Clear.  Concise.  Full of practical ideas.  Easy to implement.  Very motivating!  Those are phrases that perfectly describe Notebooking Success by my blogging friend, Jimmie.

I’m not new to notebooking.  My children have used this method of narration and writing for years in our homeschool .  But, after reading Jimmie’s e-book, I felt a renewed passion for this excellent method of teaching and learning – and this old dog even learned a few new tricks!

Jimmie’s writing style is so smooth and succinct that you’ll find yourself easily reading all the way through the book in less than 30 minutes.  More importantly, at the end of the 30 minutes, you’ll have all the tools you need to get started (or refreshed) with notebooking right away.

Why incorporate notebooking into your homeschool?  Jimmie answers that.  How is notebooking with a 1^st grader different than a 6^th grader or 10^th grader?  Jimmie answers that.  Doesn’t notebooking get boring for children?  Jimmie answers that.  She covers everything you need to know about notebooking from start to finish, including plenty of grade-specific ideas to get you and your children rolling.

As explained in the book, notebooking works well with just about any type of homeschooler – even those who use a strictly textbook curriculum.  I have often mentioned notebooking to friends who are looking for a “better” way to help their children retain information or for children who need extra motivation for writing.  Now, I’ll be sure to point those people toward Notebooking Success!

Today I’m writing about one of my very favorite topics – living literature!  There are SO many ways you can use literature to encourage good values in your children – and teach about the consequences of poor values as played out in the lives of book characters.  Whether you’re teaching preschoolers or high school students, living literature is a gold mine for values training.

Yesterday, I mentioned the Fruits of the Spirit as defined in Galatians 5:22-23 as our “go-to” list of values for training our children.  And, while that is certainly the list I focus on most in my home, there are plenty of other values which are important to instill in our children – gratefulness, truthfulness, hospitality, thriftiness, punctuality, attentiveness and many more.

You can find a wonderful list of virtues along with an amazing set of Bible and teaching ideas for each virtue at Home Life Ministries.  Don’t miss this website!  Also, while I’m not entirely sure of the content of The Virtues Project website, they have three printable posters of virtues you might be interested in.

Considering all the possible values to reinforce, it would be nearly impossible for me or anyone else to give you a comprehensive list of the best books to use for each and every value. While some websites and books set out to get you started on the practice of using literature for character training (see below), my intent is to show you how I take just about any book we read and use it for at least some character training.

A Sample Lesson

Let’s use just any ol’ non-secular book you might find at the library…The Three Little Pigs.  You know the story, right?  After reading the story with my children (if I was intending to use it as for part of a values lesson and not just sweet reading time), I would start asking open ended questions.  Typically, I would only focus on one topic per book per day.  In other words, I wouldn’t try to cover every single character flaw at one time.

Two possible character discussions:

Topic/character flaw = being mean

What do you think about the wolf?  Why do you think he was called the ‘Big Bad Wolf’?  I wonder what prompted the wolf to be so mean?  You think he was just hungry?  Okay, what could the pigs have done to help him?  When people are mean, should we try to help them?  What if they don’t want to be helped by us?  Is there ever a time when we should run away from people instead of helping them? (Stranger talk!)

Topic/character flaw = laziness

Tell me what you think about each of the houses that the pigs made.  Whose house stood strong against the wolf?  Why?  What did the other two pigs want to do rather than build strong houses?  Do you think they were prepared for the troubles that came their way?  What other troubles might they not have been prepared for?  What does God tell us about being lazy in the Bible?  Is there a time to play and relax?

There are obviously other discussions you could have based simply on this little picture book, too!  And, just about any book you find will lend itself to character building discussions!

One other thing I might mention… When I’m preparing for a character talk (or when one comes out of nowhere), I’ll browse through my copy of For Instruction in Righteousness.  It prepares me with Bible verses, Bible stories and ideas to bring home the point on a huge number of “character flaws”.  It’s been one of the most used book in my home!  In fact, I’m planning to write a whole post on how I use this book as part of our values training later in this 10 Days series.

Some Great Resources

The following websites offer wonderful collections of character building literature:

Grace and Truth Books Character Building Literature List

Lamplighter Publishing

Below are some book series which we have found to be fantastic for character building:

Hero Tales

Any Missionary Story – Some of our favorites include Bruchko, The Hiding Place, A Chance to Die, George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans, and Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime.

Miller Stories (from a conservative, Mennonite viewpoint, but great morals)

Pearables (occasionally legalistic, but many good discussion points)

Bob Schultz Books – Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom for Becoming a Man and Created for Work: Practical Insights for Young Men

You might find this large selection of Aesop’s Fables helpful since every story has an obvious moral to discuss with your children.

(Short fables like these are good for assignments, too, where you ask your child to develop her own moral or write/act out a new version where the character makes better decisions.)

Online Collection of Aesop’s Fables

The books in the widget below contain either book lists of great literature (with a moral) for all ages, or are collections themselves of literature selections.

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow as we discuss teaching values through service and leadership opportunities!

Be sure to visit these brilliant ladies during our 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Whew.  Day 10.  Thank you for hanging in there with me these past two weeks!  I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this series about teaching values and pray that at least one thing stuck out as a good idea to use in your homeschool.  Today I’m going to wrap up the series with two simple comprehensive lists of character training resources that I have found helpful over the years.  Some of them have been mentioned in previous posts, some have not.

Sorry for making you click links, but the past two weeks of writing have tuckered me out.  Plus, there are simply too many resources to include in one post.  So…here are links to my aStore where you’ll find pages and pages of great resources.

My Favorite Bible and Character Study Resources

My Favorite Purity Resources

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17

Before I leave you…  Enjoy your children.   Soak them in the Word.  Pray for them continually.  Be a good example.  Be merciful.  Love God.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Writing is something that Caleb does NOT like.  But, when the writing is (at least somewhat) hidden, I get way fewer complaints!  Using the newsletter program that came with Office 2010, I asked Caleb to create a keepsake page about his summer’s experiences with baseball.  Besides the obvious skills of writing and word processing, he practiced page design and inserting photos and clip art.  (There was a little more on the bottom of the page, but it included personal info that I didn’t care to share, kwim?)

Mahayla was given an assignment to create an informational newsletter about horses.  The topic was her choosing and I was completely floored by her final product.  What you see below is only the first of a two-page newsletter.  I couldn’t figure out how to copy the 2nd page as a jpg!

Just this week, Caleb has been learning about non-vascular plants during science.  We went on a fungi photo walk where he was supposed to find as many fungi as possible to photograph.  (We found more than 20 varieties!)  I asked him to create a notebooking page about the fungi using some of the photos  from his walk.  This proved to be a great learning opportunity for him in science, writing and computer skills – typing, fonts, tables and inserting images.

How do you use computers in your homeschool?  I’d love to see some of your projects!

By the way, now is the perfect time for studying fungi in most parts of the USA.  Check out A Fungus Among Us!

Before we read, I have them hop out into the yard to collect whatever nature specimen they need to complete the page or activity. Since they know we’ll be reading for some time, they don’t rush through the assignment and the resulting work has been excellent! Below are just a couple of examples from the Fruits and Nuts and Delightful Deciduous Trees studies.

(Note that my notebooking pages are copied in black and white. All the NaturExplorers notebooking pages are created in full color, but print just fine in black and white if you don’t have a color printer.)

Great Grammar Lessons That Work is a fun little book from Scholastic that offers quick, meaningful and sometimes hands-on grammar lessons for the 3rd-6th grader.  We used the section on abstract nouns the other day to write diamante poems.

War vs. Peace

War

World, bloody

Fighting, shouting, yelling

Guns, commanders, silence, friendship

Celebrating, rejoicing, crying tears of joy

Calm, wonderful

Peace

You’re gonna think I’ve gone widget crazy!!!! However, this was the simplest and easiest way to put together a post with photos rather than just writing a long and boring list.

I would love to hear about some of your favorite games!  We’re always up for something new!

And speaking of learning to read…there’s no better way to teach children how to read than by example!  My schoolroom is loaded with picture books of all sorts that I’ve read over and over again to my children from the time they were babies.  Because I’m a picture book junkie, I knew I’d score high on this newest list I stole from Kristen at A Day in the Life.

Seventy-two out of 100!  I’ve highlighted my very favorites from this list in blue.

1. ABUELA by Arthur Dorros,
2. ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst
3. ANANSI AND THE MOSS-COVERED ROCK by Eric A. Kimmel
4. ANDY AND THE LION by James Daugherty
5. BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer
6. THE BOSSY GALLITO: A TRADITIONAL CUBAN FOLK TALE retold by Lucia M.Gonzalez; illustrated by Lulu Delacre
7. BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES by Russell Hoban; illustrated by Lillian Hoban
8. BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin, Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
9. BRUNO MUNARI’S ABC by Bruno Munari
10. BUZ by Richard Egielski
11. CAPS FOR SALE; A TALE OF A PEDDLER, SOME MONKEYS AND THEIR MONKEY BUSINESS by Esphyr Slobodkina
12. THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Crockett Johnson
13. A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER by Vera B. Williams
14. CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert
15. CLICK, CLACK, MOO : COWS THAT TYPE / by Doreen Cronin
16. COME ALONG, DAISY! by Jane Simmons
17. CORDUROY by Don Freeman
18. CURIOUS GEORGE by H. A. Rey
19. DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul Stickland and Henrietta
20. DON’T LET THAT PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! by Mo Willems
21. DUCK ON A BIKE by David Shannon
22. FIRE TRUCK by Peter Sís
23. FREIGHT TRAIN by Donald Crews
24. FROGGY GETS DRESSED by Jonathan London
25. THE GARDENER by Sarah Stewart
26. GEORGE AND MARTHA by James Marshall
27. GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER! by Ed Emberley
28. GOIN’ SOMEPLACE SPECIAL by Patricia McKissack
29. GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann
30. GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret W. Brown; illustrated by Clement Hurd
31. GOSSIE  by Dunrea Olivier
32. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY by Allen Say
33. HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson
    
34. HARRY THE DIRTY DOG by Gene Zion ; illustrated by Margaret Graham
35. HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG by D. B. (Donald B.) Johnson
36. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr.Seuss,
37. HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? by Jane Yolen
38. I KISSED THE BABY! by Mary Murphy
39. IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura J. Numeroff
40. IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE: A YIDDISH FOLKTALE retold and illustrated by Margot Zemach
41. JOHN HENRY by Julius Lester; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
42. JULIUS by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
43. KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes
44. LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE by Kevin Henkes
45. THE LINE-UP BOOK by Russo Marisabina
46. THE LITTLE RED HEN: AN OLD STORY by Margot Zemach
47. LON PO PO: A RED RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA by Ed Young
48. LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE by Bernard Waber
49. MABELA THE CLEVER by Margaret Read MacDonald
50. MACHINES AT WORK by Byron Barton
51. MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans
52. MAISY GOES SWIMMING by Lucy Cousins
53. MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey
54. MAMA CAT HAS THREE KITTENS by Denise Fleming
55. THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gerstein
56. MARTHA SPEAKS by Susan Meddaugh
57. MIKE MULLIGAN AND HIS STEAM SHOVEL by Virginia L. Burton
58. MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gág
59. MISS NELSON IS MISSING! by Harry Allard and James Marshall
60. MR. GUMPY’S OUTING by John Birmingham
61. MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE retold and illustrated by John Steptoe
62. MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! by Candace Fleming
63. MY FRIEND RABBIT by Eric Rohmann
64. THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood
65. NO, DAVID! by David Shannon
66. OFF TO SCHOOL, BABY DUCK! by Amy Hest
67. OLD BLACK FLY by Jim Aylesworth
68. OLIVIA by Ian Falconer
69. OWEN by Kevin Henkes
70. PAPA, PLEASE GET THE MOON FOR ME by Eric Carle
71. PIERRE: A CAUTIONARY TALE by Maurice Sendak
72. THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg
73. PUSS IN BOOTS by Charles Perrault
74. THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF MOTHER GOOSE: A TREASURY OF 386 TIMELESS NURSERY RHYMES by Arnold Lobel
75. ROUND TRIP by Ann Jonas
76. RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Paul O. Zelinsky
77. THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats
78. SPOTS, FEATHERS AND CURLY TAILS by Nancy Tafuri
79. THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf
80. THE STRAY DOG Marc, Simont
81. STREGA NONA by Tomie De Paola
82. SWIMMY by Leo Lionni
83. SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig
84. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter
85. TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold
86. TEN, NINE, EIGHT by Molly Bang
87. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY by Simms Taback
88. THE THREE BEARS by Paul Galdone
89. TRASHY TOWN by Andrea Griffing Zimmerman
90. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS BY A. WOLF by John Scieszka
91. TUESDAY by David Wiesner
92. UPTOWN by Collier Bryan
93. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle
94. THE WHEELS ON THE BUS adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
95. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
96. WHERE’S SPOT? by Eric Hill
97. WHISTLE FOR WILLIE by Ezra Jack Keats
98. THE WOLF’S CHICKEN STEW by Keiko Kasza
99. YOKO by Rosemary Wells
100. ZOMO THE RABBIT: A TRICKSTER TALE FROM WEST AFRICA retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

Kristen also reminded me of the 1,000 Good Books list that I need to browse again during my summer planning.

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)

99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)

98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)

97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)

96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)

95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950)

94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)

93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)

92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)

91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)

90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)

89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)

88. The High King – Alexander (1968)

87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)

86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999)

85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)

84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)

83. The Thief – Turner (1997)

82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)

81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)

80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)

79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)

78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)

77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003)

76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)

75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)

74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953)

73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)

72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)

71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)

69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)

68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)

67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)

66.  Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)

65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)

64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)

63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)

62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)

61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)

60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)

59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)

58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)

57. Ramona Quimby Age Eight – Cleary (1981)

56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)

55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)

54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)

53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)

52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)

51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)

50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)

49. Frindle – Clements (1996)

48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)

47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)

46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)

45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)

44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)

43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)

42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)

41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)

40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)

39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)

38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)

37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)

36. Are you There, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)

35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)

34. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)

33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)

32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)

31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)

30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)

29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)

28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)

27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72)

26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)

25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)

24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)

23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)

22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)

21. The Lightening Thief – Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)

19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)

18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)

17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)

16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)

15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)

14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)

13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)

12. The Hobbit  – Tolkein (1938)

11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)

10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)

9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)

8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)

7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)

6. Holes – Sachar (1998)

5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)

3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)

2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)

1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)