Teen Guide to Homemaking

A number of years ago I picked up a stack of books at a thrift store for about $.25 a piece. Among them, and much to my amazement, was a textbook which was entitled, Teen Guide to Homemaking, a book originally published in 1961 (more than 52 years ago) and written for home economics classes in schools. Without giving it any further thought, I placed it on the bookshelf along with numerous other titles.

Before long, it began popping up all over the house; I found it under beds, on the coffee table, under the pillows on the couch. Even today, this is one of the most popular books in our home library.

The titles of the chapters and the information covered are simply fascinating to my children; making friends, choosing clothing and hair styles, personal grooming and general health (such as bathing and nutrition), cooking, decorating, sewing, entertaining and family relationships. Basically, it is about growing up, and, just like most children who are not being brain-washed into thinking that life exists in a cubicle, they are engrossed with the subject!

Of course, this book was not written from a Christian perspective, and I am now very conscious of the "social engineering" that was going on between the lines. Still, there was enough Christian influence still in existence so that there was even a photo included of a young lady holding a Bible.

As a homeschooling mother, I have so often felt apologetic about taking as much time to teach our children about practical living as we do about the essential school subjects. Transcripts don't have slots to record all of the best learning that really goes on in a young person's life.

But there is so much more required of us than just gaining a degree or forming a career path. The total of our lives is much richer than what we do; it is who we are and what we offer to others that counts the most. 

Homemaking is the best place to put all that we learn into beneficial practice. By thinking of our homes as a microcosm or miniature community in the scheme of a much larger design, we can use every discipline to create a wholesome atmosphere in which human beings can thrive, and, more importantly, where seeds can be planted and nurtured until there is fruit for God's Kingdom and glory!

That wonderful little book gave me quite a lot to think about indeed.
 

King Alfred's English

Language study is a hobby of sorts for me. Besides looking up the definition of a word, my spaghetti-brain will often get me lost on some outrageous rabbit trail to find its origins...sometimes I get so wrapped-up in the pursuit that I forget what word I was originally looking up!

This is why, as soon as I saw it recommended on Good Reads, I just had to get my hands on a copy of King Alfred's English, written by Laurie J. White.

It took me about 6 weeks before it was available from the library, but it was worth the wait!

This is not another snooty, dry textbook on the origins of our language, but reads like a novel that is hard to put down! This is the type of book that demands that I find "free-time" to read it!

Laurie is a Believer in Christ, and so her history is full of references to the workings of Christianity throughout the history covered in her book. She even focuses on how the King James translation of the Bible came into being.

Besides this, she has a website that offers a timeline that is so amazingly wonderful I just had to mention it! Her Pack of Tricks is also quite amazing! (there is even a teacher's page with worksheets and tests)

Even though I am able to read this book for free from the library, I am putting it on my prayer list as a "must have," worth every penny I could spend for the education of my children here at home!

If you have a child (or children) who consider spelling and grammar, or even history, "boring," just sit them down and read this book with them--you'll not only be engrossed from the very first page, but you will even find yourself laughing in places!

*At the writing of this post I did not receive any special consideration in any form from the writer or publisher of this book--I just liked it so much I had to share!