take you back to glean the timeless wisdom from writers who lived before you. Beowulf the Warrior is the retelling, in modern language, of a fictional classic, it would be a great one to start as a read aloud. The Emperor’s Handbook is a translation of Marcus Aurelius’ meditations. Major themes include character, leadership, and duty. You could explore the meaning of life in the 17th-century classic, Paradise Lost, or sink your teeth into G.K. Chesterton’s, Orthodoxy.

Are you looking for something more specific to homeschooling? Try The Liberal Arts Tradition or The Well-Educated Mind.

The Name of the Rose is part historical fiction, part mystery, and part theology; a fictional piece that challenges.

If you are looking for something to fulfill the pragmatic side then try State of the Arts, Total Truth, or Good Man.

Undecided? The links will take you to a full description of each title.

by Adrianne Curwen

Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 23. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children.  She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there.  Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Communication Specialist for Classical Education Books and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new.  She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important missions field walk with Him.

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