Grammy and Gramps helping daughter Johannah with her Five in a Row curriculum. The Raft by Jim LaMarche

Do you enjoy reading The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois? Then try two of his other books. The Alligator Case The Horse in the Camel Suit

Bob, Son of Battle by Alfred Ollivant Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement.


We hear a lot today about burnout in homeschooling.
….. I lie in bed at night and dread the thought of starting school
 the next day. A life of drudgery is not what I envisioned a few short 
months ago. It’s such a struggle to get the kids to do anything.
 The only time I disliked […]

The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds, illustrated by Paul Lantz Chapter 1 THE SPANISH GUN Edward watched intently as his father struggled into the blue uniform coat that he had had made when he was elected captain of the Guilderland militia. It was a fine thing, he thought, to have Captain Teunis Van Alstyne […]

Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement. Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain — Neuroimaging research shows excessive screen time damages the brain “Taken together, [studies show] internet addiction is associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions involving emotional processing, executive attention, decision […]

Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement. Strawberry Girl The Little Fire Engine Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison Flood Friday Houseboat Girl Judy’s Journey Prairie School Now It’s Fall The Little Sailboat The Little Farm Papa Small High-Rise Secret Texas Tomboy Blue Ridge Billy Ocean-Born Mary […]

Best children’s version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress

Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement. Here we have a thirteenth-century Scotland overrun by tyrants — English soldiers doing the bidding of their King Edward who was bent on nation-building and greed. Here we have a freedom-minded people who acknowledge none but the laws of God and […]

Post may contain affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement. A Pocketful of Cricket by Rebecca Caudill (illustrated by Evaline Ness) is my new favorite children’s read-aloud. On his way home with the cows one evening, six-year-old Jay catches a cricket and makes it his friend. A Pocketful of Cricket was […]