The Number One Ingredient In Our Homeschool

Not a day passes that I do not read aloud to my children.  It is the one constant in our homeschool... in our lives, really.   A good book seems to be the spine of our days.  

Books are shared experiences we can all look back on and remember. They  can tame the worst of moods and transport us to another place and time.  

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Free Read-Aloud Resources ~ How We're Listening To Tom Sawyer

The Writing With Ease selection for GMan for the coming week is Tom Sawyer.    We choose many of our read alouds based on this writing curriculum (and also from The Story of the World).

With so much classic literature, we can download the book for free on Kindle.  

I thought with this, book, however, that I would search for a free audio download.  We tried the Librivox recording, but after about 5 minutes the kids told me they didn't like it so much, so I continued to search.

This free recording, from Open Book Audio, is fabulous!   The performance of the different voices is so authentic.  I'm finding that I need to stop every so often and explain some of the vernacular and vocabulary.  I had forgotten what gem of a book this is... how it forces us back to our own childhoods, and the beautiful way in which Mark Twain describes the life of Tom Sawyer. 

I supposed it might bore the children a little bit, but they have happily just laid on the family room floor listening.   The quality writing just draws them into the story. 

The entire book downloaded into my iTunes and we have been listening happily this week.  (It's kind of nice for me to be able to do some housework while the kids are doing art project, etc... and listening.)  

Do you use audio books for read-alouds?   

What is your favorite book on audio?

 

Just Like Percy Jackson - but BETTER!

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I'm blessed to have children that love to read.   Sometimes, however, this can be a challenge, because I need to make sure they are reading QUALITY literature.   

My almost 11 year old's latest read is Spirit Fighter, by Jerel Law.  It is the first in the Son of Angels series published by Thomas Nelson.   After she completed this book I asked her for her honest evaluation. Her exact words were:

  "It was just like Percy Jackson, but BETTER, because it was about being Christian."    

That's an A+ in my book.


Sometimes I feel as if we are at spiritual war each and every day of our lives, and it was wonderful to find books (in addition to the Bible!)  that equip my child to handle a war against her faith.  


From the publisher:

Jonah Stone has always thought of himself as average, but in seventh grade he learns a fascinating family secret, and his world turns upside down.  Jonah's mom is nephilim, the daughter of a human and a fallen angel, which makes Jonah one-quarter angel.  When his mom is kidnapped by fallen angels, it's up to Jonah and his sister Eliza to rescue her.  Guided by prayer and a guardian angel, Jonah and Eliza embark on an epic adventure through the streets of New York and come to understand that God plans in ways they never could have imagined.

The story is based on scripture in the book of Genesis.  

                                                      

To learn more about the book you can also watch the video trailer. 

We always look forward to our monthly package from Tommy Nelson with books for review.   This one was a KEEPER.  My daughter has already asked me to order the rest of them in the series (when they are released!).

What is your middle grades child reading these days?  Do you have any good recommendations for me?

If you'd like to have a copy of this book for your own child(ren), just leave me a comment telling me your child's favorite type of literature! 

 This giveaway will be open until Sunday, May 6 at midnight.