Patti's Homeschool Mentoring

A Testimonial from Michele A MOM of Four That Have Mentored and Who's Children I Have Worked With...

Dear Patti,

     I cannot convey to you with enough enthusiasm the

positive impact you have had on me and my children's lives through

participating in your TJED program. Your leadership, mentoring and love for all

of my children has made me a better mom, teacher and mentor. 

     The way you have nurtured and educated each of my

four children and myself has added so much more richness to our home school

time at home. I am not worried about pounding facts anymore but, instead, am

letting them experience the joy of learning. You have showed me that every

corner has not only a life experience but also a learning experience. My

children have also benefited from your love of teaching by embracing new

experiences without fear. They forge ahead now just to see what will happen

versus being afraid of making a mistake.

     The result of being part of your program for over two years is apparent in the

love and excitement my children have shown for "typical" boring material like the

Laws of Motion, Inertia, knitting, felting and especially art and literature. Your style

of teaching has grown my children and allowed them the down time to enjoy the world

around them.

     I think what my daughter stated (my other three boys agreed with her) as we were

driving to your house after a four month hiatus from your Thursday Coop says it all. She said,

"Mommy, I feel like we are going home."   Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Sincerely,

Michele, SW FLorida

 

Ms. Patti's Love of Learning, Community Home School Has Openings!

Hello Families,   

I'm starting my "Love of Learning", Community Home School again this fall and I have two  openings for ages 5 through 13, with a total of eight kids participating.

 I would also consider a pre-school age child who is ready to be a part of a group. Our Community Homeschool school is a Classical Liberal Arts learning environment, inspired by the TJEd philosophy, aka: Leadership Education.  We'll use resouces and techniques from, Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason and Classical approaches. We'll also sprinkle in field trips and some fun local  learning activities during our afternoons together.

 

On the Learning Agenda:

Math using Professor and Real Life Math: http://www.profb.com/Home.aspx,

Life of Fred for upper Math: http://lifeoffredmath.com/lof2.php

Charolette Mason Language Arts:  http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/hearing-and-reading-telling-and-writing-a-charlotte-mason-language-arts-handbook/

First Language Lessons: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/first-language-lessons.htm 

Sequential Spelling: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/spelling-vocabulary/sequential-spelling.htm  

Powerglide Spanish, Mon @ 12:30 with Ms. Astrid:  http://www.amazon.com/review/R1M5X9T8AA0D8G/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R1M5X9T8AA0D8G

Inspired by, Classical Conversations History, US Geography and Music Memory Work with Ms. Michele and Ms. Patti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co6CJdROEQE&feature=related 

Competiting in the National GEO Bee,  with Ms. Patti  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/

KidsTek Lego Learning, Wed @ 4pm: http://kidsteklearning.com/ ,

Science with Ms. Patti &  Online with Ms. Aura  @ http://www.sciencelearningspace.com/ 

 Soft Art & Waldorf Handwork, Fri @3:30pm with Ms. Allie & Ms. Patti:  http://mommychick.typepad.com/handwork_tv/ 
 "Patti empowers the children to find their own answers, often allowing their own wonder to lead them and, unknown to the children, finding ways to facilitate each child's discoveries through doing, seeking, conversing, playing, working and being exposed to great mentors. 

This community of children often come away with knowing that wasn't really taught, but was felt, experienced, lived, and internalized in a way rote learning can never imitate. Then they are encouraged to mentor others into the same kind of experience, bringing their own talents to the process. 

It's totally magical and a wondrous thing so see kids allowed to work and grow in her organic and well informed learning environment.”

~~Miranda B. Norris, Homeschool mom of three and owner of Miranda's Art of Living:   http://mirandasartofliving.squarespace.com/

 *Please note, the curriculum and resources we use will depend on the make up of the group.  I will be more than happy to take a look at, and possibly incorporate, any favorites your family has.  

 "I spend my days in the company of classic books and children, mine and other people's; In a wholesome, full of real life skills, artistic, hands on, imaginative, literature based, life learning environment. I am blessed everyday to see the light in children's eyes as they embrace the tools used for discovering their world .   This is probably the most soulful work in the world and it brings me much joy, even after 20 years of doing it!"  ~~patti

  Starting September 7th, 2011 

We'll meet Mon, Wed and Fri, Noon until 5:30pm at my home on Marco Island. 

**Parents are welcome to stay, help or drop off every day, one day or sometimes.  

This is a good opportunity to see "homeschooling" in action for those of you just starting out!    

 I'll be happy to accommodate those parents picking up their children on the way home from work with a later or earlier pick up time if needed. 

 For those families coming from Naples, we're starting a car pool to make the drive easier. With a north and south Naples pick up stop.  

 Our schedule will follow the public school calendar.

 

Tuesday's and Thursday's the students are welcome to join me in my other community co-op's.     

 About Tuesday's & Thursday's:

 Tuesday's we run an Organic Food Buying Club out of my home and the students will participate in running the club.  This is a unique and wonderful opportunity to get hands on life skills such as,  introduction to business, management. purchasing, real life math,  food preparation, nutrition, health and cooking.    

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marco-Island-Organics-Buying-Club/116273551783526 

 On Thursday's we host our TJEd MoM School which is going into it's fifth year! 

We meet on the 2nd,  4th and 5th (if applicalble) Thursday of each month.  

The students in our Love of Learning, Community Home School are welcome to participate in our Classical Liberal Arts & Life Skills, TJEd inspired study groups on Thursday's.    

 See: www.TJEd.org to learn more about the TJEd Philosophy and Patti's Homeschooling Blog to see one of our Thursday's in action:

http://homeschoolmentoring.typepad.com/pattis-homeschool-mentor/mommy-school/ 

**The families participating in my Love of Learning Community Home School are setting up a rotating babysitting schedule for the 1st and 3rd Thusday' of each month to accomidate those parents who are working and are in need of child care.      

To learn more about me and my background, my educational and child development philosophy and our TJEd Mom School, stop by my Blog and Facebook page  where you can read my bio's.  You'll also see photos of our Love of Learning, Community Home School in action!                                                                                                                   

 Go to: Patti's Homeschool Mentoring Blog:  

 http://homeschoolmentoring.typepad.com/pattis-homeschool-mentor/mommy-school/

 Patti's Homeschool Mentoring Facebook page with photos with comments,  you'll have to click on "see all photos" at the top right hand side to see the entire collection of albums:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pattis-homeschool-Mentoring/151966768152952?ref=sgm  

 

All participating families are required to read: Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning http://www.tjed.org/purchase/ebooks.  With particular attention paid to the Love of Learning phase.  This will give you a feel for how we will spend our afternoons learning together.  

I also request that each family participate in a daily classical book family read in their home and that TV and sugar be extremely limited, thereby enhancing your child's academic journey!      

 Contact me to receive my background information, testimonials and references or to discuss curriculum and your child's needs.  

 If you know of a family that might be interested, please feel free to forward this e-mail.  

~~:-)p

 Dear Patti,

     I cannot convey to you with enough enthusiasm the positive impact you have had on me and my children's lives through participating in your TJED program. Your leadership, mentoring and love for all of my children has made me a better mom, teacher and mentor.

     The way you have nurtured and educated each of my four children and myself has added so much more richness to our home school time at home. I am not worried about pounding facts anymore but, instead, am letting them experience the joy of learning. You have showed me that every

corner has not only a life experience but also a learning experience. My children have also benefited from your love of teaching by embracing new experiences without fear. They forge ahead now just to see what will happen versus being afraid of making a mistake.

     The result of being part of your program for over two years is apparent in the love and excitement my children have shown for "typical" boring material like the Laws of Motion, Inertia, knitting, felting and especially art and literature. Your style of teaching has grown my children and allowed them the down time to enjoy the world around them.

     I think what my daughter stated (my other three boys agreed with her) as we were driving to your house after a four month hiatus from your Thursday Coop says it all. She said,

"Mommy, I feel like we are going home."   Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Sincerely,

Michele B. Homeschooling Mom 

Of the Three Types of Education Which Will You Choose?

Conveyor Belt Education  

The modern public school system was set up about the same time as the industrial revolution with the intent to educate the poor so that they could get a job, and thereby support their families.

Each person who travels through the conveyor belt receives a stamp of approval at the end (diploma), and comes out into the world as a “finished product,” ready to be marketed to the highest bidder for employment. And like a factory, conveyor belt institutions test and grade all students on the same scales regardless of individual needs or interests.

The Conveyor Belt does precisely what it was designed to do. It produces a relatively literate workforce for the general populace. It is not designed, however, to produce independently thinking leaders.

Conveyor Belt education can be found in public schools, private or charter schools, and even in home schools. It is sometimes referred to as the “soviet conveyor belt,” because standards and grade levels are set low enough to ensure that nearly everyone can make it through the educational assembly line.

Conveyor Belt Education has as its objective to prepare everyone for a job, any job, by teaching them what to think. This includes rudimentary skills to help them function in society. In general, compulsory schools are set up on the conveyor belt model, although most of us can cite wonderful examples of many excellent teachers in the public system who use leadership methods.

 

…Conveyor Belts have an important place in society, but it is essential that they don’t become a monopoly and that professional and leadership training schools are maintained.

Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education, 2nd Edition, pages 21-22

Goals:

• Educate the Masses and Lower Classes
• Teach What to Think
• Get a Job

Curriculum:

• 85% Social
• 15% Textbooks

Method:

• “Soviet” Conveyor Belt—Schools look and run like factories
• Individual intiative and innovation from students (non-conformity) is discouraged
• Individual initiative and innovation from educators is discouraged

Careers: (According to age)

• 0-12 Study
• 12-18 Play
• 18-24 College Major/Job
• 24-68 Work/Job
• 68+ Retire or Volunteer

Most of us can point to exceptions to the rule: teachers or students who stood out and excelled within the compulsory system; the fact remains that the system per se is not designed to produce such anomalies, and does not, in general, encourage or reward such outcomes.

 

Professional Education

Professional education systems create specialists by teaching their students when to think. This model has been used much longer than the soviet conveyor belt, since it arose from the tradition of apprenticeship, where the student was systematically taught what his master knew before venturing out on his own.

Each professional, whether a mechanic, a lawyer, a doctor, or a financial adviser, is trained to meet a certain set of standards and to think creatively within his field of expertise. However, outside of that narrow scope of knowledge, he tends to rely on the understanding of other experts. A complex society such as modern day America reinforces this.

Professional education is also known as the “competitive conveyor belt,” since the methods used are the same as the soviet conveyor belt, but the standards are set much higher—the top 10-15%.

 

The professional system does what it’s designed to do—create expertise. And if you need a doctor, a lawyer, or a manager for your business, you are glad they are well prepared. The professional system has been very effective in achieving its goals, but it is not a substitute for leadership training.

Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education, 2nd Edition, page 23

Goals:

• Train Experts
• Teach When to Think

Curriculum:

• 50% Case Studies
• 50% Ethics

Method:

• Competitive Conveyor Belt—Students Compete

Careers: (According to age)

• 0-18 Play
• 18-22 College Major
• 22-26 Professional Training
• 26-65 Career
• 65+ Retire or Volunteer

 

 

Leadership Education

 Leadership Education has three primary goals.

First, to train thinkers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and statesmen—those with understanding and competence to lead society (do things right) and the moral character to act with integrity in the areas they lead in (do the right thing).

Second, to perpetuate freedom by helping people understand what freedom is and what must be done to maintain it, and inspiring them to actually do the difficult things required to make it happen.

Third, teach students how to think, which is how the first two goals must be accomplished. Those who know how to think are able to lead effectively and help a society remain free and prosperous, while those who know only when or what to think will be unable to do so.

The method for training leaders is as old as humanity—classics and mentors. The student studies the greatest works ever created, and submits to the guidance of great mentors, who customize the education for the student’s mission in life.

This is the simplest, though arguably the most challenging of the educational paths.

 

“Leadership Education, which I call ‘Thomas Jefferson Education,’ teaches students how to think and prepares them to be leaders in their homes and communities, entrepreneurs in business, and statesmen in government.

“…What happens when a society does not prepare leaders? We get managers and professionals leading in areas they have no training for, such as government, and we get a nation of followers who see no problem with that because they have no experience with anything else. …This was the legacy of Germany in the 1930s—a highly trained but uneducated people easily swayed by Hitler.”

Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education, 2nd Edition, pages 21, 27

Goals:

• Raise Great Souls
• Cultivate Leaders
• Teach How to Think

Curriculum:

• Classics (any works that inspire greatness and are worth revisiting time and time again)

Method:

• Mentors that Design a Custom Education for Each Student

Careers: (According to age)

• 0-12 Play/Family Work
• 12-16 Scholar Phase
• 16-20 Superb Education
• 20-24 Depth Phase (Liberal Arts College)
• 24-50 Build Two Towers (a Family and an Organization)
• 50+ Impact the World (Statesmanship)

From:  http://www.tjed.org/about-tjed/

What is TJEd?

Discovered and organized by Oliver and Rachel DeMille,Thomas Jefferson Education, or “TJEd,” is an educational philosophy and a methodology by which great individuals throughout history were educated.

 Thousands of families and professional educators are applying those same principles today, with amazing success.

 

The Student Whisperer, Inspiring Genius--Locals Our Books Have Arrived!!!

Like a master gardener, a great mentor, a Student Whisperer, knows how to set the stage for transformational experiences—as often as they are needed. She knows how to create the environment where such feelings & experiences are frequent, how to use such experiences to help us discover & improve ourselves, & even how to repeat & reinforce such feelings so that our motivation & efforts are sustained.

"A classic! It will apply to the businessman, teacher and mom alike."

The wait is finally over! The Student Whisperer by Oliver DeMille and Tiffany Rhoades Earl is now available in paperback. Reader response is the best ever. See for yourself:

• “My ‘epiphanal rate’ was off the charts.”

• “I was moved beyond words.”
  

• “…a guide book for all who want to truly mentor well and make a difference in the world.”

• “…no matter what I say it would be an understatement.”

Click on the link for: 

 Description

• Chapter Outline

• Reader Reviews

• Sample Download

• About the Authors

http://www.tjed.org/purchase/books/student-whisperer/

• • 
    

     A great mentor cares- and she is effective! 

    
    

    Hey locals, our books have arrived at the discounted cost of $10.00 each! 

     All I can say so far is WoW, so well done, a truly inspiring story and guide book!!! Another homeschooling classic that should be in every families resource library!

    TJEd MomSchool participants your books are by the front door. 

    Others, contact me to make arrangements to pick them up.

     
  • Enhance your experience with The Student Whisperer by downloading your free Student Whisperer Journal: 

    Click on the link below for: A free pdf download of The Student Whisperer Journal, a 176-page 8 1/2″ by 11″ binder insert designed to complement The Student Whisperer and enhance your experiences with the workshops and exercises it outlines.

    
    A free pdf download of the List of Inspiring Archetypes, from The Student Whisperer
    
    

    A free pdf download, “What is Thomas Jefferson Education?”
    
    

    Periodic updates, articles and downloads to assist you in your mentoring
    
    

    Notification of upcoming Leadership Education and LEMI events such as seminars, forums, online classes and webinars, etc.
    
    

    Access to special pricing on webinars, podcasts and new releases
    
    

    The monthly TJEd newsletter, “Inspire!”

     

     http://www.tjed.org/resources/student-whisperer/
    
    

 

Straight to College: Homeschoolers Skipping High School

What If You Don't Do High School OR Get a GED?

 

More and more homeschoolers are skipping the high school option - including the GED or Graduate Equivalency Diploma - and heading straight to college ... community college, that is! No, I'm not talking about dual enrollment either. Just pure old college credits!

 

College INSTEAD of High School? 

Is it okay to skip high school?

 

Some homeschool families are choosing to not choose high school, but to bypass it altogether. No high school transcript, no dual enrollment, no GED (high school graduate equivalency diploma). Instead, they just begin acquiring college credits from community college sometime around age 14 to 16, ending with a smooth transfer of credits to a four-year college or university at some later time. With 60 hours of college credit from a junior college or community college, a high school transcript is not even requested when one transfers to another college! (Note that community college may be available at different ages in different states.)

 

 

Albert Einstein

Einstein dropped out of college and tested into the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and of course went on to become a Nobel-prize winning physicist.

 

 

The Teenage Liberation Handbook 

How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education

 

Here is the original teenage manifesto from Grace Llewellyn. Teens are not older children, they are young adults, and are capable and smart enough to be charting their own path without recourse to a cookie cutter education. Not limited to homeschoolers, Llewellyn urges teens everywhere to quit school and start living their real lives.

 

 

 

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education

 

by: Grace Llewellyn

 

Amazon Price: (as of 02/24/2011)

This is a very dangerous book. It contradicts all the conventional wisdom about dropouts and the importance of a formal education. It is funny and inspiring. Do not, under any circumstances, share this book with a bright, frustrated high-schooler being ground into mind fudge by the school system. This writer cannot be responsible for the happiness and sense of personal responsibility that might result. ~ Bloomsbury Review

 

 Is High School Necessary? 

Or is it just busywork to keep our young adults off the streets?

 

Are high school classes just a waste of time on things that could be better learned in college or college at home?

 

~ High School Dropouts ~ U.S. Presidents

 

George Washington

Abraham Lincoln

Martin Van Buren

Andrew Jackson

Zachary Taylor

Millard Fillmore

Grover Cleveland

 

also:

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Paine

 

Who Skips High School? 

And why would anyone want to?

 

I met a girl who told me she had not graduated from high school nor taken the GED, and yet here she was, taking university classes. She had not been homeschooled, but did her junior year of high school as a transfer student to New Zealand. When she came back to the States, her school board decided they were not interested in figuring out how her credits should be transferred to her high school transcript. Instead, they wanted her to just redo her junior year during what should have been her senior year. Instead she dropped out of high school and worked as a nanny for a year, since her state did not allow her to enroll as a full-time student in community college until age 18. At 18, she enrolled in community college and acquired 60 hours of credits; then transferred directly to a university in another state. No one ever asked to see her high school transcript.

 

Immediately, this became my plan for my own children, I already knew I would homeschoo). Now that I homeschool, I am becoming aware that many of my homeschooling friends with children older than mine already know about this exciting option and are taking advantage of it - and doing incredibly well!

 

 

~ High School Dropouts ~ Millionaires & Billionaires

 

Thomas Edison

John D. Rockefeller Sr.

Andrew Carnegie

Henry Ford

Walt Disney

Dave Thomas (Wendy's)

Ray Kroc (McDonald's)

Harlan Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

George Eastman (Kodak)

Amadeo Peter Giannini (Bank of America)

Frederick Royce (Rolls Royce)

Jim Clark (Netscape)

Jimmy Dean (Jimmy Dean Foods)

Kemmons Wilson (Holiday Inn)

 

College Without High School 

A Teenager's Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College

 

 

Blake Boles shares what homeschoolers have known for decades: teens are thriving everywhere without attending school! Blake will inspire you to seize the day and live well now, with every bit of confidence that the doors to college will be wide open to you. I am thrilled to have another messenger trumpet the truth that school is optional. I recommend all parents and educators to acquaint themselves with this information.

~ Kenneth Danforth, North Star Self-Directed Learning for Teens

 

 

 College Without High School: A Teenager's Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College

 

by: Blake Boles

 

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 02/24/2011)

It is possible to pursue your dreams and gain admission to any college of your choice. The guidebook shows how to fulfill college admission requirements by proving five preparatory results: intellectual passion, leadership, logical reasoning, background knowledge, and the capacity for structured learning. The author, who leads teenage unschoolers on educational adventures, offers several suggestions for life-changing, confidence-building activities that will demonstrate those results. Students begin by defining their goals and dreams and then pursue them through a combination of meaningful and engaging adventures. ~ book description

 

How Do They Do It? 

How does it work?

 

Of course there are teens, and even younger, who enroll full-time in college or university. That is not exactly what we're talking about here. This discussion is about the teen who, while living at home, begins to take community college classes one or two at a time. Often they will begin with a class of high interest, whether it will count properly toward a degree or not, in order to get used to the college atmosphere without the added pressure of a stressful class. Moving from art or clay or language into literature and math and science, the student begins to accumulate college credits that will eventually count toward a degree. There is no rush to "finish" anything by age 18; neither a high school transcript nor a transfer to a full university.

 

Many homeschoolers choose the option of dual enrollment. This is where a high school student attends community college and gets dual credit, for both high school and college credits. If this is the only option available, okay ... but I'm not sure I see the point. If one is getting college credit for a class, what is the point of getting high school credit too? It seems like a total redundancy to me.

 

 

What Do You Think? 

Is it okay for homeschooled kids to skip high school altogether?

 

~ High School Dropouts ~ Artists & Musicians

 

George Gershwin

John Philip Sousa

Claude Monet

Irving Berlin

Ansel Adams

Duke Ellington

Jack Benny

Count Basie

Louis Armstrong

 

Do you think academic success predicts later success in life?

I think most students that were high academic achievers, definitely had what we would have called a successful life in the 80's and 90's as adults. There was a clear path to that type of American dream. That's not to say that those who didn't score good grades couldn't have a successful life as well, {describes me} but, they usually fell into the entrepreneurial, unschooler {even if they attended school} category. 

Over the last couple of years we are seeing a shift of people who are high academic achievers and, who specialized in a career, are having a hard time finding success in adult life. Now, Thomas is right about the US census data... We are still seeing financial success with academic success, but, we also see the management of that financial success and personal life choices, leaves much to be desired; leaving us to question what was missing in the education to lead to mis- management of personal and financial responsibilities? Are the majority of financially successful people, successful in all areas of life? Are they happy, on purpose, in balance, etc...

 The world is changing, the skills needed today in many cases do not have high academic success as their main focus. Sure, our communities main specialists are still needed, like doctors for instance, but, more and more we are seeing what the community is needing are people who are more entrepreneurial, people who can shift easily and quickly, {loose your job, the bills have to be paid tomorrow, there is no time to go back to school} people who can move and adjust with the flow of change. If you understand the turnings of history,this "flow of change" we are in tells us it will last for an entire generation! Unfortunately, our school systems and many home school curriculum's train people to specialize for good academic scores at the expense of other development. This specializing leads to a job or as in higher education a specialized career. Both of which have become hard to find these days, and many times do not fulfill us. 

 

It seems to me, someone who is more well rounded, not just academically acute, where all seven of their intelligences are adequately developed, where their brain is equally as nurtured and connected, as their hearts and souls are, is someone who is not specialized. This is a person who is self reliant in all of life's departments and will be marked as successful and have an easier time. These people will be able to shift accordingly and easily in the new environment and will give back to their communities in ways that are truly needed for survival. 

 

This whole brain, soul and self reliance development will enable people to find joy and success, in ways those of us who grew up in the 70's, 80's and 90's never imagined. We may not recognize their life as a success and we sure didn't expect that we would ever be raising people for this new kind of world, but, success it is. A successful life is already defined differently today, than it was a few years ago...

 

Can you imagine how it will be defined for our children when they enter the adult world? 

 

 

Josiah Bunting, in his book, An Education for Our Time, states, “The things our country requires are simply not the things our colleges are prepared to deliver.”

 

Winter's Opportunity in Our Home Schools

 

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it,

the whole story doesn't show.”    
  ~Andrew Wyeth

 

 
 Back in the day when people lived according to nature's rhythms, we had no choice but to honor our human nature, our bodies, and our soul’s needs.  Before stores were made so convenient and long before we plugged in... Winter brought on a soulful time of reflection.  We had prepared for the storm outside and,  the much needed rest to come inside. 

Thomas Jefferson's Monteciello Home

We spent the bitterness of the season by the fire, dreaming with our family, and in deep study. Winter was essential to life's plan, a time for cleaning house, inside and out.  

Winters were extremely productive but, not in the physical sense… 

Some of the deepest, most impactful ideas throughout history, came to the greatest thinkers in the winter time.    

 Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney as John and Abagail Adams in HBO's MIni Series John Adams.

 The real Mr. & Mrs. Adams writings have touched my soul deeply.  

 

“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.”  ~Pietro Aretino

 

Creating a home school that follows the seasons

 is full of the greatest nourishment and one of the simpilist joys that we can give to our family.

 

Subcoming to deep study and rest in the winter. 

Birthing  new ideas and projects in the spring.
 

Basking in the joys of a artistic espression and play in the summer. 

Reaping the bounty of the harvest and the rewards of our work,

as we prepare for the winter during autum's fall. 

 

 Nurturing not only academics, but all of life’s essentials, reminds us to ask ourselves: "If we are not going to move through our days like the rest of society, how then shall we live?" 

As many of us grow in our home school journey, we sense that pushing against the storm outside doesn’t make much sense; the struggle brings on those winter blues, we become heavy with the meaninglessness of it all...   

 Home schoolers  are learning that by subcoming to the winter season we have an opportunity to align with our soul, to get back to basics, by doing things a little differently and more effectively.

 Once we commit to the quiet and stillness of the season, a world of, "out of the box" possibilities opens up, and we see many the opportunity in our winter days.  We begin by creating different rituals to our days, changing how we live to be more in harmony with our children's rythyms, we look for more authentic work and relish in our slower days, so full of soulful activities.  

 As we take the road less traveled, a path that is more in tune with nature and our natural learning rhythms, we begin trusting in the knowing that there is a season and a reason for all things.

 

A Day In the Life: Photo from the Donnely Family Scrap Book

 

“The tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter; the fleshy, in summer.  I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.”  ~John Burroughs

 

Wondering in what ways your family is taking the path less traveled…

What kind of home school days have you created this winter?    

 

 

Our TJEd Mommy School aka: KidSchool or Home School Co-op in Action!

 

"In short, something truly amazing is happening. It is happening quietly, usually in small groups in unconnected neighborhoods. It is uncoordinated and mostly unorganized. Yet I believe it will shape the 21st Century. In the year 2100, it may well stand out as one of the most important trends of the century. It is quiet, it is spreading, and it is real: Mothers are seeing a need and filling it—themselves." ~~Rachel DeMille

Every Thursday we host a Mommy School

(home school co-op) in our home.

This blog post was inspired by the joy and fellowship

found inside our weekly gatherings,

and by the following essay, which goes right to the heart of the matter: 

What Homeschoolers Want Most:  http://www.tjed.org/2010/12/homeschoolers-want/

We have seventeen families participating in our Mommy School, and the children are separated into three groups: Scholar & Transition to Scholar (high-school age) Love of Learners (elementary through middle school ages) and Core (six and under). 

The common thread of our SW Florida TJEd inspired Mommy School, is that each family values, on some level, A Classical Liberal Arts Education and that we honor the Phases of Learning as described in the book:

Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning 

by, Oliver and Rachel DeMille.

The Phases are:  

Core, Love of Learning, Scholar, Depth, Mission, & Impact

for a quick understanding of the Phases: http://www.tjed.org/?s=phases+of+learning 

Love this photo... Mommy School in Action! The key to a successful Mommy School is to have mentors that have a passion for what they are inspiring!  

***********

"Mom Schools meet according to the needs of the students, and most Mom Schools tend to focus on one or a few areas of expertise. A network of such schools in an area provides a much deeper academic offering than the traditional co-ops. I call them Mom Schools because of the hundred or so I know, only a few are initiated by Dad. But in many of them Dad is partially or very closely involved." ~Rachel DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Home Companion

Our teens are a mixed phase crowd: We have a couple Scholars and the rest are in Transition or Practice Scholar Phase. On this day, they met for their Deeper Thinking Study Group where they rotate through reading Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors and discussing it. They practice and play a Latin game, are discussing the book The One Minute Philosopher and from time to time play Chess. This group is Mentored by one our moms.

 

Meet Ms. Miranda http://mirandasartofliving.squarespace.com/ 

She is our Deeper Thinking Study Group Mentor, Art Teacher and our resident Health Coach. She is the mother of three children , all of whom attend on Thursday.  Miranda plays a big role in our Mommy School where she alternates from Study Group Mentor to Cooking and Nutrition Class Instructor, I can pretty much throw her into any group and she pops the learning!  Today she filled in for our Art Teacher and facilitated the Scholar's Graphic Novel, Art Class.  

 With sketch books in hand, the students worked on understanding the format of a story board. 

From time to time, if we don't have a mom or dad who can Mentor a class, or study group, we go outside our family circle and hire someone. We all pitch in to pay for that person.

Ms. Vivian Hadding is a local artist and home school mom, we hired. 
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1441553613

 

My husband is a part of our Mommy School, he works from our home and stops early on Thursdays to Mentor an American History Study Group, a topic he has much passion for!

Yes, they meet in our bedroom... by the end of a Thursday every room in the house has been used!

Mr. Jerry reads to the students, followed by a lively discussion.  

 Their learning is mostly conversational.

 

Keeping the learning simple and effective!  They read, narrate back, write essay's on the topic, discuss and from time to time present and/or debate in this group.

******

The Call of Community

"Many home schooling parents intrinsically know that their children need a community of other home schoolers.  A community of like-minded people.  A community of people who "get" them."  

"When we decided to start home schooling we really didn't know that it would make our children different somehow.  We wanted something different for our children, but we did not equate that if we offered something different, it would actually make them different."

The New Commonwealth School pg: 16

 

This is our Love of Learning Science Study Group. It is Mentored by Ms. Michelle one of our moms. She has two children attending on Thursday.  You'll see a big age span amongst the participants, as our Core Phase (pre-K ages) usually join in during Science.

Each mom in the group brings with them their unique talents and passions. Ms. Michelle has two children that she is homeschooling, five altogether, and works from home as an editor.  

Every week, Michelle, along with her passion for learning,

brings science to life with fun experiment demonstrations for our

Love of Learning- Liberty Kids and our Core Phase- Acorn home schooler's.

Look at the faces of our littlest participants... so curious! :-)   The lessons are short and sweet and the little children leave when they have seen or done enough.

 

Some of our kids love to present what they have learned (public speaking and additional learning practice) some don't, they have the choice. This is my grand niece, she is a few weeks shy of turning five and has been coming to my Mommy School since she was in diapers. She LOVES playing at school, and eats up everything we have to offer on Thursday's!

Creating Lap Books (hand made, authored by each student, personalized science text book). Each week after the experiment, we create a page in our books. Then we have the opportunity to read what we have learned. At the end of the semester,  we take our books home, to be placed on our shelves, so we can visit with them and continue our learning over and over again.

***** 

 Our TJEd Mommy School does not replace in home education, but is set up to accentuate what the students are already learning in their home schools.  We come together, parents and children, and decide what we want to learn in a group setting, then we look to our families in attendance, or the outside community for a Mentor, someone who would study the subject for fun is best!  

The study groups enable us to bring the learning to life in different, and at times, more effective ways. We get inspired by the people who have passions for what they are Mentoring, and the inspiration is contagious!  It  encourages everyone to help, we are challenged by other points of view, and we (children and adults) get to inspire the others around us.  

We base each study group, as much as possible, from a classic book.  We keep our lessons simple, mostly conversational, and relevant to the students life, and try to avoid Conveyor Belt educational patterns.    We break up the day with movement, the older kids take a walk, the younger ones play outside, as well as inside and, we eat together, each family brings a healthy snack to share.   

The Mommy School gives the children practice at growing up in a community with their primary role models or trusted adults close by, who can redirect and inspire good character development as needed.  

 The parents get much needed support and company in their home schooling endeavors!

 

We call the kids in the Love of Learning Phase-Liberty Kids at our Mommy School.

This is a Liberty Kids- Classic Book Language Arts- Learning Circle and is Mentored by Ms. Patti (that's been my nickname for twenty years now!)  Both pre-K and elementary ages sit through the reading and discuss it with us. I follow the Charlotte Mason philosophy, with a bunch of Waldorf methods sprinkled in, to bring the books to life. 

We read a classic book, discuss it, pull vocabulary words from the days reading and use and define them. From time to time, we take the words and create a story using them.

Each week we take an emotional (preferably)  passage from the reading and copy it. The older kids (when they are ready), don't copy, instead, they listen and write what they hear. They check their own work for structure and punctuation, and correct any mistakes, conditioning them for Scholar- self directed learning.

We draw a picture about the story in our language arts lap book, on the same page as our copy work. Narration plays a big role in our circle, each week we start our gathering taking turns re-telling the story and insights learned. 

We also try and bring some of the books we read to life;  we may do handwork, for instance we made log cabins using wood carving tools when we read the Little House series, we cook, reenact and for the current book The Tale of Despereaux we are creating, out of clay, a diorama of the castle and the characters from the story.

When it is dry, it will be available to play with.

When we do the Language Arts exercises, some pre-k'ers stay, some go off and play. For those in the pre- writing stage- they draw a picture based on the story and dictate to a mom what it is, we write it for them while they watch. When they are ready, we take a word or two and have them trace the words, they also practice writing them underneath.

I always have other moms with me to help and to redirect any behavior issues.  

They are encourage to share their wisdom with the group too!

Example of a Language Arts Lap Book

A Waldorf Inspired Wood Working Hand-Work Circle, creating logs for log cabins.  All ages participate and if a child is not ready to use pocket knives and wood working tools, they let us know, and can watch or practice on soap with a plastic knife.  

When it is time to learn a new skill, we look first to the other kids in the house to Mentor!

For our Core Phase group, whom we call Acorns, I run a Waldorf inspired, short and sweet circle time. We read a classic book, do some singing, finger plays, and movement (YOGA). We do a little journaling, where we draw a picture and dictation, based on the story... the older ones practice copying my writing. We may do some handwork or Waldorf type art.

It is important that the learning activity be natural, so we avoid pre-fab, cookie cutter-popular pre-school and elementary school arts and crafts activities.

Instead, we turn to resources like, water color painting, conte, felt, wax, sewing, knitting, and clay.

The idea when working with Core Phase children is to keep the children moving,  up and down... Contraction (academics short and sweet) and then expansion (movement & play).

For more information on Waldorf inspired art and crafts: http://www.openwaldorf.com/art.html

Talk about passion! Cooking Class with Mentor and Health Coach Miranda a woman who loves what she does!!!  http://mirandasartofliving.squarespace.com/

And, what would a Mommy School be without that -all important-in the background- kind of support? Ms. Christie is that for me. We have been homeschooling  together for fourteen year. Her son and my daughter have grown up together.  She is my go to person!  With help from other moms, she runs the kitchen, sets up the food, does the clean up, helps with the children, and fills in wherever we need her.  

She keeps the space running and knows where everything is so she can acclimate a new family if I am busy and makes sure the kids put everything away in the right place.  

   

We try and host a Mentor Lecture for our Mommy School participants a few times a year. We invite leaders, and inspiring members of our community to come and speak.

This is a photo of Lawrence Reed, President of the Foundation for Economic Education with the children.  Larry has come two years in a row to speak to our families. http://fee.org/people/lawrence-w-reed/ 

The first year, he gave a talk entitled: My Favorite President, Grover Cleveland. The second year, he spoke about Adam Smith,Philosopher and the man considered the, "father of economics". The talk was based on Smith's classic book: The Wealth of Nations.

Parents and students attend the lectures. The parents are encouraged, and come prepared to model group discussions, and to inspire the students into the discussion if needed.

Life Skills practice is a part of our Mommy School. We used drills, saws and muscle to create an Earth Box Organic Garden.

Learning to grow food here in SW Florida has been a challenge.  We've had to overcome the sand problem.  Here is the fruit of our labor!

We are always asking, "who in our group is connected to whom in our community?"  One of our daddies is connected to the fire department.  One day they showed up right outside our front door for a "come to us",  kind of  field trip!  

*****

"The most exciting thing about Mom Schools may be that they promise not only a better education for the rising generation, but they are also educating the parent’s generation in neighborhood after neighborhood across the globe. It is inevitable that this will impact our freedoms, our prosperity, and our future." ~~Rachel DeMille www.TJEd.org

The beauty of multiple age learning is how the older students model for the younger ones! 

Personally, I find that one of the added joys of creating a Mommy School in our home, is that my entire family has attended.

In this photo, my grand niece, my two nephews and the little guy is my grandson ♥♥♥♥

Our Mommy School on Thursday exhausts me, and some weeks I dread it... but always, I mean always, when it is over, and the last family leaves at 6pm,  I realize I am exhausted in a most soulful and very good way!  

I am blessed to be a part of each one of these families lives!

 Every one of them, adults and children, are here because they want to be, and they each bring their  positive energy, so full of inspiration for all of us!!! 

My daughter, niece, nephews and grandsons are equally blessed to have this wonderful community to grow up in!!! ♥

This Friday morning I woke to find this on my chalk board...

Warming my heart and creating  :-) BIG SMILES :-) 

((HUGS)) to whomever wrote it yesterday!

 ~~~:-)p

Two days in the life of a home schooling fourteen year old: Car Schooling Tuesday & Tutor and Private Lesson Wednesday

Two days in the life of a home schooling fourteen year old:   

Her Facebook Status Tuesday:  

HUGE day! Reading on chair, reading on couch, reading in passenger's seat of van, reading in the very back seat of the van, more reading in the passenger's seat, lunch at Panera, even more reading in the passenger's seat, shopping at Kohl's, reading in the passenger's seat, shopping at Walmart, reading in the passenger's seat, Bob Levy lecture, now I'm home, and will probably read in bed. Lots of time w/ Mommy, and it was great! ♥

Car Schooling Tuesday:

~Woke up, breakfast, family work, read the Kite Runner, took notes, researched, and checked Facebook a couple times to say hi to friends. Went with mom to get x-rays after lunch, watched, learned, and asked questions.  Read and studied while driving around doing errands.  Spent some time memorizing new music notes, and mom tested me on them while eating an early dinner at Panera Bread. Stopped by Kohl’s and got some new clothes. Back in the car, I read aloud the TJEd for Teens book to Mom and we discussed the chapter on acquiring 5,000 hours of study in the Teen Scholar Phase, what a specialized education is, and the difference between intellect and intelligence.

The discussion today led us to deciding that I would sign up for Aleks Math Online, with TJEd.org.  We finished up the day by attending a lecture on the Constitution and its relevance, with speaker Robert Levy, President of CATO Institute. 

Mr. Levy is like a Rock Star in our teen circle.  My daughter and her friend were happy to have their picture taken with him!

 

Back home at 9pm, I am finishing writing a paper on Survival vs. Goodness for my Mentor Meeting with Ms. Black tomorrow. The paper has been developed based on the book Ender's Shadow and our discussions that followed; my Mentor hopes to publish the paper at the Center for Social Leadership, Youth site.  http://www.thesocialleader.com/ 

 

 Tutor & Private Lesson Wednesday:    

~Woke up, family work, headed over to the Island Racket Club for my 10am tennis lesson. I played well in the cold today, then came home for a quick shower. My piano tutor came at 11:45 for my piano lesson, and after that I spent a half hour watching and playing with my nephews. At 1:30 I met with Ms. Black, online, for my weekly Mentor Meeting. We discussed my schedule and the TJEd Planner, followed by a book discussion on my current read, The Kite Runner. We went over a paper I am writing on Survival vs. Goodness, inspired by the book Ender's Shadow; she is helping me develop my thoughts deeper. Ms. Black will be critiquing my paper over the next week and I’ll get my results next Wednesday. We also discussed my music studies and the TJEd for Teen’s chapter that I read with mom in the car yesterday. After our meeting I studied voice and finished my voice lesson homework. At 4:30 I had a voice lesson, then after I read a little more in the Kite Runner and spent the next few hours writing for fun.  I’ve been writing a novel and finally finished chapter 19. It's 227 pages so far. Then this evening I watched the President on TV, from the Tucson and America Memorial for the Arizona shooting victims with mom and dad. Afterwards, we had a small discussion about it.     

 

Classic Book List

A good book can capture the imagination, while very subtly improving our child's knowledge of the world, of grammar and spelling, of vocabulary and a list of other benefits.  But more than that, a good book is both entertaining and thought provoking.  While there are many great books written today, here you will find the classics. 

 Most of the books on these lists of classical books or reads were published in the book "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver Van DeMille. The lists are found in the appendices of the book and are categorized by age group of the reader.

 The rest are some of my family's favorites.

  These are by no means all of the classics that are worthwhile to read! It's a list to get you started. Each family should choose which books fit their world view, interests and paradigms. 

  As you go through your home schooling journey, your reads will lead to other books so, I suggest you keep an ongoing list of your own somewhere handy.  

 

Contents

 1. Appendix A

2 Appendix B-2

3 Appendix B-1

4 Sources

5 External links

 

[edit]Appendix A

Appendix A is the 100 classic reads for adults.

Acton, The History of Freedom

John Adams, "Thoughts on Government"[1]

Aquinas, "On Kingship"

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Aristotle, Politics

Aristotle, Rhetoric

Augustine, The City of God

Aurelius, Meditations

Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Bacon, Novum Organum

Bhagavad Gita

Bastait, The Law

Bastait, "What is Seen and Not Seen"

Benson, "The Proper Role of Government"

The Bible

Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy

Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Bronte, Jane Eyre

Carson, The American Tradition

Capra, The Tao of Physics

Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Churchill, Collected Speeches

Cicero, The Republic

Cicero, The Laws

Clausewitz, On War

Confucius, Analects

The Constitution of the United States

Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Dante, The Divine Comedy

The Declaration of Independence

DeFoe, Robinson Crusoe

Descartes, A Discourse on Method

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens, Great Expectations

Douglas, Magnificent Obsession

Durant, A History of Civilization

Einstein, Relativity

Emerson, Collected Essays

Euclid, Elements

Frank, Alas Babylon

Franklin, Letters and Writings

Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

Galileo, Two New Sciences

Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Goethe, Faust

Hobbes, Leviathan

Homer, The Iliad

Homer, The Odyssey

Hugo, Les Miserables

Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary

Jefferson, Letters, Speeches, and Writings

Keegan, History of Warfare

Kepler, Epitome

Martin Luther King, Jr., Collected Speeches

Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Lavoisier, Elements of Chemistry

Lewis, Mere Christianity

Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Lincoln, Collected Speeches

Locke, Second Treatise of Government

Machiavelli, The Prince

Madison, Hamilton and Jay, The Federalist Papers

Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto

More, Utopia

The Magna Charta

Mill, On Liberty

Milton, Paradise Regained

Mises, Human Action

The Monroe Doctrine

Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws

Newton, Mathematical Principles

Nichomachus, Introduction to Arithmetic

Neitzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

The Northwest Ordinance

Orwell, 1984

Plato, Collected Works

Polybius, Histories

Potok, The Chosen

Plutarch, Lives

Ptolemy, Almagest

Qu’ran

Shakespeare, Collected Works

Skousen, The Five Thousand Year Leap

Skousen, The Majesty of God's Law

Skousen, The Making of America

Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Solzhenitsyn, "A World Split Apart"

Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

Sophocles, Oedipus Trilogy

Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Thackeray, Vanity Fair

Torah

Thoreau, Walden

Tolstoy, War and Peace

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian Wars

Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Washington, Letters, Speeches, and Writings

Weaver, Mainspring of Human Progress

Wister, The Virginian

 

[edit]Appendix B-2

Appendix B-2 are classics for older youth to read and discuss with their mentors.

Alice in Wonderland - Carroll

Animal Farm - Orwell

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

The Anne of Green Gables series - Montgomery

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

“Battle Hymn of the Republic”

Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ - Wallace

The Bible

Brighty of the Grand Canyon - Henry

Black Beauty - Sewell

The Black Stallion series – Farley

The Bronze Bow, Speare

Caddie Woodlawn, Brink

Calico Bush, Field

The Chronicles of Narnia series - Lewis

The Collected Verse of Edgar A Guest

“Concord Hymn” - Emerson

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court - Samuel Clemens

The Constitution of the United States

David Copperfield - Dickens

Davy Crockett Legends - Irwin Shapiro

The Declaration of Independence

The Deerslayer – Cooper

The Defender, Kalashnikoff

Don Quixote de la Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Stevenson

The Dred Scott Decision

The Education of Henry Adams

Eight Cousins - Alcott

Emily Post’s Etiquette

Ender's Game

“In Flanders Fields”

Flatland - Abbott

The Foundation series - Asimov

Frankenstein - Shelley

“The Gettysburg Address” - Lincoln

“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” – Henry

The Giver, Lowrey

The Great Brain series - Fitzgerald

Gulliver’s Travels - Swift

Hamilton’s Mythology - Hamilton

Hamlet - Shakespeare

Heidi - Spry

The Hiding Place - Boom

History Reborn

The Hobbit - Tolkien

Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of - Twain

“I Have a Dream” - King

Ivanhoe - Scott

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell

Joan of Arc - Twain

Jo's Boys - Alcott

A Journey to the Center of the Earth - Verne

Julius Caesar (play) - Shakespeare

The Jungle Book - Kipling

King Arthur and the Round Table - Malory

Laddie - Porter

The Last of the Mohicans - Cooper

“Let America be America Again” - Hughes

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The Little Britches series - Moody

Little Lord Fauntleroy - Burnett

Little Men - Alcott

Little Women - Alcott

The Lonesome Gods - L'Amour

Lord of the Rings series - Tolkien

“The Man with the Hoe”

Mathematicians are People, Too (2 volumes) - Reimer

Moby Dick - Melville

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Douglass

National Velvet - Bagnold

Noah Webster’s Original 1828 Dictionary - Webster

North to Freedom - Holm

“O Captain! My Captain!” - Whitman

“Old Ironsides” - Holmes

Old Yeller - Gipson

Oliver Twist - Dickens

On Numbers - Conway

Paul Bunyan – Sheperd

Tales From Shakespeare, Lamb

Tarzan of the Apes, Burroughs

The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster

"The Present Crisis" - Lowell

The Real Benjamin Franklin - Allison

The Real George Washington - Parry and Allison

The Real Thomas Jefferson - Allison

“The Road Not Taken” s:The Road Not Taken - Frost

The Robe - Douglas

Robinson Crusoe - DeFoe

Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare

The Sackett series - L'Amour

Sarah Bishop, O’Dell

The Saxon Math series - Saxon

The Secret Garden - Burnett

Shipwrecked

Soldiers, Statesmen, and Heroes - Parry

Sonnets of Shakespeare - Shakespeare

Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers - Kavanaugh

Stuart Little - White

The Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls

The Swiss Family Robinson - Wyss

Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of - Twain

Treasure Island - Stevenson

The Trumpet of the Swans - White

“Ulysses” - Tennyson

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle - Lofting

The Walking Drum - L'Amour

Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls

White Fang - London

William Tell

The Yearling - Rawlings

 

[edit]Appendix B-1

Appendix B-1 are classics to be read to young children.

A Christmas Carrol, Dickens

A Little Princess, Burnett

At the Back of North Wind, Mac Donald

Aesop’s Fables - Aesop

Andersen’s Fairy Tales – Anderson

A Wrinkle in Time, L’Engle

Aladdin and  Other Favorite Arabian Night Stories, Smith

Beauty and the Beast

The Bible

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Carry on Mr. Bowditch, Latham

“Casey at Bat”[2] – Thayer

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl

Charlotte’s Web - White

Chicken Little

A Christmas Carol - Dickens

Cinderella

Curious George, Rey

Dinotopia series – Gurney

The Dorr In The Wall, Angeli

Dr. Seuss series

The Emperor's New Clothes - Anderson

The Fourth Wise Man

The Gift of the Magi - Henry

The Giving Tree - Silverstein

“God Save the Flag” – Holmes

The Golden Goblet, McGraw

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg - Aesop

Grimm's Fairy Tales - Grimm

“The Highwayman”[3]

Hansel and Gretel - Grimm

Jack and the Beanstalk,

Johnny Tremain, Forbes

Just So Stories - Kipling

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Irving

“Lincoln, The Man of the People” - Markham

“Little Boy Blue”[4] - Field

Little Bea, Minarik

The Little Engine that Could

The Little House on the Prairie series - Wilder

The Little Red Hen

Little Red Riding Hood

The McGuffey Readers

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

The Tale of Despereaux,  Kate DiCamillo.

 “Paul Revere’s Ride”[5] - Longfellow

Peter Pan - Barrie

Peter Rabbit - Potter

The Pied Piper of Hamlin

Pinocchio

The Adventures of Pinocchio – Colladi

The Princess and Curdie, MacDonald

The Princess and the Goblin, MacDonald

The Princess and the Pea

Pollyanna - Porter

The Princess and the Pea - Anderson

Puss-in-Boots - Perrault

Rapunzel - Grimm

Riki Tiki Tavi - Kipling

Rip Van Winkle - Irving

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood - Pyle

Rumpelstiltskin - Grimm               

Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories

The Sign of the Beaver, Speare

Sleeping Beauty - Perrault

The Song of Hiawatha - Longfellow

Snow White – Grimm

Stewart Little, White

Tales of the Arabian Nights

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Little Pigs

Toby Tyler, Otis

Tom Thumb

The Trumpet of the Swan, White

The Trumpeter of Krakow, Kelly

"Twas the Night Before Christmas"[6]

The Ugly Duckling - Anderson

The Wind in the Willows - Grahame

Winnie-the-Pooh series – Milne

Winter of Fire, Jordoan

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Speare

The Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum