Mailbag: Question & Answer Part 1

Thank you for all those that submitted questions via email, comments or the comment box!  This is the first post in a series to try my best to fully answer your questions.  You can always ask me any questions at anytime but this got a lot of responses and was fun!

Question #1
Hi Bev,
Do you ever share pictures/video of your home and how you decorate/organize?
Thanks...Janel in NJ

Answer
Yes, I have shared several over the past few years and you can find them under the decorating label.  I also have some organizing posts.  I just posted on our homeschool blog, pictures of our bookshelf organization here and here.  Here is a link to some decor photos, its changed some since those photos and maybe I can do a house tour video sometime in the future.  Or you can open an IKEA catalog and that pretty much sums up my style LOL.

Question #2
What audio books do you use for Katie?

Answer
I choose various ones that look decent from the library when browsing, use the suggestions in "The Well Trained Mind" (see lists below) and use various free audiobooks online.  Katie has her own computer in her room and listens while she plays.  Below are some places we get our free audiobooks from:
As far as picking what audiobook, I like to choose from the 1000 booklist here.  I'm using the Elementary Level 4-6 for my selections.  Simply pick a book and search for the audio and see if its available at any of the above listed free places.  

Here are audiobook recommendations from "The Well Trained Mind" for Kindergarten (use unabridged versions):
  • Peter Pan 
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
  • The Jungle Books, I and II
  • Just So Stories
  • Rabbit Hill
  • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Princess and the Curdie
  • The Complete Book of Dragons
  • The Railway Children
  • Charlotte's Web
  • Stuart Little
  • The Trumpet of the Swan
She then lists for grades 1-4 the following audiobooks by Jim Weiss:
  • Arabian Nights
  • A Christmas Carol and Other Favorites
  • Greek Myths
  • The Jungle Book
  • King Arthur and His Knights
  • Rip Van Winkle/Gulliver's Travels
  • Shakespeare for Children
  • She and He: Adventures in Mythology
  • Sherlock Holmes for Children
  • Tales from Cultures Far and Near
  • Tales from the Old Testament
  • Three Musketeers/Robin Hood