Wow! I got chills just from reading your post. :grouphug::grouphug: and prayers for you.

I have many friends irl but only 1 that I would consider really close. The others I would term as acquaintances--people that I can talk to about shallow, superficial things but don't dare go any deeper. I'm okay with that. :D

The first book that came to mind was The BFG. It has the Queen in it and Buckingham Palace.

We are having a good year as well and I, too, thought that it felt weird. I have been doing this for 9 years and every year has been so stressful with big changes to figure out. This year, though, has been relatively easy with a few minor changes. We switched things around right at the beginning with having Morning Time and History in the mornings and then doing the basics after lunch. This has worked out so well for us. All of us are enjoying our new routine. The only changes to our year is that after trying to do latin for 3 years, I have finally come to the realization that it does not work well for my oldest so she will be doing French instead. Also, Traditional Logic is not working out well so I think we will be ditching it for Art of Argument.

I am so sorry that this has visited your family. The only book that I can think of is 'Tale of Desperaux.' :grouphug: and prayers for you and your family.

:iagree: I was going to recommend these three as well.

:grouphug: and prayers for you.

I read my first Madeleine L'Engle book two weeks ago (A Wrinkle in Time) and I was in word heaven. I love her writing style. We are now reading the next book in the series. I will have to hunt down her memoirs as well.

Bud, Not Buddy is one of my ds's favorite books of all time and The World of Og (that is not the actual title-can't remember the real title) but it is similar to it) by Pierre Berton.

I do not have any advice but after reading your post, my heart is hurting with and for you. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

I had read Lord Pete Wimsey book about 5 years ago. I can't remember the title but it did not strike hard with me so I hadn't read another one since until last month. I read The Nine Tailors as a pre-read for my oldest and I fell in love with it. What a a beautifully written book! I am looking forward to read the other ones now. :001_smile:

Read alouds, at least for our family, is for pure joy. We may discuss but only because it seems to be a natural progression from the reading. I don't force discussions.

We are in our 9th year of homeschooling and, I think, this is the first year where I am so happy with how everything is going. I like our curriculum and how our day flows through. It's so nice after all this time to finally get it right for the first time through. :lol:

I agree! I read lots as a kid but they weren't the classics. I think the best thing about homeschooling is being given a second chance to read all the great children's classics. We just read 'A Wrinkle in Time' last week. I absolutely loved it and can hardly wait to read the next book!

High school was a long, long, long tme ago. My brother and I were just talking about this a few days ago. I did not read good books in highschool but my brother, who is 8 years younger than I am and went to the same school, read many classics like Heart of Darkness. Obviously we had different teachers. All I remember reading in Gr. 12 was Silas Marner and King Lear. I do remember reading lots of poetry and short stories as well.

Winnie the Pooh any Ramona book Charlotte's Web Understood Betsy

Prayers and :grouphug::grouphug:

I am so sorry, Nance. :grouphug::grouphug:

I tried reading 'Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn but it was just too stark for me. I gave up on it. I am now reading "The Best of P.G.Wodehouse." I feel like I am reading an old b&w movie. I love it!

:grouphug: I am praying peace and calm for you this morning. I have been through this before and I know about anxious messes.

I finished The Nine Tailors last week and will be reading the rest of Sayers' books. Nine Tailors was so good! I love Sayers' writing. I finished 'Dark Objects" by Gillian Flynn. I am waiting for her 'Gone Girl' book from the library, in the meantime I am reading her other books. 'Dark Objects' was a bit rough and vulgar for my taste but I had to find out how it ended. I am now reading 'The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland.' The jury is still out on this one.

I am behind, too. I am only on # 30. I just keep plugging along.

We do school in 6 week chunks with 1 week off in between the chunks. I lesson plan during our week off. So I do 6 weeks of planning and putting everything in each child's file folder during that 1 week. I have done it many different ways but this is the way that works the best for us. In a perfect world, I menu plan a week ahead and then do the grocery shopping for that week on Sunday after church. The perfect world scenario doesn't happen as often as I would like. Our daily schedule goes like this: I wake up at 5:30--computer time, devotions, exercise. Make breakfast at 7:30, wake kids up. They eat then do chores (I have a list of chores that they can pick from at this time.) We start school at 8:30. We do Morning Time for about 45 min. then we start history, literature and art appreciation. We do this as a group. Some days this lasts until lunch time, other times we go until about 11:00, then the kids do their individual work while I get lunch ready. After lunch, it is time for the basics. I work with the youngest first for about an hour, then I move on to the middle one for an hour and, finally, I work with the oldest for about a half an hour. By this time, It is about 3:30--4:00 and I am so ready for the day to be over.

We are finishing up Bambi and then will move on to Wrinkle in Time.

I heard about this book on TV yesterday. I ordered it from the library but I am on a waiting list. Who knows how long I will have to wait. I ordered her other books as they were recommended on the same show but, alas, I am on a waiting list for those as well. :001_smile: