Kara (00:00):
If later on you decide, okay, maybe we don’t need fireworks and Cirque Du Soleil to show up. I don’t know. I don’t know what people do for parties. I’m not a party person.
Kortney (00:11):
We always have Cirque Du Soleil. It’s not a party until the trapeze comes out.
Sarah (00:23):
You’re listening to the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. I’m your host, Sarah MacKenzie, homeschooling mama of six and author of the Read-Aloud Family and Teaching from Rest. As parents, we’re overwhelmed with a lot to do. It feels like every child needs something different. The good news is you are the best person to help your kids learn and grow and home is the best place to fall in love with books. This podcast has been downloaded seven million times in over 160 countries so if you want to nurture warm relationships while also raising kids who love to read, you’re in good company. We’ll help your kids fall in love with books and we’ll help you fall in love with homeschooling. Let’s get started.
(01:14):
Hello, hello. It is March and I am happy about it. March means melting and that spring is on the way and sunshine is here or on the way, at least that’s what it means for many of us in the Northern hemisphere. Today, I’ve got Read-Aloud Revival community director, Kortney Garrison and managing editor Kara Anderson here with me for another team episode. Last week, we talked about the ALA Youth Media Awards and we told you about some of the books that won, a few we wish had been honored. Today, we’re going to shift gears a little bit because we want to talk about what matters most in each of our homeschools this spring and then what we’ll be reading this spring as well. Kortney and Kara, welcome back to this side of the show. It’s episode 200.
Kortney (02:04):
Woohoo. Congratulations. 200. That’s the real deal. I think the first.
Kara (02:10):
That’s huge.
Kortney (02:10):
I know. It’s great. I think the first podcast that I worked on was episode six.
Kara (02:15):
Oh, is that right? Wow. Wow. That’s amazing.
Kortney (02:19):
Oh, wow. I was all the way into the twenties.
Kara (02:22):
Oh wow. Double digits.
Sarah (02:24):
And this was probably what? Seven, eight years ago. Eight, something like that, eight years ago.
Kortney (02:30):
Yeah. Something like that.
Sarah (02:33):
Well, when I say we’re going to talk about what matters in each of our homeschools this spring, this is familiar vocabulary for us and for a lot of the members in RAR Premium because this is something we do in Circle with Sarah or we’ve done recently. It’s based on this idea that none of us has an infinite amount of time or energy to do all the things we want to do in our homeschools. Instead of lamenting that we really want to honor the fact that we know we have all the time we need to do what we’re called to do, each and every day, each and every season. And this realization that we’ve got to be intentional about what we’re going to focus on.
(03:19):
And it’s this realization that being intentional about what we’re going to focus on and sort of stopping trying to be more productive, quote unquote, be more productive and getting all the things done but rather focusing more on getting the right things done and building a homeschool life we love, that’s a priority for us around here.
Kara (03:38):
This sounds like something that Jonathan Rogers wrote in a recent newsletter. He said, “Humility is a matter of receiving joyfully the limits within which we live and learning to be the beneficiary of gifts beyond our ability to produce.”
Kortney (03:52):
Oh, wow.
Kara (03:54):
And the idea of naming what matters is fleshed out in Kendra Adachi’s book, The Lazy Genius Way. And it’s something worth revisiting every season because our homeschools aren’t stagnant. They’re always shifting. We’re always growing. The kids are always getting older. And so we need to shift and change to honor that.
Kortney (04:15):
Oh, that’s such a good point that things are always shifting. I think we sometimes get confused when things change. Things were working fine before Christmas and now they’re not. And it’s because the season has shifted but our plans and priorities haven’t so let’s start with how old our kids are. Mine are 15 and 12 and nine.
Kara (04:36):
Oh, mine are 15 and 18 and I’m fine with that. Totally fine.
Sarah (04:43):
Yeah. I can’t believe that. I can’t believe both of your girls are 15. That’s boggling my mind. Mine are eight, eight, 10, 16 and 18. Those are the ones at home anyway. I have a 20 year old too but not homeschooling her anymore. Sob. And honestly, I’m not doing a ton with my 18 year old either. She’s wrapping up her senior year and doing some dual enrollment classes and then works independently for the most part. But we can talk about that more in a bit.
(05:17):
Before we share what matters most in each of our own homeschools, I just want to remind you listening that we’re not here to tell you what matters most in your homeschool. This episode is an invitation for you to answer that question yourself. What matters most in your homeschool this season? Take just a second and imagine with me that it’s the end of the school year. We all fell over with glorious delirium that it was over. No, I’m just kidding. It’s not that far off now. Kind of, depending on the day, it might feel far off. Maybe three months-ish. We’re wrapping up, imagine it’s that time whenever you wrap up your school year and you’re trying to kind of wrap up loose ends and you’ve gone out to coffee with a friend and she asks you, “What are you most glad you did this school year?”
(06:14):
Take just a second right now and think about your answer to that. Your gut reaction to that question. What are you most glad you did this school year? Whatever just popped into your mind, that’s what matters in your homeschool this spring because you’re not going to be able to get to everything you want to but just knowing that this thing, whatever it was that you just thought of when I asked that question, if you got to this thing, you will have done something important, something really important because it’s the first thing that came to mind for you when you were reflecting back on your year. And you’ll have ended your school year with a win.
(06:58):
I have never, I’ve met just tons and tons and tons of homeschooling moms. I have never met a single homeschooling mom whoever felt like a whole school year went as planned. She finished her curriculum, everything went fine. It never happens. We’ve got to stop feeling like failures when our own school year doesn’t go as planned and instead we could just ask ourselves, okay, we’re moving into spring so what matters most this spring? And then how can I make it likelier to I can get to that thing that matters so much?
Kortney (07:27):
So good. Kara already mentioned that the idea of naming what matters comes from The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi. After we figure out what matters, that sort of first reaction, gut response, the thing that we’re going to prioritize this spring will take three steps. And the first one is a lazy genius principle and it’s called decide once. Basically this principle means that you’ll make a decision one time to avoid decision fatigue.
Kara (07:56):
Oh, decision fatigue.
Kortney (07:59):
You don’t know about that.
Kara (08:00):
It is real. And it’s intense and deciding once just simplifies things so much. You name what matters, you decide once and then the second principle to apply is to start small which keeps us from falling into that rut of we can’t do it all so we’re just not going to do anything. Basically we come up with a tiny habit, a small way to implement this thing that matters.
Sarah (08:30):
Okay. And then the third principle is to ask the magic question, which is, what can I do now to make this easier later? We want to make it easy to do that thing that matters so we actually do it. First we name what matters, then we decide once, we start small and we ask the magic question.
(09:01):
Kort, do you want to show us how this is done? And how we kind of move through these steps? What matters in your homeschool this spring?
Kortney (09:09):
Okay, this is going to sound corny but my goal for the spring is to read aloud more. Womp, womp.
Sarah (09:16):
You almost would think that was not Kortney but staged for this podcast.
Kortney (09:22):
No, we read aloud a fair amount but on a busy day, that’s the thing that’s going to get shoved out of the schedule. I decided once to make sure that there’s time in our day for picture books that go along with our history class. I’m starting small by using book lists already made and coordinated to our curriculum that I found on BiblioCommons. Do your libraries use BiblioCommons?
Sarah (09:46):
I don’t know. Is it a digital database or something?
Kortney (09:49):
It is. It’s a way too that library catalogs can connect with other libraries. It’s a networking tool that connects libraries all over the country. Even though my city saw fit to eliminate our children’s librarian position, I can still get recommendations from librarians in far away places like Indiana. If you’re listening, Dory Ogden at the Indianapolis Public Library, thank you so much for your lists, they’re saving my bacon.
Kara (10:19):
Hi Dory. He’s great.
Sarah (10:20):
Hi Dory.
Kortney (10:21):
Shout out to Dory.
Sarah (10:23):
I love it.
Kortney (10:24):
That’s starting small and then asking the magic question, what can I do now? I’ve added a task to my weekly docket to remind myself to put books on hold and I give myself a check mark every time we read aloud so that I can remember what’s going right.
Sarah (10:38):
Oh, I love that. If you’re listening, hearing this, you can hear Kortney naming the thing that matters and then figuring out how to decide once, start small and ask the magic question, is the way she’s making it easy unlikely that she’s going to get to it? And then come June or whenever your end of year school year is, Kort, you’ll be like, I did it. I read aloud and I’m really happy about that. And even though I didn’t get to everything that I wanted to or even though things didn’t turn out exactly how maybe I’d hoped, this was a win. That’s good.
Kortney (11:11):
Ending with a win feels good.
Sarah (11:13):
What about you, Kara? What matters in your homeschool this spring?
Kara (11:18):
Oh man, this feels big right now because I have a child graduating, my first child graduating. I’m actually really glad that we’re talking about this because it made me slow down and put thought into this. The first thing that hit me, well, you said that gut thing because there’s so many things racing through your brain. But the gut thing that hit me was I want to make some memories and celebrate the last four years. Four years, 14 years. I want to celebrate the last 14 years of us learning together. Now that isn’t to say that the other homeschooling to dos and college prep stuff all slip off my radar entirely and I just get to focus on this one thing. I don’t know any homeschooling mom or any mom or parent who gets to focus on one thing.
Sarah (12:12):
No, that’s not it.
Kara (12:14):
No, not a thing. But I’m deciding once to focus on making those memories and those are going to include an overnight field trip that my son has been wanting to take.
Sarah (12:26):
Oh, fun.
Kara (12:26):
And a graduation party in May.
Sarah (12:29):
Yay.
Kara (12:31):
Yeah. And I’m starting small by just starting a page in my bullet journal about this. Not making a million notes yet, just starting the page.
Sarah (12:41):
Yes. That’s so good. That is such a good start small because then you have a bucket for the places.
Kara (12:46):
Yes, Exactly.
Sarah (12:48):
Your ideas or worries or whatever.
Kara (12:49):
Yeah. And so that’s where I’m going to gather ideas, notes, start planning. But for now it just starts with that one page so it’s not overwhelming, like we talked about. It’s just not trying to plan everything at once and what can I do to make this easier on myself? Whew. At first I was like, nothing. This is where the system breaks down. Because this is my launching my child into the world. But then I was like, no, there is something I can do that just makes it easier on myself. I found an affordable place to book a graduation party because I was so overwhelmed with the thought of having to get ready to have a bunch of people come into my home. I thought if I had to do that, I’m might actually pull an Agatha Christie and disappear into the wind. And so instead I found an affordable place to do a very simple party and that’s how I’m going to make this easier on myself.
Sarah (13:51):
I don’t know why I haven’t thought of doing that myself. But I think you both know, I have some anxiety around having people at my house and we have a kid graduating this year too and I just mentioned to my husband the other day, “We have another graduation party already.” And we are both kind of like, I want to celebrate her but.
Kortney (14:09):
Absolutely.
Sarah (14:10):
I might be able to celebrate her better if I’m not stressed out about the house.
Kara (14:13):
Right. And that’s the thing. This whole process, what it helps you do is it helps you one, get in touch with what makes sense for you. And then two, it removes some of that stress. Because if you take the time to think about it, you can say, you and I Sarah have that in common. We don’t want to host things. Because then it distracts from what really matters. Which is what really matters is not the decorations. It’s not the cake. It’s not any of those things. It’s just being there and celebrating our child in that moment.
Sarah (14:53):
I love how you just actually walked us through a really big thing because there’s this panicky feeling that I think we get when we’ve got a kid on the brink of graduation because all of a sudden we realize that all that curriculum that’s still in shrink wrap on our bookshelf, that we were like, we were going to do this with that kid. We’re like, oh, I really am out of time.
Kara (15:14):
I have no idea of what you’re talking about. No, none. This is not familiar at all.
Kortney (15:21):
Oh right. Oh man.
Sarah (15:22):
But I think that, and this feels like it’s too simple of a framework to even hold a big emotion like that. And it’s not like it all of a sudden takes away all of the overwhelm or anxiety but it does give you something to hold on to.
Kortney (15:38):
Yeah. And I think that really, I don’t know for me that helps relieve some of the anxiety because instead of being this sort of giant unapproachable thing, I can actually take a small step. And so just like, I don’t know, the forward motion kind of alleviates a little bit of the stress or it gives my mind something else to be worried about.
Sarah (15:59):
Yeah. Right. And that page in your bullet journal is key I think, because even though it’s the very start small and it is really small just to start a page, it also makes a place for you to put anything you’re thinking about or lists that you need to make because a lot of the times the things that stress me out are the things when I’m just trying to keep track of too many different things, oh, I can’t forget to do invitations. And then also decorations. And then I probably need to think about food and then also a transcript that’s, kind of important. All those like different pieces. But just give me a bucket to put it in and that will at least feel like they’re not fluttering off in the wind.
Kara (16:38):
Right. Just there’s something that is so wonderful about not having to hold it all in your head. And just knowing that there’s a place where it all goes and it’s not going to get lost and you’re not going to forget it because it’s written down. But then we talked about in a recent Circle with Sarah, just because you write something down, doesn’t mean you have to do it. But at least it’s there for now. And then if later on you decide, okay, maybe we don’t need fireworks and Cirque Du Soleil to show up. I don’t know. I don’t know what people do for parties. I’m not a party person.
Kortney (17:15):
We always have Cirque Du Soleil, it’s not a party until the trapeze comes out.
Kara (17:19):
Isn’t it weird to get a bouncy house for your kid’s high school graduation? I’m going to cross that off the list.
Sarah (17:35):
Okay. My thing that matters this spring is history with my eight year old twins and my 10 year old. I really haven’t done a lot of history with them. Usually in our homeschool in the early years, I just let my kids get history from whatever read alouds we’re reading that happened to have some historical context in it, in the story. But my 10 year old, especially is a history lover. The writing was on the wall with this kid when she was five years old and her favorite picture books were these picture book biographies that I was filling my shelf with. She just comes alive when you tell her, “This actually happened,” or, “This was a real time and place where people lived,” where this character lived if it’s historical fiction. This spring I’m bumping history up the priority list because I know come June, I will be very happy with myself if I made time to do some good history with them.
Kara (18:28):
Sounds like Claire will be happy too.
Sarah (18:30):
I think she will. I think she will. It’s funny because the thing that gave me the idea is she does Irish dance and her Irish dance teacher told her that the spring recital is based on this historical event that happened in Ireland and Claire came home and was like, “It’s not just a recital, it’s a historical recital.” I was like, I really need to up the ante on history.
(18:56):
The three steps, decide once, step one. Deciding once looked like not agonizing over which curriculum to use because in the homeschool world, there is no shortage of history curriculum. And then this sort of idea of we could do projects, we go on field trips, we could make it really hands on. We could read books, we could do worksheets. We could do all kinds of stuff. There’s so many different things you can do. I decided once that our structure is going to be read alouds and a field trip. One field trip this spring and reading aloud. No hands on projects or at least no hands on projects but planned by me. I might get some craft books or something from the library and have them laying around because the kids are welcome to do those in their free time. But my structure is just reading aloud and talking about what we read and then going on a field trip and even this just deciding that was like, okay, that’s how we’re doing history.
(19:49):
Now that takes a lot of things off, a lot of pressures off. I don’t need to try to, always say mummified chicken is always the example that comes to my head. But we’re learning about American history so I don’t think they were mummifying chickens. My start small is that I got the Simply Charlotte Mason book Stories of America and I decided that would just be our spine. They’re very short chapters. We’re just reading a chapter each school day. They’re very short. This takes like, I don’t know, 10 minutes and it’s short but it kind of moves us through American history at a pace where I think my plan is basically to just read aloud this 10 minute story, whatever, during school and then in the evenings we’re going to listen to audio books while we do a puzzle, which is actually already a habit we’ve got in place so I’m just kind of tagging this onto that habit that’s in place. We’re going to listen through the American Girl audio series. Have you guys listened to those before?
Kortney (20:53):
No, I didn’t even know they had them.
Sarah (20:55):
Okay. I was a skeptic when I first heard about them. The stories are fantastic. They’re so well done. The audio books are really well read. What I doing is, we are going to just start starting with Kaya and then moving forward chronologically, just listen to the audio book series in the evenings. Most of my kids have actually listened to a lot of these before. Claire has listened to I think all of them. The twins have listened to a couple. And then my older kids all loved them. My girls, boys, my boys don’t know that American Girls is a girl thing because mostly they know the stories and the stories are fantastic.
(21:33):
Anyway, so we’re just going to listen to those audio books kind of taking us forward through time. And that’s really easy. It feels like a start small because it’s like, okay, you’re going to read aloud for 10 minutes. And then you’re going to turn that time you’re already doing audio books into history. Instead of jumping into a full curriculum or deciding that we’re going to hand weave baskets or make a salt dome map or something that I’ve never been successful at doing in any of my years of homeschooling.
(22:01):
And then the magic question is how can I make this easier? And so I went ahead and just loaded all of the American Girl audios series on my phone so it’s ready to listen. And I opened a Notes app on my phone and I put them in chronological order, which was something I just Googled. And then I just made the list. Now I know like we’re going to read Kaya and we’re done with Kaya we’re going to read Felicity and I don’t have to go find the next one or look it up. It’s all ready for me. We just play for a half hour, 45 minutes a night while we’re doing a puzzle, we’re good to go.
Kara (22:33):
Oh I love that. I love that you used the Notes app too because then you’re not going to lose the little sheet of paper or whatever that has the list on it. It’s all right there. One place. Perfect.
Kortney (22:45):
Okay. You’ve heard our ideas but now it’s your turn. Just get quiet for 10 minutes or so and answer these questions. What’s something you really want to prioritize for spring? You might come up with a ton of answers right away. Because like Kara said, there’s sort of no end to the number of things that homeschool moms actually have to be responsible for. Just choose the one that feels the most pressing or the most interesting or the most exciting. Remember this is not a commitment for life. It’s your priority for this season. Next season, you’ll get to ask the question again and choose something else.
Kara (23:22):
And once you’ve got that thing that matters, follow up by applying those three lazy genius principles, decide once, start small and ask the magic question.
Sarah (23:34):
We’ve got a cheat sheet for you to help you use these prompts. I do this practice in my bullet journal where I ask these questions and just jot down my answers. If you want a cheat sheet to help you or if you’re on the go right now and you’re thinking, I will not remember these questions that I’m supposed to ask, you can go to the show notes, readaloudrevival.com/200. You can get the questions there and you can also download the cheat sheet if you really want one.
(23:58):
Writing down your answers actually makes a big difference. It doesn’t have to be typed up. It doesn’t have to be handwritten. It can even just be pecked out on your phone into your Notes app, speaking of the Notes app. It makes a difference if you take the time just to write out your answers because it gives you a little bit of clarity. And a lot of times when we pin our thoughts to the page, they stop being so big and overwhelming and they’re contained. They’re just a little bit more easily manageable. Again, you’ll find these questions, the what matters most in your homeschool this spring and then the three lazy genius principles you heard us apply to our answers to that question at readaloudrevival.com/200.
Kortney (24:37):
Okay. Can we talk about what we’re going to read at RAR Premium this spring?
Sarah (25:03):
Oh yes please. When someone goes, “What are you reading now?” I’m like, “I thought you’d never ask.” Our RAR Premium is our online community. It’s where we help your kids fall in love with books and we help you fall in love with homeschooling and we do that through family book clubs and WOW, Writers on Writing workshops. And then we offer support and encouragement and training for homeschooling parents through our monthly Circle with Sarah trainings and then a Mama Book Club that helps us fall back in love with our own reading lives.
Kara (25:41):
Ooh. Okay. Let’s start there actually because our topics for Circle with Sarah are really good this spring and in March and April, we’re going to be talking about opening and closing ceremonies, which ties into this. It’s another good idea from The Lazy Genius Way, how we can use opening and closing ceremonies specifically in our homeschools. Right now is the perfect time to talk about closing ceremonies so that we can all feel really good about closing out our school year.
Kortney (26:14):
Yes. And then in May, Sarah’s going to present Furnishing the Mind, which is her simple, low pressure approach to memory work. And I might actually finish the series on my blog about how we do morning time and memory work.
Sarah (26:28):
Yes. So many of you have sent in questions about what I have my kids memorize and how we do it. I’m going to share with you how I select beautiful passages of scripture and poetry, some folk songs and bits of Shakespeare to memorize and then my really super easy way to do it. It’s very low pressure and not at all impressive and you’re probably going to come to this thing and be like, that’s all? But you know what? I tell you what, there is nothing like listening to your kids burst out into a passage of Shakespeare when grandma and grandpa are over for dinner to give you a big homeschool mom pat on. the back. This just happened in our house. And I was like, oh, excuse me. I did that.
Kortney (27:11):
That’s awesome.
Kara (27:13):
We also have a WOW, Writers on Writing workshop. These are our writing workshops for kids taught by published authors. This time we’re learning from Laura Purdie Salas about equation poems. This is going to be so much fun. It’s math meets poetry in a really fun and delightful workshop for kids ages six to 15.
Sarah (27:36):
Oh, it’s so, so good, you guys. We’ve been working on this one just this week and I’m really excited to share it with your kids. It’s a great workshop. And I think it’s one of those workshops, it’s one of those poetry forums that’s going to stick with them and then they’ll keep making those kind of poems later impromptu, I have a hunch.
(27:59):
Let’s talk about book clubs. Family book clubs, each season we do one novel, family book club and then we do three picture books. And the family book clubs are for all ages from preschoolers to teens and RAR Premium members get a family book club guide that walks you through this feast of ideas, discussion prompts for kids of all ages, meals or snacks related to the book, drawing lessons, art lessons, poetry. It’s really a feast of ideas that you can use based around the book, depending on your kids’ ages and interest levels.
(28:34):
Our novel for this spring is The Hobbit. Yes, I did just hear you all in a collective gasp. Why is Sarah MacKenzie reading The Hobbit? Because if you’ve been around Read-Aloud Revival for long, you may know that I’ve always been a little embarrassed to admit that I have not been a Tolkien fan. I’m kicked out of polite society, especially in the homeschool world when I let this be known. I’ve always wanted to like Tolkien. I just didn’t. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t get it. Somehow, I’m not sure how this happened, I let Kortney talk me into trying reading the Hobbit with all of you in our RAR preview.
Kortney (29:16):
Yes, I did this. I’m taking my bows right now.
Kara (29:21):
I couldn’t believe it when it popped up. We’re going to read the Hobbit. Sarah too? Such a good idea, Kortney. I’m so glad you did it because we got to listen to it and it was very fun. My son had read it but again, I had never read it on my own. But listen to this email that Erin R sent in, “Dear Sarah, you inspired me to read something I really truly have zero desire to read.”
Sarah (29:54):
I don’t know if that’s a good start.
Kara (29:56):
“The Hobbit, fantasy just ain’t my thing. Give me historical fiction or Penderwicks all the live long day. I got The Serkis audio book and played it while I drove my kids to basketball practice. 30 minutes later, the strangest thing happened, we arrived at the gym and no one wanted to turn off the audio book, including me. What has happened to me? I used to be so cool. Now I’m waiting with bated breath to know what happens next in a Tolkien novel? Ha! Anyway, thank you for inspiring me to stretch my boundaries and challenge my mind with a genre that doesn’t really make sense in my brain. It’s going to be an adventure that we won’t soon forget. Ordinary days make the best adventures and this crazy thing called homeschool.” Oh, I love her.
Sarah (30:51):
Erin. Oh my goodness, this just made my day. Totally made my day. The funny thing is this has been my experience too. I have loved the Andy Serkis version. This is the recorded books, audio book version of the Hobbit narrated by Andy Serkis who plays Gollum in the movies. Truly this audio book has turned me into a Hobbit fan, which is no small miracle people. I have tried reading The Hobbit so many times and I was just telling Kortney and Kara earlier times when I’d read it, I felt like it was journey, journey, journey, fight, fight, fight, journey, journey, journey, fight, fight, fight. And I was like, wow, are we going to keep doing this journey, journey, journey, fight, fight, fight thing? And so I would just ditch it but I am absolutely riveted. It’s just, I know sometimes books you have to read them at the right time but I’ve tried this one so many times and I was like, this is not true for The Hobbit.
(31:46):
It is. Anyway. I just started reading the book aloud to my kids just the other day because I thought the audio version narrated by Andy Serkis is fabulous. It’s also very intense and Gollum is extremely scary. That’s your heads up, and I didn’t think my 10 year old would do well with that narration. I’m just reading it aloud to them and we’re reading it in very short. Kortney coached me on this the other day, I’m setting my timer for 10 or 15 minutes. We’re reading it aloud for that long. They are hanging on every word. This is so fun.
Kortney (32:22):
Yeah. We’ve had so much fun reading it aloud. We just got to the very climax with the dragon. I won’t spoil it for anyone if you don’t know. But along with the Hobbit, we’re going to read a picture book biography called John Ronald’s Dragons, the story of J.R.R. Tolkien. We’ve had such a good time reading this book. It’s illustrated by Eliza Wheeler so you know it’s fabulous. There’s going to be lots of rich illustrations, things to find. It’s a book that you’ll keep returning to, I think. But my kids have read other Tolkien biographies. They’re drawing pictures of Middle Earth and they even started making plans to celebrate Bilbo’s birthday in September.
Sarah (33:05):
Oh wow. Oh my goodness.
Kara (33:05):
I think it has made it such a richer experience though, reading the biography along with The Hobbit. I feel like you said, there was that journey, journey, journey, fight, fight, fight. You get more of a look at what Tolkien was doing through reading the picture book biography. It just all ties together so perfectly. And then there’s another piece of it that we’re going to get to but first our April and May family book clubs are fabulous too because we’ve got a powerhouse duo coming. In April we’re reading A Splash of Red, the life and art of Horace Pippin. And in May, we’re reading A River of Words, the story of William Carlos Williams. These books are written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet and they are both coming to RAR Premium to meet your kids and answer their questions.
Sarah (33:54):
Yeah. That’s sort of a rare treat when we can get them both at the same time. And I’m so excited about this because especially because Melissa Sweet, who is probably the queen of collage art at this point, she’s coming back. She’s going to come back a second time to RAR Premium to teach our kids how to collage in a livestream workshop. When I pitched her this idea, I wasn’t sure if she was going to say, “That’s kind of an impossible thing to teach over Zoom,” but I thought I would just try anyway. And she emailed back with, “I had the same idea. I cannot wait. My brain is just bursting with how much fun this is going to be.” We’re going to send out a list of materials of what your kids should have on hand. Just stuff that’s around your house. You don’t have to go buy stuff. I’m so excited. Her work is stunning. And I just, talk about learning from the pros, which is something we love to do in our WOW workshops. And so this is going to be fabulous.
Kortney (34:50):
I can’t wait for the collage workshop. I don’t know what my kids are going to be doing, but I am going to be attending the collage workshop myself.
Sarah (34:58):
You better be.
Kortney (35:00):
And not just for work, but no, a few weeks ago, Kara mentioned being out of words by the end of a homeschool day, she was just done. There were no more words to be said. And I realized when she said that, I was like, oh yeah, that’s what I have. I have that problem too. And so I’ve been working in collage because it’s creative work but there are very few words related to it. It’s been a really neat experience.
Sarah (35:29):
Cool.
Kara (35:30):
Ooh, I want to see some of your collage work, Kortney.
Sarah (35:32):
Yeah, me too.
Kortney (35:32):
Well, it’s not in Melissa Sweet’s style so it’s a lot more simple but super fun.
Sarah (35:41):
Okay. All right. I still want to see.
Kara (35:55):
We got a Mama Book Club for spring too and we’re reading Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children’s Novels to Refresh Our Tired Souls by Mitali Perkins. And there’s even a whole chapter in there about Mitali’s experience reading The Hobbit. It’s all very full circle this season at RAR. It’s awesome how it all came together.
Sarah (36:18):
Yes. I love it when we can manage to do that, where the books we’re reading in Mama Book Club sort of inform or feed our interactions with our kids about the books that we’re reading there. And so that we’re sharing books with our kids and everything’s richer for the conversations that we all bring to the dinner table. Whether we’ve been reading the John Ronald’s Dragons picture book biography of Tolkien and or The Hobbit. And then Mama’s been reading this Steeped in Stories book by Mitali Perkins and reading about that experience with The Hobbit it’s just, yeah I love it. It’s so fun.
(36:56):
If you are an RAR Premium member, you can log into your dashboard and grab that printable calendar. The Hobbit Family Book Club guide is there now. And then also the WOW workshop with Laura Purdie Salas is coming up in about a week. If you want to do that one live with us, make sure you head there soon so you don’t miss out on that. The replays for everything we do in RAR Premium are in the dashboard. If for any reason you cannot come live to an event, you still have access to all the good stuff. And if you are not an RAR Premium member but you want to have a fantastic win this spring, then maybe thinking about joining us, maybe this is your thing that matters this spring. Go to rarpremium.com for all the details. You can get Premium for a single month or a quarter or a year and we have a 30 day money back guarantee so you can give it a spin and see if it’s a good fit without any risk. That’s rarpremium.com.
Sean (37:57):
Hello. My name is Sean and I love Farmer Boy Little House. I’m seven. I live in Casper and I really like Farmer Boy in Little House in the Big Woods because the character music, it’s so nice and nice to listen to.
Max (38:16):
Hi, my name’s Max. I’m five years old. My favorite book is Castle. I like it because I like knights. Knights are cool. I like the swords and spears and shields and I like their armor too. And that the bad got to go dead.
Zoe (38:34):
Hi. My name is Zoe. I live in Dehradun inside India. And my favorite book is Mr. Mole, I’m home! I mean Mrs. Mole, I’m home! And it’s funny, silly because he went to work and he can’t find his glasses. It’s the right on top of his head. Everywhere he goes, he gets mixed up and then finally he reaches his house and then he starts hugging them, his clock, thinking it’s his children or his wife.
Anya (39:12):
Hi. My name is Anya. I’m three years old. I like Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Because when the bear saw the bird he didn’t eat him because they were friends. And then when a bird saw the duck, the bird didn’t eat the duck. I live in Dehradun inside India.
Sarah (39:43):
Oh, thanks for your messages, kids. You know I love hearing about the books that you love. If you would like to leave a message to be heard on the show, go to readaloudrevival.com/message. Your kids can tell us the books that they’re loving and you can ask a question that can be featured on the show. There’s a couple of recording buttons you can use there to lead me a voicemail.
(40:04):
The show notes for today’s episode are at readaloudrevival.com/200. Let’s see, you’ll find the cheat sheet that has the questions that we walked through, Kara, Kortney and I walked through today to pick what matters and then those three guiding principles that kind of help you make it easy and likely you’ll get to it so that you can have a strong win here at the end of the school year. And we’ll also have all the books and everything we mentioned on the show. That’s all at readaloudrevival.com/200.
(40:32):
If you’d like to join us in Premium, take advantage of the fact that you have a 30 day money back guarantee with no questions asked. If it’s not a good fit, you could always just let us know, “Hey, it wasn’t a good fit. Can I get my money back?” And we will have no problem giving it right back. And we would love to have you in the program because it’s really fantastic. And if you’re serious about falling in love with your homeschool and helping your kids fall in love with books, I don’t know a better place to go.
(40:57):
I’ll be back next week, same time, same place. But in the meantime, you know what to do. Go make meaningful and lasting connections with your kids through books.
(41:16):
So many of us feel overwhelmed in our homeschool. There’s a lot to do and it feels like every child needs something a little different. The good news is you are the best person on the planet to help your kids learn and grow and home is the best place to fall in love with books. I’m Sarah MacKenzie. I’m a homeschooling mother of six, the author of Teaching from Rest and The Read-Aloud Family. And I’m the host here on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast.
(41:54):
This podcast has been downloaded over eight million times. And I think it’s because so many of us want the same things. We want our kids to be readers, to love reading. We want our homes to be warm and happy havens of learning and connection. We know that raising our kids is the most important work of our lives. That’s kind of overwhelming. You are not alone. In Read-Aloud Revival Premium, we offer family book clubs, a vibrant community and Circle with Sarah, coaching for you, the homeschooling mom so you can teach from rest, homeschool with confidence and raise kids who love to read.
(42:43):
Our family book clubs are a game changer for your kids’ relationship with books. We provide you with a family book club guide and an opportunity for your kids to meet the author or illustrator live on screen. All you have to do is get the book, read it with your kids and make those meaningful and lasting connections. They work for all ages, from your youngest kids to your teens.
(43:12):
Every month, our community also gathers online for a Circle with Sarah to get ideas and encouragement around creating the homeschooling life you crave. They’re the most effective way I know to teach from rest and build a homeschool life you love. We want to help your kids fall in love with books and we want to help you fall in love with homeschooling. Join us today at rarpremium.com.
