Homeschool Routine: books for character building & spiritual instruction

Currently, I'm reading aloud these two books (see picture below) to the kids at the beginning of our school day. My goal is to do so every morning, but sometimes it only happens two or three times a week. (Before this, we read through the first three books in the "Scripture Sleuth" series, which the kids LOVED.)

We might also briefly practice whatever Scripture passage Tom is working on with the kids in the evening.

In "The Children's Book of Virtues", I read the story or poem corresponding with a particular virtue and we discuss its merits. The kids have read most of these stories on their own, but we're all enjoying going through the book in chronological order and sharing ideas.

Of course, I'm hoping these virtues become a part of my kids' character but we may have to go through the book, oh, twenty more times to help cement them in our brains. :)

The characters in "Big Truths for Little Kids" are a little too impossibly good and I often roll my eyes at the angelicness contained therein, but the kids listen attentively to the short stories and don't seem to notice. Before each story is a list of catechism questions and we review several each day. This isn't something we've done before, and I'm not requiring them to perfectly memorize each question and answer, but I like the opportunity to discuss scriptural truths as we go through them together.

Two Kinds of Men

My children listened attentively while we read this passage from today's reading in "Little Britches":

"Son," he said, "I had hoped you wouldn't run into anything like this till you were older, but maybe it's just as well. There are only two kinds of men in this world: Honest men and dishonest men. There are black men and white men and yellow men and red men, but nothing counts except whether they're honest men or dishonest men.
"Some men work almost entirely with their brains; some almost entirely with their hands; though most of us have to use both. But we all fall into one of the two classes-honest and dishonest.
"Any man who says the world owes him a living is dishonest. The same God that made you and me made this earth. And He planned it so that it would yield every single thing that the people on it need. But He was careful to plan it so that it would only yield up its wealth in exchange for the labor of man. Any man who tries to share in that wealth without contributing the work of his brain or his hands is dishonest.
"Son, this is a long sermon for a boy of your age, but I want so much for you to be an honest man that I had to explain it to you."

Math with Hosanna

I use Math-U-See with Hosanna, which I think is a great program, but sometimes it's beneficial to divert from the normal routine and play a math game! We enjoyed playing "Sum Swamp" together, and used the Math-U-See blocks to figure out the answers. Math is usually difficult for her, but this was fun! Who can resist a game?!?

Teaching My Children to Think

When I stumbled across this little collection of thoughts from a homeschool mom, I was reminded again of one of the reasons why I homeschool. To open the door of learning to my children and encourage them to think! This is something I am trying to cultivate in my own life as well.