BHM at the library

I have never, and I mean never, had the inclination to comment to a magazine before. I have recently taken the plunge into trying to homestead. I bought ten acres in northern Michigan and it is all wooded. I have plenty of work ahead of me and money is nonexistent at the moment. One of my problems is I can’t afford Internet yet so we go to the library once a week. This is where I have discovered your magazine. All I can say is what a fantastic magazine you have. One day soon, hopefully I can afford a subscription but until then I just get it from the local library and read it from cover to cover and love every word written. I have already read all of the back issues they have and some more than once. I can’t wait for each issue to come out and just wish it was a monthly magazine. Please keep up the fantastic work all of you. I was wondering one thing — are there other magazines like yours that you could recommend, although I’m sure yours will be my favorite for years to come. May God bless you all and once again keep up the fantastic work you all do.

Alan Riggs
Wellston, Michigan

A lot of people find us at the library Many of these library subscriptions are donated by readers.

The Mother Earth News is now good. So is Countryside, although it is no longer owned by the Belanger family. — Annie

BHM website

I am always looking on the web for good info on homesteading and there you were. I found many things I had pondered about cabin building, gardening, and so many things. The more I looked the more I liked what I found. Exactly what I’ve been needing to help me out.

Patricia Hayes
Laurinburg, North Carolina

I’m glad you’re one of the thousands of folks who gain information from our website. We are also on Kindle and Apple Newsstand. — Annie

Dyslexia article

Just read your article and I felt I was reading about my self in so many ways.

Spelling has always eluded me and spell check has made my life so much easier.

I was never diagnosed but now wonder if that explains a lot of how this soon to be 60 year old brain has worked. Very easy for me to understand mechanical things so I have made my living repairing and building but few people could ever explain or teach me anything because they just didn’t come across or make sense.

To this day I struggle with any word over 2 syllables (prime example) and drug names drive me crazy.

Just wanted to send a big thanks for such an informative article as usual and to a magazine that I read cover to cover.

Sincerely, (another hard word to spell for me, spell check)
William Bell

Thank you for your wonderful column on dyslexia. My now 18 year old son is dyslexic, and when he was in grade school, suffered much (and I mean Much) shame from his teacher. She couldn’t see his learning issues, only that he “wasn’t trying, wasn’t doing his best work.” I pulled him from the first grade, and began to homeschool him, simply because he was spending every recess and lunchtime in the classroom “being punished” or every class period in the hall for the same reason. He wanted to learn, and wanted to please, but couldn’t quite grasp the understanding of what was being taught.

When he went back to public school, he had managed to catch up on his reading, and had, by this time, been diagnosed with dyslexia, which protected him from a certain amount of judgment from the teachers.

He is now a senior, starting this fall. Last year, he received one of the highest scores for his End of Instruction test in Biology, and a very high score in History. Like you, he will never be a straight-A student, but I am so proud of him. Mostly I am proud because I know that he tries hard, even when he feels like he can’t do it.

I taught him to love reading by reading to him. Not as much when he was younger, but now when I find a book that I know is in his interest range, I will read the first 2 or 3 chapters to him. Usually by that time, he is taking the book away from me, so that he can finish it faster than I am reading it to him. In the 9th grade, he was reading Lord of the Rings, and a student in his class told him she wished she could read like him. “You know, big books like that.” He puffed up in pride for weeks. Not because he was better than she, but because he could read “big books like that.”

I have always had an easy time of reading. In school I would read several grades above me. And I have an exceptional vocabulary. So I always used big words, making sure that the first and second time I used them, he knew what they meant. Now he uses big words, and his teachers are always surprised that he has been diagnosed with a learning disability.

Thank you, again, for making so much sense of what parents of dyslexics and dyslexics themselves suffer through. I personally love reading your articles, and am glad that you conquered your struggle.

Marcy Lenzen
Depew, Oklahoma

Thanks for being there

We have been longtime subscribers and mention Backwoods Home Magazine on many blogs and social web sites as we are thankful to have magazines such as yours to turn to for information, news, and entertainment. We send gift subscriptions to friends and family whom we feel need that little nudge for a step up in lifestyle, to start reaping the benefits of a frugal, sustainable, and healthful rural life. Notice I didn’t say “easy.” Thanks for being here for us at the end of the gravel road.

Bob Peterson
Napoleon, North Dakota