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books for the mother to read
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Good question ebcsmom! I have 6 little ones 10 and under plus #7 will be here in a week and a half. I read in the early morning after scriptures, in the afternoon after scriptures during quiet time/naps (whole house goes down for rest from 1pm-2:30pm or longer for nappers), while I’m stirring something at the stove or cooking, in the afternoon/evening if nobody needs me, and in the middle of the night when I’m feeding babies, etc. I don’t spend hours on cleaning with my built in cleaning crew, we work as a team. School work is done by lunch.
I read mostly just before bed. I get in at least 15 minutes before I shut off my light and sometimes as much as 45, but always at least 15. I also read and journal for about 15 minutes in the morning – scripture, spiritual reading. In addition I keep a book ( and knitting) in my purse and sometimes when I arrive at church, doctor’s office early or a practice or picking up/dropping off a child I grab a few more minutes. My children are used to me hearing me say, “Okay, we’re here early I’m going to take 5 minutes and read a little.” They are usually carrying on and entertaining one another, so it doesn’t phase them. I used to read in the afternoon when everyone was having quiet time, but now only seem to be able to get that in about once a week. I just grab a little time for it as often as I can.
I actually read lighter material while I am “occupied” (ie, answering nature…) Also while waiting (as others have mentioned) and just before bed I sometimes do to wind down.
I do occasionally try to read when the kids are playing (like on the weekends) as I do want them to see reading as something people choose to do.
Just a few quick suggestions:
Anne of Green Gables series
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskel
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
(you already mentioned Jane Eyre)
Les Miserables (I don’t think I would ever tire of this book. Excellent!)
Counte of Monte Cristo
A great site to browse old books including comments/reviews (as well as a place to download them for free for your kindle, ipad, etc) is manybooks.net
HTH!
Dana
I may have three books going at a time, but that doesn’t mean that I am plowing right through them either. I take the little stolen moments while I can. =) Usually one of the books I have going is of a devotional or inspirational nature, and I usually try to read a bit of that when I do my Bible reading in the morning. (I try to get up before the kids do). The novel, I usually read a chapter or so in the evening before I go to bed. I’m not one of those people who can just lay down and fall asleep, even if I am tired I need something to help me transition to bed. When I can, I like to sit down for a bit in ther afternoon while the kids are napping/resting/otherwise independently occupied and read something with a cup of coffee, but this doesn’t always happen. The others…I get to when I can. I’ve been slowly working through CM’s Home Education most of this year in bits and pieces. At any rate, I find moments when I can read. It’s never as much as I’d like (I’ve always been a voracious reader), but I think it’s possible to make time for things that are important to us. Reading is important to me, so I do that instead of other things (TV, pursuing other hobbies, etc).
FWIW!
Jen
I think it’s possible to make time for reading as well. Now, it’s not going to be hours and hours when you have many young children. Duh. LOL It can be a real challenge. But there are a couple of things to think about—one is, what are you showing your children about what you think is important? If you think reading is important, it won’t have much impact on them if you don’t live that out in front of them. Even when my kids were small, I felt it was important to occasionally sit down, right while they were playing or something, and read for myself, even if it was only 5 minutes. That is a powerful example. My children all WANTED to read for themselves and soon learned to do so (at which time one should IMMEDIATELY schedule a family “reading hour” where EVERYONE including mom gets to read!) I also wanted to read TO my children to show how important that is, but this is distinct from reading for yourself. If I want my kids to read to themselves, I figured I needed to model that.
Also, for me, I would have had immense trouble keeping it all together without some reading time. For me, it’s better than therapy. It was the single most important factor keeping me from going nuts, after prayer! AFter a while, the kids picked up on this and every so often, after a particularly hard day, one of them would push me down and bring me a book and tell me to read so I’d feel better! LOL
As for WHAT to read, keeping lists of things to read, and gleaning ideas from others–there are networking sites–for BOOKS. I love that! Who needs Facebook, I don’t blog–but I am very attached to Goodreads.com and keep a page there with all the books I’ve read, reviewed, kept notes, can organize them by topic, keep a list of things I’d like to read in the future, see what my likeminded friends are reading, and comment on each other’s books and reviews. Love it! Oh, and I have my highschoolers keep up there, too. Makes it simple to know what they thought of a book and to use books they read on their own time to put into my transcripts. If you do drop by the site, I”m bookwormmichelle 🙂
The closest reference from Charlotte that comes to mind is (1) her personal schedule and (2) some advice she gave to her student teachers.
If you look at her typical daily schedule, you’ll see that she had a variety of books going, read for a few minutes at different times during the day.
She also encouraged her student teachers to keep studies going on the side: “I know that all good teachers have some study each day in preparing for the next day’s work, but besides this study two or three subjects, definitely on your own account. Do not think this is a selfish thing to do, because the advantage does not end with yourself” (The Story of Charlotte Mason, p. 162).
So many good, good thoughts and insights everyone. Thank you. And, Bookworm, I love the Goodreads.com suggestion. What a great tool, among many! Sonya, what fun to look at CM’s schedule and think about my own. And Dana, thank you for the titles. You are all a blessing. Happy reading, thinking, learning!
The quote is not originally an Andreola quote. It comes from a PR Article on Mother Culture.
The wisest woman I ever knew–the best wife, the best mother, the best mistress, the best friend–told me once, when I asked her how, with her weak health and many calls upon her time, she managed to read so much, “I always keep three books going–a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for!” That is the secret; always have something “going” to grow by. If we mothers were all “growing” there would be less going astray among our boys, less separation in mind from our girls.
You can view the PR article here in Ambleside’s PR section:
http://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR03p092MotherCulture.shtml
HTH
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