Choosing Living Books – Why one and not another?
Questions pour into Heart of Dakota every day. As a placement specialist and homeschool mom of 25 years, I love connecting with homeschool families! Together, we find answers to those questions, and we make some pretty amazing action plans. These talks have been such a blessing, that it occurred to me they might be to you as well. And that is where this “Let’s Talk” series came from! So, busy homeschool mom… pull up a chair, take a much-deserved break, and “Let’s Talk” about… Choosing Living Books – Why one and not another?
The Paraphrased Question or Query
My fifth grade son didn’t really love history or books at all for that matter until we switched to HOD last year. He steadily grew to enjoy history and reading books in Preparing Hearts for His Glory. Now, this year, in Creation to Christ, he surprised me by thoroughly enjoying Streams of History: Ancient Rome! He also enjoyed Streams of History: Ancient Greece, though not quite to the level of Ancient Rome. Anytime I find a book he loves, which used to be so rare and is now becoming more common, I search to see if there are more books by an author. I found other books in this series, but I see HOD only schedules Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. So, just curious – when HOD is choosing living books – why one and not another? I’d love to know!
Why Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, but not the rest?
Heart of Dakota (HOD) is literature-based, and it is full of incredible ‘can’t put them down books!’ Our sons have too many favorites to count. I’m so glad to hear your son is enjoying Streams of History: Ancient Rome! As far as your question, the author of Heart of Dakota (HOD), Carrie Austin, carefully chooses books specifically for the age and maturity level of each HOD guide. Or, sometimes she chooses books to add a needed element to the history study done at that time in the guide. Additionally, she may schedule books to add another point of view or differing perspective.
Or, she may schedule books to bring to life a little-known aspect of the time period that is needed to better understand it. Or, finally, she may choose books in order to bring forth a spiritual awareness of the time period, to bring the listener closer to the Lord, or to share ways of dealing with trials and tribulations in a God-honoring way.
Let’s Talk the Details
Carrie has many things she is weighing when choosing living books – the author, the age of the student, the reading level of the book, the number and details of photos/pictures/maps, the narrative storyline of the book, the content covered, state standards, the length of the book, the Christ-centeredness of the book, the time period of the book, etc.
In the instances she chose to use a Streams of History book, she felt it best served the portion of history she chose it for. Carrie never uses one book series or one author of books in isolation, but rather alongside other living, narrative history books written by a variety of excellent authors. She follows that guideline for book selection for every guide.
So, for each year of history, the chosen resources maintain a healthy balance of living books that still meet academic and Christian criteria. For the next guide, Carrie preferred other books to Streams of History, and I think your son will certainly love those books too! And who knows? He may even find some new favorites! In the meantime, that doesn’t mean your son can’t enjoy reading the rest of the series for free reading just for fun!
