The Beauty in Black Beauty

I love books.  I didn't love books as a child unless they were short and full of pictures.  I don't know why.  The cruel joke is that now I absolutely LOVE books.  I would read just about any (appropriate) book you put in front of me.  But now I don't have the luxury of time I had as a child!

I do, however, have the joy of homeschooling and the need to know what my kids are reading so I can ask pertinent questions.  As I have mentioned before, we are using Learning Language Arts Through Literature for our reading and language arts program this year.  I am really enjoying it (and so are the kids... if that counts!)

My 7th grader is rounding completion of a 3 (turned 4) week book project on Black Beauty by Anna Sewell that our curriculum book recommends and uses for writing structure lessons.

This is one of many books I have only dreamed of reading (I have seen the movie) before... and now my mind has been filled with the wonderful sensations Anna Sewell's writing sparks.

As we completed section three of the book, I became thoroughly excited by the moral and biblical implications discussed in the story.  I couldn't help but share some of the questions I posed to my daughter to answer in her writing assessments for her final report: 

In chapter 36, "The Sunday Cab", What moral and biblical dilemma does Jerry face?  What reasons does he give for working vs. not working on Sunday?  What does he finally decide?  What impact does that decision have and how does he handle it?


In chapter 37, "Golden Rule", Jerry has to go against the decision he made in the previous chapter, why?  How does his day turn out?  Do you feel he made the right decision?  Why or why not.  

I also had all of my children copy a little 'poem' or song that the character Jerry would sing.  Ironically, it fit right in with the discussions we had last week about getting started first thing in the morning and working diligently... but I don't want to type it here in case I ruin the story!!  You have to read it and find out :-)

Happy homeschooling!  May all your stories truly be adventures.