Summer time

Well my dear friends!

It is that time of year again where students and teachers alike rejoice in the anticipated freedom of summer. But there is always a time where things get crazy trying to get everything done and so this will be the last post until the fall begins.

It has been a great experience. Hopefully, somewhere during the summer, you can grab a book and enjoy a quiet time with your student or parent. Reading is a great way to draw families together and create lasting memories. As the last post for the year, I thought I would share one of my favorite poems. Enjoy! And have a great summer.

THE READING MOTHER

Strickland Gillilan

I HAD A MOTHER who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a Mother who read to me.

Have a great summer all.

CCB

New books

Hello! It has been a scene of activity and organized chaos here at the Paradigm Library as we have worked to catalog and shelf a large donation that we have received from one of the schools here in the valley. Our research collection is growing so we have a beginning collection to offer our students.

We have also just cataloged 2 new classroom sets; "Shane" and "The Light in the Forest". Both of these classic tales have been read and loved by children of past generations and we are excited to be able to share them and their lessons with the rising generation.

"Shane" is the story of a professional gun-fighter that has gone straight and the influence that he has on the life of a young man. Moreover, the young man has a profound influence on the gunfighter and both lives are enriched by the relationship.

"The Light in the Forest" is the story of a young boy captured by Indians and raised in their culture. Then, because of a treaty 11 years later, the young man is returned to his native culture. The story deals with those adjustments and how this child, caught between two worlds, deals with events that are out of his control.

We would encourage you to read these two newest additions with your student. They are both great family stories and make a great way to involve the whole family.

Happy reading!

CCB

Easter Reading

For those among our reading audience that celebrate the Easter Season, there is a great book entitled "The Robe" written by Lloyd C. Douglas in the early 2oth century. The story is of the centurion that gambles for the cloak of Christ and wins. It is the story of his life and search for meaning and the implications of Christianity. I have read it several times and find it a meaningful experience. It is well written and a touching story. It reveals the political landscape at the time of Christ along with the culture and customs. It is an entertaining way of learning. Mr. Douglas did his research well and it is very authentic.

You can find a great review at the following link: The Robe It is a great way to learn and to celebrate this special time of year.

Happy reading!

CCB

Louis L'Amour

One of the authors of our textbooks is Louis L'Amour. The students study from "The Lonesome Gods", "Sackett's Land", and "Bendigo Shafter". Mr. L'Amour is best known for his western stories. However, he has also studied about and written about other time periods. One such title "The Walking Drum" was on the #1 bestselling list. "The Walking Drum" is written during the period of about 1000AD. It is the story of a young man that is on a search for his father. He travels the known world and talks about his adventures and what he learns. It is really interesting because he "slips in" life lessons when you're not looking. There is a great link that has information about Mr. L'Amour and his life. You can find it at Louis L'Amour. CCB

Forest Born

Tiffany Carerrio, one of our students, just read "Forest Born" by Shannon Hale. I asked her to write a little bit about the story. This is what she said: "I read Forest Born by Shannon Hale and I like how it enchanted me with the girl named Rinna. Forest Born though she is, she feels like the trees have abandoned her. In this story she journeys with Razo and his love Dasha so she can find out what's wrong with her. When she meets Sis, Enna and Tusken, she finds an adventure that will change her for the rest of her life. But she also finds lying within her waiting to come again into the world and make itself known. A deep dark secret that involves her ability to speak and then get what she wants. In her quest to overcome her fear of speaking, she learned what we all have to learn: we all have a fear of doing something we want to do but if we don't let go sometimes, and sometimes hold back, our gift will leave and find another because we don't use it. If we don't control it and use it for good, then it will consume us and hurt us and others around us. When I think about the book, I can feel its words flow through me and change me again and again. What will you find in yourself if you read this book? What will inspire you to do good?" Thanks Tiffany! Enjoy. CCB

Internet Sites

Parents---one of the greatest challenges of the internet is teaching your children that just because it is written doesn't make it real or true. One of the most popular sites that school kids use in research is Wikipedia. This site has the potential of being changed by anyone that has an account. There isn't a lot of control over who changes what or how accurate the information is. Because it has such potential, it also has the potential to be a very unreliable source--especially for academic research. For that purpose, I have added 3 links to the blog to the left side that will take you to well-documented sources. PLEASE teach your kids to be picky in their trust of resources and to have them prove their information. Thanks to Mr Simmons here at school, I have found another awesome resource for full text articles.The Gutenberg Projectcan be found at the following link: The Gutenberg Project Mr. Simmons also taught me about the Internet History Source Book which also has complete articles. I enjoyed one written by Pasteur on the necessity of cleanliness in the surgical theater. It was neat to be able to go to the original source and to get a feeling for the individual. If you need original history documents, you can go to the following link: The Internet History Source Book Part of the vision here at Paradigm is to help parents help their children in their understanding of truth. In order to understand it, they must be able to get it from unpolluted sources. These links are an effort in helping you as we work together to give our children truth. Enjoy! CCB

Finishing Becca

Ok--so I finished reading "Finishing Becca" this week-end. I had looked forward to this for several days so it was nice to have a little while to complete it. I was really disappointed in the last half of the book. The first part of the book was spent in developing the chief antagonist--Peggy Shippen. The character development was well done. The relationship between Miss Shippen and Andre was fully developed but when it switched to Benedict Arnold, much was left out and/or left to the imagination. The saving grace was that through an extensive author's note, we learned that Peggy is credited with the actual turning of Benedict Arnold. How she went about that is given very little attention in the story. There were a lot of "how" questions that were unanswered as I came to the end of the story. The writing style and the "voice" of the story was enjoyable and it was easy to read but I probably wouldn't read it again. CCB