Let's Hope "They" don't read this

Whoever "they" are. Those anti-homeschoolers who are on the prowl for evidence that we're all secretly squirreling our kids away at home to fill their minds with anti-semitic mantras and instructions on bomb production. Or at least that we're neglecting their education and turning them into dull witted, socially inept, intellectually anemic adults. Because the past two weeks have really sucked on the school front.

Here's what we did:
Leading Little Ones to God: 60-62. And Psalm 100.
Math intensive practice (Singapore 1B, the second to last unit, whichever that is. Adding and subtracting to 100): a bunch of pages.
Scholastic Success for second grade: some stuff on maps and worksheets on proper nouns and verbs.
Some poems in Modern Rhymes on Ancient Times: Rome.
Several home showings.
A whole lot of time outside digging for bugs.
A handful of experiments involving vinegar and baking soda, all having the same basic outcome.
And a Lego robot built to resemble (quite accurately) the robot in a movie called Iron something. I can't even remember the title of the film.
Oh, and three trips to the library for movies and reading material. St. Nick has started picking up chapter books (vs. comic books/graphic novels) and, basing solely on the amount of time he spends looking at each page, I'm guessing he's actually READING them.

Another house showing tomorrow and an open house on Sunday, so rather than do school, I am doing laundry. St. Nick is playing with pipe cleaners. I'd like to say next week we'll get back to it, but I'm not making any promises.

(Ok, ok, we will. We WILL!)

End of the Week Summary

What? But it's only Thursday! True enough, but we're going to Indianapolis tomorrow and Saturday to hang with Dr. D's mom. She and his dad are there for six weeks (or more) while Dad undergoes stem cell replacement. (Something to keep in prayer for the one person who actually follows this blog.)

So, here's what we did.

Monday: Nothing. I don't remember Monday. At all. Funny, that.

Tuesday: Leading Little Ones to God lesson 59; exercises 64 & 65 in Math; started reading Famous Men of Rome (see earlier post for St. Nick's poem written in response).

Wednesday: Busy day. Fish had a Dr's visit where, as I was updating his new Dr. on his medical history, I totally forgot that he'd broken his collarbone when he was two. That was such a traumatic event - I can't believe I didn't mention it. I said, "Oh, I think the only time he's seen a doctor was when..." Dum-me. Then I had an appointment after lunch, and after that I wanted to finish edits to a manuscript so I could get it out already, so school didn't happen.

Thursday: Read and repeated Psalm 100 (we're going to memorize it); Math exercise 66; McGuffey's Second Reader lesson 42; Scholastic Success for 2nd Grade lesson on common nouns (done extremely well, even if barely legible); found quartzite and obsidian in the backyard (looked them up on a rock identification website) and discussed volcanic vs. metamorphic rocks. Not sure how much stuck, but it was fun for me. I love this stuff. I'm such a geek.

Oh! I just remembered Monday! We had a house showing, so I spent the morning cleaning and trying to occupy the kids with things that wouldn't make a mess, then spent the afternoon at the ice cream parlor and the library where St. Nick discovered the non-fiction section. Then we went out to the deck, and while St. Nick paged through his dozen or so books, I tried to keep Fish and Pie from throwing all the library's mulch into the lake. Fun!

More after Indianapolis. Can't say I'm looking forward to this one.

Romulus and Remus Come Alive

Today, as I was reading Famous Men of Rome (Haaren and Poland), St. Nick announced that he knew this story. It's in our book of myths! I got it and we found the page of the Romulus and Remus story. Then St. Nick abandoned his Legos and got paper and a pencil to draw a picture. A Cute, starkly cubist* picture of an animal with two people riding it, and a very angular (almost Aztec?) sun and clouds.

He then dictated a poem that I wrote down. Here it is:

The Wolf and the Babies
by St. Nick

This is the wolf,
This is the sun,
These are the babies on his back
When the clouds
Run in their run.

His favorite part of the Romulus and Remus story, however, was not the wolf. Rather, it was when the boys grow up and return to cut off Amulius's head.

*It's interesting to me how St. Nick seldom tries to draw things realistically. His drawings are very angular, but with contrasts of curves, and even when he's drawing something "real" like his brother, the drawing will be very much an impression - self-consciously so. Funny since we've not studied art at all yet. I know I was always trying to capture the thing as realistically as possible at his age (and still now, on the rare occasion I try). I don't know what this says about him as a person, if anything, but I like it.

Just Passing Time

Here I am passing time until I hear from Dr. D what's up with my mother. An hour or so ago I got a call, "Hello, this is ..." (St. Nick said something and obliterated this part.) "Your mother has been in a car accident." I now know her car was totaled, she is fine (her wrist is hurt and Dr. D is taking her to the med center now), but she had left her keys in the ignition, so she couldn't get in the house. Hence Dr. D going over there. Makes me wish I had the van so I could have gone - I'm a little worried about her, but she sounded fine. Anyway, now I get the FUN of sitting at home and waiting. And Arthur is on, so the boys and girl are in the basement for their half-hour dose of animation.

Time for a homeschool update!

I have two weeks to catch up on, so rather than go day by day, I think I'll just list what we did in each area.

Discipleship Studies:
Read Leading Little Ones to God lessons 54-58
Read Genesis 35
Read Psalm 100

St. Nick did much of the reading, except of the chapter from Genesis.

Math:
Singapore 1B exercises 57-63

We're nearing the end of the book! But we need to do some of the Intensive Practice because this adding and subtracting within 100 is tough stuff. I keep my fingers hidden when checking answers. Note to self: Next year you're going to need the answer book!!!!

Language arts and whatnot:
Scholastic Success For 1st Grade, finished the section on maps
Worked on lowercase and capital letters
Reading Reflex page 315 on word chunks
Scholastic Success for 2nd Grade, Exclamations and commands and something else (forgot what)

I really thought St. Nick had a handle on capital vs. lowercase, but we needed some review. Syllables were easy, however, and we've pretty much exhausted most of Reading Reflex and the 1st grade SS workbook. See, we are making progress.

Reading in history and science:
Going to War in Roman Times by Moira Butterfield, which inspired St. Nick to make shields and swords from cardboard and have a war with his brother.
St. Nick read American Born Chinese, which is a graphic novel for teens. I couldn't believe he read it, but when I quizzed him on the details (I knew since I'd picked up the book for ME to read), he got every question. Wow.
Who were the Romans (Usborne)
A Walk in the Deciduous Forest (skimmed) by Rebecca L Johnson
What is Volume? by Lisa Trumbauer
What is the World Made Of? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Cleopatra by Diane Stanley (that was a looooong picture book)
Chapter in one of those Cleary Ralph books (Dr. D read it)

What else?
Made Ooblek
Went to the library, twice
Sold our house (last Thursday)
Toured a bunch of potential homes
Had a (small and rather unremarkable, if exciting) fire
Learned much about fire safety
Had home inspections
Un-sold our house (this Thursday)

Cute quote of the week: St. Nick said, while Pie was throwing a tantrum, "No one will ever be as cute as Mud Pie. And no one will scream as loud as her!"

True on both counts!

School's Out!

Not really, just for the week. Because tomorrow morning we are going to Ohio to visit the outlaws and stay in a hotel! With a pool! Now that there is cause for excitement. And seeing Dr. D's parents, of course, but when you're seven/four/two Grandma and Grandpa take a backseat to a hotel pool.

But since I'm in the mood (again) to do a school report, and I'm still not using HST, here it is.

Monday:

• LLOTG 53, St. Nick read the whole thing aloud.
• Read Run with me Nike by Cassandra Case which St. Nick found remotely interesting (more so than I did), and I found slightly disturbing. When did I get so conservative on books? I used to be all for just about anything (i.e. when studying children's literature in college, then I had kids), and now a book has a character who prays that some ancient Greek god will make him run faster and I'm disturbed.
• On to math: exercises 51 and 52 which were so easy St. Nick laughed at them. He's getting a watch when he finishes his math books, so he is very motivated. Oddly, neither Dr. D nor I wear a watch.
• Dr. D read a chapter in Little Sir Galahad by Lillian Holmes, which is part of the Lamplighter Books series.

Tuesday:

• Psalm 43
• Math ex. 53 and 54
• Scholastic Success 1st grade lesson on linking verbs and pages on the state map
• An Ancient Greek Temple by John Malam and Mark Bergin. This one was a huge hit. St. Nick wanted me to read every word by every picture. The how-to of building the temples absolutely fascinated him.
• Two stories in Unwitting Wisdom, a beautiful collection of Aesop's fables. Beautiful, but the writing isn't very accessible. I actually read them to Mud Pie and Fish.
• We went to the library. I cannot even begin to record all the books St. Nick reads. Scooby Doo, dozens of easy readers. We could go, literally, every three days to replenish our books. Instead, we go once a week and he reads the books several times.
• Another chapter in Little Sir Galahad

Wednesday (today):

• Scholastic Success 1st grade City Maps
• Math 55-56
• An article on Alexander the Great in the August 04 issue of Cricket magazine. Don't ask why I still have that - it was a sample I'd ordered ages and ages ago and kept "in case I might need it." I am not normally a packrat. Really! In this case, I'm glad I kept it.
• Read Life in a Greek Trading Port by Jane Shuter. This one is funny. I opened it up to the usual protest of "This is boring!!!" and I said, "Ok, YOU read one page and we'll be done." St. Nick could hardly believe his luck. "Really? One page?" "Yup." So he read one page - with some big words like Warships and, oh, I don't even remember. Big words. He did great! I was so stunned I asked him, "How on earth did you learn to read so well? I don't believe it. I think you were tricking me. Read another page to prove you really did read it on your own." This became a challenge. He read another four or five pages before starting in with "Can we be done now?" I was so thrilled that I happily agreed to set aside the (less than engrossing) book. Wow! I'm still wondering how he learned to read so well.

That's it for school. I'll look forward to reporting on the Great Ohio Adventure after it happens!

Week in the Life: A Report

I've been using Homeschool Tracker, but the past few weeks I just couldn't think clearly enough to plan/keep up with it. I may not go back, which is a freeing thought. Anyway, I may well be procrastinating on judging an entry to the ACFW's Genesis contest right now, but I haven't done a school update in ages, since I started using HST, and I feel like doing one now. So, here it is! (That contest entry will still be there tomorrow. It really will. Sigh.)

What we did and how it went...

Monday the 17th:
Leading Little Ones to God, lesson 49.
Read You Wouldn't Want to be in Alexander the Great's Army in its entirety.
Had a picnic in the living room. Not really school, but fun and out of the ordinary.
Review #5 in Singapore Math 1B. All fine except skip counting by fives.

I thought we needed more work on skip counting, but later St. Nick counted by fives without issue. I don't know why he got hung up on it in the review.

Tuesday:
LLOTG, 50.
Math topic 8, ex. 46. (Numbers to 100)
Scholastic Success with First Grade worksheets on maps - borders (pp. 284-5).
Ancient Greeks (Usborne). St. Nick read this himself, supposedly, and drew a rather hasty sketch in his history notebook of ... I don't recall and I don't feel like getting up to look and I might not know what it is even if I did.
Read another chapter of Mouse and the Motorcycle (Beverly Cleary).

Wednesday:
LLOTG 51 (St. Nick and I alternated reading paragraphs).
Math ex. 47-48.
St. Nick looked at Dangerous Journey (a retelling of Pilgrim's Progress, which we'd read a few months ago).
Looked briefly at Life in Ancient Athens (which wasn't very interesting for either of us, sorry to say).
Read Alexander and the Stallion (by Elizabeth Westra, also known as Grandma).
St. Nick read Jason and the Golden Fleece independently. Or at least read some and looked at the pictures. I'm not sure.
Scholastic Worksheets on Naming Words (pp. 199-201).

Thursday:
St. Nick watched television and played computer allllll day while Grandma read a book or read to Mud Pie and while Mom and Dad had Fish at the hospital for his surgery. Not very happy about this.

Friday (today!):
LLOTG 51.
Math ex. 49-50.
Scholastic Worksheets on maps (US map), and on exclamation sentences.
Read King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft.
St. Nick read Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel independently. He finished it pretty quickly, so I'm not positive he didn't skip words, though he was able to narrate back. Hmmm. Isn't he too young to be speed-reading?

It was also a no-computer day (see comment on yesterday), which meant St. Nick spent most of his time pacing and being bored. I relaxed the computer rules when I was ill, so for two weeks he played in the afternoon. Now I'm regretting it. Gone is the boy who raids the recycle bin to "invent" things with tape and cardboard and paper clips. Back to the boy who sits and whines, "What am I going to do? I'm soooo booooorrrreeeeddddd!" Huge melodramatic sigh. We're giving the laptop to Dr. D's father, now that Dr. D has his laptop from the office, but our desktop (out for repairs since November) will be coming back this weekend with Uncle. Drat! Maybe we really should get rid of it altogether.

Fish also did some work this week, like had surgery and a pre-op tour of the hospital. We've read a handful of books to him, including his all-time favorite of Yoko by Rosemary Wells.

Overall, a good and very busy week! I'd say "now to those contest entries" but it's too late for that. Mud Pie will be up soon, and I don't really want to read them today anyway. How convenient.

Science Mania

So, St. Nick is making me just the slightest bit crazy today. Yesterday he had the breakthrough that if he finishes ALL his schoolwork before lunch, the rest of the day he can do whatever he wants. I'm not sure why it took him half the year to realize this, but I'm also not sure I said it aloud until yesterday when I had to endure ten minutes of "I don't WANT to do math! I don't WANT TO!!!" (the problems looked hard - they were just set up differently than he's used to seeing them).

Today we cranked from one subject to the next all morning (sort of exhausting to me - I got used to breaks every five minutes), so he can do ... drum roll ... Science! For the rest of the day. In fact, every five minutes (during math, while reading, while I'm checking email) I'd hear, "Mom, can we do science? What will we do for science? Mom? Science?"

I now have two containers of snow on the counter because of this experiment. And I might end up with potatoes soaking in water because of this experiment, though I'm hoping St. Nick forgets because I'd rather not sacrifice a potato for the sake of science, not today anyway.

I can't imagine why it never occurred to me to check online for easy experiments before. But it didn't, until today (the "Mom? Science?" helped). Why, there are zillions of experiments online that I can do with stuff I have sitting around! Here are the best resources I found. I know without any doubt whatsoever that I will become a frequent visitor to these sites. My poor potatoes.

Steve Spangler Making Science Fun. What's especially neat are the videos that illustrate many of the experiments.

Easy Science Experiments from the "surfing the net with kids" site. Too many ads, but links to all the science sites you could wish for.

The Science Explorer is an advertisement for books, but has much online content as well including Science Snacks. No, nothing edible, just "bite sized" experiments nicely organized.

And Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab. Despite the white text on a black background, which makes my eyes go buggy, it looks like there are some fun experiments with nice summaries of what each one teaches.

This should keep us busy!

An Uncommonly Good Week

I don't know what it was about this week - maybe the joyous clarity of my sinus passages, or the fascinating study with Tapestry, or the prayer from my Secret Sister, whoever she is? Whatever the cause, it's been simply ... fantastic. Not that we haven't had our moments of Mommy hiding in the mudroom to scarf down a comfort cookie (noooo, I don't really do that. Of course not!). But overall, school has been wonderful. Now to remember what we did ...

Monday I got to drive St. Nick to his very cool outdoor adventure class (something he'd never get to do if we sent him to traditional school). The venue was simply beautiful - carpet of leaves, towering oaks, lake peeking between the trees, quaint little cabins tucked around every corner. Even the 40 minute drives to drop him off (one way) and pick him up in the afternoon were great. I took Fish for the pick-up (and left Mud Pie, napping, with my mother), and we stopped by Robinette's on the way home. We oooohed and ahhhhed over the Christmas ornaments (rather, I did the ooooohing while the boys played with little wind-up caterpillars); I bought my Secret Sister her gift, and we got a dozen donuts to take home. Not school, exactly, but certainly fun! We even saved some donuts for Dr. D.

Tuesday, riding the wave of Dr. D being home at the office (and NO TRIPS planned for a good while), we dove into schoolwork and studied all sorts of things related to Ancient China. Books on Chinese inventions, discussion on the culture. Lots of talking, which is by far St. Nick's favorite thing to do. We also did math/reading, which were a breeze.

Wednesday St. Nick got hooked on our book of myths from around the world. I keep it out of reach because it's not the sort of book I want him lingering on. The stories tend to be strange and violent - both things that fascinate him. I think we've read at least half of the book in the past three days. What's fascinating to me is just how rational St. Nick is. He's been asking about everything lately, "Now is this real or fake?" Like, "Is reindeer flying true? Can they really fly?" Everything from the tooth fairy to magic kits (in allll those toy catalogs) gets the question. "Is it true? Is it real?" This sparks some fantastic conversation - we've talked about everything from what the tooth fairy (if he/she is real) looks like to creativity and the veracity of the Bible. Who knew a six year old could think at this level?

Thursday was especially fun because I "tricked" St. Nick into enjoying his lessons. First thing in the morning we do our scripture and character reading, prayer, then the three Rs. The afternoon is the fun stuff - science and Tapestry of Grace. But St. Nick, on his myth kick, didn't want to study the boring old Maya. He wanted myths! So, I got out our copy of Rain Player and said, "This IS a myth!" But I had him sit with me and read a short nonfiction book on the Maya before opening the myth. The first page: "I don't want to! I'm not listening!" The second page: "What is THAT? Is that a TOMB?" (Like I said, anything grotesque catches his attention immediately.) He was engrossed in the book, and the myth was all the sweeter because he understood the context for the story.

Then I broke out a craft I'd purchased a few weeks before, before I'd decided to give up on crafts. St. Nick just doesn't like them. They're boring. They're useless. Really, when I think of it from his perspective, what is a craft? He spends a lot of valuable time (that could be spent on Legos or watching CyberChase! Come on, Mom!) to make something that's sort of ... papery and flimsy (think paper plates and poster paints and Popsicle sticks). It goes on the refrigerator for a week, and then who knows? Into a drawer? Or the X file (the trash can)? This craft was different.

I'd purchased a weaving kit. St. Nick labored over it for two hours, and at one point said, "Mom, this is SO FUN!" Only he wasn't smiling. But he's a little young for sarcasm, isn't he? Anyway, I think he meant it. Once I helped him free his creation from the loom, I told him he'd made a fantastic potholder.

"I made a POTHOLDER?" He was clearly amazed.

"Um, yes?" I'm expecting tears or something at this point.

"A REAL POTHOLDER? Like for REAL pots?"

"Um, yes, except it says not to use it on metal pots."

He grinned. "But I can use it for our macaroni pot! (glass) I can make macaroni with my REAL potholder!"

He proudly brought it with us to dinner and showed it off to everyone who would look at him. What a difference a useful craft can make! I've read a bit of Charlotte Mason's ideas, but the idea of handicrafts (that children spend their free time making useful things, like doll clothes and, well, potholders) has always seemed silly to me. St. Nick sewing? Weaving? Right.

But he loves his potholder. It's hanging from a hook on the mantle right now.

And that brings us to today. Another fun day - we decided to scrap The Corn Grows Ripe (not capturing his attention) and we spent a good while turning a cardboard box into a sled and giving Fish rides around the living room in it. Oh, and of his own design, St. Nick made cardboard show shoes for his feet. And wings. And we spent some time doing what is fast becoming one of my favorite things, telling stories. I cuddle with Fish while St. Nick fiddles with something on the floor (have to keep that boy's hands busy) and I start telling stories. Either family stories from childhood or silly made-up stories. St. Nick loves to add to them and suggest twists and turns. And, if it's a made-up story, Fish is usually the hero (along with Mud Pie and Nick, of course), which makes him glow like a little Christmas bulb. I love that glow.

Now it's the Blessed Hour of Cyberchase and Arthur, my little moment to regain possession of sanity before Dr. D comes home from work. The craziest thing of all? I can hardly wait to start up again next week!

Cheese and Whine

Here's what we did this week:

• Read Genesis 11
• Read Leading Little Ones to God, Lesson 32
• Did Singapore Math Intensive Practice, 1B topic 2
• Did two Scholastic Success for First Grade worksheets (sometimes busywork is a good thing) (like when speaking - at all - triggers twenty minutes of coughing and nose blowing)
• Read Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert D. San Souci (on Friday, so followed by only five minutes of coughing)
  

That's IT, for the whole week. St. Nick did a few things on his own - made a host of "I Love You Mom" posters, drew a comic book (about a robot, I think - he hasn't mastered plot yet, but that's ok, since neither have half the published authors out there), and built about five thousand Lego projects.

What he didn't do was watch TV nonstop all week. This surprised me. When we dropped Dr. D at the airport Tuesday morning, and I came home and flopped on the couch, I pretty much expected the next two days would involve me feeling guilty about the kids watching television.

They watched, I think, even less than usual. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe they were worried Mom's mucus would thicken so much she truly couldn't breathe? (It came close.) So they wanted to stay near me? Maybe they're moving beyond this entertainment obsession? Whatever the reason, I'm glad for it.

I watched half hour last night and gave up, after being severely offended by some show. I don't even know what it was called because I'd never seen it before. The story went like this: a pastor was having trouble with his congregation because they thought he was sleeping with his hottie girlfriend. He wasn't, but the people treated her coldly (in a rather silly way), and so he quit his preaching post (as if it were not a calling, but just another job) and celebrated by going to hottie's house to rip her clothes off. Hmmm.

No, it wasn't HBO. I don't have cable. We get three clear-ish channels, and two fuzzy ones.

The point is, maybe the kids are starting to feel the same way about the box as me. (That would be boredom with a touch of horror and disdain, in case it wasn't clear.) That's worth a week of school lost, I'd say! (Nice try at the excuse-making, I know.)

Mom, Take a Picture of My Mouth, Reading!

Well, OK!

We Actually DID Something!

I often feel like the laziest of all homeschooling moms. We're a one-vehicle family, so I don't go anywhere during the day. And if I do drive Dr. D to work, the wildest adventure is the library. But then I forget that we do go places on the weekends. And sometimes the places we go are actually interesting! Or educational! Or both! Most interesting of late was a trip to Bowen's Mills (I'd link to the website but the layout is so horribly terrible that I'll spare you) on the weekend of a Civil War Reenactment. Never mind that we're not studying the Civil War right now. It was incredible! Below, some visual highlights.



Union soldiers. Mud Pie did NOT like the noise. At all.



Confederate soldiers.



The cider mill - with lots of bees. Again, Mud Pie was not impressed by the noisy machines. In fact, I'm trying to think what did impress Mud Pie and I'm drawing a blank. She has a fear of anything loud, dark, smelly ... garages, trucks, cars, animals (but not her brothers! Though they do meet the requirements).



Oh, the apples! She did like the apples. In fact, about all she did was clutch her apple and cry.



We all (with one exception) thought the covered bridge was cool.



And I love the costumes. Actually, I do think Mud commented on the "pwety dwess" once or twice.





But the warfare was the big hit for the boys. Not that I'm surprised ...



Hi, St. Nick!



Caption: "Should we take 'im out or shoot 'im in the stocks?"



"Time to clean up your act!" (Groan - that's soap, by the way. In case it wasn't obvious.)

My impression of the event was awe. I walked around googly-eyed, in love with everything. "This is SO COOL!" I remember saying a few times. St. Nick got bored (we discovered later that he had a nasty cold coming on), Little Fish was his usual along-for-the-ride self, and I already mentioned Mud Pie's reaction. I am certainly going to look for more of these events, and eventually, wouldn't it be awesome to participate? Talk about Living History!

What we Did on our Summer Vacation

This will be a running post of summer, things we did, places we went. No big plans for summer since Canada fell through, but we did go to Binder Park Zoo and the local John Ball Zoo (twice). We're a little zooed out.

I'm not going to even try to remember all the books we brought home. We've fallen in love with Rosemary Wells' cute little characters (Little Fish Loves Yoko), and we've gotten a huge lot of others, most of which St. Nick can read on his own. Yikes. That's a little scary!

Just tonight we watched The Miracle Maker (we'll see how long the YouTube works), and Dr. D just ordered a copy for us to keep.

2006-07 Booklist

Since the other is getting long, I thought I should start a "second semester" list. This isn't likely to be as complete, but I'll try.

Tapestry & Humanities:
Exodus by Brian Wildsmith
Celebrate: A Book of Jewish Holidays by Judith Gross and Bari Weissman
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur by Goldberg
Passover by Nancy I. Sanders
The Indus Valley by Jane Shuter
The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman and Fred Marcellino
You are in Ancient China by Ivan Minnis
The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher
Long Long's New Year by Catherine Gower and He Zhihong
Lily Dragon by Mary Ellis
Children's First book of People and Places, Paragon 1998
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story by Ai-Ling Louie
Spring: a haiku story by George Shannon and Malcah Zeldis
Old Japan by Andrew Haslam
The Great Wall by Elizabeth Mann and Alan Witschonke
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
Kites: Magic Wishes that Fly up to the Sky by Demi
Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon boats: a treasure of Chinese holiday tales, activities, and recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, Boston The Children's Museum, and Meilo So
The Ancient Chinese by Jane Shuter
Liu and the Bird: a journey in Chinese Calligraphy by Catherine Louis and Born in
The Stolen Sun by Amanda Hall
This House is Made of Mud Ken Buchanan and Libba Tracy
El Ratoncito Pequeno by Pipina Salas-Porras and José Cisneros
Corre Perro Corre by P. D. Eastman
Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Susan Jeffers
Welcome to Kaya's World, 1764: growing up in a Native American homeland by Dottie Raymer and Jodi Evert
Anasazi by Leonard Everett Fisher
Squanto's Journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac and Greg Shed
The Best Book of Ancient Greece by Belinda Weber
The Greeks by Gillian Chapman
Arachne Speaks by Blair Drawson and Kate Hovey
Theseus and the Minotaur by Scott R. Welvaert
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Mary Jane Begin
The Twelve Labors of Hercules by James Evelyn Ford and Peter Rutherford
Jason and the Golden Fleece by Claudia Zeff (Usborne Young Reading)
Usborne Beginners: Ancient Greeks by Stephanie Turnbull
The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki
Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert and Michael Garland

Science & Math:
Smell by Patricia J. Murphy
Taste by Patricia J. Murphy
What Makes You Ill? Usborne
Math Mastermind Activity and Workbooks
Singapore Math Primary 1A, Textbook, Workbook, Intensive Practice
You Can't See Your Bones With Binoculars by Harriet Ziefert and Amanda Haley
Usborne first encyclopedia of the Human Body
Breathing - Raintree Perspective by Angela Royston
Watch Me Grow (select experiments) by Michelle O'Brien-Palmer and Fran Lee
What Lives in the Garden? by John Woodward
Totally Bugs (activity kit) by Dennis Schatz and Peter Georgeson
Usborne Complete First Book of Nature by R. Kidman-Cox
What's the Weather Today? by Allan Fowler
The Rainbow and You by Edwin C. Krupp and Robin Rector Krupp
I Face the Wind by Vicki Cobb and Julia Gorton
Our Nest by Reeve Lindbergh and Jill McElmurry
The Way the Storm Stops by Michelle Meadows and Rosanne Litzinger
I see Myself by Vicki Cobb and Julia Gorton

Devotional & Enrichment:
Thanksgiving Turkeys by Patrick Merrick
The Story of Thanksgiving by Robert Bartlett and Sally Wern Comport
Egermeier's Bible (see previous list)
Leading Little Ones To God (continued)
Stranger Danger by Peggy Pancella
So You Want to be an Inventor by Judith St. George and David Small
Psalm 23 illus by Tim Ladwig
What's your Language by Debra Leventhal and Monica Wellington

Read Alones:
McGuffey's Primer
McGuffey's First Reader
Bob Books set B
Start To Read! Set 1 by Barbara Gregorich
Start to Read! Set 2
Start to Read! Set 3
What Is a Wookie? by Laura Buller and Kate Simkins
Spelling Puzzles
Scholastic Primary Grammar Workbook
Bob Books set 5 Long Vowels
Spider-man 2: Spider-Man versus Doc Ock by Acton Figueroa/Jesus Redon
Dolphins! (Step into Reading 3) by Sharon Bokoske, Margaret Davidson, and Courtney
Arthur's Back to School Surprise by Marc Brown
Oh Look! by Patricia Polacco

Just for Fun:
The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson/Virginia Lee Burton
Goodbye House by Frank Asch
Curious George and the Firefighters by Margret & H.A. Rey
Maximum Boy (How I Became a Superhero) by Dan Greenburg
Now You See Me - Now You Don't by Dan Greenburg and Jack E. Davis
Four Friends in Summer by Tomie dePaola
Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair by Patricia Polacco
While you were Sleeping by Alexis Deacon
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka bake a Cake; Their New Friend; The Big Red Hen; The Three Kittens; The Little Dog; The Strawberries
Boat Ride with Lillian Two Blossom by Patricia Polacco
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Educational Films & Software/Websites:
Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving (+ Thanksgiving story)
Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Toy Story 2 (CD ROM games)
Rainbow Rock (CD ROM games from Singapore Math)
Lego.com (not really educational, but fun)
Ancient Egypt DVD
Ancient Greece DVD (watched most of it, but it's an hour and a half! A little long for him)
Dragon Tales- Yes We Can! DVD
Real Wheels: Rescue Adventures DVD
Schoolhouse Rock DVD set

Book List I

Tapestry of Grace (Humanities):
The Nile River by Allan Fowler
Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola
Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton and Harriet Barton
Deserts by Angela Wilkes
Egyptians by Stephanie Turnbull and Colin King
Secrets of the Pyramids (Maze Adventures) by Graham White
Old Testament Days by Nancy Sanders
A Place in the Sun by Jill Rubalcaba
Ancient Egypt (Modern Rhymes about Ancient Times) by Susan Altman, Susan Lechner, and Sandy Appleoff
Who Built the Pyramids? (Usborne) by Phil Roxbee Cox
Pharaohs and Pyramids (Usborne Time Traveler) by Tony Allan, Toni Goffe, and Abigail Wheatley
You Wouldn't Want to be a Pyramid Builder by Jacqueline Morley, David Salariya, and David Antram
How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt by Tamara Bower
The Shipwrecked Sailor by Tamara Bower
You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy by David Stewart and David Antram
Tut's Mummy Lost ... and Found by Judy Donnelly
Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki
Yellow and Pink by William Steig
The Life of Moses (Art Revelations) by Neil Morris
Exodus from Egypt by Mary Auld
Moses Crosses the Red Sea by Tommy Nelson
Moses and the Burning Bush by Tommy Nelson
The Prince of Egypt by Walt Disney
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses by Henry Barker
Illustrated Book of Myths (Egypt selections) by Neil Philip and Nilesh Mistry
Celebrate: A Book of Jewish Holidays by Judith Gross and Bari Weissman
The Creation by James Weldon Johnson and James E. Ransome
All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Alexander and Carol Heyer
Glory by Nancy White Carlstrom and Debra Reid Jenkins
Song of Creation by Paul Goble
A is for Adam by Ken Ham, Mally Ham, and Dan Lietha
Cain and Able by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and Joani Keller Rothenberg
Noah and the Great Flood by Mordicai Gerstein
Tell Me the Story by Max Lucado and Ron DiCianni
The Tower of Babel by Alison Greengard
The Coat of Many Colors by Jenny Koralek

Science & Math:
Singapore Math Earlybird K 2A & 2B
Science With Plants
Green Thumbs
The Natural World (The Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia) by Lisa Watts
When The Root Children Wake Up by Audrey Wood and Ned Bittinger
1001 Animals to Spot by Margaret Rostron, Ruth Brocklehurst, Susannah Owen, and Teri Gower
1001 Insects to Spot by Emma Helbrough and Teri Gower
A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry and Marc Simont
Usborne First Book of Nature by R. Kidman-Cox
Autumn: Poems, Songs, Prayers by Wendy Mass
Animals and the Seasons by Susanne Riha
Four Seasons Make a Year by Anne Rockwell and Megan Halsey
Volcano & Earthquake by Susanna van Rose
The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons
Earth: Our Planet in Space by Seymour Simon
About Four Seasons and Five Senses by Radlauer and Perez
Seeing by Rebecca Olien
Sight by Patricia J. Murphy
Science and Your Body Usborne
You Can't Smell a Flower with Your Ear by Joanna Cole
Hearing by Patricia J. Murphy
Touch by Patricia J. Murphy

Devotional & Enrichment:
Leading Little Ones to God
God's Wisdom for Little Boys
Egermeier's Bible Story Book
Building on the Rock (Book 4) by Joel Beeke and Diana Kleyn
The Children's Book of Home and Family by Bennett & Hague
Fencing is for Me by Art Thomas
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt and Tim Jonke
Sing Praise by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Janet Broxon
Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child (illus. by David Catrow)
Over the River ... (illus. by Brinton Turkle)
A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman and Jeff Shelly

Read Alones:
Reading Reflex by McGuinness (our core guide)
Mr. Putter and Tabby Walk the Dog by Cynthia Rylant
Bob Books Level A Sets 1 & 2 by Bobby Maslen and John Maslen
Bob Books Level B Sets 1 & 2 by Bobby Maslen and John Maslen
McGuffey's Eclectic Readers by William Holmes McGuffey (through primer)
One Up for Brad by Susan Blackaby and Len Epstein
Jake Skates by Susan Blackaby and Troy Olin
Riley Flies a Kite by Susan Blackaby and Matthew Skeens
New to Drew by Susan Blackaby and Hye Won Yi
Wendell the Worrier by Jill L. Donahue and Thomas Spence
Willie the Worm by Christianne C. Jones and Zachary Trover
Nate the Dinosaur by Christianne C. Jones and Len Epstein

Educational Films:
Building the Skyscrapers
A Tale of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt
The Legend of the Three Trees
Bear for All Seasons (Bear in the Big Blue House)
Barney's SenseSational Day
Ancient Mesopotamia
Adventures in Odyssey: In Harm's Way
Real Wheels: Rescue Adventures Video

Just for Fun:
Calvin Y Hobbes (Spanish) by Bill Watterson
Disney's Treasure Planet by Catherine Hapka
Monsters Inc. by Catherine Hapka
There's a Wardrobe in my Monster! by Adrienne Goeghagen
Oh Yeah! by Tom Birdsey
The Berenstain Bears and the Big Blooper by the Berenstains
The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read MacDonald and Mary Newell DePalma
Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, If You Take a Mouse to School by Felicia Bond.
Run Wild by Craig Robert Carey and Isidre Mones
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss

Websites We Frequent:
Starfall
PBS Kids
I Know That!
Playhouse Disney

Dun Dun Dunnnn - summary of final weeks

We are SO DONE with school. So done. Here's what we did the last couple of weeks. Singapore Math up to Topic 6 (ex. 38 is where we left off), McGuffeys 1st reader up to lesson 27, finished the spelling puzzles and grammar worksheets, learned about psalms, rainbows, and wind. And we watched the gutter guys clean the gutters and the paint guys paint the house and cleaned the attic with the shopvac. Excitement galore.

Fizzle fizzle. One more Lego Engineering class and two more fencing classes, and then we can breathe a huge huge sigh ... and start packing to a. go on vacation to Canada and b. MOVE!

Like I said, we are DONE!

Another Week Down

We had a not-so-hot week here, literally. We got six or four or rather a lot of inches of snow toward the middle of the week, and, after some almost-summer-like weather, I think that put us all into hibernation.

And, what's more, I decided that since this is kindergarten (although who knows if we'll "skip" a year later on - St. Nick is six - first grade age, but with a December birthday, he'd be in kindergarten if he were in school), we'd take it easy. Not that we hadn't been - we had been, but I'd been feeling badly about it. Now I'm going to give that up.

So, what did we do? We did our usual language arts of reading everything in sight (McGuffey's 1st reader, XXIII-XXV and Wind on p. 279 of Reading Reflex), learning about telling sentences and exclamation points, and a very little bit of writing.

We're still doing ordinal numbers in Singapore Math - working through some of the intensive practice. Not sure if St. Nick just doesn't want to turn his brain on, or if this is really that hard for him. He gets first, second, etc., and can even tell me which item in a line is third from the left or fifth from the right. But those word problems in the Intensive Practice book ... brutal. "Maria is fourth in line, Juan is after Maria, there are two people after Juan. How many children are in line?" To which St. Nick says, "What are they all waiting for?"

Hmmm.

Excitement for the week was catching our caterpillar, trumped only by St. Nick's first Lego Engineering class, which is two hours long every Monday afternoon. He absolutely loved it, and it's held at the library, which is super-convenient for me. As is Photoshop, which I've used for years and years, and just this week I opened up a new window, showed St. Nick the basics of selecting a paint brush and color, and half an hour later came back to see a really cute "painting" of Jonah being swallowed by a whale (sigh, okay, okay, a "big fish"). It's on the desktop, but I'll upload it when I'm over there next.

Ah, here it is!

Fencing on Tuesday was fun too. "Mommy! I got five points against that really good fencing guy!" The "really good fencing guy" is actually a boy whose been in his class since last winter, and has a tactic of running straight at his opponent while waving his foil madly in front of him. More often than not, he goes sliding onto the gym floor just as he's about to get hit. Methinks the child needs a little less sugar in his diet. I find it interesting, however, that St. Nick equates spasticness with being "really good."

We did a good bit of reading - about a third through Charlotte's Web, read Madeline five or six times (and discussed surgery, what your appendix does [i.e., not much], and boarding schools - heeheee), a sweet story about a thunder storm The Way the Storm Stops - also five or six times. And Our Nest which has a sort of Creation theme. In a strangely New Agey way. It's a cute book, though. Oh! And we got on a Patricia Polacco kick (thanks to our home ed group!) and read th