Monday, I shared a few notes from the Great Homeschool Convention talks I attended. Today, I'm sharing some of the resources I purchased for our home library.
I love the vendor exhibit hall! It's my favorite part of going to a conference. However, over the years, I have greatly changed the way I view the vendor hall. In the beginning, I was tempted by shiny book covers, the smell of a new binding, and the flip of fresh pages. I was quick to jump at purchasing, eager to go home and try the latest and greatest, only to become frustrated and burned out when my attempt to recreate school at home failed. Thankfully, for my children's sake, and my own, over the years, I've become more wise.
I now use the exhibit hall to pare down and cull. Instead of jumping at the latest and greatest, I create a wide list of possibilities ahead of time. I then map the vendor hall to find specific vendors that sell things on my list. Even though most companies offer sample pages online, I really prefer to page through the entire book in person. I've gotten pretty good at knowing whether or not a book/program will work for my kiddos simply by flipping through it and taking a few minutes to skim around. By using this method, I've been able to cross more things off my list, than I actually purchase to bring home.
This year, at the GHC, some purchases I did make were the Dover Life in a Medieval Castle and Village coloring book for Ruben to color as I read aloud in the fall. We are heading into the Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation so I think it will be a good fit. I also bought A is for Art by Lanaya Gore for Levi. This beautiful picture book, sold by Simply Charlotte Mason, was the splurge I couldn't resist. Next, I purchased The Space Between, A Guide to the Iliad, as well as pre-ordered The Journey Home, A Guide to Homer's Odyssey, both by the CiRCE Institute. We will most likely not be using these next year. However, the conference pricing was too good to be true so I purchased them now, knowing we will use them in the future.
The following are a list of titles that I purchased for our home library and am considering for future studies:
Eusebius, The Church History by Paul L. Maier
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare (Oxford School Shakespeare)
The Heidelberg Catechism by G. I. Williamson
Josephus, The Essential Writings by Paul. L. Maier
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe
A Castle with Many Rooms by Lorene Lambert (Simply Charlotte Mason)
Winning His Spurs by G. A. Henty
The Dragon and the Raven by G. A. Henty
Confessions by Saint Augustine
Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede
On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
The Rule of St. Benedict in English, edited by Timothy Fry
Lastly, for mother culture, I purchased Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott, Why Freshman Fail - and How to Avoid It! by Dr. Carol Reynolds, and Better Late Than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Also, I'm waiting excitedly for Old Western Culture: Romans, Aeneid by Roman Roads Media to arrive. I plan to take this course to test the water, you might say, for possible future use of the Old Western Culture courses in our homeschool high school. I will definitely be blogging through my study, so stay tuned!
While in Cincinnati, Riley and I did venture a few blocks one evening for dinner. Fountain Square was beautiful with green leaves and flowers in bloom. Something that is still a few weeks away here in WI.
Best of all, was arriving home and waking to Levi's snuggles. He was excited about his new GHC souvenirs. The red super hero cape, compliments of Memoria Press, is too cute as he runs around the house aiming to save the world that he holds in his hands :)
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