Using My Dad's Favorite Childhood Books in Our American History Lessons

My parents, like most parents I'm sure, were hesitant and worried when we announced we were pulling their only grandchild out of public school to homeschool.  But after seeing the positive changes in B's stress level and personality, hearing him share what he learns and even teaching him some lessons themselves, they are our biggest supporters.  Every June, my dad asks for my school supply wish list and provides us with what we need.

This past June, I told my parents we were going to take a break from world History and start on American History.  To my surprise, when dad dropped off our requested school supplies there was also a box with the above pictured books in it.  Twenty-six books (there are only 25 in the picture because we are currently reading about The Swamp Fox, Francis Marion) from the Childhoods of Famous Americans Series.  My dad's books were published in the 1940s.

These books were and still are very precious to my dad.  He loved reading them when he was a child.  My Nana had even written in some of them the dates on which the books were given - birthdays and Christmases starting in 1956.  He lectured both me and B about being careful with them, not drawing in them nor bending the pages.  I'm so grateful he has shared these with us!

The ones we have range in time from James Oglethorpe through John F. Kennedy.  They narrate the childhoods of these men for most of the book and then at the end explain what they accomplished as adults.

The illustrations inside are simple, yet beautiful.  Look at the book, on the right, closed.  The pages are all different widths and uneven, a testament to their age.  :o)

I love books, love the smell of them, the feel of them.  These books are such a blessing and we are reading them when the subject of the book fits into the time period of American History we are covering.

Paper Back Swap

                                
I know I've written about www.paperbackswap.com before. It's even on My Favorite Things tab. I post books I want to pass onto others. I get a message when someone wants one of my books. I log into my PBS account, print off a shipping label, wrap the book and mail it off at the cheap media mail rate. I've only spent more than $2.48 to mail a book once. I get one credit for every book I send, which I use to receive books from others. The person sending me the book pays for shipping and I pay nothing.

Yesterday, I received 2 requests for books I own, one of which, I had receiced from another PBS user and am now forwarding it on since I'm done (Fifty Shades). I used to go to the post office to buy postage and ship the books, but now I buy the postage online through PBS and it is printed on the label for me!

I fell so happy, putting those books in the mailbox, closing the door and lifting the red flag for our mail carrier. I know the joy of opening my mailbox and seeing a book I've requested arrive. I really enjoy being united in the love of reading with total strangers, all over the country! One PBS member sent me a very nice thank you message last year. She lives in Alaska and said very few other PBS members will send her books due to higher postage for the greater distance (it was $3.28 to send that book). It brought joy to her by sending her a book and she brought joy to me by expressing her appreciation. We all need daily joy and can provide it to anyone, anywhere.

(Wrote this on my phone through the Blogger app while at B's last handwriting lesson. Don't think I'll be doing this often!)

Reading Fifty Shades of Grey: My need for a dictionary and it's similarity to another bestselling series

We got this book a few months ago, hoping to read it together at night after B went to bed.  *snort*  The hubs could not last more than a paragraph and a half before falling asleep!  So, last week I decided to start reading the book on my own and by Chapter 5 I had come to two conclusions:

1. I must keep a dictionary with me while I read, and
2. It's quite similar to the Twilight books!

Here are just a few examples of words in Fifty Shades of Gray that cause me to have a dictionary handy:

• Castigating
• Taciturn
• Fisting (The dictionary was no help with this one, so I had to consult Wikipedia.  Holy crap! How does it even get in there?!  And why would you want yourself that stretched out?!)
• Mercurial

Here are the similarities I have found between Fifty Shades and Twilight:

• Written in the 1st person, solely from the POV of the main female character
• Both novels take place in the Pacific Northwest
• Anastasia and Bella are young, innocent, inexperienced, clumsy and skinny brunettes
• They both have two male friends that want to be more, one of whom is all-American (Paul and Mike), the other being a minority (Jose and Jacob)
• They both have flighty moms with a long list of fervent and then abandoned passions, multiple marriages and a keen insight into men when their daughter's wish they weren't so on the mark
• They both want these men but the men won't touch them
• They both like classic literature and compare their relationships to one story in particular (Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Romeo & Juliet)
• Christian and Edward are older in spirit than their age, they're worldly, rich, brooding, wish they could read Anastasia's and Bella's minds, warn these ladies to stay away from them but they themselves cannot stay away from these ladies and rescue the ladies from harm.
• Both men have the same hair - style and color!
• Both men like to sniff these ladies, are hiding a deep, dark secret and have a fun-loving, teasing brother
• Both men demand any physical relationship must be on their terms.

But then, there are similarities in other forms of entertainment, as well.  Most romantic comedies follow the same plot.  Most "heaving bosom books" (what my aunt calls historical romances because of the pictures on the front covers) are the same - innocent girl, experienced man, one's rich, one's poor, he's rude, she hates him, passion ignites, he takes, she gives, their pride keeps them apart, many tears ensue and then they get together in the end.

Oh, well.  I'm happy to not be reading curriculum, researching curriculum or reading non-fiction about how to assist my son with functioning in this world.

My Wonderful Brother

I have an awesome family.  They are very supportive and only love unconditionally.  I have one sibling, my older brother, and he is the best.  He's the strong, silent type who likes to stay in the background but pays attention to everything.  He's also a very faithful reader of my blog.

He read my post earlier this month about checking "I Don't Know How She Does It" by Allison Pearson out of the library.  I got a box from Amazon in the mail today.  Inside was my very own copy of the book with a message from my brother that now I could highlight whatever I want to.  *sniff, sniff*  I love that big lug!

PS - he's single, has a solid job, owns his own home and is great with kids!