L.M Montgomery Reading Challenge

I've decided to participate in the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge offered by Reading To Know.  My goal is to read the very first book in the Anne series, Anne of Green Gables.  Believe it or not I have never read this classic children's story!  I watched the entire series on PBS and loved it and I've always wanted to read these books but never have.  So this seems like a good excuse to do so.

If you'd also like to join this challenge you can do so at Reading to Know.  She is even having a contest to go along with the challenge. If you haven't read any of these books, only a few or want to reread them join me!  I'm hoping to get my daughter interested as well.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Great Backyard Bird Count

Time again for the Great Backyard Bird Count.  A really great way to contribute to information about bird species and their numbers while learning about the birds in your area.  The time commitment is vey small.  Just 15 minutes a day of looking for birds in your yard and then reporting them online.  All the information you need is at the site including some information for teaching children about birds.

The Handbook of Nature Study - FREE!

I have often blogged about and linked to the Homeschool Freebie of the Day site.  It's one of my favorites for sure.  This week they are featuring two great resources for followers of Charlotte Mason and Amblesideonline.org.  First Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study.  They have divided it into parts and are doing one part a day.  Right now you can start with Monday's download of part one as it is still up.  But who knows how long? 

In addition this week is a free download of a radio program about the poet Eugene Field and a free e-book of his poetry.  Field is near and dear to my heart as he is a fellow Missourian.  This was featured yesterday but is still available!  Check it out quick!

Fun for a Rainy Day

This video even shows how it was done at the end. 

Free Habit Training Download

Habit training is foundational in the Charlotte Mason Educational Philosophy.  But it seems to be one of the hardest things for me to do.  Perhaps that is because of my own habits that need retrained!  If there is one thing I have learned it is that we all have bad habits to remove and good habits we need to replace them with.

Simply Charlotte Mason is providing a free download on habit training called Smooth and Easy Days With Charlotte Mason.  If you aren't familiar with Charlotte Mason SCM is a great resource with lots of articles on this method and how to practice it.  SCM wrote my favorite habit training book Laying Down the Rails.  I urge you to get both!  It's a New Year and a great time to start building good habits.

I'm sure many of you have already experienced the delightful period drama called Cranford based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and produced lavishly for television and shown on PBS. The novel takes place around 1840 and is about life in a small town in England.  You can find out more here.

But what's REALLY exciting is that for a limited time you can view all the episodes online!!!!!  I would definitely not delay in watching these because who knows how long they will be available??  And it's so charming you'll really want to.

Even MORE exciting is that after you watch all three episodes of the first production...you'll be ready to watch Return to Cranford which is starting January 10th!!!  Suddenly all this snow we have seems much cozier.

Gaskell is one of my favorite authors and Masterpiece Theatre also aired a lovely production of her delightful novel, Wives and Daughters. You can see it on YouTube of all places.  Or borrow it from your library...or buy it.  It's really worth it.  Oh and definitely read the books!  They are not only humorous with an excellent story and charming, but also feature spunky young women that your daughters might enjoy.  I certainly did.

The Book Seer

I'm in love with this...