Homeschool Meme

Because I don’t already have enough to do, Brandi @ Afterthoughts tagged me on a Homeschool Meme! ;-p

I am honored. Really. And I did take her ‘Don’t fail me people!’ to heart. Because not only do I really enjoy Brandi’s posts and benefit from them, I am amazed at the sheer volume of consecutive blogging and quality thinking she is capable of and so I think it’s really, really fantastic that she tagged me! So here we go…

1. ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED

Of course, CM’s six volumes. Even though I haven’t read them all completely, I have read much of them and continue to be inspired by them again and again. While the language originally was a barrier, I feel like there is no alternative to reading her words directly. They inspire me. period. And she just says things in a way that I don’t think could ever be re-phrased quite as effectively. And I learned along the way that the barrier to reading her writings for me was more about historical context and frequent tangents that she’d run off on more than the language itself.

If I could pick a second book, it would be For the Children’s Sake. Susan Schaeffer, for me, had the spirit of CM’s ideas come through in her book.

2. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT

Sorry, can’t do ‘one’ here so let’s go for three – The Bible. My friend Kristine, who I can just talk to. And my Husband. He clears the muckety muck in my brain and grounds me with wisdom and perspective. I don’t know that I would ever have gotten this far in any area of my life without him.

3. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT

That Teach Me Japanese tape that has a Japanese woman singing ‘Oh Suzannah’. I love many of the songs on there, but I’m sorry, there is nothing more irritating and less Japanese than a Japanese version of Oh Suzannah.

4. ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR

Hmmm….. can it be a book? I’m just going to say Squanto by Feenie Ziner for now because it’s fresh on my mind and it’s too late to think any harder. I really enjoyed her descriptive writing – ‘he swallowed murder’ and felt she really did a good job portraying his character – his hopes, struggles, fears, discouragement, encounters with Englishmen, etc. It was a really enjoyable book to read with my daughter.

5. ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR

Kindle! Just got it 🙂 And more of Librivox because it’s just not going to happen otherwise with a YR2 and YR4 combo. Oops, that’s 2.

6. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY

The Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for School Subjects, but it’s $60!! :/

7. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED

An older, wiser, more knowledgeable, sweet, kind and loving woman who knew all about CM homeschooling, parenting, being a wife, and homemaking who felt it her ministry in life to disciple me.

8. ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOG YOU ENJOY READING

I don’t have one! I don’t read catalogs, I know I’m using AO so I toss everything that comes in the mail in the trash. It just clutters my counters.

9. ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY

I use AO all the time for our curriculum. I use the NING for our nature group. And this blog. And Google Reader to catch up on other people’s blogs. I plan on checking out the AO Facebook page which seems to be gaining momentum.

10. TAG FIVE FOUR OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS

I tag Greta, Kristin, Johnna and Alaina. And if you don’t get around to it, don’t sweat it!