Our Month Ahead ~ Books to Read in May 2017

Thinking of the all the Southern hemisphere families we know as we all endeavour to settle into home educating during the winter months; and of the Northern hemisphere home educators as they wind down their learning year and prepare for summer time break.

We've just had 2 weeks of term break and are now back to scheduled learning.  Ho-hum ;)
It feels like we've been going full pace during term break attending to around -the-home projects and tasks, which is so good as it's nice to start a new term with a sense of achievement during the weeks away from scheduled learning.

I think I'll skip creating weekly updates from now on and just go for Our Month Ahead posts as this years reading assignments, and book lineups, are intentionally pretty spread out to allow time for all the other subject areas we are working in; and, not sure about other highschooling years, educating at home, families but our reading time has definitely morphed into a vastly different look this year:  the sheer number of books we read has become less and yet we discuss so much more (age and maturity stage of teens) - and the literary goals do not seem to be, so much, about completing the books but about immersing ourselves in the thoughts and discussions surrounding the themes in the books..... along with rabbit trails, which happen constantly and are creating some delight filled distraction.

Beneath are the titles we completed during the end of April , along with the books to be read during May.  (I'll update with any extras as we go along. The C beside each item means completed.)
Our literary/book basket selections for this Month:

Daisy: 

• Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps & Timelines   p.35 & 36  AD200  - 500   Church Hist  C
• Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are ~ Harris & Harris  C
• TGC: Classics of British Literature ~ Sutherland    Anglo-Saxon Roots—Pessimism and Comradeship
• Anglo-Saxon Poetry (selections) Greenleaf Guide     Deor's Lament,  The Seafarer,  The Wanderer,  Caedmon's Hymn,  The Dream of the Rood   C
• Beowulf   GG       the illustrated version is a family favourite 
• Spring Tide ~Mary Ray         Roman. AD 311   C
• The Faerie Queen ~ Edmund Spenser    1590's epic poem  (unabridged audio)  C
• I Needed a Neighbour ~ St. John        Refugees/ Africa/ Modern Times   C
• The Witch's Brat ~ Rosemary Sutcliff      England AD 1121  C
• The Bet ~ Chekhov   Short story   C
• The False Prince ~ Nielsen    C   (audio opt for series)  clean story. not for sensitive children - separation from parents, family murdered, mistreatment of children.  Some parents may not appreciate the initial conduct/character of the children, adults in this series.   Daisy's reading the books.
• The Runaway King ~ Nielsen   C
• Journey to the River Sea ~ Ibbotson  C
• Samurai's Tale ~ Haugaard    Japan 1500’s   C
• Flame-Coloured Taffeta ~ Sutcliff   England. 1750+   C   Daisy really enjoyed this book.  Contains reference to 'witches and potions' in that area. 
• Cadfael      abridged audiobooks. select a few
  

 Jay:

• Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps & Timelines   p.35 & 36  AD200  - 500   Church Hist
• How to Read Slowly ~ James Shire   p.90-148    Fiction section 
• The Student Leadership Challenge ~ Kouzes & Posner     p.163-231  
• Leaders Who Last ~ Kraft  Pt 3       audio
• Sparkling Cyanide ~ Christie       audio     Mature themes, inc.  marital unfaithfulness
  

Family Book Basket:

• Bible (KJV)      St. John   Ch: 11-12
• Short Stories By Saki ~ H.H.  Munro    car time audio      free. library loan
• Then Sings My Soul BK 3 ~ Morgan    Select songs
• Church Ages      Dn to read, discussion
• The Conscientious Objector        US documentary   youtube.  Post ANZAC day go-along.  Not sure of content yet?
• The Victorian Slum BBC     DVD  C
• Tudor Monastry Farm     DVD

KJV Life Application Bible.  Excellent Bible.

Our Week Ahead ~ Mon 20 Feb 2017

Summer has certainly arrived late in our region - the hot balmy weather most hoped for over the Christmas break didn't happen - we are having days with significant heat in them now.
(Perfect weather to be at the beach, the lake, lounging in the pool ....... We, however, are doing scheduled learning, painting the house, stacking away firewood for winter and reorganising our very scruffy shrub gardens; and, enjoying visiting family!)

Our learning for the week ahead contains the following:

Daisy

History & Geography    

Rose Book of Charts      p.34  AD1, AD100

History, Literature, & Book Basket: 

1: Book Basket:

The Prince of the House of David ~ Ingraham 

2:  Audio’s in Feb:

The Faerie Queen ~ Edmund Spenser (1590's epic poem)   (unabridged audio)

English

1:  Essentials in Writing 10 

2:  Essentials in Literature 9 

o   The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 

3: Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Lit

o   Bede   (AD 731)  wk 1 of 3   (Lesson 1)

Jay

Church History, & Geography

Rose Book of Charts      p.34  AD1, AD100

Literature, & Book Basket:

1: Book Basket:  

1:  The Whisper of Glocken ~ Carol Kendall

o   2: Lite Coin ~ Branson

o   3: How to Read Slowly ~ Shire p.1-21  

2:  Audio’s in Feb:

Surfeit of Lampreys ~ Ngaio Marsh (1941)  NZ/Britain

Business Studies 

o   The Leadership Challenge ~ Kouzes/Posner p.3-21

Family

Bible

All:   St. John Ch:7+

Book Basket

History

Christian History Made Easy ~ Jones   Ch:1

1:  Read Alouds:  

o   Short Stories  by Saki

2:  Other: 

C.A. book ~  Dn to read and discuss

My Book Basket:

1 Samuel (KJV Bible)

RAR#56  What's At Stake & Why Stories Matter ~ Jonathan Auxier (podcast)

Surprised By Joy ~ C.S. Lewis (audio)

(Previewing the following titles for Daisy)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon ~ Kelly Barnhill (Modern fairy tale.  Check out authors worldview)
The Clocks ~ Agatha Christie
Juno ~ Fleur Beale (appears to justify adultery, details 'mystic' powers)

2017 Book List in Reading Order ~ info post for me

2017 Book Lists in Reading ORDER

Daisy (15):  

  

TGC: Classics of British Literature ~ Prof. John Sutherland (audio. selections)

8: Anglo-Saxon Roots—Pessimism and Comradeship

16: Chaucer—Social Diversity

17: Chaucer—A Man of Unusual Cultivation

AllSorts Selection (Includes Brit Lit books)

1: The Whisper of Glocken ~ Carol Kendall (fantasy)

2: Elbows off the Table ~ Patsy Rowe   (etiquette refresher)

2: The Hound of Ulster ~ Rosemary Sutcliff  (Celts.  Cuchulain Saga.  Read before Beowulf)

4: The Prince of the House of David ~ J.H. Ingraham   (AD 30's) (Christian Classic)

5-7: How to Write Clearly ~ Beechick   (N/F English)

5: Bede's Ecclesiastical Hist of the English Speaking Church  GG  (Brit Lit)   

8: Anglo-Saxon Poetry (selections) GG  (Brit Lit)   

  -Deor's Lament

  -The Seafarer

  -The Wanderer

  -Caedmon's Hymn

  -The Dream of the Rood

8-17: Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are ~ Harris & Harris

9: Beowulf   GG   (Brit Lit)    (the illustrated version is a family favourite)

9: Spring Tide ~ Mary Ray    (Roman. AD 311)

16: Knight's Fee ~ Rosemary Sutcliff  ('England'   1066 tie-in)

17-19: Chaucer (selections)  GG  (Brit Lit)  
17 -19:  Caught Up in a Story ~ Sarah Clarkson 

17a: A Single Shard ~ Linda Sue Park (11oo’s) listen to RAR #53 podcast first)

17b: The Hawk and the Dove ~ Penelope Wilcock   1300's

17c: I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade ~ Wilson  (1339.  Animistic themes)

18: Crispin:The Cross of Lead ~ Avi   (England.  1377) RAR membership video

19: Gateway of the Sun ~ Lori Wagner    1541+

20: Hamlet   GG (Brit Lit)   (Read alongside:  Brightest Heaven of Invention) (Play)

21: The Three Musketeers ~ Alexandre Dumas (1625-28)  (French Lit)

24: The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn ~ Hoobler  (Mystery) 1735

25: The Hobbit ~ Tolkien ( re-vi for lit study EiL)     RAR #41 Listen & discuss

26: Nicholas Nickleby ~ Charles Dickens  1861 (Brit Lit) audio, dramatised  (Brit Lit)   

28: Silas Marner ~ George Elliot    1861  (Brit Lit)   

31: Moonfleet ~J. Meade Falkner  (pub 1898)  setting 1757

34:  Surprised by Joy ~ C.S. Lewis   (1955) (essay.  Auto bio /Christian) (Brit Lit)   

Free Reading (optional titles)

3: Three Little Great Ladies ~ W. Percy Smith (Young Ladies of Virtue Series) 

3: Dora: A Tale of Influence ~ author unknown (YLoVS   which are similar to Lamplighter books)

4: The Faerie Queen ~ Edmund Spenser (1590's epic poem)   (unabridged audio)

4: A Little Child Shall Lead Them ~ Amy Le Feuvre (YLoVS)

4b: Christie's Next Things ~ Minnie E. Kenney
5:  Esperanza Rising ~ Pam Munoz Ryan      available thru ePukapuka.overdrive.com.

7:  Just Binnie ~ Dick King-Smith (younger, easy reading.  good story though)

7: What She Could: & Opportunities ( A Sequel) ~ Susan Warner

8: I Needed a Neighbour ~ St. John  (Refugees/ Africa/ Modern Times)

8:  The Witch's Brat ~ Rosemary Sutcliff (England AD 1121)

9: The False Prince ~ Nielsen   (audio series)
10: The Samurai’s Tale ~ Haugaard  (Japan 1500’s)
11: Flame-Coloured Taffeta ~ Rosemary Sutcliff   (England. 1750+) 
12: Journey to the River Sea ~ Ibbotson
13: Count Zinzendorf ~ Benge

14-16: A Day No Pigs Would Die ~ Robert Peck
14-16: News of the World ~ Paulette Jiles
17-20: Enemy Brothers ~ Savery
17-20: A Night Divided ~ Nielsen
17-20: A Bunch of Sweet Peas ~ Henry Donald
21:  Echo ~ Pam Munoz Ryan  audio option    Daisy enjoyed Pam Ryan's writing style and was keen to try another title.   Younger.   Includes a witch and a spell cast, fairy tale beginning to story.
21: revisited Paddington  Bear books 
22: The Angel Knew Papa & The Dog ~ McKelvey   Enjoyed!
23:  Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes ~ Auxier   not sure of content yet.  RAR recommendation.
24:  Sophie Quire and the Last Story Guard ~ Auxier
25:  The 100 Cupboards  Bk 1 ~ N.D Wilson (touch of fantasy and magic in this series.)
26: Dandelion Fire Bk 2  ~ N.D Wilson
27: The Chestnut King  Bk 3  ~ N.D. Wilson
28: The Courts of the Morning ~ John Buchan
The First Four Years ~ Wilder (American Classic)

Young Pioneers ~ Rose Wilder Lane  (American)
Cadfael (abridged audiobooks)

Underground to Canada ~ Barbara Smucker   (1850-60.  US Slavery. Canada)

A Tree for Peter ~ Kate Seredy  (illustrator.   Young read)

Miss Buncle ~ D.E. Stevenson

Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha ~ Gilman (continuation with our world view study: psychics, zen buddhism, fame & multiple marriages, terrorists)

Daisy  NZ Focus  

Stories of Old New Zealand      (Universal Books) (Out Of Print)

The Women of New Zealand ~ Helen M. Simpson    (O.O.P.)

        (NZ titles.  easy!! reading)

The Rhys Griffiths Read Aloud Stories Vol II  New Zealand History  

Journey Under Warning ~ Elsie Locke  (1843)

____________________________

Jay (17): 

AllSorts Selection

A: The Marshmellow Test  (documentary, already watched) LC

1: Short Stories by Saki   (British)  (H.H Munro 1870-1916) (English/Short Stories)

4: The Whisper of Glocken ~ Carol Kendall (English/Fantasy)

4: Surfeit of Lampreys ~ Ngaio Marsh (NZ author.  pub. 1941) (English/Mystery)

4b: Litecoin ~ Branson  (Business) 
5: Died in the Wool ~ Marsh (NZ author) (English/Mystery)

5: Church History In Plain English ~ Bruce Shelley (free pdf)  (Church Hist)

5: War and Peace: A Collection of Classic Poetry & Prose ~ compiled by Kate Agnew (English/Poetry)

5-15: How to Read Slowly ~James Shire  (English)

5-16:  The Student Leadership Challenge ~ Kouzes & Posner  (spine) LC

6-8: Leaders Who Last ~ Dave Kraft (christian) LC

9-13: Babylon's Ark ~ Lawrence Arthur   (profanity edited out) (English/Modern Bio)

16-20: On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature ~ C.S. Lewis  (English/Essays)

17-22: Leaders and Misleaders ~ Andre Van Heerden (Business  NZ) LC

18: The Abolition of Man ~ C.S. Lewis (christian) (audio option) LC

23-27: Surprised by Joy ~ C.S.Lewis   (1955)  (English/Essays/Autobio)

23-24: Steven Covey  pdf to read  LC

28: The Most Dangerous Game ~ Connell   (1924) (English/Short Stories)

28-31: Margin ~ Richard Swenson (christian) LC

29: A Letter to God ~ Gregoria Lopex Y Fuentes   (1940) (English/Short Stories)

30: A Sound of Thunder  ~ Bradbury   (1952) (English/Short Stories)

33-36: Have a Little Faith ~ Mitch Albom    (English/Bio)

32: Three Men on The Bummel ~ Jerome (English/Humour)

Other Subjects Books

(English)

Poetry/Speeches/Essays ( delight led selection, including)

St. Orfeo  (Poem. Translated by Tolkein)  Circa 1300

Luthien Tinuviel  (Poem from the Silmarillion) 

Optional

To Kill a Mocking Bird ~ Harper   (American Lit.  pub. 1960)  US Hist Fict
Sparkling Cyanide ~ Agatha Christie
Curtain: Periot's Final Case ~ Agatha Christie

___________________________

Family 

Book Basket

Bible (KJV)

1: Short Stories By Saki ~ H.H.  Munro  (car time audio)    (free. library loan)

5: Then Sings My Soul BK 3 ~ Morgan (Select songs)

4-22: Church Ages    (Dn to read aloud and discuss)

16: TGC  1066: The Year that Changed Everything ~ Prof J.Paxton (audio. 3hrs)

23: Hamlet ~ Shakespeare (BBC Production.  audio)   (free. library loan)

An Anthology of Twentieth Century New Zealand Poetry ~ O'Sullivan

...... then there were nine ~ Phyllis Johnston (NZ hist)

Other titles.  To select as we go along

Plays & Films, Doco Films

A: Longitude DvD  (content issues)
13: Victorian Slum (BBC)
15: Tudor Monastry Farm  BBC  DvD 

20: The Edwardian Farm   BBC  DvD 

21: The Misanthrope ~ Moliere  (1666)  (play)   

33: Arsenic and Lace ~ Joseph Kesselring (play)

Of Gods and Men (2011)   ? DvD 

___________________________