culling home library

I would not cull them all at once, unless you are just especially annoyed by some/all of them. I’m sheepishly not sure what books you are talking about, but there may be a place for them, regardless. My husband is always reminding me that books are easily stored, so it’s best to wait awhile. If you are not wanting to keep something, remember that the children could possibly use the pictures for projects at some point. I’ve learned the ‘wait’ lesson the hard way…

As for series, are you talking about chapter books or series books such as a particular publisher? We have some of both (but then, Miss Mason may not be proud of our library!)

Blessings,

Cindy

Let me guess…Usborne? My kids never liked these much and I have trouble with any book that does not lend itself to easy narration.

I think DK and Usborne books can be useful as supplements to CM studies, but certainly not as the main fare. My children, especially my ds, enjoy looking at all the interesting things in the DK eyewitness books that correspond to our history studies, it’s like walking through a museum in a book! Personally, I think they have a useful place on the sidelines of a CM education, but ultimately it’s your decision if they aren’t a good fit for your family.

As for the literature/fiction series you mentioned, I don’t see those as being too twaddly. It’s pretty easy to tell when a series is from twaddle-land as opposed to sets of stories that can stand on their own feet, full of inspirational heroes and heroines. I remember when I was a young girl being pressured to read the Sweet Valley High series… now that’s twaddle! I love the fact that there are so many wonderful books for our children to read now, we are truly blessed to have so many titles available. Either way, I hope you make a decision you feel good about 😀

Rachel

You guys make me laugh, I love finding ‘kindred spirits’ as Anne would say:) In our  house, we have a mix of early, fast readers and late, slower readers. Eyewitness books have helped the non readers ‘stay in the loop’ with our history studies while the older ones were reading. I also hope to use them as my son and I take on the challenge of learning to write paragraphs and essays. The short concise descriptive paragraphs in them are perfect for learning to do 3 word outlines and narrating as well. So, they have their place on our shelf. having said that, I don’t plan to use them for a full menu, just as a side plate:) Same with Usborne-a lot of them are, well, lame. As a former distributor I can say that, but I also see them getting better, losing the cartoony animations and covering science, particularly, quite well. Again they helped spark the interest of my non readers and get them moving, then the books were moved away

Have fun!

Heidi