How to use those great books?

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  • March 30, 2016 at 7:54 am
    Aimee
    Participant

    I’m just curious… am I the only one with a growing number of books that don’t get used to there full potential? I go to used book sales and purchase great living books that look worthy of a Charlotte Mason education and then I’ll use curriculum that is already planned and uses books other than what is already on my shelf! I often think I’ll get these books of the shelf to use as go-alongs when studying a certain topic, only to forget they are there!

    So what do you do? Get rid of every beautiful book you haven’t used? Have a system for using what is already on your shelves? Plan your own studies based on what’s you already have?

    For example: I have a science and nature study shelf with experiment books, nature study ideas, The Story Book of Science, The Burgess Seashore Book etc… If I use a planned science study, it may not use any of those books and I may feel that I don’t have room in the schedule for more science. But I want to use those books! We’ll be going to the beach this September for the first time in 5 years, so good time to read the seashore book. Should I just read it through the summer? Any creative ideas? I want to use what I have instead of always buying more. Just not experienced/confident at detailed planning. Is it too random to just use the Charlotte Mason planning guide and use the books I have?

    Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts!

     

     

    March 30, 2016 at 8:27 am
    RobinP
    Participant

    Well…you could start a homeschool lending library and bless those in your community with living books they probably can’t get anywhere else.  ?

    http://childrenslegacylibrary.blogspot.com

    But, you can certainly read them during the summer, leave them out as free reads, take breaks from your regular curriculum to do a special study, or create your own.  We have 18,000 books and have only personally read a fraction of them, but other families use them and they are there every time my boys say, “Momma, do we have a book about _____?”   Books in the home are a beautiful thing.  I would keep them if possible, even if you never get around to reading all of them.  There will hopefully be grandchildren!  ?

    March 30, 2016 at 5:41 pm
    Tristan
    Participant

    We do a few things for this!  First, when we begin a new topic (science, literature, or history related) I gather ALL the books that relate.  Those get prime placement on a shelf or two that the kids know to look through. I also keep some of my books packed away in the attic by topic or time period.  Right now we’re finishing up our history studies for the school year so we’ve gone from creation to Roman times.  All those lovely American History and modern times books?  Packed away, and they have been all year.  Science has been life science so much of our books on other science areas have been packed away for the year.  NOT all, for science.  I keep at least 1-2 books out for each science area usually (ex: a few about space, a few about rocks and minerals).

    These two things really help!  First, because we don’t have as many books to wade through and second because we have gathered all the books that may relate to what we’re studying so it is easy to say, “Go grab one book off the school shelves for quiet reading.”

    March 31, 2016 at 12:47 pm
    Aimee
    Participant

    Thanks!  Those are great ideas!  Of course I’d love to have my own library but I’m not quite ready for that yet (I still have too many little ones.).  But, oh Robin, the pictures of your library make me drool! ?  I think I do need to have a special place for books on current topics we’re studying. I’ve thought about baskets or rain gutter shelves.

    Does anyone have any idea what is the best way to label book shelves? I think labels (by topic) would cause my children to look at all the books with new interest.

    <span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>I started keeping some books packed away but mostly the boring stuff like math levels we aren’t using. I may need to pack more away if my husband doesn’t build me a library soon!</span>

     

    March 31, 2016 at 7:22 pm
    Tristan
    Participant

    Another thought, we have one book shelf unit that holds books so kids can see the covers.  It makes a HUGE difference.  I can almost guarantee that if I stick books on this shelf they will be browsed by my kids.  You can search ‘forward facing bookshelf’ on Amazon to see what I mean.  I know some people have used rain gutters to make shelves that face forward too.  Then just rotate new books to this particular shelf each week.

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