Books for Thanksgiving

Here is a list of recommended reading for Thanksgiving from Copper's Wife, an experienced homeschool mother and book collecter:

This is by no means an exhaustive list of children’s books about Thanksgiving, but these are a few that I will be reading to my boys and the grandbabies during the next few days.  These are all books that have a permanent home in our Heritage Library.   While this list might be a bit late to help you find some good books for this year’s Thanksgiving celebration, you’ll have it to refer to for the next year as you look for books for your own Heritage Library.

Click here for the list

Still here!

I apologize for the long and sudden break. I struggle with severe chronic fatigue and have had a relapse over the past month. I'm afraid anything not neccessary to life has been put on hold for the time being. I will post again as I am able, Lord willing.

Thanks for your patience!

Sometimes on the Rock I tremble
Faint of heart andweak of knee,
But the Steadfast Rock of Ages
Never trembles under me.

~ Author Unkown

Attention Entrepreneurs: New from Franklin Springs!!

My Audio School

My Audio School is a wonderful new site operated by a homeschooling mother :

"My Audio School exists to give children safe and easy access to classic books, interesting educational radio drama, and television and radio broadcasts of historic events. Each of the over 150 full-length books on My Audio School is displayed in such a way that the child can download the book to Mp3, read it for free online, stream the book at the touch of a button, or listen to individual chapters according to a given day’s assignment. Each book is thoughtfully “illustrated” with beautiful fine art or appropriate photos.

My Audio School also offers a large collection of over 200 radio and television broadcasts, from old-time radio theater performances based on classic books and historic events to newscasts of unforgettable moments in history.

Originally created as an aid for dyslexic students seeking self-accommodation, My Audio School has proven to be a help and a delight to students of all ages and abilities. From the emerging reader to the excelling high school student, My Audio School delivers informative, enjoyable audio content on a large variety of school subjects."

About 25% of the content on My Audio School is free with the rest available at a small yearly subscription. This beautifully done, helpful, timesaving resource is one I am greatly looking forward to using!

Free Character/Habit Training Cards and Notebooking Pages

Click here to download these free character building cards from NotebookingPages.com ; a wonderful resource for training our children in good habits.

Also, be sure to visit the Homechool Freebie of the Day as the notebooking pages that compliment these cards are currently being offered for free! (Don't delay as I'm not sure how long this offer will be available!)

Book Club from Media Angels

From Media Angels:

"Receive a free back pack or t-shirt with the purchase of one of the Truth Seekers Mystery Series action-adventure novels. The characters are homeschoolers who find themselves in life changing adventures in every book.

Buy one, two or all three to complete the set. Literature guides are available for all of the books as well.

For details and information click here and then click on the BOOK CLUB link for all the details.

These books were written by then-14-year-old-homeschool student, Christina Gerwitz and her mom, author, Felice Gerwitz. Discounts are available for bulk purchases. Email felice@mediaangels.com for more information."

Ballantyne Book Review: "The Pioneers" and "Fast in the Ice"

Ballantyne the Brave is an inspiring site dedicated to the works of Ballantyne and G.A. Henty and is especially a wonderful resource for young men.

Click here to read a book review of R.M. Ballantyne's The Pioneers & Fast in the Ice (Both books contained in one volume).

Click here for even more book reviews.

For another introduction to the works of Ballantyne click here.

Note: I was quite interested to read that Ballantyne's books concentrate more on geography, whereas Henty's books are geared more towards history. What a perfect combination!

Sale: Art Books and Supplies at the Old Schoolhouse Store

From The Old Schoolhouse Store:

"This is a great time to gather up your art supplies and art curriculum while our summer prices are hot! We always have a great selection of art items, but right now you'll find a lot of our top sellers on sale, and you only have a few hours left. These prices are good until midnight, July 17. Remember, there's ALWAYS free shipping at the Schoolhouse Store."

Jim Hodges Audio Books Sale

On sale at Jim Hodges Audio Books:

By Right of Conquest: With Cortez in Mexico by G.A. Henty Instant Download - On sale for $15.00 (You can listen to Chapter One for free!)

All 3 Boys of Grit titles and True Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans can be downloaded for only $30 from now until August 15, 2009. After that they will be gone (You can listen to the first chapter of each of these titles as well. Just click on the title's link to go to its individual page.)

Chore Card System

Recently, I have been praying for ideas for a good, but simple, chore system for our young ones. Tonight I came across this wonderful and inexpensive idea for chore cards. This is exactly what I've been looking for and is so simple I feel a bit sheepish that I didn't think of it on my own. ;-).

I can't wait to get this system up and running and am thanking the Lord for answering my prayer.

Free Gardening E-Book from Olde-Books

Visit Gardening for My Family for details on how to obtain a free copy of The Book of Sports: Gardening, a vintage book reprinted as an e-book by Olde-Books.com. Offer good just until tomorrow (Wednesday, July 15)!

Free American History Printables

Download the following American History Resources at HomeschoolPatriot.com:

The Declaration of Independence

George Washington's Rules of Civility (Here is a copy in a nice, printable PDF format. The version I linked to in an earlier post was not formatted so nicely for printing.)

Ben Franklin's Virtue Chart

1623 Pilgrim Thanksgiving Proclamation

And more!

Olde-Books.com

Here is a website I happened across recently: Olde-Books.com. These folks offer a selection of quality, out-of-print books in e-book format. They have some titles I am quite looking forward to purchasing!

Free Downloads: Vintage Counting and Alphabet Charts

Black and White Alphabet and Counting Charts

Color Counting Chart

Wouldn't these look cute in the school room?

Quote of the Week ~ July 8, 2009

The Reading Mother

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.

~ Strickland Gillilan

Curriculum Reviews

Here is a link to some wonderfully informative curriculum and book reviews (grouped by subject) from two experienced homeschool mothers: Marvelous Mondays. I very much enjoyed these and found them to be a great help. Highly recommended!

Free Dover Teacher's Sampler

I have been a fan of Dover Publications ever since I discovered their series of historical paper dolls as a girl. As a mother now I appreciate the hundreds of wonderful titles they offer that are just right for homeschooling families.

Dover offers a weekly free e-mail sampler for teachers that includes pages from their many books for children. Pages include brain-teasers, science projects, stories and poems, nature illustrations, coloring pages and more. They also offer special sales for teachers. Click here to sign up.

Please note that Dover is not a Christian company and not all of their books are edifying. They do carry books that I would not recommend, so please be cautious as you peruse their catalog.

Free Three Week Samples of Tapestry of Grace

Summertime is planning time for many mothers as they look ahead to a new school year. Over the next few weeks I hope to link to some helps along those lines. To begin, here is a free sample of a popular curriculum to assist you in your decision making :-):

"Welcome to your personal tour of TAPESTRY OF GRACE: the award-winning classical, integrated unit study turning the heads of reviewers and homeschool moms across the world. Covering History, Writing, Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Art, Hands-On Learning, Government, and more, Tapestry is more engaging, more extensive, and more flexible than ever. " Click the links below to order your free sampler CDS:

"Go to Egypt"

"Sail to the New World"

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Book of Indians

Here is a link to lesson plans and notebooking pages to go along with Holling C. Holling's Book of Indians

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Paddle to the Sea

If you are looking for a good study on the Great Lakes, Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling is a treasure. Paddle-to-the-Sea is a little wooden Indian in a canoe, carved by a young boy up north in Canada. Paddle is sent on a journey to the ocean and the story follows him as he travels through each of the Great Lakes (and has many adventures along the way!). Full of wonderful details, drawings and information on the areas surrounding each lake, this book was much enjoyed in our home. Though it's been a year since we read it, the children have still retained quite a bit of what they learned.

Here are a few free online resources to go along with the book:

Paddle-to-the-Sea with Google Earth: "An exciting new program that uses the travels of Paddle to link real-time Great Lakes data to Google Earth’s mapping application. Tracing the path of Paddle's journey to the sea, it includes themes, key words, and Web sites for each chapter of the book." Click here for more information and to download

Paddle-to-the-Sea Film on YouTube: I saved this old film until we finished the book. While it did leave out many details it was still enjoyable, and it was neat for the children to see little Paddle on the big lakes.

Geography and Paddle-to-the-Sea: This is a helpful post from a homeschooling mother on how she used Paddle with her children.

Upcoming Sale July 13-20 on Classic Prayers for Children

From Laurie Latour author of Future Christian Homemaker's Handbook:

"I just posted a special one-week Christmas in July sale on our Classic Prayers for Children book. My husband and I rarely fill orders directly because much of our time is taken with Ted's daily dialysis that we do at home. CBD carries the book, but our little gem gets lost amid the hundreds of thousands of titles they carry! For the week of July 13 - 20, we are offering Free shipping when people order directly from us. If they order 2 or more books, they also get a 10% discount." Click here for more information!

Free Download from Sense and Sensibility Patterns until Midnight Tonight!

Click here to download the Ca. 1905 Ladies Home Journal Article, “Overhauling Last Year’s Wardrobe”. This download is free until midnight tonight (Monday, June 29)!

Sense and Sensibility Patterns Sale: 15% Off All Products Through July 5th

If you are a seamstress now is a wonderful time to add to your pattern collection! Until midnight, July 5th all products are on sale from Sense and Sensibility Patterns; including e-books and e-patterns.

I have been a fan of these beautiful patterns for years and highly recommend them!

Free Fourth of July Crafts and Recipes Ebook

Click here to download a free e-book of patriotic crafts and recipes from FaveCrafts.com

Homemade Playdough

Here is a great recipe and photo tutorial from Hearts and Trees on making your own playdough!

How to Enjoy Reading Frugally

From Passionate Homemaking:

Here are some of the ideas that were shared along with some of my own. Reading is my hobby. I love sneaking in snippets of reading while nursing my baby, during nap time, and before bed as time allows. But…the cost of books surely does add up. How can we pursue the joys of reading and all the benefits it brings without breaking the bank?

Read the rest of the article here (Excellent tips for finding books inexpensively!)

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Longfellow

Visit My Audio School to read or listen to The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Seabird Lesson Ideas and Notebooking Pages

Here is a link to lesson plans and notebooking pages to go along with Holling C. Holling's book Seabird.

20 % off All Products at A Journey Through Learning

Journey Through Learning is currently offering 20% off on all their products, including CDs, instant downloads and printed materials! Just use coupon code "20off" at checkout (without the quotation marks).

Now would be a great time to purchase their Fourth of July Lapbook or their Quotes from American Patriots Copywork!

Free Online Previews of Two Books by Holling C. Holling

Here are links to online preview copies of two of Holling's books. You can read parts of the books online and look at some of the beautiful, full color illustrations.

Tree in the Trail ( Note: I have not read this book yet, but in browsing through it though it seems that Native American medicine men and superstition are portrayed in a positive light. I'd use caution with this book, though it is possible you may be able to edit it as you read it aloud. Again, I haven't read this one yet, so perhaps it is not a large part of the story. If you have read this book and have any input on this please leave a comment! It is worth looking at the pictures if nothing else! Please see my note at the end of this post on Holling's books.)

Pagoo (I haven't read this one either so I can't vouch for it 100%!)

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Pagoo Lesson Ideas and Notebooking Pages

Here is a link to lesson plans and noteboooking pages to go along with the story of Pagoo, the little hermit crab (And a wonderful study of life in tidal pools).

Living Books With Science and Geography: Holling C. Holling

From Living Books With Science and Geography:

"Charlotte Mason advocated using living books in all of our studies. I love the idea and agree that our children should always read excellent books filled with creativity, challenging vocabulary, and firsthand accounts that will spark their imagination. So when it came time to introduce a new subject (Geography) to my children this year, I started looking for a good living book to add into our curriculum. I discovered an entire series that can be added into Geography and Science by Holling. " Click here to read the rest of this helpful post

We are great fans of Holling C. Holling's book and hope to collect them all. I consider them high on my priority list for our family library! :-) They are beautifully illustrated and packed full of information written in an interesting story form. They have been reprinted and are available from Christian Book Distributors . I love to collect antique and vintage editions of books if possible and older copies of Holling's books are usually readily available at reasonable prices on Ebay or from used booksellers.

Edited to add: Though Holling's books were written many years ago and do contain the values of an older era, his books are not written from a distinctively Christian perspective and therefore they do contain an occasional reference to evolution or promote another worldview in a positive way. I have not read them all, so I'm not sure how much of a problem this is in all of his books. In the books I have read these things were very few and easily edited out or discussed with the children. I try to be extremely careful both with the books I read to my children and those I recommend to others. The Holling books I have read have been excellent for the most part but please do use discernment and caution as you read all of his books.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is always full of helpful homeschooling tips and ideas. Visit this week's edition here!

Quick Note on the Difference Between E-books and Online Books

I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know how I differentiate between online books and e-books. I am classifying E-books as books that you can download as a file and an online book as one that is in an online format, and not downloadable.

Hope that clears up any confusion in how different books are labeled. :-)

Free Download: What Homeschooling Moms Need to Know About Computers

Motherboard Books is offering a free download of What Homeschooling Moms Need to Know About Computers, their 11-minute audio workshop with plenty of advice for homeschooling moms. Click here to download!

Nature Study: Frog and Toad Sounds

The other night my 7 year old son and I were outside, when we noticed a strange animal sound. We could not figure out what it was, but my husband guessed that it was a frog and he was quite right.

I was quite surprised that a frog could sound like that as it was nothing like your nice, normal, ordinary "ribbit ribbit" or "glub glub".

Here is a link to some very different frog sounds... some I hope never to hear if I am ever lost, alone in the woods at night (And I also really hope never to be lost, alone in the woods at night period). Our frog turned out to be a gray treefrog.


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George Washington's Rules of Civility - Free Handwriting Lessons and Online Book

Recently, I went looking online for a free e-version of George Washington's wonderful booklet Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour as I thought it would be helpful to memorize these with my children. Not only did I find the book online in several places I was especially delighted to find this treasure available formatted as handwriting lessons! I'm hoping to have my 6,7 and 8 year olds work on one each week... memorizing as they go :-)

Handwriting Lessons and Copywork

Online Book

Quote of the Week ~ June 20, 2009

When Mother Reads Aloud
When Mother reads aloud, the past

Seems real as every day;

I hear the tramp of armies vast,

I see the spears and lances cast,

I join the thrilling fray;

Brave knights and ladies fair and proud

I meet when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, far lands

Seem very near and true;

I cross the deserts’ gleaming sands,

Or hunt the jungle’s prowling bands,

Or sail the ocean blue.

Far heights, whose peaks the cold mists shroud,

I scale, when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, I long

For noble deeds to do...

To help the right, redress the wrong;

It seems so easy to be strong,

So simple to be true.

Oh, thick and fast the visions crowd

My eyes, when Mother reads aloud.

~ Author Unknown

Free Sugar Creek Gang Audio Adventures !

Beloved Books is offering two Sugar Creek Gang CDs for just $2.00 shipping! Click here to order.

Free E-book from Knowledge Quest: Globalmania

Here is a great giveaway from Knowledge Quest:

Globalmania - Master World Geography in Just 7 Months (Regular retail value $12.95). You also have the option to receive 6 free historical biographies, part of their What Really Happened... series. This is a limited time offer and will only be available for 2-3 weeks so don't delay in getting your copy! :-)

Click here for more information and to download the e-book

Freebie Fridays from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Have you subscribed to the Freebie Fridays E-newsletter from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine?
Published weekly it will arrive in your inbox every Friday and contains a potpourri of free items and specials (often seasonal):

"Do you love freebies? Finding those wonderful little treasures on the internet that help make homeschooling easier and more fun? Then you're sure to love our Freebie Friday newsletter. Freebie Friday guides readers to free resources for homeschooling and offers a new "buy one, get one free" special each week. " Click here (and scroll down a bit) to subscribe

Free E-book for Spreading the Word About Books on a Budget!

To celebrate the beginning of our new blog, and to thank folks for spreading the word, we are offering a free copy of our e-booklet Noble Womanhood: A Collection of Quotes until June 30, 2009 ! To receive a copy just mention and link to Books on a Budget on your blog and then contact us here with your name, link to your post and e-mail address. If you don't have a blog, you can e-mail 10 people and copy us in using the e-mail address in our profile.

Future Christian Homemaker's Handbook: Now Available Free Online!!

Here is a link to a wonderful treasure that has generously been made available for free online by author Laurie Latour:

"Welcome to the FCH Handbook - online, and FREE! You may make copies for your own use and to use with any groups you teach. These are the same lessons that appear in the Handbook; we are pleased to make them available through this website and hope they will enable you to teach these important life skills to your children or FCH group."

Click here for more information or to download

If you prefer the printed version it is still available through Christian Book Distributors at this link: Future Christian Homemakers' Handbook Print Version

Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving Ebook Giveaway!

From HeavenlyHomemakers.com :

"I love gardening and preserving!! In this ebook, I share helpful tips I’ve learned about having a simple, yet successful organic garden. Read about how to plant, what to plant, when to plant, planting potatoes in both a garden and in a container and much more!
Beyond gardening, you’ll read my ideas about making the most of your farmer’s market!
Then comes my favorite part of the ebook: Freezing and canning all the wonderful produce from your garden or farmer’s market!!"

Click here to enter the drawing to win a free copy

Free Garden Crafts E-Book

From FaveCrafts.com

As summer approaches, you might want to spruce up your garden with some decorative flower pots or painted watering cans. What better way to get the latest crafting ideas than by using our free Garden Craft eBook?

Click here to download.

Teaching Art to Children

"Choose subject matter according to your children's interests or according to subject that you would like to expose them to. With all the raggy newsstand photos, I like my daughter to see women being beautiful and modest for a change. A handsome young man being knighted for my son Andrew, paintings of sibling interaction, and beautiful girls in dresses for my daughter."

Click here for some helpful tips from Hannah at Cultivating Home on teaching art to children .

Giveaway: Free Family-Pass to the Botkins' "Christians at the Crossroads" Family Conference

Visit Old-Paths.com for information on how you can win a free family pass to the Botkin family's Christian Families at the Crossroads Conference in Columbus Ohio this July!

The Botkin family has been a wonderful source of encouragement and wisdom to us and we highly recommend their upcoming conference!

American History Stories Vol. 2 (Online Vintage Children's Book and Audio Book)

From American History Stories Vol. 2

The Declaration of Independence

"At the beginning of the war the colonists had not expected to be free from British rule: indeed they did not wish to be. All they did ask was that they might be treated fairly. But since they had begun to fight, they grew more and more convinced that now nothing less than perfect independence of the mother-country ought to satisfy them.

Then the leading men of the colonies met together at Philadelphia to draw up a writing, in which they declared themselves no longer subject to English rule. Five men, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingstone, were appointed to write it out; and when this was done every man in the Congress signed it.

It had been agreed that as soon as the Declaration was adopted the old bell-man should ring the big “Liberty-bell” that hung in the tower of the old State House, in order that the great throng of people outside might know it. This, as I suppose you all know, happened July 4, 1776. "

Click here to read or listen to the the whole book !

The New Engand Primer (Online Vintage Children's Book)

From the New England Primer:

"Good children must,
Fear God all day, Love Christ alway,
Parents obey, In secret pray,
No false thing say, Mind little play,
By no sin stray, Make no delay,
In doing good. "

Click here for the online version.


"The New England Primer is the single most influential Christian textbook in history. Most scholars agree that most, if not all, of the Founding Fathers were taught to read and write using this volume which is unsurpassed to this day for its excellence of practical training and Christian worldview. First published in 1690, the goal of the Primer was to combine the study of the Bible with the alphabet, vocabulary, and the reading of prose and poetry."

Click here for more information or to order a beautiful reproduction from Vision Forum.

Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary - Free Online

"It is reported that Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary contains the greatest number of Biblical definitions given in any reference volume. Webster considered "education useless without the Bible". " Click here to search the Dictionary

If you prefer the printed version, a beautifully reprinted edition is on sale at Vision Forum for 25% off:

"This gigantic, oversized, heavy book is perhaps second only to the Bible in terms of importance in your home. When Noah Webster first published this book, he understood that whoever defined the words of a culture would capture that culture. So he sought to give the American people a dictionary in which words have meaning in terms of their relationship to Jesus Christ. In fact, this is the only comprehensive dictionary of the English language in print that seeks to communicate a distinctively biblical worldview, even to the point of using Scriptures in the definitions.

Your children can join the ranks of those generations of American leaders who were weaned on Webster. Our book is sturdy and well bound with acid-free paper and a gold foil stamp. A worthy investment" Click here to purchase

Stories for Children (Online Vintage Children's Book)

From Stories for Children by Cousin Sarah

"The Nuts
The fine Nuts in the basket looked very tempting, but Eddie's mother had given him some, and told him not to take any more. But after she had left the room, he ran to the table, and by standing on tiptoe, got enough to fill his pocket, and then ran back to his play in the corner. But Eddie knew he had done wrong, and when his mother came in, he did not like to stay where she was, so he put up his blocks and went into the garden. But here he felt very unhappy, for he had disobeyed his kind mother; he wandered about for a while, feeling very uneasy, but, at last, he thought he would do what he knew was right--go and tell his mother what he had done, and how sorry he was. When he told her, she felt very sad to think that eddie should do so, but was glad that he was so willing to confess his fault. Children should obey their parents."

Click here for the whole book: Stories for Children by Cousin Sarah

Letters from Egypt: Introductory Sale On a Newly Reprinted Geography Book

From Simply Charlotte Mason:

"Letters from Egypt - A fascinating living geography book from 1879!

My Good Friends, By God’s providence I have been led to settle in this distant land, and can but seldom visit England; however, I do not forget friends there, for whom I always have felt great interest. One day it came to my mind that I might do some little good to old folk at home—and perhaps to the young, too—in spite of being so far off, and having a large school to look after, and several other things; and this was my idea:—that I would write some simple familiar accounts of the land of Egypt where I dwell . . .

Mary Whately’s letters paint a fascinating picture of life in Egypt in 1879. And her insight into customs, culture, and climate ring true even today. Plus, many Bible quotations and allusions are woven throughout the letters, along with illustrations of how life in Egypt reminded Mary of those passages. Letters from Egypt is a living geography book that will touch your mind, your imagination, and your heart.

Living Geography—Learn about the people, customs, and climate of Egypt in these letters from a Christian friend.

Biblical Insights—Gain a greater understanding of the culture and how it is reflected in so many Scripture verses."

The book is available in both electronic and printed formats and is on sale until June 26, 2009. You can also read the first few chapters online for free!

For more information click here

A Vision for the Future - The Heritage Library

This is an excellent article on building a family library! Highly recommended reading.

"A few years ago, the Lord prompted me to begin building our home library. I began filling our shelves with books of all sorts - biographies, books on nature and scientific discovery, historical fiction, reference books, books on theology, doctrine and Christian living, music books, art books, fiction, poetry - you name it, we have it! I have since begun calling our home library our “Heritage Library”. Here’s why. My vision is to establish a very fine, private library that will be available not only to my children, but to my children’s children" Read the whole article here

Books for Independence Day

Being able to read book reviews by other mothers had been an immense help to me in deciding how to best spend my money. I hope to link to many of those reviews here, as well as post some of my own. On that note here is a helpful review by Copperswife on reading for the 4th of July: Our Favorite Reads for the 4th of July

A Child's Garden of Verses (Online Vintage Children's Book)

From " A Child's Garden of Verses :

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet,

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

Robert Louis Stevenson

Click here for the whole book!: A Child's Garden of Verses

Easy Lessons for the Little Ones at Home (Online Vintage Children's Book)

From Chapter 1 of Easy Lessons for the Little Ones at Home :

"M Y DEAR CHILD ---Can you tell who made you? Who gave you your little hands and feet, and your bright eyes and soft hair?
Was it your dear papa, or mamma? No. They could not make your little body, or put the breath in your mouth.
God made you, and gave you to your dear parents; and God has kept you alive every day since he first made you."

Click here for the whole book: Easy Lessons for the Little Ones at Home

Vision Forum Sale: The Classic Literature Collection

Vision Forum is our very favorite book publisher and seller. They offer a wonderful selection of books, both newly written and reprinted. They also offer excellent sales through the year. Here is information on their current special :
"Vision Forum is offering a tremendous deal on a very special hardback classics collection — the books our mothers and fathers read. Some of these books, like The Swiss Family Robsinson, are overtly biblical, emphasizing such principles as the sovereignty of God and the importance of honoring parents. Others are less explicit, but nonetheless reflect the values of a Christian worldview in which right was right, wrong was wrong, and men knew the difference. Together, their message of faith and fortitude are as relevant today as when they were first penned."

Free, Online Vintage Children's Books

Here is an excellent site that offers a homeschool curriculum based almost completely on free online books: An Old-fashioned Education

I have also collected many links to free, online reprints of children's books and plan to post them here in categories (history, reading, art, etc) to make them easily obtainable for you. Stay tuned!

The Virtues of E-books

Although I much prefer real, solid, printed, hold-in-your-hand books to their virtual relations, I have come to appreciate many aspects of e-books:

1. They are usually available for immediate download. If you are like me and are a type Triple A person who has a hard time with waiting, you will especially appreciate this feature.

2. They are often very inexpensive. Some publishers are now offering both print and electronic versions of the same book. The e-version is usually quite a bit cheaper, plus there are no shipping charges. Be careful though as there are e-books out there that are over-priced.

3. They are often free. Many companies or authors will offer an e-book as part of a special promotion or as an incentive for joining their mailing list. Homeschool Freebie of the Day is a site that links to limited time offers on free e-books and other products. Hundreds of excellent, old, out of print books have also been made available free online.

4. Hundreds of excellent, old, out of print books have been made available for free online! This is my favorite use of e-books. I love old books and while I am trying to collect hard copies for our library the e-versions have been quite invaluable as well. If an antique book you want to use is not quite in the budget at the moment, you can often find an e-version of it online to use until you are able to purchase the hard copy.

Many wonderful old gems that would otherwise be lost, lonely, dusty and unknown have been found and published online as e-books and are currently only widely available in this format. (Though you can always hunt for hard copies on Ebay, at antique stores, and through used book sellers). Yesterday's Classics is a delightful site that is reprinting old children's books and offers you the choice of reading them free online or purchasing the printed version.

5. They can help you decide how to spend your money. I have included many old books in our homeschool curriculum, but there have been times when I was not quite sure if I should use a certain book. Being able to look through the free version online has been a huge help in deciding if I do indeed want to purchase a hard copy or not. There have been several old books I was pretty sure I wanted to use and purchase, but after reading the e-versions I decided against them. (Though many old books are wonderful, use caution. They are not all worth reading.) Others I have been excited to purchase as hard copies to add to our library.

While e-books will never quite hold a candle to good 'ol printed ones they have earned their place as respected members of society. ;-)

(I'm sure I have not listed all of the virtues of e-books so if you have something to add, please feel free to comment!)

Geneva Bible Pages Sale!

Well, this isn't exactly a link to a book on sale, it is a link to individual -pages -from- a -book on sale, normally not a great way to stretch one's dollar. This, however is an exception! Geneva Bible Pages is offering an incredible sale on their framed, 400 year old pages from antique Geneva Bibles. These would make wonderful family heirlooms and would look lovely hanging in a library or school room. Shipping is also free on all U.S. orders, making this a wonderful time to purchase a small piece of history.

Quote of the Week ~ June 10, 2009

“Get books into your houses, when you have not the spring near you, then get water into your cisterns; so when you have not that wholesome preaching that you desire, good books are cisterns that hold the water of life in them to refresh you.... So when you find a chillness upon your souls, and that your former heat begins to abate, ply yourselves with warm clothes, get those good books that may acquaint you with such truths as may warm and affect your hearts.”—Thomas Watson (1662)

Welcome!

Welcome to Books on a Budget! I have been a lover of books since I learned to read. As a homeschooling mother of 6 little ones of my own now it is the hope of my husband and I to provide a large collection of high quality, God honoring, spiritually enriching, character building, educational books and other resources for our children.

Like most other families though, we do not have unlimited money to spend on books and other homeschool materials (Alas! ;-)). I am always on the lookout for a new treasure to add to our growing home library and in my quest I have been delighted to discover many excellent free and frugal educational resources. Thankfully, it is quite possible to have a rich, full education quite inexpensively on a one income budget!

I will be sharing many of the resources I have compiled here on this blog including book, DVD, and CD reviews, tips on purchasing high quality, "living books," links to special sales, free e-books, helpful websites and blogs and more!

Thank you for stopping by; I wish I could offer you a cup of tea :-) I hope you enjoy your visit!

Coming Soon!