This month has been one for the books. And I mean that both literally and figuratively!
I'll be sharing more details soon but for now, here's my October book review.
First up was, The Call of the Wild & Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education.
Even though we've been homeschooling for many years now, I always welcome encouragement and refreshment for the journey. If you've been homeschooling for some time, no doubt you are familiar with the Wild + Free community. Ainsley Arment created this community for families who want their children to receive a quality education at home by challenging their intellect and nurturing their sense of wonder, joy, and awe, giving them the kind of childhood they need. The homeschool approach of past generations is gone. Including the stigma of socially awkward kids, conservative clothes, and a classroom replicated in the home. The Wild + Free movement is focused on a love of nature, reading good books, pursuing interests and hobbies. making the entire world a classroom, and prolonging the wonder of childhood. Whether you are considering homeschooling, in the trenches, been doing it for years, or thinking about quitting, this book is filled with wonderful reminders of why we should stay the course. We've never wanted our kids to replicate what the current education system looks like. We've always enjoyed the freedom and adventure our homeschooling lifestyle gives us. Even though homeschooling is becoming more popular, I feel like there is still a stigma to it that most people simply do not understand. We don't feel like our children are missing out by not going to traditional school, we feel like they are gaining SO MUCH MORE of what really matters in life. I'd recommend this book to any homeschooler, no matter what stage you are in.
Next up, I read Dr. Meg Meeker's Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons.
Boyhood used to be a time of freedom and fun--of catching bullfrogs, playing tackle football, and roaming the woods--but not anymore. Rambunctious, high-spirited boys--healthy boys--nowadays face an increasingly hostile world that doesn't value the unique gifts of boys, that discounts their masculine virtues, and that undermines what boys need to become mature, confident, and thoughtful men.
In Boys Should Be Boys, Dr. Meeker reveals:
* Why the most important factor in shaping your son's behavior isn't "peer pressure" (it's you)
* How to preserve your son's innocence (and why it's essential to help him grow up)
* Why boys need less, not more--whether it's computer games, organized sports, or lessons
* How to talk to your son--the pitfalls that moms and dads face
* Why it's not normal for teenage boys to be moody and rebellious
* Why teaching your son about virtue isn't an option, it's a necessity
Full of practical advice and examples from her own medical practice of more than twenty years, Dr. Meg Meeker reminds moms and dads that there is no greater blessing--and no greater responsibility--than raising healthy, strong young men.
Masculinity is being attacked in our culture and it's starting with our young boys. Ideas about gender neutrality have hurt the natural development of boys and the current social influences boys face cannot be left to passivity. This was an excellent book about how to raise a boy into a healthy man. Now I want to read her other book about daughters.
Lastly, I read this aloud to the girls.
The Girl With 7 Names by Hyeonseo Lee.
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realize that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told “the best on the planet”?
At age seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family.
This was a remarkable story of courage, bravery, heartbreak, and triumph.
Apparently, her TED talk (which I have not seen yet) has been viewed over 17 million times.
Such a fascinating look into communism.
It makes you really appreciate the freedom we have.
37/50
As if this year could not get any weirder, let's all brace ourselves for the crazy election day we're about to face as a country. We have voted according to our values. We have hope this great country of ours will prevail against evil. But our ultimate hope does not depend on who wins this Tuesday.
May God shed His grace on Thee.
