Here is our preliminary reading list for the season:
My Little House Christmas Crafts Book
A World of Holidays: Catherine Chanbers
The Baker's Dozen: Heather Forest
The Night Before Christmas: illustrated by Tasha Tudor
The Beautiful Christmas Tree: Charlotte Zolotow
Let's Celebrate Christmas: Peter and Connie Roop
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: Gloria Houston
The Little Fir Tree: Margaret Wise Brown
A Christmas Celebration: Pamela Kennedy
An Early American Christmas: Tomie dePaola
The Legend of the Poinsettia: Tomie dePaola
The Christmas Camel: Nancy Winslow Parker
Hark: A Christmas Sampler: Jane Yolen
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree: Robert Barry
Christmas in Denmark (they didn't have one for Sweden, I figured it was close enough for now)
Cranberry Christmas: Devlin
On Christmas Eve: MW Brown
Christmas Tapestry: Patricia Polacco
Silver Packages: Cynthia Rylant
Joy to the World: Saviour Pirotta
This isn't an exhaustive list of everything we're reading this season, but it's a start. We have some that I haven't typed in also, because I can't find them. Unfortunately most of our books are already packed away ready to go. But I imagine I'll update this every few days, assuming I can find some more.
Oh, here are a couple more:
Who's that Knocking on Christmas Eve: Jan Brett
The Gingerbread Baby: Jan Brett
We have a bunch from Sweden by Astrid Lindgren, so when Annika isn't sleeping in the room they are in, I'll get them and type those in too.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Back to the Grindstone
Sort of. It's hard to call anything where your six-year-old says, "Yay, we're learning about Carthage now," a grindstone. That is a direct quote. Jason's been playing a game on the computer where the Romans pretty much defeat everyone under the sun and he's fighting Carthage right now. How's that for a "real life" application of history!
Jason went back to work today after taking last week off for Thanksgiving. There was much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth on Annika's part. She was most unhappy that Dada was leaving. I figured that we should get back to work too.
We started off the day with Happy Times in Noisy Village. We read a chapter about a sheep so the entire time Annika baaed like a sheep. It was a little distracting, but she's supposed to be working on her speech, so we didn't say too much.
We were then joined at the table by an entire army of Bionicles. After telling their commander that only one was allowed at the table at a time, they took turns sitting and watching Harry and Sam do their work. Annika's doll, perhaps wanting to keep her distance, stayed on Annika's lap! That's how we did Math (lesson 28--we're almost finished with the book!) and grammar. Grammar culminated with some copywork, which Harry is strangely compliant about. It makes me worry--have we turned a corner where he will be okay with writing from now on or is he going to regress into his "I don't want to write" mode? I try not to shake too much as I hand over the part he's to copy and just go with it, but it's harder than it might seem.
He played a while after that--actually they all did. I lured them back to the table with the promise of some clementines. As they ate the last three clementines, my mouth watered and I devised plans to steal one. Harry also did some spelling. Not very exciting, especially since he's just beginning the book. I'm trying to whip through it, but not let him miss anything. So we do a book lesson a day, but go over the rules all week.
Once he finished his clementine (no I didn't actually steal anyones) we read about the Phoenicians, glass blowing, and snail boiling. Apparently Tyre was an incredibly smelly place since that is where they made all of the purple dye for the ancient world. Boiling sea snails does nothing for your reputation as a vacation spot--it's too smelly! That's when the above comment about Carthage was made--as Harry asked if we could read another chapter of history. I actully said no. Normally I'd say yes and bask in the glory of raising a kid interested in the outside world, but today he's going to a friends for the afternoon and we needed to have lunch and some quiet time.
That's where we are right now. And despite the fact that I went to bed at 7:30 last night and work up at 7:15 the morning, I'm going to lie down before we need to get in the car.
Jason went back to work today after taking last week off for Thanksgiving. There was much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth on Annika's part. She was most unhappy that Dada was leaving. I figured that we should get back to work too.
We started off the day with Happy Times in Noisy Village. We read a chapter about a sheep so the entire time Annika baaed like a sheep. It was a little distracting, but she's supposed to be working on her speech, so we didn't say too much.
We were then joined at the table by an entire army of Bionicles. After telling their commander that only one was allowed at the table at a time, they took turns sitting and watching Harry and Sam do their work. Annika's doll, perhaps wanting to keep her distance, stayed on Annika's lap! That's how we did Math (lesson 28--we're almost finished with the book!) and grammar. Grammar culminated with some copywork, which Harry is strangely compliant about. It makes me worry--have we turned a corner where he will be okay with writing from now on or is he going to regress into his "I don't want to write" mode? I try not to shake too much as I hand over the part he's to copy and just go with it, but it's harder than it might seem.
He played a while after that--actually they all did. I lured them back to the table with the promise of some clementines. As they ate the last three clementines, my mouth watered and I devised plans to steal one. Harry also did some spelling. Not very exciting, especially since he's just beginning the book. I'm trying to whip through it, but not let him miss anything. So we do a book lesson a day, but go over the rules all week.
Once he finished his clementine (no I didn't actually steal anyones) we read about the Phoenicians, glass blowing, and snail boiling. Apparently Tyre was an incredibly smelly place since that is where they made all of the purple dye for the ancient world. Boiling sea snails does nothing for your reputation as a vacation spot--it's too smelly! That's when the above comment about Carthage was made--as Harry asked if we could read another chapter of history. I actully said no. Normally I'd say yes and bask in the glory of raising a kid interested in the outside world, but today he's going to a friends for the afternoon and we needed to have lunch and some quiet time.
That's where we are right now. And despite the fact that I went to bed at 7:30 last night and work up at 7:15 the morning, I'm going to lie down before we need to get in the car.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
I can't remember now
if it's Wed, Thurs, or Fri! I had a mini panic attack a while ago because I suddenly thought it was Friday and I had all of these things to do, RIGHT NOW before going to Bunko at 6:30. (Yes, I know it's lame that I play bunko, but it's something to do occasionally). Anyway, I realized it was Thursday and I was fine, but then somehow I decided it was Wednesday a little while later. One of the problems of homeschooling maybe? Although I don't think I want to blame my inability to follow a calendar on homeschooling. Pregnancy maybe, but not homeschooling.
So what did we do today? Again, we started put with Math. Harry did two pages. Moved onto 50 Famous Stories and read about William Tell. Harry drew a picture of WT shooting the apple off of his son's head that's pretty neat. We talked about what a tyrant is and isn't and had a nice little discussion from that. I think they went to play after that for a while.
I lured them back into the kitchen with the promise of snacks and we read a couple of Thanksgiving stories. I keep meaning to post our Thanksgiving readings, but I also keep forgetting to. Maybe soon I'll get it finished. Hopefully before Thanksgiving. Harry did some spelling words and then we read some pages from D'Aulaire's George Washington. I'm not entirely sure everything is totally accurate in these biographies, but I'm willing to overlook that for now. This isn't the only biography Harry or Sam will read on Washington--it's just an introduction. Anything that needs to be cleared up will be.
During quiet time he read more of Eragon. He is really into that book. A lot more than Harry Potter. I think it's more exciting to him--there are dragons and a quest instead of a kid going to school. I got him out of quiet time early to work on his science. We are still studying rocks and fossils. Today I got out the igneous and metamorphic rock kits. We looked at them and tried to decide the colors, texture, and a bunch of other things that have slipped my mind now. We also did a sink or float experiment. He told me if he thought the rock would sink or float and we tested it. It was a lot of fun--we had a great time together looking at these rocks and talking about them. Harry's observational skills are getting better and better.
At the end we made Edible Igneous Rocks. It's basically fudge. We boiled the ingredients and then cooled them until they were hard. The only problem is that they aren't getting hard--in fact, quite the opposite. They are as runny as soup. So much for that, but he was so excited and could really grasp what we were doing.
Ahhh, what will tomorrow bring?
So what did we do today? Again, we started put with Math. Harry did two pages. Moved onto 50 Famous Stories and read about William Tell. Harry drew a picture of WT shooting the apple off of his son's head that's pretty neat. We talked about what a tyrant is and isn't and had a nice little discussion from that. I think they went to play after that for a while.
I lured them back into the kitchen with the promise of snacks and we read a couple of Thanksgiving stories. I keep meaning to post our Thanksgiving readings, but I also keep forgetting to. Maybe soon I'll get it finished. Hopefully before Thanksgiving. Harry did some spelling words and then we read some pages from D'Aulaire's George Washington. I'm not entirely sure everything is totally accurate in these biographies, but I'm willing to overlook that for now. This isn't the only biography Harry or Sam will read on Washington--it's just an introduction. Anything that needs to be cleared up will be.
During quiet time he read more of Eragon. He is really into that book. A lot more than Harry Potter. I think it's more exciting to him--there are dragons and a quest instead of a kid going to school. I got him out of quiet time early to work on his science. We are still studying rocks and fossils. Today I got out the igneous and metamorphic rock kits. We looked at them and tried to decide the colors, texture, and a bunch of other things that have slipped my mind now. We also did a sink or float experiment. He told me if he thought the rock would sink or float and we tested it. It was a lot of fun--we had a great time together looking at these rocks and talking about them. Harry's observational skills are getting better and better.
At the end we made Edible Igneous Rocks. It's basically fudge. We boiled the ingredients and then cooled them until they were hard. The only problem is that they aren't getting hard--in fact, quite the opposite. They are as runny as soup. So much for that, but he was so excited and could really grasp what we were doing.
Ahhh, what will tomorrow bring?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tuesday
Someday I'll think of clever post titles, but it won't be tonight. I'm going to bed right after this. Today Sam and Annika both had their speech lessons and we jumped Jason's car so he could go to work. A library run was scheduled after that, but I decided that today we really needed food more than books. Tomorrow, we'll see. We got home in time for lunch, which Annika decided to fix for herself. She opened up one of my yogurts and had eaten half of it by the time I realized. All this to explain why we didn't get much done.
What we did? Math and spelling. Harry did one page of MUS quickly and well. I decided to see if I could skip Harry ahead in his spelling book by testing him on the words in his list of the week. Oddly enough, he got most of them wrong. Even the ones I know he knows--like Mom. It was a very strange moment. So he worked a bit more in his spelling book, which at this moment I'm not sure I like and am planning on trying something different. I'll check him again on Friday. After that he did another of his timed math drill. I learned something the other day--cover up the timer. When he can see it, he gets distracted thinking about the time going by. All I have to do is cover it with a sticky note and he can sit down and just get to work. Amazing what a post-it can do!
Tomorrow I don't expect us to get a whole lot done either, he has his coop classes. But I plan on getting a bit more done. The other issue with this week is Sam's birthday party on Saturday that I need to finish getting ready for--so the time that I would have extra is being used for something else. That probably doesn't make much sense. Here it is in plain English. Usually if we don't finish our work in the morning, I push it off to quiet time and finish it then. But this week I really need to use that time to get ready for Sam's party--I can't just push that off at all. So things are a little tricky in that department.
Okay, this has taken me way too long to type since I'm tired. So I'm going to bed. Good night!
What we did? Math and spelling. Harry did one page of MUS quickly and well. I decided to see if I could skip Harry ahead in his spelling book by testing him on the words in his list of the week. Oddly enough, he got most of them wrong. Even the ones I know he knows--like Mom. It was a very strange moment. So he worked a bit more in his spelling book, which at this moment I'm not sure I like and am planning on trying something different. I'll check him again on Friday. After that he did another of his timed math drill. I learned something the other day--cover up the timer. When he can see it, he gets distracted thinking about the time going by. All I have to do is cover it with a sticky note and he can sit down and just get to work. Amazing what a post-it can do!
Tomorrow I don't expect us to get a whole lot done either, he has his coop classes. But I plan on getting a bit more done. The other issue with this week is Sam's birthday party on Saturday that I need to finish getting ready for--so the time that I would have extra is being used for something else. That probably doesn't make much sense. Here it is in plain English. Usually if we don't finish our work in the morning, I push it off to quiet time and finish it then. But this week I really need to use that time to get ready for Sam's party--I can't just push that off at all. So things are a little tricky in that department.
Okay, this has taken me way too long to type since I'm tired. So I'm going to bed. Good night!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Monday again
So on Saturday Jason and Harry washed the car and listened to music. I went out a few hours later and the music was still on--the battery was completely run down! The point? We took Jason to work this morning.
That threw us off a little--it's always hard to get started when something unexpected comes up. Somehow though, we got things together and really worked today. First up was math. I cannot wait to be finished with the MUS Alpha book. I honestly think Harry's ready to move up now, but there isn't any harm in waiting just a little. He's on lesson 26 of 30, so just a little while longer--by Christmas certainly.
While Harry worked on his math, I drew him a picture of a volcano to demonstrate where different igneous rocks come from. I had planned on saving it for later, but since he saw me making it, I decided to let him work on that instead of spelling. He labeled where the rocks come from, made some inferences on which were the hottest and coolest and answered some questions about igneous rocks in general. Our rock study is going well and he's learning a lot.
He finally finished his Benjamin Franklin copywork--again without complaint, even though this was the longest section with the biggest words in it.
We began some spelling work this morning as well. We haven't done spelling before because I have this feeling that there is no real reason to start this early, but after some more study, Jason and I decided that it would be a good idea. So he had ten super-easy spelling words and he breezed right through it.
After that we worked a bit on our Thanksgiving Notebooks--talking about the Pilgrims and what they found when they finally made it to the New World. We are reading a fabulous book called N. C. Wyeth's Pilgrims that has amazing pictures and just enough text to make it challenging for both boys. They have to listen while I am reading and can't just wander off to do something else.
Since we were of a historical mind then we talked about Moses and the Israelites. I'm still having a difficult time considering that history--we read the Old Testament Stories version just a couple of weeks ago, so I'm thinking I'll skip the rest of this chapter and move on to the Phoenicians.
Now we are in quiet time. Ahhh, the silence. I savor it and dream of it. Even though I'm going to get Harry soon and see which of his igneous rocks sink and which float. Then we can move onto sedimentary tomorrow. Oh yeah, one of the reasons we did so much this morning is that we're trying out a new schedule and I told Harry that if we were able to finish what we needed to, we could go to Legoland this afternoon and see if they had anything for his Bionicle birthday Party. It's amazing what a little bribery will do for a six-year-old!
That threw us off a little--it's always hard to get started when something unexpected comes up. Somehow though, we got things together and really worked today. First up was math. I cannot wait to be finished with the MUS Alpha book. I honestly think Harry's ready to move up now, but there isn't any harm in waiting just a little. He's on lesson 26 of 30, so just a little while longer--by Christmas certainly.
While Harry worked on his math, I drew him a picture of a volcano to demonstrate where different igneous rocks come from. I had planned on saving it for later, but since he saw me making it, I decided to let him work on that instead of spelling. He labeled where the rocks come from, made some inferences on which were the hottest and coolest and answered some questions about igneous rocks in general. Our rock study is going well and he's learning a lot.
He finally finished his Benjamin Franklin copywork--again without complaint, even though this was the longest section with the biggest words in it.
We began some spelling work this morning as well. We haven't done spelling before because I have this feeling that there is no real reason to start this early, but after some more study, Jason and I decided that it would be a good idea. So he had ten super-easy spelling words and he breezed right through it.
After that we worked a bit on our Thanksgiving Notebooks--talking about the Pilgrims and what they found when they finally made it to the New World. We are reading a fabulous book called N. C. Wyeth's Pilgrims that has amazing pictures and just enough text to make it challenging for both boys. They have to listen while I am reading and can't just wander off to do something else.
Since we were of a historical mind then we talked about Moses and the Israelites. I'm still having a difficult time considering that history--we read the Old Testament Stories version just a couple of weeks ago, so I'm thinking I'll skip the rest of this chapter and move on to the Phoenicians.
Now we are in quiet time. Ahhh, the silence. I savor it and dream of it. Even though I'm going to get Harry soon and see which of his igneous rocks sink and which float. Then we can move onto sedimentary tomorrow. Oh yeah, one of the reasons we did so much this morning is that we're trying out a new schedule and I told Harry that if we were able to finish what we needed to, we could go to Legoland this afternoon and see if they had anything for his Bionicle birthday Party. It's amazing what a little bribery will do for a six-year-old!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Thursday already?
I love Thursdays--we only have one speech appointment and then we get to spend the rest of the day at home. I use it to catch up on all of the things that didn't get finished through the week.
So, knowing that. Today Harry did a couple of pages in MUS. He wrote some copywork from Benjamin Franklin. We finished the book earlier in the week, but it's great to have Harry write without complaints. He just really liked the book and the sayings in it. He'll spend a couple more days finishing the work, but it really is an accomplishment for him.
Everyone needed a snack about then so while they at their yogurt, I read a couple of Aesop's Fables and King Alfred and the Beggar. Harry's understanding of the true meanings of things is growing by leaps and bounds. I'm trying to figure out what I want him to do with the morals of the stories, but aside from copying them down, I haven't come up with anything. And I know that forcing him to copy these won't make them stick, it'll backfire and he won't want to read them anymore.
We took some time to create autumn leaves out of markers, coffee filters, and watered down glue. That was a lot more time-consuming and messy than I thought it would be. But it turned out kind of cool. I'm just not sure it was worth the time and mess. I'm planning to leave a review for this craft on the crayola website.
They played Bionicle people for a while after that, had lunch, and we dove into our study of rocks. We got a kit that has a whole bunch of igneous rocks in it, so we looked at each one and tried to describe them. I made a chart and everything to fill out. Sam and Annika got into the action too. The most common phrase of this part: "No, Annika, don't eat the Mt. St. Helen's ash!"
Now it's quiet time, which is nice because I'm exhausted. We have a busy evening tonight, well, the kids and I do, Jason will be home resting. He had a longer night than I did yesterday. So I'm debating between a shower and a nap. And maybe getting some lunch. We'll see. Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure!
So, knowing that. Today Harry did a couple of pages in MUS. He wrote some copywork from Benjamin Franklin. We finished the book earlier in the week, but it's great to have Harry write without complaints. He just really liked the book and the sayings in it. He'll spend a couple more days finishing the work, but it really is an accomplishment for him.
Everyone needed a snack about then so while they at their yogurt, I read a couple of Aesop's Fables and King Alfred and the Beggar. Harry's understanding of the true meanings of things is growing by leaps and bounds. I'm trying to figure out what I want him to do with the morals of the stories, but aside from copying them down, I haven't come up with anything. And I know that forcing him to copy these won't make them stick, it'll backfire and he won't want to read them anymore.
We took some time to create autumn leaves out of markers, coffee filters, and watered down glue. That was a lot more time-consuming and messy than I thought it would be. But it turned out kind of cool. I'm just not sure it was worth the time and mess. I'm planning to leave a review for this craft on the crayola website.
They played Bionicle people for a while after that, had lunch, and we dove into our study of rocks. We got a kit that has a whole bunch of igneous rocks in it, so we looked at each one and tried to describe them. I made a chart and everything to fill out. Sam and Annika got into the action too. The most common phrase of this part: "No, Annika, don't eat the Mt. St. Helen's ash!"
Now it's quiet time, which is nice because I'm exhausted. We have a busy evening tonight, well, the kids and I do, Jason will be home resting. He had a longer night than I did yesterday. So I'm debating between a shower and a nap. And maybe getting some lunch. We'll see. Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Narrations and Stories
Benjamin Franklin:
Benjamin's friend stuffed Ben's pocket with pennies. Benjamin ran to the toy store. He gave the owner all of his pennies for a whistle. Benjamin walked through the house while his family was eating dinner blowing his whistle.
His brothers and sisters teased him and called him a spendthrift. A spendthrift is someone who doesn't pay attention to what he is buying. Benjamin bought the whistle for four times what it was worth. After that he looked at how much something cost and he gave the person he was going to buy it from that amount. He also thought about how he would spend his money after that.
The Fox and the Grapes:
A fox went walking along and he spied some grapes. He really wanted them and he tried to get them. He couldn't so he said they were sour grapes and he quit. Then he just walked off.
Horatius and the Bridge:
The Most Interesting Part:
They put out his eye and he jumped into the river and they thought he was sunk. But he wasn't because he was the best swimmer in Rome.
The Fairy Forest, by Harry
The fairies use oranges for food. The peels make their beds. Big ones are for the Queen and King and small ones are for the servants and everyone else. If they are stuck together they use their fairy chainsaws to break them apart.
They also eat apples. Then they use the peels to make their pillows. They get their apples and drop them out of the tree. Then they get a big needle to put the peels in and they pick the grass with their fairy chainsaws. They put the grass in the apple peels and use the needles to make sure there aren't any holes.
Benjamin's friend stuffed Ben's pocket with pennies. Benjamin ran to the toy store. He gave the owner all of his pennies for a whistle. Benjamin walked through the house while his family was eating dinner blowing his whistle.
His brothers and sisters teased him and called him a spendthrift. A spendthrift is someone who doesn't pay attention to what he is buying. Benjamin bought the whistle for four times what it was worth. After that he looked at how much something cost and he gave the person he was going to buy it from that amount. He also thought about how he would spend his money after that.
The Fox and the Grapes:
A fox went walking along and he spied some grapes. He really wanted them and he tried to get them. He couldn't so he said they were sour grapes and he quit. Then he just walked off.
Horatius and the Bridge:
The Most Interesting Part:
They put out his eye and he jumped into the river and they thought he was sunk. But he wasn't because he was the best swimmer in Rome.
The Fairy Forest, by Harry
The fairies use oranges for food. The peels make their beds. Big ones are for the Queen and King and small ones are for the servants and everyone else. If they are stuck together they use their fairy chainsaws to break them apart.
They also eat apples. Then they use the peels to make their pillows. They get their apples and drop them out of the tree. Then they get a big needle to put the peels in and they pick the grass with their fairy chainsaws. They put the grass in the apple peels and use the needles to make sure there aren't any holes.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Monday, Monday
So, I feel like today is a fresh start after a bad week last week. We're settling down to our lessons and such and things are planned, but not too planned. And here we go. (I'll update as we go along today.)
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