I had never heard of Middle Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Lord of the Rings until I entered my freshman year at Hillsdale College in 1995. The only real fantasy I had read up to that point was the Chronicles of Narnia. I quickly discovered that practically everyone on campus loved The Lord of the…
Author: Sara Masarik
Curators of things Good, True, and Beautiful
Philomena
Reading aloud is hard. It is work, it requires focus, it demands stamina, and it usually requires good habits. Reading aloud, like almost anything truly valuable, is hard to do. Over the years, I have heard great mentors give the same piece of advice: choose a book you love. Reading aloud can be much easier…
The Terrible Speed of Mercy
Just over a year ago my Facebook book club decided that we wanted to harness some of the fun we saw in books like 84 Charing Cross Road and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. We developed a pen pal group and started exchanging letters with book friends all over the world. As…
Planning Reflection
“…the more a man looks at a thing, the less he can see it, and the more a man learns a thing the less he knows it.” – The Twelve Men, GKC Like nearly all of the homeschool moms I know, I approach term planning with a mixture of anxiety, guilt, and eager anticipation. I…
Little Britches #1: Father and I Were Ranchers
“Ralph Moody’s books should be read aloud in every family circle in America.”—Sterling North In 1950, Ralph Moody enrolled in a writing class at a local community college and was inspired to write his first book, Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. The book went on to serve as the first of an eight…
Burgess Bird Book
In all of my childhood, I never heard of Thornton Burgess. It took motherhood and homeschooling for me to become acquainted with his genius and I am very sorry that I missed out on knowing him sooner. I personally do not love his writing voice, but I love his approach to the natural world and…
How The West Was Won
In April, 1959, Life Magazine started what they called “a great new series” entitled “How The West Was Won”. The series included photos and stories of the American expansion into the West. A story of the struggle between the settlers, wagon trains, railway lines, cowboys, ranchers, and Native Americans who were all fighting for different…
Rory Story Cubes
Several years ago I *really* discovered Rory Story Cubes from a homeschool friend. Until that time, I understood that these funny little dice were a family game. Gathered around a table, families would roll the dice and then make up stories based on the pictures rolled. Interesting, potentially fun, but also anxiety producing in my…
Enemy Brothers
“England and her Allies aren’t just fighting the Axis countries – they’re fighting the evil spirits that have laid hold of Germany and Italy and Japan.” War always turns things on their heads. Real life during WWII was especially good at turning things inside out and upside down. During that creatively brutal time, so many…
Daddy Long Legs
Have you ever seen the movie “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? If not, go do it. Really. Right now. It’s not perfectly moral but it is adorable. And, well, it has books and book shops at the center of the plot, and that just makes it charming. In this delightful little…
The Growly Books: Begin
This series, like The Green Ember books, promised to be family books. Books with something special to offer to everyone in the living room during family read aloud.
A Jane Austen Education
“I was twenty-six, and about as dumb, in all human things, as any twenty-six-year-old has a right to be, when I met the woman who would change my life.” – William Deresiewicz When our book club was discerning a few books to read in 2016, my dear friend Diane suggested A Jane Austen Education. I…
84 Charing Cross Road
Marks & Co.84, charing Cross Rd.London, W. C. 2England Gentlemen: Your ad in the Saturday Review of Literature says that you specialize in out-of-print books. The phrase “antiquarian booksellers” scares me somewhat, as I equate antique with expensive. I am a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books and all the things I want…
Pattern Blocks
My children love pattern blocks. Absolutely love them. Years ago I bought our first set and quickly learned that these were going to become an essential toy in our love of learning home. if you’re looking for something to promote logical thinking…They promote logical thinking, cultivate pattern recognition and they help to prepare the mind…
Year of the Black Pony
“It took stiff-necked courage and grit to ranch in Oregon country in the early 1900’s.” The Year of the Black Pony is a story about family and fortitude more than it is a story about a horse. The horse, however, is a character worthy of being in the title. This hard but beautiful story is…