Do you keep a stocked living book library?

[Mandylubug]

Hi y'all! I've been absent for a bit. We have been homeschooling more CM style this year and I've been mainly on those pages/groups for a bit as we adjust. I somewhat know what I am doing next school year :p HOWEVER, I am looking towards high school.

 

I have nearly 20 pages of great living science, history, literature choices for high school and they all sound great. I want to keep a well rounded selection for my kids to select from and am now just considering to start buying up a few books every month and placing them on the shelf for future use.

 

This goes against my normal style of buying per term or per year but I like them to connect with what they are reading, if it is boring, I want them to find another selection.

 

I must mention we also do not utilize our public library.

 

Am I setting myself up for failure? We had a couple books that were flops this year. Our geography and living history family selection was BORING. I had to wait for replacements to come in and they are okay. But I would really like to have choices at our finger tips without having to go browse a library or order online.

[Meriwether]

Yes, I have a large home library with various typess of books. Many books. Ten thousand books or more. My Ds11 had the nerve to tell me he had read "all of the good books" I had when he was 10. I wasn't amused. We also utilize the public library, but most of the books the kids read come from my shelves. This has a couple of benefits. They can always find something to read at bedtime. The books chosen by me for our home library all meet my standards. Sometimes library books don't.

[PeterPan]

Are your kids the type who will read what they're told, or do they have lots of opinions?  I bought things ahead, and my dd has gone a totally different direction.  The things she self-selects are MUCH more interesting and rigorous frankly.  I wouldn't bother.  

 

You want high school to reflect their interests and pursuits, which means to an extent it needs to unfold as they grow.  It's not like the lower grades where you just tell them what to read and they read it.  

[Holly]

I have a tall bookcase of chapter/easy reading books.  I divided them by general age levels.  Unfortunately, they'd rather read books from the library.  :(

[sweetpea3829]

We have tons and tons of books of various types.  But not nearly enough and I need to shore it up some.

 

May I ask why you do not utilize your public library?  

 

We are known as "power users" at ours...lol.  At any given time, I may have 50 or more books checked out from the two different library systems we are part of.  

[8filltheheart]

Our home library is stocked with classics and other books that I treasure as great writing. We own hundreds of wonderful books. Pleasure reading is from the library, cheap used copies, or bought with their own spending $$.

 

I assign books that I want them to read. Sometimes they are books they would select on their own (definitely with my current 11th grader who loves all things literature), but many of their required readings are not books they would opt to just read. They have to read them anyway. ;)

[almondbutterandjelly]

Yes.  I compile a large plastic tub each year of books that we won't necessarily cover specifically in our studies, but that relate.  The tub also includes grade-level books.  For instance, we did Ancients this year for 9th grade, so the tub included all of the ancient books (a lot.  Including picture books) we own, plus corresponding Horrible Histories books, plus classics and things like The Wind in the Willows and its sequel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and books like that.  My dd, as part of "school", must read for 30 minutes every day from a book from the tub. 

 

Next year, our tub will have tons of Middle Ages books, including picture books because those are still wonderful and contain good information, plus Horrible Histories of the time period, plus dinosaur related books since Paleontology is our Science next year, plus grade-level books like Swiss Family Robinson and whatnot.

 

We buy a lot from Half Price Books.  We also use the library, but not for school so much.  More pleasure reading.  Although we own a fair amount of Harry Potter and Rick Riordan already :)

 

 

[Arcadia]

My oldest read the library clean. I don't have the space even for the books we have now. If I buy with the intention to sell after he is done just to free up the space, I would be spending a lot of time selling. Even my kids assigned reading comes from the library.

 

Growing up my parents home has more space for books because we have a long hallway. However we need to sun and air the older books now and then else they get the musty smell. We were in a humid area.

 

If you have the space, the money and the time to dust the book shelves, go for it.

 

ETA:

At the high school level, unless you have an extensive collection, you might end up limiting exposure to what you have on hand.

 

Also your kids can't cart your home library to college. So being exposed to what is available in college libraries and using what is available is a useful skill to have.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Arcadia

[Kalmia]

We aren't homeschooling any more, and I had considered pruning my large collection of living books (history and science) but I am glad I have not. More than once, I felt the schools were doing a uninspiring job of teaching a particular topic and I have been able to turn to my bookshelves and immediately put hands on a lively book on the subject to supplement whatever textbook lesson my kids had been bored by that day. In fact, just this week, my son came home from school with a poor grade on a history quiz on the topic of the War of 1812. I knew he hadn't put in much of an effort and there were no retakes. Without a moment's hesitation, I turned around, pulled The War that Nobody Won off the shelf, and instructed him to try to reignite his interest by reading it and coming back to me to narrate what he had learned. I am pretty sure, since it was 7 pm that I would not have made a point of going to the library the next day to get him a book on the War of 1812. There is something to be said about the convenience of having exactly the recommended titles in your possession and without due dates. My bookshelves still contain numerous living books on key events in history and important science topics. I amassed them over years of homeschooling from the lists in the WTM and from people's recommendations on this forum. I am glad I purchased them and that I didn't give in to the decluttering bug once we stopped homeschooling. Both the public school my daughter goes to and the private school my son goes to routinely fail to include whole books in their curriculum, relying heavily on textbooks and articles. Without my personal library (or the public library) my kids could easily go through school reading no more than 6 books a year! As opposed to when we were homeschooling when they would have read at least 6 books per week! Because a living book collection is expensive compared to using the library, research your choices thoroughly through online book lists, Susan Wise Bauer's lists, comments here on WTM, and by using the look inside feature on Amazon or previewing it at the bookstore before buying. Aim to purchase the "best" book for each topic (especially in history, there being so many important events to cover) rather than say, twenty books on ancient Egypt. Your personal library is not meant to replace the public library. It is a little treasure trove in your home.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Kalmia

[Mandylubug]

We have tons and tons of books of various types. But not nearly enough and I need to shore it up some.

 

May I ask why you do not utilize your public library?

 

We are known as "power users" at ours...lol. At any given time, I may have 50 or more books checked out from the two different library systems we are part of.

I have personally banned myself. One year I spent 150 in fines. The next over 300. $450 in fines to a library that sucks. We are 20 miles out and I rarely actually find what we need. It makes more sense to just invest in a home library. With four kids, living a decent distance away and still having to purchase books just makes sense. Not to mention, my kids seem to get attached to books and then ask me to buy them after they've read the library book.

[Mandylubug]

Are your kids the type who will read what they're told, or do they have lots of opinions? I bought things ahead, and my dd has gone a totally different direction. The things she self-selects are MUCH more interesting and rigorous frankly. I wouldn't bother.

 

You want high school to reflect their interests and pursuits, which means to an extent it needs to unfold as they grow. It's not like the lower grades where you just tell them what to read and they read it.

They do fairly well with assigned readings. Every now and then they complain and I will re-evaluate. I allowed two books to be dropped this year. There are so many great options, I don't see boring them to death.

[Mandylubug]

I have found any books that are too "boring" for them to read independently, I can read aloud and they enjoy it typically or at least we get through it :)

[GAPeachie]

I am looking at doing this because our library here is rather disappointing.  We are "super users" when I can find what I'm looking for but otherwise, I find myself adding things to my wishlist. 

 

After we move next week, I'm placing a gigantic order for books.  My Amazon carts and wishlists are very full. 

[Mandylubug]

I am looking at doing this because our library here is rather disappointing. We are "super users" when I can find what I'm looking for but otherwise, I find myself adding things to my wishlist.

 

After we move next week, I'm placing a gigantic order for books. My Amazon carts and wishlists are very full.

 

Haha mine too. I use amazon to preview and make a list (very long). Many times I end up buying on thriftbooks or abebooks though.

[Bluegoat]

We have quite an extensive home library, but I don't spend a lot on a new book if I am not fairly sure it will work, for one child if not another.  The bulk of our books come from cheap second hand sources like the Salvation Army, or church book sales, that kind of thing.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Bluegoat