5 New Family Favorite Books 2024

It’s been another school year with reading ruts and reading marathons, but here are the most memorable books that we found ourselves in this year.

1) The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

We are on book three of this series and the kids are still asking to read more. First published in 1941, the story revolves around 4 siblings living in New York right before and during World War 2. The children shine with independence and creativity and realistic, but mostly happy relationships with one another. She invites you into the family accomplishments and bonds that are the magic of childhood, but too often under praised in our modern world.

2) The Lost Princess by George MacDonald

I found this thin chapter book on the shelf of a used bookstore and recognized the author as the writer who inspired C.S. Lewis to faith. The fairy tale is sharp and too the point, shedding light on the selfish bias of humans and our ability to choose right. It follows two girls and their parents as they interact with “the wise woman”. Each night I was eager to hear what would happen next. The vocabulary needs explanation at times for elementary listeners. Undeniably, it’s a book I could read over and over again.

3) Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

I know, it seems obvious because who doesn’t love these stories, but I had NEVER read them! We were addicted to the humor, her irreverence and sweetness and unrealistic strength. She is the perfect hero with soul and friendship and not an ounce of meanness. Read all of them!

4) Papa is a Poet by Natalie Bober

This is a picture book biography about Robert Frost. When I read a picture book and share it with my husband, and he also lights up, I know it’s special. Maybe it spoke to us because Frost took a risk to follow his path as a writer, maybe because the book highlighted his love for his family. It allows you to feel their closeness and the special way he viewed the world and was motivated to share that with others.

5) Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

I found this in the free library box at the park. I thought maybe it would be good read for my daughter. I skipped to the last chapter to see if I liked the ending. (Don’t hate me for it.) I was transported back to my childhood and I realized this was a long-lost book/friend. Tidbits were still vivid in my memory. Every time I think of Ellis Island, I remember a story about a young boy throwing toilet paper around and an older child being scared of severe punishment. For them it was a shock and initial window into the American dream to realize America was a place where paper was not a precious possession. This imprinted anecdote was from this book!!

I wouldn’t suggest this book for young children as it is honest about the brutality many Jews faced in Russia, but I would suggest Gittel’s Journey: an Ellis Island Story as a picture book companion. (This also beautifully draws you into the story of a Jewish immigrant girl.)

My 5 Best Books of 2023

Every year in my homeschool journey I discover a few books that I can’t help but add to my shelf as my inner librarian gives me a high-five. But the best part about books, other than staring at them, and stacking them and of course reading them, is sharing them with friends!

1. The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson

   My family loved this as a bed time read-aloud book. It’s a chapter book and includes words that are higher level comprehension, but the themes and humor were understandable to my 7 year old. It’s based on an English girl who ends up raising a family of yetis and their eventual relocation to her family estate. I have found that Eva Ibottson’s books relish in the peculiarities of unique characters and champion empathy, a love of animals and humor.

2. Guns For General Washington by Seymour Reit

   This short chapter book paints a picture of the early days of the Revolutionary war in a way that is intriguing and historically accurate. My 12 year old read it independently.

3. The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky

   This is a picture book history of the importance of salt in the ancient world. It’s fun and captivating.

4. The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

   This is a newer chapter book in the lovely style of this well know author. The theme is emotional yet some how she keeps it light and hopeful. It’s about a girl who has lived through trauma in the death of her family, but finds unexpected comrades to help her live her life bravely and do her best to bring justice. It’s set in Medieval times.

5. We are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines

   I love to spend time in the dirt watching things grow. My little ones come back this book again and again. The illustrations are inspiring and the theme is growth in ourselves and our gardens.

Real People

When I first arrived in Tennessee I didn’t know where to start making meaningful connections. (I’m so thankful for all we have now!) I didn’t have the emotional energy to meet new people every day while I worked through a season of personal loss. We were on the tail end of COVID-19 restrictions and all the social limitations it had created. My children needed to get out of the house and connect to the world beyond me!

The library become a refuge, one of the first places that made Tennessee feel like home. (Shout out to Leiper’s Fork Library! It was the perfect size and atmosphere for my family in that season. It was small enough that my toddler couldn’t get lost, but had an enticing selection for all of us.) We later discovered Spring Hill Library which we love as well.

It was in this season of books that I started to delight in the picture book biographies I pulled off the shelves. The stories of real people living with resilience in the time and place they found themselves, fed me with strength in that tired season. I saw a light in my children as they listened to the words and absorbed the captivating illustrations. As it says in the biography, Harriet Tubman by Ann Petry, “But each one who heard the stories, each one who told all of them, or only parts of them, would feel stronger because of her existence. Pride in her would linger on in the teller of the story as well as the listener. Their faith in a living God would be strengthened, their faith in themselves would be renewed.”

I remember reading about the Wright Brothers in To Fly, by Wendie Old, about Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in The Camping Trip that Changed America, by Barb Rosenstock, and about Sequoyah, The Cherokee Man who Gave his People Writing by James Rumford.

Over the next year I devoured children’s picture biographies and searched them out. These books became the foundation for what we now read in OldSchool Day Class. I have a list of books about inventors, naturalists, scientists, artists, men, and women of all the ethnicities and nationalities I can find.

I intend to keep building my collection and share it with others (website coming soon) but until then check out the biographies on the Read Aloud Revival biography list! Find a cozy moment without distractions and share one with your child, even if they are “too old” for picture books. There are also more and more graphic novels about historic figures coming out. Check out Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. My kids love The Underground Abductor and Major Impossible.

Until next time,

Amber Porter

A morning at Day Class

At 8 AM the room had a chill, but by 9 the heater and the smiles of these 15 children have warmed it. We sit in a circle on the rug and answer questions, interrupted by giggles and random video game trivia that both bubble out of the boys and girls as they participate. Each one chooses an ocean or a continent to name on the map, and most of them get it right this week.

I read and they repeat the poem about snow that we are memorizing. I enjoy watching certain children shyly push through their reserve to attempt to say it from memory, while others confidently and happily change the words and find a way to make it through.

Soon we are scattered at tables, a few still sit on the rug, and each one works on handwriting or draws as I read out loud a book about Asian fairy tales. I hand out journals afterwards and they answer a fun question, “What’s your favorite place to eat?” My co-teacher, Melissa and I prompt them to add more details to share with the group and assist the young ones with writing.

I am starting to notice distraction and energy, so we send them outside in the field to play. Even though it’s cold, they all race out. We watch them playing tag and changing the rules to make a better game.

When we are all back inside we make mini clay sculptures: a hamburger, an apple, trees, ninja turtles, a stick of dynamite, a blob and of course a multi-color snake. Then lunch and play: basketball, foursquare, pingpong, sidewalk chalk. Then back again for science, talking about pelagic zones and the creatures in the intertidal zone. What’s high tide? What’s low tide? Did you know that 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water?

The day is done and I find myself folding chairs and looking forward to next week as I bundle up my own children and head for home. We currently have Day Class on Tuesdays and plan to open up Thursdays soon too.

Finding your Rhythm

Hi, Amber here. I am a home school mom extraordinaire, mediocre cook and housekeeper, aspiring gardener, hesitant adventurer, and teacher at OldSchool Day Class and Gym Class. Recently a parent mentioned to me that participating in one of our weekly Gym Classes had fallen into place as the missing piece in their weekly school rhythm. Of course, I was happy to hear that, but it also resonated as a kindred thought process, similar to the mental churning I find rumbling in the back of my mind and scribbled in my planners and notebooks. What is the rhythm my homeschool family needs?

Many of us who home school grew up in public or private schools. We’ve chosen the change of home schooling inspired by particular goals for us and our children. For me, I wanted more time outdoors, less time lost commuting to and from school, lessons geared towards individualized strengths, and learning that was triggered by imaginative stories that we could share as a family.

But when I reflect on my school years and my favorite times and best lessons they were all in the context of the walls of a school, surrounded by peers and teachers, not family. I can’t use that model of school and I don’t want it, but without bells and backpacks and lockers and lunch lines, what is school? Maybe that sounds silly to those of you who have home schooled for a while, but it’s been a journey to choose what my at-home model is (nonetheless have confidence in it).

I need three things to make my home school week flow.

1.) Curriculum that I feel is adequate and meaningful, but doesn’t include excessive busy work. Also, I need some of it be formatted for my older children to work independently.

2.) A school day rhythm that can shift and change with other circumstances but gives my children an idea of what to expect. For example: breakfast, play, morning circle, read-aloud, drawing, math, lunch, language arts, independent reading. It’s always changing, but it’s a basic idea that keeps the chaos at bay.

3.) A weekly rhythm. Children love to look forward to outings and rewards and socializing. How do we replace recess? How do we encourage meaningful friendships and teach our children to explore the world and interact with other adults and peers? We don’t want to be too busy, but we don’t want to be hermits either!

Since we started our Gym Classes, our daughter has started counting down the days until Gym Class each week. I love that. It’s become part of her rhythm. What do you include in your weekly rhythm that enriches your lives but also allows family dynamics to flow smoothly?