I’m so excited to finally be  participating in “A Year in Books” over at the lovely blog A Circle of Pine Trees.  Every month she writes a post about a book she is  planning to read that month and then she has a link up so everyone else can share the books they are reading as well.  I found her blog almost a year ago and have planned on joining every month, but this is the first time I’ve actually done it.  Also, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the book I am reading this month. Laddie: A True Blue Story, is one of my all time favorite books and picking it up again is like being reunited with a best friend.  Oh, how I have missed Little Sister and her big brother Laddie.

I am rereading Laddie this month for a book club I am hosting and I can’t wait for the discussion.    It’s going to be a great one.  There are so many lessons to learn from from this book, everything from statesmanship and education, to family unity and faith in God.  It’s wonderful to become reacquainted with all the characters; the parents because of  the great examples they were to all who knew them,  Laddie because of what an outstanding, hardworking, upright man he was, and  Little Sister and her love of the outdoors and faith in God.

I am also putting this at the top of our list for our next family read aloud.  I can’t believe I haven’t read this to my kids yet.

Last month, I read  another of my all time favorite books,  A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century, by Oliver DeMille.  In this book, Oliver addresses the myth that one person can educate another person.  We can inspire others to learn through great teaching and mentoring, but ultimately the education we get is up to us.  Oliver also outlines the the phases of learning and the 7 keys to great teaching.  The principles outlined in this book are what I use in my home for homeschooling my children.  It was great to reread it again and to be reminded and inspired about why I do what I do every day in homeschooling my children.

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