Does anyone know where to get a reading list for young conservative christian homeschool children?

Question:
Does anyone know where to get a reading list for young conservative christian homeschool children? I find that much of what is available in the library is slanted to the left. We want to focus our childrens reading on classic works that can be a life long influence.

We have kids up to age 10. I would be interested in lists that were geared toward older kids as well.

Answer:
-Keepers of the Faith has a free catalog full of conservative Christian reading materials. (By the way, how are you defining conservative?) It's one of the only catalogs I feel free to order from sight unseen. They have a website at http://www.keepersofthefaith.com and e-mail at Keep...@portup.com. (I don't work for them, but I love the stuff they sell!) Rod and Staff and Christian Light Education are Mennonite publishers, so I would think their materials would be pretty conservative, too. Hope this helps! Teresa E.

P.S. I've considered doing book reviews, perhaps via e-mail, for people who are very selective about what they allow their children to read. If any of you would be interested in something like that, would you let me know? My real e-mail address is usegges at rconnect dot com. -"The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Newbery Medal Winners, 1922-1998: A quick, print-out-able list... http://www.ala.org/alsc/nquick.html

"The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."

Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938-1998: A quick, print-out-able list. -You can refer to the practice of parents directing their children to the best available in literature, both in quality and content, and away from meaningless, harmful, or simply the shoddy in quality, as censoring only if you redefine the English language.

There are many "Christian" books I don't let my kids read because I think life is too short to waste on twaddle. While their brains are developing and growing, I want my children exposed to excellence in literature, not sensationalistic bubble gum for the brain. -This statement indicates your lack of understanding of the issues at hand. I have been raised as a Christian, I am a Christian, and I have no earthly idea why you would suggest others would think Faust diabolical. My teenagers are welcome to read it. They are not welcome to read either Stephen King or Judy Blume, for reasons of quality more than anything else, although morals also come into play. Children are developing their literary taste and style, and they are influenced by what they are exposed to. I want mine exposed to the best, both in ideas and in the expression of those ideas. -I think we must define ghetto differently, especially when using it as a metaphor for literature. I would definitely place Stephen King and his ilk in the ghetto of books long on sensationalistic claptrap appealing to the lowest common denominator, and very short on meaningful ideas, literary quality, etc.

I don't screen my children's books in order to protect, shelter, and wall in their "fragile" faith. I screen their books, just like I screen the food that goes into their bodies, to give them the optimum in quality. I want them to eat healthy, whole grain, "natural" foods in much greater quantities than refined sugars/junk food, because they are growing and developing, and I'm looking for, and indeed am responsible for, the development of the most they can achieve in physical health. In the same way, ideas are food for the brain. I am looking for optimum health, not stunted growth, limited abilities, and immature thinking skills long past the time for immaturity. The parent/child relationship is different from that of every other relationship on the planet. Parents have responsibilities far beyond the level of responsibility one person has for another in any other relationship. Screening the children's exposure to substances which interfere with healthy growth and development is one of those responsiblities.

As for further reading suggestions:

Pilgrim's Progress Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss

For children under ten, the age group which I believe the original poster was interested: The Five Little Peppers Little Women Books by Francis Hodgson Burnett Anne of Green Gables Gift from the Mikado (lovely story, well told, of a missionary family in pre-war Japan) Winnie the Pooh Aesop's Fables Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare The Betsy/Tacey books Thornton Burgess' Old Mother West Wind books Dickens Kipling books by Elizabeth Enright The Moffats, by Eleanor Estes, and others by her books by Ruth Sawyer (I especially like Roller Skates, but you may wish to screen this, as indeed you should everything, as there are two deaths in the story, one a murder. Not too graphic or sensationalized) All of a kind Family by Sidney Taylor The Railway Children, by E. Nesbitt (I like all of her books, but most of the others have magic in them, which many Christian Parents prefer to avoid. This one doesn't.) Arthur Ransome books (Swallows and Amazons- wonderful!) I could go on, but this is getting long and tedious, I'm sure. Happy reading!