Winter 2019

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Across the Street
& Around the State
with the Homeschool Iowa Facebook Discussion Group
Each Monday in the Homeschool Iowa Discussion
Group on Facebook we have a feature we call “Across
the Street & Around the State.”We ask questions and
seek to learn more about each other. Our discussions over
the past few months have varied from what our members’
favorite read-alouds are to what they are trying new in their
homeschool this year to what their current concerns and
struggles are. We’ve talked about curriculum and shared
ideas on allowances and chores.
We know that not everyone sees those posts on Facebook,
so we decided to bring that discussion to the magazine,
choosing some of our most popular topics to share and ex-
pand on. For this issue, we’re talking about one of a home-
schooler’s favorite topics - books! Check out our questions
and the answers we received from the group members
and let us know if you end up adding some books to your
home library! Email with any
additional book suggestions you have, and you may see
your suggestions included in an upcoming blog post on the
Homeschool Iowa website!
All About Books!
“That’s like trying to choose a
favorite child! Some of our fam-
ily favorites were: A Lion to Guard
Us; Pilgrim Kate; Witch of Black-
bird Pond; Sign of the Beaver; Calico
Captive; Johnny Tremain; Early
Thunder; Amos Fortune; Free Man;
Carry on, Mr Bowditch; Of Courage
Undaunted; Daniel Boone by Daugh-
erty; and CaddieWoodlawn.” - Cathy
“The Bible” -Julie
“Across Five Aprils; Freedom Train,
and hands down, almost all of the
wonderful Landmark books!” - Brady
“Ah, too many to choose from!
My kids are 2, 4, and 6, and their
favorites from this past year have
been Little Pilgrim’s Progress;
Chronicles of Narnia; Tales of the
Kingdom; and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.”
- Abigail
“Impossible to pick just one, but
I did really enjoy reading TheWIng-
feather Saga books aloud.” - Danna
“The Cross and the Switchblade
was wonderful for us when the
kids were a little bit older. I think
they were 9 and 13. We read this as
one of our Christian biographies.
The other was The Hiding Place by
Corrie Ten Boom. They were both
very inspiring!” - Krista
“Our favorite summer read-aloud
years ago was The Penderwicks. My
kids laughed so hard! We had fun
reading that one! - Mindy
“The Green Ember; The Pender-
wicks; Henry Huggins; A Year with
Miss Agnes; Little House, and so
many more.” - Krystal
“Hardy Boys and The Chronicles
of Narnia!” - Kathryn
“We love listening to the Focus
on the Family Radio Theatre book
dramatizations, especially of the
Narnia series.” - Jenn
“The Ransom of Red Chief and
Owls in the Family” - Julie
What is your favorite family read-aloud?
“Any recommendations for good, wholesome picture
books for our little girl?”
“My girls love The Little House
on the Prairie picture books. They
do wear fun dresses, even if they
aren’t quite princesses! I also rec-
ommend Boxes for Katje.” - Alicia
“Princess Grace and the Little Lost
Kitten is a great book, and there is a
whole series available.” - Jennifer
“A cute book is Goodnight Princess
by Michelle Robinson” -Janis
“We used a lot of nature books
also. Butterflies are a wonderful
study for younger children” -Laura
“The Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse
series is cute and has goodmessages
about friendship and perserverance.
And it’s very pink and attractive to
little girls. (FYI: This little cowgirl
doesn’t actually get a horse. She
gets a bike, so it’s accessible for folks
who will never give their little girls a
horse!).” - Laurie
“I’m looking for a book series for my 16-year-
old daughter. She enjoys mysteries.”
“Try Ranger’s Apprentice. It’s more medieval adventure,
but most books contain some mystery as Rangers are kind of
like the CIA of the time. They are very clean and enjoyable to
read, and women have equal footing to the men. The main
characters start at 15 years old and age through the series.
The kids pestered me to read them, and I did this past sum-
mer. They were quite good.” - Brooke
“Father BrownMysteries by G. K. Chesterton,Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters, The Lord Peter Wimsey series (or others) by Dor-
othy Sayers, Sherlock Holmes by Arther Conan Doyle. These
have all been enjoyed by my daughter (16) and me.” - Tamara
“The Circle C Andie books by Susan K. Marlow. She has
a new series for older girls. Another series that may be for
younger girls is the Camp Club Girl series.” -Rachel
“The Ted Scott Adventures series by FranklinW. Dixon (best
known for the Hardy Boys) is about a pilot who gets into
and out of scrapes all the time. They are out of print now,
but I’ve been able to buy them from and
other used book resellers. If she doesn’t mind a little fan-
tasy, we’ve enjoyed the Brian Jacques Redwall series.” - Jenn