Frolic and Farce

Fabulous Book

2012-02-15T22:24:00.004-07:00

As I have mentioned before, my son, Cowen, is obsessed with George Washington. George Washington and Captain Moroni. Not bad heroes for a little boy to have.

We've read a lot of books about George Washington at our house, but recently Cowen brought the Jim Murphy book, The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution, home from the library. It is fantastic.

Although the book is aimed for the upper-elementary crowd, my younger kids loved all 85 pages. The writing is larger than normal and there are lots of maps and illustrations, but it is still a good-sized book to read aloud. We started out reading a chapter a night, but then read the second half of the book in one sitting because none of us wanted to stop. It really is fantastic. Get it from the library and enjoy!!

PS--No, I am not re-entering the blogging world. I have never before existed at this level of busyness and I am not handling it as well as I could hope. Someday I will blog again full-time, but right now I am only blogging when there is a book too good to not share.

Good Books for Paleontology

2011-09-22T00:11:00.007-06:00

Sorry I disappeared. I am not dead. Just busy. Very, very busy.

Well, there is also the fact that I haven't been homeschooling much what with one thing or another. A little math here. Some Spanish there. And every once in awhile I have Miriam spell something.

But between the time we officially started school and now we have been studying paleontology, and while I have enjoyed it and my children have LOVED it, in the future I am going to avoid dragging units out. If possible, that is.

With that lengthy intro--here are our favorite books from paleontology.

Mysteries of the Fossil Dig: How Paleontologists Learn About Dinosaurs by Pamela Rushby. This is one of the very best of the best. National Geographic usually lives up to its reputation, and it certainly did in this case. The pics are awesome and the text is informative without being too lengthy.

Sabertooth Cat by Janet Riehecky. I didn't think any of the sabertooth cat books we found in our Davis County library system or Weber County library system are that great. However, the idea of sabertooth cats is riveting to children--boys especially--so the kids loved the books despite the books' many flaws.

The Dinosaur Bone Battle Between O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope by Brooke Hartzog. Another great story of selfishness and greed leading men down unpleasant paths. Moral to the story--plus good dino information. Winner.

Cave Detectives: Unraveling the Mystery of An Ice Age Cave by David L. Harrison. GOLD STAR BOOK. This was by far the best book we read. I was riveted, my children were riveted. Miriam changed her mind, after reading this book, about being an animal rescuer when she grows up. Now she wants to be an animal rescuer and scientist, so she can go explore the cave. Just plain amazing. Read it--even if you have no good reason to do so.

Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki. I still haven't found a perfect fossil book, but this one isn't bad. My children liked it and the explanations were helpful. It was definitely better than many that I read and returned to the library without reading them to the kids.

Kaleidoscope: Fossils by Roy Gallant. This book is old but it falls into the "oldie but goodie" category.

Geology Rocks! Fossils by Rebecca Faulkner. This book has the best fossil pictures and the best glossary. Miriam used the glossary to find definitions to write on our vocab chart on the wall. Plus, I read it to the children and they all liked it and sat through it.

Trapped in Tar: Fossils From the Ice Age by Caroline Arnold. I kept this book, instead of returning it to the library, because there is a picture of sabertooth cat fossils and I thought Cowen would like to see it. I wasn't real impressed by the rest of the book. The book is ancient, the pictures are terrible (quality--not content), and there is too much text per page for my children's ages. I pulled it out to show my kids a few pictures, and they made me read the whole thing. Sometimes my children surprise me. They loved the idea of the animals getting sucked down to death. Gruesome--but they loved the book, so there you go.

Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown. There are several Mary Anning books out there and most of them are JUNK. If you are studying Mary Anning (and you should, you really should!) stick to this children's book biography or a biography written for adults/YA. Maybe that sounds harsh to the other books but I read four or five and they were all HISTORICALLY INACCURATE. The historian in me cringed. You don't need to dress up/mess up a story like Mary Anning's. As to this book's quality--aside from it being the most historically correct--it is great. The illustrations aren't my style, but my children loved it and started playing "dino explorer" after reading it. Awesome.
Ice Age Sabertooth: The Most Ferocious Cat That Ever Lived by Barbara Hehner. Another okay sabertooth cat book.

So there you have it. We read a ton more and both library districts in our neck of the woods are chock-full of paleontology books, but these are the ones we liked best. I can't reiterate enough that you should immediately switch to your library homepage and reserve a copy of Cave Detectives. It is that good.

Schedule

2011-08-29T22:05:00.003-06:00

I have a hard time with scheduling for the traditional reason: so many GREAT IDEAS and so little time. This year I wanted to start Spanish and even without that, our days feel packed. Maybe it is because my children have resisted getting back into a routine after our 6 month Harriet hiatus. Or maybe it is because it suddenly turned hot enough to fry our brains.

Regardless, scheduling is hard. Always.

I had an epiphany over the past few weeks. I don't have to do as much as I do. I know, I know, basics that I can never quite grasp. This time the point was driven home though for several reasons.

Reason 1: Harvest season.

Reason 2: Being the RS pres is busy. Very, very busy.

Reason 3: My house is a disaster and I don't have time at night to catch up (see reason 2).

Reason 4: I want to enjoy this year at least a little bit.

SOLUTION: Here is the good part. I scheduled in half days on Tuesdays and Thursdays to accommodate harvesting and bottling, and I love it. Love it. Instead of having science/history/music in the mornings we just have devotional and jump right into our normal afternoon subjects--math, spelling, handwriting, English. That way, we are still doing school but I get an afternoon to catch up. Two actually. It is wonderful.

So our schedule (right now) works like this:

Monday/Wednesday--devotional, music/dancing, science/history then lunch and quiet time during which Miriam and I read our scriptures and Miriam reads silently for 20 minutes. After quiet time we do math, spelling, handwriting, English.

Tuesday/Thursday--devotional, core subjects, lunch, quiet time, free time.

Friday--devotional, core subjects, lunch, quiet time, art.

I might end up switching the days around to accommodate Miriam's Liberty Girls and Book Group, but the plan will stay the same.

Now, my next challenge is figuring out when Miriam should do her Rosetta Stone and piano flashcards. I sit down with her every morning to facilitate her piano practice (translation into real mom speak: make sure she counts) while Cowen does the dishes, but I haven't managed to work in flashcards yet. She's still relying too much on learning by ear instead of mastering the notes.

Also, I've been super good about making sure Cowen reads, but I need to make sure Emeline gets her 15 minutes of reading also.

Sometimes it feels like I have a lot of kids!

How are your schedules working out? Gotten all the bugs out yet?

This Year's Theme

2011-08-23T23:00:00.003-06:00

It took me a long time to decide what to organize our homeschool around this year. I usually do history and the children like that, but last year I did science and the children loved that--but I like history more than science and if the teacher ain't happy . . .. I wanted to combine history and science but wasn't sure exactly how to do it.

Then it hit me--careers. Not necessarily careers I want my children to pursue, but just interesting careers in general. Think about it--all careers have a history, interesting people who started doing whatever it is, and almost all careers have some science aspects to them. Plus, a career is easy to research and organize into one month (or two-week) segments.

This month we are studying paleontology. My children are thrilled. They found some library books hidden in my room a few weeks ago and have been talking dinosaurs non-stop since. Little Eli went outside a few days before school and on his way out said, "Mom, I'm going shoot dinosaur bones." Yep, a lot of excitement can be generated by not allowing children to read certain books until school starts.

The first day of school we had devotional. Then we read two books about fossils. My children were fascinated. Our new wall chart has two sections, one for people and another for vocabulary. We added a bunch of words to the vocabulary section, and had fun looking through the books to remind ourselves of what trilobites and ammonites look like.

Then a beautiful thing happened. My daughter read the definition for "mineral replacement" but couldn't explain it because she didn't know what dissolve meant. I pulled out a bowl, warmed up some water in the microwave, and had my kids stir some salt into the water. They quickly understood dissolve when they watched the salt disappear but could still taste it in the water. Then we put the bowl outside and by the time Dad came home from work, the water was gone, but the salt was back. I love accidental lessons so much more than planned ones. It just feels so much like kismet or serendipity or whatever you want to call it. Makes me happy.

After the lesson on dissolving we had lunch and I put the four younger kids to bed or in their rooms for quiet time. Miriam pulled out her scriptures and scripture study binder (I'm using the Discover the Scriptures/Discover the Book of Mormon program). The scriptures are brand new--a baptism present--and Miriam has been anxious to use them. She was a little flustered by the difficult vocabulary in the Joseph Smith history, so I read the whole thing to her. It was pretty amazing to read it out loud and chat with Miriam about parts of it. At one point Joseph writes about receiving the priesthood so I went and got out our Book of Remembrance and showed Miriam her dad's priesthood line of authority document. If you don't have one of these for the priesthood leader in your home, you should get one. It starts with the person holding the priesthood--so my husband--and then says who ordained him, and who ordained the person who ordained that person, and who ordained that person, back to Joseph and Oliver, and then to the Savior through Peter, James, and John. Miriam was impressed. We had a great discussion about proper authority.

After quiet time, the kids pulled out their new math books and handwriting books. They loved it. I'm always amazed at how much my children enjoy worksheet type learning. Miriam started her new spelling program (Rod and Staff--I'll tell you what I think of it after we've used it for awhile), and Emeline played with her new maze book--proud as punch that the other kids were falling all over themselves to please her so she'd share with them.

My children were so excited to have school again. Thrilled.

I had designated this morning to go to the lake, but I needed to finish canning some beans (33 quarts from my garden, yeah!), so we worked in the morning and just did our afternoon school. All morning my kids whined, "Why aren't we doing school, Mom?"

And I wondered to myself--is this worth it? All the prep time and the follow-through efforts, and the whining, and the wanting to pull my hair out, and the working all other activities around homeschool. Is it worth it for the reasons that I love homeschooling? Yes, my children have fantastic relationships with each other. Yes, I get to *enjoy* their company all day. Yes, I get to move at their pace so they always feel successful and love learning. Yes, my children get to move around and not sit all day. Yes, my children get to have the gospel incorporated into their school all the time. Yes, I learn a ton.

But it is hard, so I still wonder sometimes if it is worth it all. Maybe it isn't--I really don't know. I do know, though, that watching my daughter pore over the priesthood line of authority sheet while reading Joseph Smith's own words describing his experiences was pretty amazing. My kids' yells of excitement when they saw the bowl of salt without the water were pretty cool too.

Worth it? I can't say. I just know that I keep doing it--and can't imagine stopping.

First Day of School . . . Bliss??

2011-08-22T21:02:00.005-06:00

Sorry for the "graphic" images but I'm in an honest mood.

This is how I usually feel.

This is how I felt today.

I think a period of adjustment is upon us because my children did not respond well to the imposition of routine and order on their day.

Yes, today was our first day of school. I was up and ready to go with my happy face on. We got bogged down after breakfast when Cowen dawdled doing the dishes (unusual for him) and Miriam sobbed through her piano practice (unusual for her).

We finally made it to the couch where I introduced our new devotional theme--characteristics of Christ that we need to develop, beginning with the one with which I need the most help, patience. We worked on the scripture we're going to memorize, we discussed the definition of patience I put together that we're going to memorize, it was all going so well.

Then I pulled out the book about Jackie Robinson that we are reading--he's my person for patience. That is when things fell apart. Yes, it has been months since I read to my children. Thank you for pointing that out. I quickly remembered why I put Timothy in charge of bedtime stories. The whining. THE WHINING. "I can't see." "I want to sit by Mom." "I don't want to read this book." "She just kicked me."

Then there is the two year old who is on and off my lap fifty bajillion times in the course of three minutes. Why, Eli, why???

We struggled through patience (ha) and then I pulled out two science books about fossils. The room quieted, interest was immediately secured, I had them in the palm of my hand. I love science.

But putting the vocabulary on our new wall chart was a fiasco. Cowen was mad because he couldn't read the definitions in the glossary. Emeline wanted me to write her made up definitions on the wall, while Miriam tried to yell over Cowen and Emeline with the actual definitions. There were tears, hysterics, anger. (And then something cool happened, but I'll tell you about that in my next post.)

Watching a movie on fossils went great--watching movies is, after all, what we've been practicing the past few weeks as I've tried to put school together and get a handle on this RS pres calling. Lunch was fine.

During quiet time, Cowen threw a toy through the girls' bedroom window. Grr.

After quiet time, we pulled out the new math books and maze books and handwriting books and spelling book. The kids loved it. It was only later I realized Eli had found a dry-erase marker and wrote all over baby Harriet's head. Sigh.

The children loved it, but I felt like I was being pulled in fifty different directions simultaneously. Mom, check off my handwriting. Mom, how do you do this math problem? Mom, Emeline won't let me use her maze book.

And they all ask for my attention at such loud volumes!! Where did they learn that?? (Ahem.)

And so another school year has started.

Give us a week and if we have survived, I'll check back in. Otherwise, you can find me hiding under my bed, overdosed on choco-covered raisins.

Library Finds!

2011-08-14T19:59:00.006-06:00

Every once in awhile I let my kids just grab books off the library shelf. Not often, though. My reasoning is that my kids make a huge mess in the library if I take all five by myself, and also that very few of the books in the kids section of the library are any good.

The last time we did a grab and go library trip my children came home with two treasures.

Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy by Pegi Deilz Shea is about, obviously, an American woman who was a talented artist and also a Patriot. I had never heard of this woman before and her story is fascinating. She was clearly a feminist and forward thinker and I quite liked her by the end of the book. If you are studying Colonial history, or feminism, or just like to make sure your children study heroes of both genders, give this book a try.

Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West by Lita Judge is another clear winner. The book is entertaining but also great history. Since we live fairly close to Yellowstone, my children have heard a lot about it so they were eager to learn more. Great book.

Head on Over

2011-08-08T10:50:00.002-06:00

Head on over to Latter-day Homeschooling to see a wrap-up post about Baptism Prep.

Also, for those of you wondering where I disappeared to this summer, I was called as RS president and I've been trying to figure out how to do that calling!! Busy, busy.

I'm excited for school to start, though, as I need to get my children back into a routine before our whole family degenerates into a yelling/crying mob. We like our routines around here!

Thank You!!

2011-06-08T07:29:00.002-06:00

Thank you to everyone who looked over my blog lately and participated in the giveaway. I hope the five winners enjoy their units.

Now that summer time has rolled around the content updates will be slimmer here on Frolic and Farce. However, over the summertime I am instituting a new category: My Bookshelves, where I highlight one of my favorite books from my own bookshelves. That way, even though we won't be reading as much (there are mountains to be hiked!!!) you can still find some quality reading material suggestions.

I'll also be posting a little bit about the curriculum I'm putting together for next year and any last follow-ups we do from the last year. Also, I'll be wrapping up Baptism Prep as Miriam will be baptized in July.

I hope you keep checking in and have a great summer!

Giveaway on Simple As That

2011-05-31T20:46:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to give you a heads up that there is a giveaway for Frolic and Farce on Rebecca Cooper's blog: Simple As That.

Click over and enter!!!

Good Books for the 7-10 year old Crowd

2011-05-23T21:30:00.009-06:00

Several months ago, I started thinking about how important it is for children to learn how to discuss what they read. I learned how to "book talk" around the dinner table. My parents are both avid readers and my Dad would periodically hand us a book that he thought was particularly excellent (like Mrs. Mike), we would all read it, and then we'd discuss it around the table. (Mrs. Mike is particularly excellent.)

Miriam is the oldest, so she is reading a lot of books that the other children aren't. She doesn't like to discuss books with me. These discussions go like this:

Me: "How did you like _______ ?"

Miriam: "I loved it!"

Me: "What did you love about it?"

Miriam: "Well, I liked that . . . [realization dawns that explaining takes awhile] . . . just read it yourself."

To better facilitate "book talk," I created a book club for girls age 7-10 and invited Miriam to join. So far we've met three times. Today was the first time I hosted and was able to listen to the actual book discussion. It was wonderful! The girls had so many funny things to say! I couldn't believe how much Miriam contributed. Yeah!

I think all the books picked for our monthly meetings are excellent (yes, I picked them) so I thought I would share them with you. Any of them would make great summer reading. These books, although geared toward the younger crowd, are good enough to be read by readers of all ages.

I'm not writing a synopsis of the books so I linked the titles to amazon so you can easily find out more if a book interests you. No, I do not get a kick-back from amazon.

The Wish-Giver by Bill Brittain is a classic tale of wish-making gone awry.

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse.

Girls Think of Everything by Catherine Thimmesh. This book has a series of short entries about different inventions created by women. Awesome.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. Vivacious redhead--what's not to love? :)

Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille by Russell Freedman. Freedman is the man when it comes to nonfiction for this age group. Loved this book.

The Horse-Tamer by Walter Farley. If the author sounds familiar it is because he wrote all the Black Stallion books. I like those, but this is my favorite Farley.

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli. This is a great medieval historical fiction about the plague. No head-banging monks. Sorry.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. This is the book the kids read for this month and listening to them talk about it was hilarious. They loved the idea of running away, bathing in a fountain, and sleeping in dusty beds. For our activity we carved Ivory soap with butter knives. Michelangelo we aren't, but we had fun.

George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen . Long title, very accessible read.

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. This is the first book of the Prydain Chronicles, which include The Black Cauldron--which all of you know because you read my blog. This is, of course, my favorite writer for middle readers. Alexander is the king of fantasy for youngsters. Love, love, love this book and this series.

Gentle Ben by Walt Morey. One of my favorite animal books--right up there with Popper's Penguins (although My Friend Flicka is still the best animal book ever. Ever. Read it, you'll see what I mean.) Apparently there are two books called Gentle Ben about a boy and a bear (I just learned this searching for a cover image). I haven't read the other one. When you search at your library, check the author.

And that is it. I realize I've posted a lot of book recommendations lately, but hey--everyone needs a good book to read!

PS A little heads up--there is going to be a giveaway for my units on another blog. I'll announce it here on the day of. Stay tuned!

Two More Good Books to Read

2011-05-16T21:48:00.005-06:00

I always find myself admitting to terrible personal deficiencies on this blog. I'm going to do it again, right now. I haven't read all of Jane Austen's novels. Don't start throwing things at me! I love Austen. I fell in love with Austen the summer after grade 6 when my father handed me a copy of Pride and Prejudice and said, "You'll like this." My desire to please my father was such that I read it immediately. And loved it. Mr. Darcy was one of my first character crushes (then I met Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights soon after and fell in looovvveee).

Later, in grade 10, I read Sense and Sensibility. Loved it, although not quite as much as Pride and Prejudice.

When I was an undergrad, I read Persuasion. It hovers just under P&P in transcendence.

Until last week, I just never got around to reading the other three. Like I have a tendency to do, whenever I had a spare minute and felt like an Austen I pulled out my tried and true favorites--either P&P or Persuasion. I don't read as much as I'd like to anymore so when I can sit down and read, I almost never read something new. Sad, I realize. I just don't want to waste time on an inferior book.

But last week I read Northanger Abbey and I loved it. Not as good as my two favorites, but excellent, nonetheless. What I liked is that you could tell it was a young, inexperienced Austen writing. She was more obvious in her put-downs and she "told" instead of "showed" some of the time. However, it was still worlds better than ordinary authors and helped you appreciate the growth Austen experienced as a writer. The main character was charming, the love interest wry and witty, the General perfectly believable in his tiresome arrogance. Ah, it is always good to read Austen--she helps you appreciate people and all their little quirks and foolishness.

If you haven't read an Austen lately, do so. They are good for you.

And if you have a daughter about 11 years old on up (depending on reading level), hand her an Austen. She'll thank you.

PS Are there any good movie versions of Northanger Abbey?

Smith by Leon Garfield is one of those library finds that make you wonder why you haven't heard of a book before because it is so amazingly awesome. Now, my sister just told me that I killed The Penderwicks for her by overstating its goodness, leaving her feeling let-down upon its completion.

There is no way that can happen with this book no matter how I rave about it. The plot centers on a murder of a British gentleman farmer. A murder witnessed by a 12 year old pickpocket called Smith, who happened to steal minutes before what the murderers killed to get--a letter. The rest of the book is high adventure as Smith tries to avoid getting killed (someone saw him pick the pocket) while trying to learn how to read (so he can understand the letter's importance).

If you have a boy or girl age 8 on up (depending on reading level--it is aimed for the 12 on up crowd but could easily be read by someone younger) who likes adventure stories, this one is superb.

Happy reading!

A Great Library Find: Audio Book

2011-05-10T21:49:00.005-06:00

I have to admit something a little embarrassing: I didn't know the Disney movies about mice rescuing people were based on books. When I was at the library scanning for a new audio book, I saw The Rescuers by Margery Sharp. Completely surprised that such a book existed, I had to check it out and listen.

We loved it. Loved it.

It was written in the 50s and some people on amazon said they didn't like it because Miss Bianca is too--sheltered or feminine or dainty--or something ridiculous like that. She is hilarious in her, "How do poor people manage?" cluelessness. I was charmed.

The book would be a great read, but if you can manage it, I would listen to it. I know, I know, I've been saying that a lot lately. The reader, a Davina Porter, was magnificent. She had perfect timing so none of the jokes were lost.

Plus, I was checking on amazon and this sweet book was out of print!!! but is coming back in print in a few months. You can preorder the lovely hardcover pictured above for $10. I'm sorely tempted. I really enjoyed the book. So did my three oldest children.

Some Days He's Smart . . .

2011-05-10T21:20:00.003-06:00

and some days he's not.

Have you ever noticed this phenomenon with your children?

I'm talking about how your child knows something one day and the next day acts like he's never heard of the concept before.

An example. My son is obsessed with the Ranger's Apprentice series even though he can't read them yet. I've told him about the books and he loves the covers, so often I find him studying the covers very carefully. The other day Cowen came to me and said, "Mom, do we have all the Ranger Apprentice books?"

Me: "No, there are 8 in the series."

Cowen--without the slightest hesitation: "We have five. That means we need three more. But if we buy one, we'll only need two more. And if we buy one more after that we'll only need one more. And if we buy one more after that, we'll have them all."

Me: "Great job figuring that out, buddy."

The next day. Me: "Cowen, what is eight subtract five?"

Cowen: "I don't know."

Me: "Okay, what is five plus three?"

Cowen--long pause while he counts on his fingers: "Eight."

Hmm.

Another example.

Cowen has gotten tired of reading practice. He is tired of his reading books. He is tired of me asking him how to spell things. With a burst of inspiration, for reading time today I handed him the computer. He was flabbergasted. I never hand him the computer.

Starfall.com

After Miriam outgrew it, I forgot all about it. Until today.

I let Cowen play around on it for a good 30 minutes then I joined him on the couch and had him read Zac the Rat to me. It is the first book under the "Learn to Read" section. He read it perfectly, except "the", the first time through, including words he'd never seen before. Not hard words, but new words.

And yet, he tells me that reading is too hard and he can't do it.

So how much can he read? I HAVE NO IDEA.

Like I said, some days he's smart, and other days, not so much.

why i love homeschooling, reason #2,469...

2011-05-02T21:44:00.001-06:00

hellofromhades.blogspot.com

Three Great Library Finds

2011-05-02T21:14:00.005-06:00

Hank Aaron: Brave in Every Way by Peter Golenbock is a great book--especially if you have a sports loving boy. I thought the author did a great job of highlighting the difficulties Aaron had in getting into the majors because of his race as well as his deep ties to his family without getting bogged down in other, messier, issues that are best saved for an older audience. The book was inspiring (I cried--but then, I am post partum) and I loved it.

Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story by Janet Halfmann is wonderful. I didn't like the illustrations but the story is fantastic and written in such a way to keep even my youngsters interested. (We checked out the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. version of the Robert Smalls story at the same time and it didn't have the same kind of kid appeal.) I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of Robert Smalls before! History written well for the young crowd. Bravo.

Anansi Goes Fishing by Eric A. Kimmel is hilarious. It tells the story of how spiders learned how to spin webs. My children made me read it to them several times a day and when I finally started refusing they ganged up on Daddy. I'm sure most of you have heard of Anansi stories, but if you haven't--try this one!

Fly Swatter as Educational Tool

2011-04-27T23:47:00.004-06:00

My son Cowen is a kinesthetic learner. In plain English that means Cowen is a boy and therefore CANNOT HOLD STILL TO SAVE HIS LIFE.

I have such fond memories of Miriam curled next to my side, soaking in the reading lessons, happy to be with Mom and more than willing to actually look at the words on the page.

Not so with my son. He cannot hold still long enough to look at more than one letter of a word, and so he makes wild guesses at what a word says based on the first letter. Or, if glancing at the word is too much trouble, he just guesses without referring to the text at all. While the guessing and glancing is going on, he's also busy sliding off the couch, turning upside down, making strange noises, and flailing his limbs about in boy abandon.

I've reduced reading time to three measly pages a day. It is all I can handle.

However, a university student of mine told me about a great idea she got from watching a kindergarten teacher that I now use with my son (did you follow that?). The kindergarten teacher gave her students fly swatters and had the students hit things.

Brilliant.

Imagine my son's utter happiness when I handed him a fly swatter and told him to whack the letter that makes a "sssssss" sound.

He gives himself extra points if he makes any letters fly off the table from whacking so hard.

We've used the fly swatter idea for a variety of activities. We started with hitting the correct lower-case letter (he is a lot stronger with upper-case than lower-case). He's also whacked the letters that make certain sounds. It can also be used for sight words.

He loves it.

Don't imagine that he actually stays standing on that one chair. No, no. He stands on one chair, hits something with the swatter, jumps to the next chair, crawls around to the bench, jumps to the ground to get the letters that have flown to the floor, does a few kicks and scrambles around, and then winds up on the first chair again.

It drives my hubby bananas to watch it.

Most days I think Cowen is hilarious.

Other days, I wish he'd snuggle next to me and hold still for a few minutes.

But mostly I think he his hilarious.

PS--Another good trick for kinesthetic learners is to focus on writing. My son enjoys writing because it involves movement. He loves to make up sentences that he thinks are funny, like: "My Dad sat on a cactus." If you put that sentence on a paper and tried to get him to read it he'd act like it was written in Chinese. However, he has no problem writing it.

Another good idea is have your kinesthetic learner spell out words with letters spread over a table or the floor. The more he/she has to move to get to the letters the better. So spread out the letters and then say, "Write the sentence: Mom is fun." The learner finds the letters he/she needs and puts together the sentence. Works like a charm because there is no holding still involved.

If you have a kinesthetic learner at home--good luck!! We need it. :)

Units For Sale

2011-04-25T22:40:00.002-06:00

You might have noticed the snazzy new link at the top of the page announcing Units for Sale. I had a friend request an easier way to access all the info for a unit. I wondered at that. I thought I had organized the blog sufficiently well that finding all the posts for one unit would be easy.

Then I looked through my blog with the eyes of a new visitor.

Then I realized I had a reasonable organization system, but there was a lot to sift through.

So then, again due to a friend's recommendation, I put together the units in a word document--using cut and paste mostly--and my sweet hubby spent many hours figuring out how to make them available on my blog.

And now they are available!!

The units for sale are pretty much exactly the same as what I've posted on my blog. I made a few changes. For example, I'm putting together my reptile stuff right now and added more ideas and more websites. On my blog, I wrote about my failed turtle craft. I thought 4 craft ideas that looked great would be more helpful than a long description of one that was useless. So in that way some of the units were "perked up" a little. But only a little.

For those people who want to look through my ideas for free--feel free. Everything is still here. For those of you who like the idea of having everything together and easily accessible, the units might be for you.

In the future I'll be adding more units as I put them together for my children. I'll also be adding some free stuff. I want to start putting together some good book lists (another recommendation from a friend) and those will definitely be free. After all, one of my main purposes in starting this blog was to encourage more reading! Also, anything I do by way of devotionals or gospel study will be posted for free. Once Miriam turns 8 and finishes Baptism Prep, I'll put that together in a nice, organized unit form and post that as well.

Hopefully you will all continue to find this blog useful to you and if you have any more suggestions (hopefully suggestions that won't take as much work as putting the units together!!!) I would love to hear them!

2011-04-13T21:43:00.001-06:00

why i homeschool.

becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

First Hike of the Season--Bonneville Shoreline Trail

2011-04-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

During the two days of sun, we managed to get in a hike.

It lifted my spirits like you wouldn't believe.

Usually I love winter and hate to see it end, but this has been a very long winter.

Rain, rain go away. Don't come back. For a very long time.

Audio Books

2011-04-07T12:02:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Provo with my kiddos to hang with my sister and her kiddos. It is a good 90 minute drive or more. When thinking about the drive, I realized that I would go bonkers if I had to listen to 50 Silly Songs for Kids one more time. Usually I don't mind, but lately, man it has been annoying. We'll blame it on hormones. (If they would only choose Newsies every once in awhile, or our Disney collection--or anything but "the smile was on the crocodile" etc.)

Then I had a brain-wave. The reason my children were listening to silly songs instead of the classical station is because my hubby gave me a new cd player for the van. We could now participate in one of my favorite activities--listening to an audio book.

So I went to the library and got one of my favorite books, hoping the reader would do a good job. He did!!! He really, really did. Graeme Malcolm, whoever you are, you ROCK at reading books.

Those of you who listen to audio books know that a reader can make or break the book.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (a GOLD STAR book for sure) was read brilliantly. The drive was over before my children realized they should be annoyed by the length of it. When we returned home, my children insisted we take the cds inside so they could finish the story immediately. They loved it.

So will you. If you don't have time to listen to it (I don't listen to books on tape much now that I don't commute), please read it. Great book for ages 4 on up (at least, my four year old loved it).

While we are on the subject of audio books, I must HIGHLY RECOMMEND my very favorite audio books.

The Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman.

These are available in written form, but if at all possible, do not read these books. Listen to them. The reader, a Barbara Rosenblat, is without a doubt the best reader I've ever heard--and I listened to A LOT of books on tape during my year commuting.

My very favorite of the series is the second one, The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax. Mrs. Pollifax, if you've never heard of her, is an elderly widow who is bored with life. She feels useless. Her two children are raised and gone and all Mrs. Pollifax does is grow flowers and meet with her garden club. So, one day, she decides to go to the headquarters of the CIA and offer her assistance.

Because of a few odd circumstances, she winds up with a job. One that is supposed to be easy and danger-free and is, of course, quite the opposite.

The second book covers her second assignment and it is hilarious and wonderful. A small disclaimer, one of the characters in the second book says, "What the hell," all the time. So if you are opposed to that, you might want to skip the second book. There is no language in any of the other books that I can remember. Normally I don't approve of swearing, but something about the Hungarian accent made it really, really funny to me. Sorry if your opinion of me has now diminished. ;)

If you assign these books to your children (I would say 10 and up would enjoy them although they are aimed at adults), use them for fun or in conjunction with geography. Each book has Mrs. Pollifax flying off to another exotic location for another "non-dangerous" mission that becomes very dangerous very quickly. Off the top of my head I remember a book set in South America, the Middle East, Hungary, China, Africa. Okay, that was vague, but it was off the top of my head.

And if you have a trip to go on in the near future, please, please, please get the first or second Pollifax book on tape. You will be highly entertained and will not regret it.

Curriculum Thoughts

2011-03-25T23:33:00.005-06:00

I have found it pretty impossible to do school these days. The baby's schedule and my exhaustion combined with post-partum fuzzy brain has necessitated a small hiatus.

I expected that.

What I didn't expect was my obsession with picking curriculum for next year. I think it is because I can pick curriculum sitting down, it allows me to feel like I'm being a little productive, and it is fun. Fun, fun, fun.

So far I have almost every subject decided. I'm still investigating a few options for art and adding/subtracting from my "wish list."

Here are my thoughts on my choices. First, I really like A Beka math for its frustrating amount of review problems--now that I've gotten past the "do every problem" mentality. It really is a great program when you pick and choose the problems based on your child's competence.

However, I like A Beka a LOT MORE when combined with The Thinking Company's math reasoning books. The Math Reasoning books are fantastic for critical thinking/problem solving and terrible for reviewing basic concepts. I've found that a mix of problem solving (what my children like best) and practicing the basics of computation (what A Beka does best) has proven a real winner for us.

Math Program: A Beka math with The Thinking Co.'s Mathematical Reasoning books.

Miriam is turning 8 this June and in my head that means she has to start "real school." Before 8, I just can't take it all that seriously. Example: language arts. We haven't done much by way of real gung-ho grammar in the past. This year, however, I feel strongly that it is time to start. Due to my recent discovery of The Well-Trained Mind (I'll be sharing my thoughts on that book in another post) I discovered the Rod and Staff Publishing Co. When I looked through their third grade language arts program I found--miracle of miracles--that it requires diagramming sentences. WAHOO!! When I taught English in a public school I found sentence diagramming to be the number one best way to learn/teach grammar. Really. And it isn't even awful--it is actually pretty fun. It's like a game or puzzle. Sold.

Picking a spelling program has proven extremely time consuming. Every program has its advocates and denigrators. Every expert has an opinion. It always comes down to the needs of your child. We've been using Sequential Speller and loving it. My daughter spells the words out loud and feels very proud that she can spell such long words. However, Miriam is also a reluctant writer because she hates misspelling words. Unlike me, Miriam does not pick up spelling from reading. I need a program that lays things out for her--so more phonics based--that she can do independently and will hopefully help jumpstart her writing because the words she's learning to spell are words she's comfortable using in her writing (unlike most words in Sequential Speller). With all those many requirements, I finally decided on the Rod and Staff spelling program. She can do it independently, it groups words in a way that makes sense, and I think it will appeal to Miriam. Plus, we can keep using Sequential Speller for fun.

Language Arts Program: Rod and Staff for Miriam and for Cowen Language Lessons for the Very Young. Rod and Staff Spelling for Miriam and my own made-up spelling curriculum for Cowen. McGuffey's Eclectic Readers for Miriam (thank you Dad for the best Christmas present!!) for reading. Cowen and Emeline (yes, she's ready) will be using the Little Books: Set One and Set Two for reading. (I have a whole new plan for teaching reading--I'll tell you all about it in anther post.)

As you all know, I make up my own science and history.

For handwriting we will continue to use Handwriting Without Tears. We love that program. It has worked miracles in our homeschool.

The jury is still out on art. I am currently investigating a book called Storybook Art that has art projects drawn from children's books. The premise is that the author of the art book found 100 "greatest" children's books. Then she studied how the illustrators illustrated the books and created art projects that helps children do what the illustrator did in the children's book. I love the premise. I just got the book from the library so I'll be looking through it thoroughly in the next week or so. If you've used this book or any of its projects, let me know what you think.

There you have it. I haven't bought any of the new stuff yet because I don't want to be hasty and make mistakes. I'm prone to doing that. However, I am very pleased with how far along I am in the process and pleased with my plans for schooling this summer.

If you have used any of these materials and have thoughts on them--PLEASE SHARE. Also, if you have found a product you think is fantastic--PLEASE SHARE. Picking curriculum is good fun, but it is also a long, nerve-wracking process. I hate spending money only to find out that the curriculum didn't match the child. It happens.

Still, in the end, there is just something very elemental and soul-satisfying about setting all the new books on the table and really going to town planning for the new school year. I love it. Love it, love it.

Cooking the South African Way

2011-03-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

My children really enjoyed Festivals of the World: South Africa. It had a list of all the festivals in the area, and it sure seemed like all people do in South Africa is party. The kids and I decided we wanted to move there!

After reading the book we watched a few youtube videos--some about the game of cricket as that came up in the book and my kids had no clue there was a sport named after an insect. :) We also listened to both of South Africa's national anthems. After that I couldn't resist playing them the most beautiful national anthem in the world--O Canada. Yes, I am Canadian. Why do you ask?

After all the youtube videos, we were hungry, so I told the kids they could make pumpkin fritters from the recipe found in this book: Cooking the Southern African Way by Kari Cornell. Since I had to nurse Harriet right after I told them they could cook, they proceeded without me. It actually, surprisingly, worked better that way. It is hard to be too uptight when you don't see most of the mess until clean up time.

Besides, they did an awesome job.

Miriam's reading the cookbook that it sitting on the chair. After Cowen opened the can of pumpkin and orange stuff started flying, I ordered the library book moved to a more secure location.

I did the frying for safety reasons. I used more oil than necessary as I realized early on that the smaller the fritter, the better. Pumpkin doesn't set up like we're used to with more flour heavy projects. Therefore, to get the best crispy outside to mushy inside ratio, we made the fritters pretty small.

Nothing like a little cinnamon and sugar to help the pumpkin go down.

We all really liked them, and I'm not a huge pumpkin fan. The mushyish center threw us off at first--very different from a corn fritter or scone--but it really was tasty and you could tell it was cooked properly, just a different texture than we were used to.

The next morning I used the remaining pumpkin in my pancakes. You can't taste the pumpkin very much and it is an extra veggie. Brilliant. Besides, kids like it because the pancakes are orange.

If you're feeling like a South African treat--a pumpkin fritter is a pretty good option.

PS--I've joined the throng of "spinach smoothie" weirdos. You really can't taste the spinach. I never would have believed it if I hadn't tried it. I make my own yogurt for our smoothies to cut down on sugar (then I add 4 TBLS back in--go figure), add some frozen berries, a bunch of spinach, and voila--a lovely addition to lunch or a nice snack. Homemade yogurt is yummy and super easy and way cheaper. You should try it.

reading charts and rewards...

2011-03-11T11:01:00.004-07:00

(click on picture for full size and print it if you want to)
so, this is a reading chart i made for luke.
we're trying to motivate him to read to us,
on his own, to his sister, to anyone.
we just want him to read, read, read.
and to motivate him to do that,
we make these charts.
he picks the images -
(we're using fish this week)
and picks the reward as well.
so far his favorite reward seems to be
fudgscicle (sp?)/movie parties.
and to get both of them together -
he has to fill in two whole charts.

give it a try.
it's simple and fun.
and luke seems to really get motivated by this system.
(and he's hard to motivate)
okay, over and out.
becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

Good Books for Your Kids!!!

2011-03-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

In our study of Africa, we found a gem. Gold Star Book. I loved it. LOVED IT! It only took me 15 minutes to read. The chapters are short, the pictures add to the charm, and the story is fabulous. Warriors, Warthogs, and Wisdom: Growing Up in Africa by Lyall Watson is an autobiographical book about Watson's grandma (a Harley motorcycle is involved), best friend (a Zulu chieftan), and a warthog. Awesome. It makes you wish you'd had his childhood--and I had a perfect childhood myself.

There is also a little bit about eating bugs.

Seriously, read this book.

In other good news, Miriam discovered The Hardy Boys. I never much cared for mysteries growing up so I didn't read Hardy Boys or Trixie Beldon or Nancy Drew. However, I am SO GLAD that Miriam is in love with this series because I know it is 100% clean and child friendly so I don't have to preview any of the books.

That is a such a wonderful feeling.

Besides, what is more adorable than hearing Miriam giggles from her end of the couch and see her shaking her head and whispering, "Silly Joe"? Yes, Miriam whispers out loud often when she reads. I like it because it is funny and I can hear how she is processing what she is reading. Mostly though, it is just funny.

My mother is a great believer in reading all genres. She would often hand me mysteries to read and I would turn up my nose. This annoyed her. Finally, she handed me Victoria Holt's The Night of the Seventh Moon. A mystery. She made me read it.

I loved it.

Still one of my very favorite books. Definitely my favorite mystery (along with The Westing Game).

I'm telling you this so you don't think I'm anti-mystery.

I'm just more pro-dragons. And magic. And trolls. And things like that.

Other Africa Books

2011-03-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove is a must-read book. My children loved it. The pictures are awesome. It is an a-z book with an African tribe described for each letter. Obviously, with just one page for each tribe the info is not very in-depth, but it is perfect for kids because the info is interesting, brief, and the pictures. Wow. The pictures make the whole thing. Loved it.

Ashanti to Zulu should really be followed by African Journey by John Chiasson. The photographs are amazing. It is a photo-essay about modern Africa (okay, modern as of 1987). Still, it was a great way to talk about what has changed in Africa and what has stayed the same. It also introduces the concept of famine and drought and what happens when people can't grow food. Sad, but a good discussion.

Maps

2011-03-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

I was going to do a whole sub-unit on explorers during the Africa segment of the Babies Unit. First we read about the explorer Mary Kingsley. Then, we read through (skipping when it became too much info) Exploring the World: Da Gama, Vasco da Gama Sails Around the Cape of Good Hope by Robin S. Doak.

It is a really good book. The maps are very useful and the pictures are interesting. It is designed for middle readers so there were a few places where we bogged down. Certainly not the fault of the book--just the ages of my children. Then I pulled out an outline map that included Europe and Africa and had the kids add a line for da Gama's trip, with dots at all the places in Africa that he stopped.

It is the first time we've done a map to demonstrate something besides the location of places. It was fun, we enjoyed it, and I forgot to take pictures.

So that was all pre-Harriet. After Harriet, I thought I would jump back into things to help my kids stay happy and not bored.

Ha.

I didn't jump back into anything except exhaustion. Baby wakes up at 11:00 pm, 2:00 am, and 5:30 am (or 6:00 am--sometimes even a little later than that), so I cannot complain about her sleeping habits. She's an angel for a two-week old.

However, I'm still exhausted.

So rather than read Exploration Through the Ages: The Travels of Livingstone by Richard Humble to all my children and do a similar map of his travels, I just had Miriam read the book to herself and we chatted about it. I read the book (as did my hubby--we both enjoyed it) first so I could guide the discussion to exploration and what was cool about it and what would be hard about it and what the Africans probably thought about these white foreigners telling them to change their lives and become Christian. This leads into a discussion of our missionaries and why we tell people they should change their lives. Good stuff.

I definitely recommend this book for any studies on Africa, missionary work, exploration, or colonialism. It is a great read.

Dr. Livingstone, I presume.

Last Day Spent on Babies

2011-03-02T13:00:00.003-07:00

Not much has been done by way of school around here. However, a baby in the house is a daily lesson. Since baby was here, I decided to read the last two baby books I'd checked out of the library and give a short lecture about being careful with the baby.

Hello Benny! by Robie H. Harris was a huge hit with all four of my older children. It discussed in pretty good detail what a baby needs and what it is like to be a baby. For example, one of our favorite pages discusses what a baby can see and then has two images of Benny's dad--one close-up and clear and one farther away and blurry. Great way to drive the point home. In short, I was impressed with this book.

Welcome, Baby: Baby Rhymes for Baby Times by Stephanie Calmenson was a hit with Miriam and Emeline. The rest of us lost interest pretty quick.

There you have it. Two more baby book ideas if you are interested in teaching your kids about babies.

book/make-up-your-own-curriculum review

2011-02-27T14:55:00.005-07:00

the art book for children, book two.

i'd love to say that we tried book one of this series and that is was fabulous and we moved onto book two...but we didn't.

i ordered the wrong book and after thumbing through it and pondering the lack of obvious choices for kids to study, flipped to the cover and went "duh"...this is the secondary list.

this week we studied the unfinished painting, Happy Couple, by thomas gainsborough. I like how the book pointed out what made this painting different from other portrait work of its time. i'm a big believer in understanding historical context and precedent when it comes to studying art. (ie: the first canvas painted black was groundbreaking and said a lot - not just what our kid's grandfathers would call "that artsy-fartsy-mumbo-jumbo".

so, happy couple depicts a couple out of doors and surrounded by the things that define them, from their estate to their hobbies. after dialoguing about the painting for a few minutes, i had the kids set up their art easel and assigned them to both draw me a "happy family" portrait. and going along with the main elements of the book discussion, i told them to draw things that are relevant to their lives.

charlie drew our family and a bubblegum man. apparently, bubblegum is very important to her - not that she's ever had any.

luke decided to opt charlie out of the family and drew a "minion" in her place (which is relevant, in that he's on a "despicable me" kick). he also drew a dog with a trunk and his backyard play set on fire from a bomb. for those that do not know us, neither of those things nor "the naked man flying over us" are relevant.

anyhoo, we are really enjoying this book. it's goes into just enough detail to be interesting and informative, but not heavy and overwhelming. creating a curriculum from it is pretty straight forward. and bonus, your kids get to learn to recognize different elements of art, as well as renowned artists throughout history.

i highly recommend the art book for children, book two. i'll let you know about book one when i get around to ordering it.

over and out, becky
from
hellofromhades.blogspot.com

2011-02-21T10:58:00.008-07:00

hello from hellofromhades.blogspot .com here

First and Foremost:

Happy New Baby, Andrea!
she's a doll.

Secondly:

reason #6,349 why homeschooling rocks -
when you rush everyone out to the car
and get in and look back
and see that your baby girl dressed herself
in gold rayon leggings that you bought for fun,
(and never thought would leave the house)
her brother's green fleece sweater and socks,
and her favorite purple shoes -
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY
because only the clerk, the bagger and the old lady behind you
have to know your shame.
had i been rushing to get the babes to school,
this would have been a
"gone-down-in-history" sort of morning
where i would have had to go home
and eat my weight in bon-bons
and read romance novels
while i cried.

but because we homeschool -
piece of cake.

well, maybe i'll feel a little bit more shame,
now that i've gone and shared it with you guys.
so, no judgment!
pinky-promise.

We Interrupt This Unit . . .

2011-02-15T11:51:00.002-07:00

To bring you a baby!

Harriet was born Feb. 12 at 7:30 pm. Four weeks early.

She only weighed 5 lbs 8 oz.

But she's doing great.

All schooling is being postponed until the kids return from grandma's house and Mom feels up to it. In the meantime, happy schooling to you!

Africa/Namibia: Day Three

2011-02-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Day Three was about African culture. Not its now culture so much as its more ancient culture that still exists in various forms today.

We started by reading a book called Talking Drums of Africa by Christine Price. The book was so boring I was secretly hoping Miriam would complain and give me an excuse to stop reading it. She didn't. None of them did. So we read the whole boring thing. I don't recommend it, except that it did have some really interesting information about African drums. For example, in the pic below is a "talking drum." The drummer pulls on the strings to tighten and loosen the drumhead to raise and lower the pitch of the drum so it sounds like African languages that are based on pitch. Cool! So, it might be a good idea to scan this book as drums go with Africa like baseball goes with the USA.

Besides, after reading the book, you get to watch youtube videos of African drummers and dancers--and that is awesome!

As a sidenote, this past summer our library put on a series of free activities. One of those activities was an African dancer and drummer. Neither of the people were actually from Africa but both had lived and studied there and both were awesome!!! The dancer, Deja Mitchall, had everyone get up and try it and I did and I loved it. Loved it. Loved it enough that I made learning African dance one of my life goals. I kept her card to remind myself of this life goal. She teaches African dancing at the Eccles Art Center in Ogden, Utah. When my children are a wee bit older, I plan on taking a few of her classes.

If you are studying Africa and live along the Wasatch Front and want to know where you can see some actual African dancing and hear live African drumming, she'd be a good go-to person. Remember, I'm in the lazy end-of-pregnancy mode, or I'd have contacted her and set up a field trip myself.

Here's her info according to her business card. Deja Mitchell: Dancer/Choreographer/Teacher African and Modern Dance. Weekly classes, workshops, Performances. 801-458-6335, tribalovedancer@hotmail.com.

If you look her up on google you'll find her website, which has some great pics of her trips to Africa and the dancing she did there. Also, she puts on a few workshops every summer at the Egyptian Theater for kids wanting to learn African dance. I fully intend to put Miriam in one when she's nine or ten--hopefully Deja will still be around then.
After watching youtube for a long time, we returned to the couch and flipped through the DK Eyewitness Book: Africa by Yvonne Ayo. Great pics. We focused on the various art work more than anything else. My son, of course, wanted to focus on the weapons so we spent some time with those as well.

I made sure I pointed out pictures of carved gourds like the one in the pic below. They are cool.

After we looked through the book, I pulled out some clay and some skewers and had the kids practice carving. Granted, clay carving with skewers is not as cool as cleaning out a gourd, drying it somehow, then carving it and dying it--but my kids still seemed to like it!

I carved for awhile, then worked on supper. My kids spent the rest of the afternoon carving and creating with the clay. The DK book proved inspirational for my kids in ways I hadn't anticipated (they copied statues and weapons and houses, etc.). In the end, I wished I had given them play-dough for the activity as the clay stuck on my rolling pin and cookie cutters much worse than play-dough. Grr.

Good times, though.

As a side-note: in my previous post I mentioned that reading plants ideas in children's brains that they later use to make connections. I have an example. (Yes, I am sort of bragging about how smart my son is, but mostly I'm reiterating the fact that READING IS CRITICAL to expose your children to lots of ideas that they can use to connect other information. I'm an English teacher--I can't help myself.)

While we were looking at the DK book, we turned to a page that had a Zulu shield like the one pictured below.

Without saying anything, my son (5 yrs old) leaped off the couch and went racing downstairs. Miriam and I looked at each other with our eyebrows raised then went back to looking at the pictures.

A few minutes later Cowen came back upstairs with an old Childcraft book with a collection of stories in it about battles. One of the battles, you guessed it, involved the Zulu people and the British. Cowen has never read the story because he doesn't read that well yet, but he has studied that book over and over because it is all about fighting and has lots of pics of weapons. He recognized the shield and knew that the battle must be about an African tribe--so he ran off to find it to have me read it to him.

Amazing connection. Amazing memory.

Thanks again, Mom, for giving me the Childcraft books when all your children wanted them. To all my readers: if you ever see any Childcraft books (you know the ones--they look like encyclopedia's almost, each hardbound book about a different subject) buy them. Just do it. They are awesome and keep my children fascinated for hours at a time.

GO TO THE BYU ART MUSEUM

2011-02-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Remember my last post about the field trip to BYU? Meeting with Dr. Crandall wasn't all we did while visiting Provo.

After our discussion about Africa, the kids and I returned to Aunt Kami's house where we were fed lunch and otherwise entertained and amused until it was time to go to the BYU Museum of Art. Some of you might be familiar with Carl Bloch, the Danish painter being featured at the museum currently.

The exhibit was amazing. A must see for anyone who can get themselves to Provo. Be aware that you need to reserve tickets, which you can do online. It is free, of course, and you can pick up your tickets at the front desk.

There is also a modern art exhibit that involves a mat and some sort of technology. I don't really understand why it is considered art, but it was sure fun for the kids to play on/with.

Another current exhibit is a photographic essay by Dorothea Lange (took the famous 1930s picture of Depression-era mom and children) about three towns in Southern Utah. I really enjoyed the photos.

A highlight for me was the exhibit called: At War! The Changing Face of American War Illustration. I studied a lot of wartime propaganda for my masters thesis, so this was right up my alley. Loved it. Loved it.

Despite having seven small children between us, Kami and I both enjoyed the museum immensely. I think part of it was the company. :) Thanks for letting us visit, Kami!! And a lot of it was the excellence of the current exhibits. Go. If you can, go. It is worth whatever efforts are required.

Africa/Namibia: Day Two

2011-02-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Day Two was actually a night and the next morning. I wanted to prep my kids for their field trip, so we read a book called Namibia by DE Gould. It was way too long and detailed to read in its entirety to my children, but it was the only book the library had specifically about Namibia. It worked well enough for my purposes. We looked through all the pictures and talked about them. We saw pictures of members of the Himba tribe (the tribe featured in the Babies documentary). We found Namibia on a map and discussed it being a country that borders the ocean and also contains a lot of desert. Although not perfect, it worked.

Then we read Uncommon Traveler: Mary Kingsley in Africa by Don Brown. We've read this book before and I jumped at the chance to check it out again. We love it. She's one tough cookie. And brave. And awesome. And female. Fantastic. I would even go so far as to call this a GOLD STAR BOOK.

The book didn't have anything to do with our field trip, but I like it and wanted to read it. So I did. My children would have me read it every day, so they didn't complain.

And now the field trip.

On Friday, I drove the kids to Provo for a field trip. First stop was Aunt Kami's house to drop off the two youngest. Then Miriam, Cowen, and I went to BYU's anthropology department where we met up with another homeschool family (the mom of that family graduated with an anthropology degree from BYU and set this whole thing up--thanks Sarah!!) and a certain Dr. Crandall. Dr. Crandall has lived in Namibia and goes there on field studies often. We went to hear what he had to say about it.

Let's just say that I was a little puffed up with pride by the end. Dr. Crandall asked if anyone had questions and Cowen had a great question (do the people carry spears as they travel around?--answer is yes, they carry spears to protect themselves from lion attack). Then Dr. Crandall said his wife had a baby while they lived there and I asked about birthing facilities. He said that the cities are very modern and Miriam said: "Is that because of when the Germans took over?" She remembered that from the Namibia book. I didn't even remember that from the Namibia book. See, reading really does plant things in their brains that they can later use to make connections.

Then Cowen asked about killing elephants and protecting crops and he and Miriam both explained to Dr. Crandall that they knew all about migrating animals in Africa (thank you James Earl Jones). Basically, we had only spent two days on Africa but my kids made connections that surprised me and were able to sound intelligent while talking about it. Love it.

Now if only I could get Miriam to stop the dramatic sighing when she's bored, my kids' behavior would have been perfect. :)

PS--Do you know how strange it is to go to campus now that so many buildings look different??? Besides the fact that returning to campus with children in tow is weird. It is almost like I dreamed the whole four years up--or it was an Alice in Wonderland type of adventure. Sometimes, I feel old. :)

Namibia: Day One

2011-02-08T20:42:00.005-07:00

I'm afraid there isn't much about Namibia in the library. Africa in general, and African animals in particular, have resources galore. But Namibia--not so much. So, instead of focusing entirely on one country in Africa, I decided to make this section of our Babies Unit a little broader in scope. Continental, in scope, you could say.

Day one was about building interest. As I have come to find out, my children love animals in a deep, passionate way. So, I started with animals. Always build on their interests when possible. But, you pros already knew that.

To start off the day we read a book called: Who Comes to the Water Hole? by Colleen Stanley Bare. I couldn't find a cover image, but do not let that deter you. It was a great book. The pics were not National Geographic quality, but they were plentiful and in color and varied. The book talks about the wet and dry seasons, which was helpful later on that day when that concept came up again.

Then we read Face to Face With Cheetahs by Chris Johns with Elizabeth Carney. GOLD STAR BOOK. I'm pretty sure this is one of the best animal books we have ever read. It is published by National Geographic and Chris Johns is a National Geographic photographer so the pictures were beyond amazing. But the text was excellent as well. It was just enough information. Perfect children's book.

To end the day, we watched the movie Africa: The Serengeti. My daughter realized it was narrated by Simba's dad before I did. Smarty pants. James Earl Jones's voice really added to the overall coolness of the movie. How could it not? This is an IMAX movie, so only 40 minutes long (perfect for small children) and has a few strange cinematography moments probably due to it being a 3D movie. Despite that, the movie was excellent. It showed herds of wildebeests migrating and lions and crocodiles attacking them. Other African animals also make cameo appearances. The kids really caught on to the wet season/dry season concept, but I didn't realize that until later. Overall, this was a very enjoyable movie to watch with the kids and it made Africa really exciting to them.

Later that night, I had my hubs read A Story A Story by Gail E. Haley to the children. I don't usually use nightly story time for school purposes, but there were a few Africa books that didn't tie in very well to the activities I planned, and this is one of them.

It is an awesome book. Especially if you or your hubby do voices. My hubby does. My children were riveted. Highly recommend this one. It won the Caldecott and it deserved to win. Enough said.

So--day one went very well.

on socialization...again...

2011-02-07T13:12:00.006-07:00

hello.
we've had quite a busy start to our "semester" in the new year.
we started extracurricular activities -
jui jitsu and ballet and soccer.
i promised myself that i would get them signed up
after we had successfully completed one "semester" of school.
and since we survived, we thought it was time to start -
to get them SOCIALIZED a bit more.

and after the first dizzying weeks of sudden activity -
do you know what i've learned?
IT'S NOT MAKING A STINKIN' BIT OF DIFFERENCE
sure, they sleep well those nights after practices,
and sure, i get a bunch of great photo-ops,
and we all get some fresh air...
but they don't NEED it to make them better at socializing.

the best social skills come when
they learn how to be themselves.
and it doesn't take a bunch of kids running after a ball
to teach them that.
it takes love, patience and understanding.
it take's a deep sense of curiosity on our part -
so that we can figure out what makes them tick.
but mostly it takes time.

and of all the gifts that the homeschooling parent can impart on a child,
this is the greatest -
THAT WE TOOK THE TIME
TO MAKE THEM COMFORTABLE IN THEIR OWN SKIN.
and that's all that matters.
the rest will take care of itself.

becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

San Fran: The Golden Gate Bridge

2011-02-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

If it weren't for the great book pictured below, I would pretend that I didn't spend a "day" talking about the Golden Gate Bridge. I know you are expecting some great bridge making activity with toothpicks and marshmallows (how do you know how to make a flying buttress, Becky????) or popsicle sticks, or something.

But no. I planned on giving my kids glue and popsicle sticks and seeing what they came up with, but in the end, even that seemed like too much hassle. I'm due in three weeks. Everything seems like too much hassle. (I did get all the baby's clothes/blankets/burp cloths washed and rinsed twice and folded and put away. My kids have very, very sensitive skin. So see--I'm accomplishing things, just not gung-ho homeschool things.)

However, Pop's Bridge was a great book for anyone studying bridges or San Fran and I wanted to make sure you were aware of it--in case any of you do this unit.

Pop's Bridge by Eve Bunting.

To sort of make up for my bridgeless bridge lesson, I give you another San Fran idea. As we all know, Ghirardelli chocolate is made in San Fran. Chocolate interests me. It interests me a great deal. So I thought--we should make something out of San Fran chocolate.

So we did.

I decided to have the kids make a chocolate pudding recipe that I quite like. It is called Silken Chocolate Pudding and I found the recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant Recipe Book (not exact title). It is a vegetarian restaurant. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I've found that vegetarian cookbooks often have some killer pasta and salad recipes. Not to mention the yummy soups. It is a great cookbook, and I have made the pudding before and thought it was yummy. Also, it is very simple to make--perfect for cooking with kids.

Unfortunately, the local grocery store didn't have silken tofu. Since I'm only really familiar with extra firm tofu (use it in hot and sour soup), I wasn't sure how different silken tofu was from firm tofu. Not wanting to drive to a different store, I bought the firm tofu and hoped for the best.

Big mistake.

The great thing about this pudding is the texture. My family makes a chocolate pudding that is tasty, but is so prone to lumps. Grr. But this chocolate pudding has a perfectly silky texture without all the stirring and work and worry.

That is--a perfectly silky texture when you use silken tofu. Not so much when you use firm tofu.

Basically, it turned out gross.

Sigh.

What a waste of chocolate.

Here's the recipe, though, for those of you who are interested. I really like this pudding because it is easy and because it is fairly bitter (if you don't like dark chocolate--this recipe is not for you). I sweeten it up with whipped cream. You could also decrease the cocoa for a less bitter flavor.

1 cake of silken tofu (about 16 oz)
3 tbls powdered sugar (I tend to add a little extra)
8 oz semisweet chocolate
6 tbls water
3 tbls cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

1. blend tofu and sugar until well blended (a blender is easiest but I used a hand mixer this time to give the kids more to do)

2. warm chocolate, water, cocoa, vanilla until chocolate melts. Stir until mixed. Pour into tofu mix and beat until smooth and silky.

I chill mine--but it isn't bad warm. You could top with vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream to offset the bitter chocolate flavor. Or, you could add extra dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet to up the bitter factor. It is yummy that way!

PS I put icing sugar first and then realized most of my readers are American and might not know that icing sugar=powdered sugar. So I changed it. But now you know--icing sugar is what Canadians call powdered sugar. And knowing is half the battle.

San Fran: Ocean Sports

2011-02-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me one day, as I was pondering San Fran and how to make it interesting for my kids, that my little darlings have never seen the ocean. Logically, they don't know much about sports that take place on or in the ocean. That realization led to a day studying surfing.

And kiteboarding--which I had never heard of before.

We did not read the following books. The following books were boring. At least to me. But the pictures were helpful.

All Action: Wind and Surf by Phil Holden.

Kiteboarding by Joanne Mattern.

Gilbert, the Surfer Dude by Diane deGroat. Okay, this book we read and it was all of our favorites. Gilbert chooses swim trunks that say "surfer dude" on them, even though they were too big. Of course, he loses them in the ocean. Even though it was predictable, it was still funny. I usually don't love early reader books, but this one was good. We'll be finding more Gilbert books when Cowen is ready to move into early readers.

Olivia Learns to Surf adapted by someone from a screenplay written by someone else. Yeah, we read this Olivia book but it wasn't that great. I mean, I usually love Olivia books--she's hilarious and the colors are awesome. But this one was a simplified board book so the story line was weak.

The best part of the day wasn't the books. It was when we put the books away and watched surfing and kiteboarding and windsurfing videos on youtube. Wowsers. People do some crazy/amazing things on a surfboard. We were all fascinated.

Thank you youtube, for helping turn our school day around.

PS We were going to watch Surf's Up, but my neighbor who has every animated movie ever made didn't have it. So I couldn't borrow it. So, we didn't watch it. Still, it isn't a bad idea for a supplement to a surfing lesson. Also, my hubby has a snowboard. If we had snow, I would have pulled that out and let the kids try to balance on it down a little hill. It would have been a little like balancing on a surfboard. Maybe?? I should ask my hubby about that.

hellofromhades here...

2011-02-02T14:51:00.002-07:00

since we are living in remodeling
and living in chaos
and have no "homeschool" space,
i have taken over the fridge.

it's a bit of a hodgepodge mess
but at least i can see what we have done
and what we still need to get done.

i hope my kids survive the next six months.

a curriculum of charity...

2011-02-02T10:06:00.008-07:00

i'm always looking for a way for my kids
to help out in their community and around the world.
this is the project we are currently undertaking.
go check it out
HERE

as you are shopping and cutting and filling up the bags,
use this as an opportunity
to talk about the birth story of each of your children.
and explain what role hospitals and medicine play in our lives.
then explain how others do not have the same blessings as we do.

remember, empathy is a valuable commodity in today's society.
there seems to be a diminishing capacity to learn it
amidst the materialistic and entitlement driven values
that surround us.

okay, have fun.
whether you are preparing a meal for a widow around the corner
or passing a dollar and an apple to a homeless person
you have opportunities talk about the have and have nots of the world.
don't shy away from teaching your kids about reality
don't be harsh
but be truthful.
your child's heart is enormous.
they can handle it.

good luck.
becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

San Fran: Earthquakes

2011-01-31T22:16:00.005-07:00

The next few posts will be a little weak in the content area. I'm sorry. My brain sort of fried when it came to cool activities for San Francisco. So instead of fun activities, we mostly read books.

When talking about San Fran, some obvious topics arise. Like earthquakes. The following are the books we read on the subject. (I was, quite frankly, disappointed by what I found at the library. I should have gone in person and chatted with a librarian rather than just looked online because really, they have to have better earthquake books than what I found.)

If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake by Ellen Levine. This was a good read. I should warn you though--the first few pages are a tad slow. Even I was bored. But the middle of the book really picks up and is way more interesting. So skim the first few pages--maybe summarize for your kids--but read the rest.

Natural Disasters: Earthquakes by Luke Thompson. Not a terrible book but didn't explain what an earthquake is as well as I would have liked. I spent some time looking up youtube videos about earthquakes and I didn't find any great explanations there. Maybe plate tectonics is just really hard to explain in a simple way.

Shock Waves Through Los Angeles: The Northridge Earthquake by Carole G. Vogel. I should have stopped with the first two books. This book has a few pictures of people bleeding and one pic of a boy and his mom at a funeral (the dad and brother in the family both died). My kids were . . . overwhelmed, I think. It was too much. I started to get really concerned faces and they wanted me to assure them that we didn't live where an earthquake would happen (which, of course, we do live in earthquake country), and I could tell it was too much.

So we closed the book and ended the discussion and I did my best to distract them with other, more pleasant, things.

Little lesson learned by me.

PS: There are other things you can do with earthquakes, like make a family earthquake plan and practice it a few times. Or you can call the fire department and find out about earthquake field trips. Around here there is a van you can go in and it starts shaking and gets hot and basically fakes an earthquake so the kids can practice climbing under the counter. Or you can put together some hygiene kits to send to earthquake survivors. I'm positive you could make a model of plate tectonics out of clay, if you really wanted to.

Just because I'm pregnant and lazy doesn't mean you have to be!

Our Favorite Geography Items

2011-01-31T21:27:00.007-07:00

There are very few things that we have for our homeschool that fit the "can't live without" category. Well--actually, we could do without everything except the library. And possibly youtube.

However, among our favorite items, the Leapfrog Interactive Globe (we have the Odyssey III), is definitely at the top of the list. The thing is awesome. We have competitions finding continents, oceans, countries, etc. We listen to music from each country (my children do this for hours). And mostly, my children just like touching the globe with the magic pen and listening to whatever info the globe spits out.

It is wonderful!!

You can read more about it here or here.

I realize that Leapfrog no longer makes this globe, but I'm sure you could find it somewhere. Or maybe just a different interactive globe?? Find one that allows you to compete to find places. And plays music. Seriously.

Also out-of-print is our very favorite atlas: National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers, 2003 edition.

I love, love, love this atlas. It has awesome pictures, has a picture of every country's flag, just enough info without being overwhelming, and large maps of every area in the world. My children love to look through this atlas for fun. So do I.

You can buy this book, even though it is out-of-print, or you could get the third edition.

I'm not sure if the third edition is the most recent edition, but it is available on amazon, so I assume it is.

The point of this post. These two items make up the majority of our geography curriculum. The picture you see below--where Miriam is figuring out where something is on a flat map and then finding the same location on a globe--is an activity she came up with on her own during free time.

Yeah. Exactly.

Sometimes the right products really can make a huge difference.

San Francisco: Day One

2011-01-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

For day one of San Fran, I wanted a good intro book. I thought I couldn't find one. Both the books from the library were longer than I would have preferred, but without another option, I brought them home.

We only ended up reading one, and it held my children's attention far longer than I expected. In fact, I read a lot more of it than I expected.

Bravo, Deborah Kent, author of Cities of the World: San Francisco.

My favorite part of the morning is when we would read about something in Kent's book--for example, Fisherman's Wharf, and Miriam would say, "Oh, I learned all about that in [such and such book]."

I picked out several books for Miriam to read about San Fran and she liked them all.

In The Boxcar Children: The Mystery in San Francisco by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Miriam learned "all about" Fisherman's Wharf and cable cars.

In Good Luck, Ivy by Lisa Yee, Miriam learned "all about" Chinatown.

From Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson, Miriam learned all about the 1906 earthquake. This is the only one of the three that I read, and I quite enjoyed it. Good historical fiction for the younger crowd.

There is also a Magic Tree House book about San Fran: Earthquake in the Early Morning. Miriam really likes that one as well.

After reading the Kent book, we colored a map of the United States, paying special attention to California. The following is Miriam's map. I thought it turned out super nice. Yes, I wrote in the state names for her but she had to find the states in the atlas and then point them out to me before I would write it in.

I use this website for map outlines. That wasn't the greatest link as it goes straight to USA map outlines. Here's the link to outline maps for the whole world. If you don't like this site, many options come up when you google "outline maps."

After looking at all the pics of Fisherman's Wharf--I really wish I was eating seafood right now!! San Fran has definite travel appeal--and that is saying something for me. Usually I only want to go places with no people. But the seafood. And a chocolate factory. Oh, my.

Another Baptism Prep Idea

2011-01-26T21:47:00.001-07:00

I found a copy of Baptism is the Key: My Baptismal Covenant by Jeni Brinton Gochnour at Deseret Book, but they also sell it on amazon (where it qualifies for free shipping).

The book is only 14 pages long but it was worth the money. Very worth it as it is not a book in the traditional sense, but a collection of activities suitable for sharing time. So the first page has a picture of John the Baptist with a cut-out where you can slide a list up and down. The list has five things John the Baptist taught about baptism.

Now that Miriam and I have read a lot about baptism, I told her it was time for her to teach her brothers and sisters what she has learned. Every week for the past few weeks she has prepared one of the activities from the Gochnour book and then presented it in a brief "Baptism Moment" during Family Home Evening.

Miriam loves this because it involves lecturing her younger siblings and putting together a crafty-thing. I like it because my only job is to photocopy the activities (I will be reusing the book with younger sibs) and put them in her Baptism Binder. Miriam does everything else on her own. She picks the activity, colors it, puts it together, and practices what she wants to say in FHE. I try to not help with that last one, but I also want to make sure she understands the concepts, so I've usually gone over the info with her for each activity at least once before she presents it. Just in case she missed a critical idea.

Miriam even used one of these activities for a talk in primary. Very useful stuff. There are 13 activities total and I imagine they can be used in a variety of ways. If you think of something awesome, make sure to share with us!!

Japan Wrap-Up

2011-01-25T21:06:00.001-07:00

We concluded our unit on Japan today. I'm putting everything about Japan that I haven't blogged about yet in this post. Sorry if it is confusing, but I want to move on to San Francisco without feeling behind. (Without feeling behind in blogging. My "must do before baby is born" list is getting longer by the minute. Panic sets in several times a day. I really hate the "nesting" phase.)

One of our Japan days was dedicated to maps. My children had never labeled and colored a map before and Miriam was annoyed with me that I didn't have an example of what the end result should look like, so she wrote too big at the beginning. Oops. Poor teaching. Always, always model when possible.

Still isn't the pic below heartwarming? I love how intently Miriam is studying the atlas. I love mapping. Love, love, love mapping and maps in general. Miriam's friend, Rachel, is beside her. I didn't post a pic of Rachel because I haven't had a chance to ask her mother for permission. Still, I was impressed with Rachel's neatness. I think mapping really appeals to us type-A personalities. Everything so neat and orderly.

Miriam and her map.

Cowen's map. Like I said--this was my kids' first time mapping. Cowen was a little disappointed with his map when he saw mine and Miriam's. He's a pretty neat kid by nature, so he knew his map wasn't quite right. I convinced him that it was fine for a first attempt BUT his next map would be loads better. I was also able to help him understand that the colors on maps help a person easily see where things are, so the colors have to be chosen carefully and kept in the right location.

Emeline's map.

My map.

After we finished our maps and hung them up on the wall, we practiced finding Japan on the globe. Good times.

Here are a few more books that we used that I liked.

First, An Illustrated History of Japan by Shigeo Nishimura. My kids thought the book was really boring until we hit WWII. However, I found it very useful because it was such a condensed version of Japanese history. I don't know much about Japanese history before WWII, so this book was great. My kids sat through it, but don't expect riveting. Just expect helpful.

Boys are gruesome little devils. The following two books really played to the gruesome factor and my son (and husband) loved them both. We didn't do any samurai activities to go along with the books, but there are plenty of samurai helmet crafts available online.

Real Samurai: Over 20 True Stories About the Knights of Old Japan! by Stephen Turnbull.

Samurai by Caroline Leavitt.

The following is a list of all the websites I used for the Japan unit:

http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/ (translates English names into Japanese characters)

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/flower_origami_for_kids.htm (I didn't do any origami with all the kids, but Miriam and her dad made a few flowers, a dog, and a Japanese girl in an kimono)

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/sadako_sasaki.htm I didn't end up doing anything with this story, but I loved it, and if I was more on top of things--I would have planned something special to go along with this girl's story.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/japan_for_kids.htm If you scroll down the page far enough you find a youtube music video that helps you learn to count from 1-20 in Japanese. My kids and I stunk at it, but we watched it several times and had a lot of fun trying. I highly recommend.

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/hh/goplaces/main/0,20344,555016,00.html This website has a ton of info about Japan in a child friendly format. It is a little tough to get all the kids situated so they can see the computer screen, but it was still fun and worth it. My kids especially liked listening to the Japanese words and taking the quiz.

http://homepages.sover.net/~johnd/schools.html This website has a bunch of pictures of kids at a school in Japan. I thought this was great because in Japan the kids help maintain their school buildings. Awesome. Also, we learned about a pianica--an instrument that is a mix of a harmonica and a piano. My children and I were fascinated by this new-to-us instrument so we spent 20 minutes watching youtube videos of people playing pianicas in bands and on street corners. My children also insisted we find out how much one would cost and if you can buy them in the States. You can. Amazon.com has several varieties.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/japan_for_kids.htm And here is the website where I got most of my coloring type activities. It has a ton of ideas--way more than I used.

Also at the library (currently unavailable at Netflix) is a movie called Big Bird in Japan. I can't remember if I mentioned it before. It was a good movie because it was shot in Japan so my kids could get a sense of the countryside. If you have access to the Davis County Library System--you should check this movie out.

There you go--the rest of the Japan stuff.

Sayonara!

Japanese Writing

2011-01-24T20:42:00.004-07:00

We did a lot with Japanese writing for this unit.

Not good Japanese writing, but our best efforts nonetheless.

Our first lesson in Japanese writing was taught by a new friend of mine--Sarah. She served a mission in Japan and was willing to show us how to write a few words.

Then, I found this website that translates English/American names into Japanese characters. Since I don't speak/write any Japanese, I cannot verify how accurate this translator is--but, it was sure fun to type in names and see what happened.

You can find the website for the translations here.

After we'd played with the translator for awhile, we printed off all the names in our family so we could practice writing them. (Cowen was unavailable--so we chose Kenny from the list of closest names since that is Cowen's grandfather's name.)

Small note--to print, I dragged the name itself to my desktop. You can't cut and paste into Word because Word won't recognize the letters and if you print the whole webpage you waste a ton of ink. There is a little help box to help you figure out how to print on the website.

Here's what my name looks like.

Here are my efforts to write my name.

After writing our names in Japanese for awhile, I sat the children on the couch and read them two books. The first is called The Art of Japan by Shirley Glubok. I don't really think that highly of this book. The pics are all black and white and the whole presentation is a little weak. However, I couldn't find much at the library so I was working with what I had. To my surprise, my children really liked the book. We didn't read it all, but we talked about the ways the Japanese artists brought in nature themes and tried to create a peaceful feeling. We also talked about Buddhism as a lot of the art is religious in nature. In short, although the book isn't great, it is still worth getting if you can't find something better.

In the art book, the author mentions calligraphy and includes several pictures of paintings that incorporate calligraphy.

Obviously, we had to try some of our own. Since I anticipated that, I also had another library book on hand called 1-2-3 Calligraphy! Letters and Projects for Beginners and Beyond by Eleanor Winters.

I didn't think the layout of the calligraphy book was that great either. However, it had the alphabet in several calligraphy styles and that is all we needed.

I can barely write legibly, let alone write beautifully. Here's my sad attempt.

It doesn't really matter, though, that my attempts were pitiful. It made the children feel better about their own attempts. Calligraphy is tough for little ones who are just learning to master basic penmanship. Despite the less than stellar results of our efforts, we certainly enjoyed making the effort!

My Two Year Old's Current Favorite Books

2011-01-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. A two year old is a very unpredictable creature and just because my son loves these four books, it in no way means your two year old will also love them.

However, considering how many times I read these a day--I thought I might as well share. You never know--your two year old might love them also.

Eli's very favorite book is The Bunny Book by Richard Scarry. It is an older Golden Book and a little gem I picked up from DI. The pictures are charming and have a lot of visual interest and the ending is sweet. Love it.

Most of my kids fall in love with David when they hit three or four. Eli already thinks it is great fun to say, "No, David!" and "Uh-oh!" and "The cat doesn't like it!" I'm sure you've all read the David books, but if you haven't--they are awesome. David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon.

My SIL discovered The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen and immediately bought a copy for me and all my sibs. It is about a glum fish who thinks his mouth is made for pouting when really his mouth is made for smooching. Charming. Even more charming is watching my little son carry around the book while making kissing faces/noises. Cute, cute.

Eli's other favorite book is Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball by Vicki Churchill. The pictures are so wonderful in this book. My children love to act out the different pages and love turning the book around to look at the tree and the funny faces. Really, this is a keeper. Get it in board book form as it really appeals to the small people crowd.

keeping it fresh...

2011-01-20T00:20:00.006-07:00

luke has a hard time getting motivated to finish things.
so i have to get creative.

today, i wanted luke to draw me a book.
so i promised him i would make him
a "computer book" of his drawings.
upon hearing this, it was game on.
(and bonus - he decided to write the story all by himself.)
these are the best "computer renderings"
of his pictures that i could do...
they're surprisingly accurate.

the little lost chick.

all of the eggs hatched.

one egg didn't hatch.

there was a boy who wanted a baby chick.

the egg hatched and the boy stole the chick.

in his room was so cool, she decided to live in his room.

the chick and the boy were playing chess.

now the boy has lots of chicks.

they are playing ball.

the end.

tomorrow, we'll work on the proper spelling
and sentence structure of his book.
for now, he's as proud as a peacock of his book
and the "computer book" i made him to go along with it.

give it a try.
you won't regret it.
and besides, you'll have a keepsake to store away.
win-win.

ps: all i've been hearing this week is that
luke and charlie want a baby duck.
allllll weeeeek loooong.
i've been saying no a lot.
i think this is luke's way of saying that
i might be pushing him to drastic measures
in order to get his baby duck.

so, if anyone's baby duck goes missing this week,
let me know.
i'll go look in his cool room and return promptly.

becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

letting go...

2011-01-19T12:41:00.007-07:00

one of the things i've learned about teaching
is that you have to let them learn at their own rate.
and when they make mistakes, do not diminish what they do
by correcting them too quickly.
specifically, when children write words incorrectly -
let them.
their creative process and the feeling of accomplishment
they get from making their first sentences are more important
than a fleeting lesson.

this doesn't mean we aren't going to practice this sentence
in its correct form tomorrow -
it just means we're going to let them be brilliant
for what they are today.

becky from hellofromhades.blogspot.com

Japan: Folk Tales

2011-01-18T23:26:00.005-07:00

I took some time off blogging to celebrate my birthday weekend in style. On Saturday, we took the kids to the aquarium in Sandy to finish off our fish unit. I know--a little late. But, Christmas got crazy so better late than never.

Sunday was my birthday and Monday was a holiday.

Not much schooling got done.

However, we have been reading up a storm. You might like what I did with all these Japanese folk tales, or you might not. Whatever. Even if you don't use the books in the same way I did, some of them are DEFINITELY must-read books whether you are studying Japan or not.

The Boy of the Three-Year Nap by Dianne Snyder. Such a great book! I would say worth the inter-library loan fee. We loved it. (Clever, hard working.)

The Beckoning Cat: Based on a Japanese Folktale by Koko Nishizuka. This book wasn't profoundly great in a literary sense. However, it does explain why Chinese restaurants have all those waving cats everywhere. I've often wondered. My children loved this story and immediately wanted to draw/make beckoning cats of their own. Definitely worth the read. (Kind, generous, humble, polite, loyal to parents.)

The Crane Wife by Odds Bodkin. This was my least favorite of the stories we read. However, it is a good moral tale in that the protagonist does the wrong things and it ends up badly for him. A good read, but don't pay an interlibrary loan fee for it. (Selfless, keeps promises, loyal.)

GOLD STAR BOOK!!!!!!!!! Bokuden and the Bully by Stephen Krensky is by far the best of the books we read. My children loved it, I loved it, my hubby loved it. Read it!! (Humble, polite, clever.)

The Warrior and the Wise Man by David Wisniewski. This is a good story in that it has two main characters--one that makes good choices and one that does not. I like moral tales that compare the results of both choices. Besides, it was perfect for what we did with these stories. (Polite, humble, generous, clever.)

GOLD STAR BOOK!!! My children adored the book The Two Bullies by Junko Morimoto. Both of the characters were anti-heroes, and my kids giggled through the whole thing. Great "don't be like this" book. Very, very fun. (Courage, humility.)

The Samurai's Daughter by Robert D. San Souci. If you have a daughter, you definitely need to add this one to your mix. It is a Mulan type of tale--where the daughter acts with courage and grace and loyalty and all ends well. My daughter loved it. (Courageous, loyal, selfless.)

Okay--so what is up with all the words in ( )? While we read these books, we made a master list of the traits we felt Japanese people admire based on what happened to the characters in the books. We figured, if a character is brave and loyal and good things happen to that character in the end, then Japanese culture must approve of/respect those character traits. And the opposite for the anti-heroes in the books.

My children picked up on this very quickly. We read the first book and then talked about the main character. What did the main character do? Would you describe his/her actions as brave? What about humble? (We had to go over what humble means several times before my kids got it.) I introduced a lot of the descriptive words in the beginning to get the kids' juices flowing.

Then, with the second and third books we did the same thing. I wanted a nice little list before I did anything else.

With the fourth and subsequent books, I stopped after every few pages and asked the kids if they thought good or bad things were going to happen to the characters based on their behavior/character traits/choices. The kids were 100% accurate in their predictions. We also discussed which character traits the characters were demonstrating. As my children liked adding new character traits to the list, they paid a lot of attention to the stories and the characters' actions.

By the time we read The Two Bullies and The Samurai's Daughter (the last two we read and perfect sum-up books), the kids were quick to point out the a the two bullies were the opposite of good Japanese people and that the Samurai's daughter was a pretty much perfect example of a good Japanese person.

I recognize that you can do this with any books, but these Japanese folk tale books lend themselves perfectly to this activity.

Our completed list.

Japan: cooking

2011-01-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Behold our very American Japanese feast.

I didn't even bother trying with the chopsticks. I have tried and failed before and I was hungry. But the rest of the family had a good time with them. The two year old had the most success because he went straight to the stabbing method.

The food did not turn out very well, which surprised me because I have done so much Asian cooking. However, I think I needed to start with better recipes. Or maybe Japanese food doesn't have as much flavor as Chinese and Thai. Or maybe I'm just more incompetent than I thought. Regardless, the cucumber and crab salad was bland, the soup was a disaster (I tried a new item--mochi. It is some sort of rice pastry and I cooked it entirely too much and it turned to mush and it was awful), and I didn't take the time to make ham fried rice so the rice was boring (I'm too used to brown rice--white rice doesn't cut it for me anymore). Everyone liked the teriyaki chicken.

I'm not complaining--the kids were able to help and they had a good time and we all felt very festive. I'm just annoyed that the food wasn't tasty. I'm a good cook. I'm experiencing bruised pride. :)

Cooking the Japanese Way by Reiko Weston. I think this book was great for talking about Japanese customs and what a typical Japanese meal is like, but the recipes were too simplified (unless that is really how Japanese cooking is--I just have a hard time believing it).

Japan: Festivals

2011-01-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

I did not do a good job of getting pictures these past few days. We have been doing things, though. Fun things.

For instance, we read the two books featured at the end of this post and talked about several Japanese festivals. My children were especially interested in Boys Day and Girls Day--as I thought they would be. In honor of Girls Day, we colored the below pictured kokeshi dolls. The dolls are tubular but we needed decorations so we attached them to the wall anyway. You can get the coloring page for the dolls here.

Then, to celebrate Boys Day, we made some carp kites. Obviously, both of these activities involved coloring and that is about it--but my kids liked them and I just wasn't up for anything more involved. The website where I found these two activities had many other, more advanced, ideas. Here is that website. And here is the carp kite print-out.

And here are the books:

I am not having good luck with pictures for these books. The above picture is the book Festivals of the World: Japan by Susan McKay, but it will probably be easier to find it from the library call number: X 394.269 M153. The cover doesn't look like the one above. We really liked the book, though, so hopefully you'll be able to find it.

The other book is a Fiesta! book (strange . . .) called Japan: A Portrait of the Country Through It's Festivals and Traditions. No author. The call number is X 394.269 J35. We really liked this book too.

Books for 7 Year Old Boys (or thereabouts)

2011-01-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

If you have a son between the ages of 7 and 104, you need to get him this series. Seriously, IT. IS. AWESOME.

I don't say that lightly. I read the first one because my hubby heard about it and got the first one for himself. As soon as I read the first one I bought all the other books in the series available in the United States. The author is Australian so they come out in Australia first. Grr.

Then I told everyone I knew to read the books. I gave my sister Megan the first few books to lend to her son Myles (he was 9). She read them all before giving them to Myles and then ordered the two books only available in Australia from Australia. You can imagine the shipping charges. You can also imagine my delight as I was first on her list to lend them to when she finished.

After Megan and Myles read them, Myles's older sister Danica read them, then they spread like wildfire through all the cousins--Tyson (8) and Katelyn (9) in Canada, Olivia (11) and Megan (9) in Arizona, Ana (8) in Chicago. And on and on it went, because they ARE THAT GOOD.

In fact, Tyson's dad, my brother Derek, borrowed his son's copy and read the whole series. Guess what he got for Christmas this year? The latest book fresh from Australia.

And now, as a service to our dear nephew in Switzerland who is a book fanatic, we even send copies of the books to Bern for Jethro (8).

Get these books. Seriously.

Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan.

You cannot go wrong with Jim Kjelgaard if you have a son with even the tiniest interest in animals. Many are out-of-print, but they show up at DI all the time and some are being reprinted. Excellent author.

You also can't go wrong with Walt Morey. Gentle Ben is my favorite, but all of them are awesome.

Mr. Popper's Penguins is a classic. It transcends gender and is a short, fun read. Miriam protested and then read the whole thing in an hour and proclaimed it "fantastic."

The Spiderwick Chronicles aren't my all-time favorite fantasy, by any stretch, but they are fun and a good intro to the genre. Miriam read them when she was 6 and wasn't scared, but my nephew Myles read them when he was 8 and was scared. It is a kid by kid thing.

Your children may think they don't like non-fiction, or they may be like Miriam and think they only like non-fiction--either way, they will love George Washington, Spymaster. It has a ton of stories about spying. What could be better?

There is a reason The Black Stallion has been around forever--it is a great story. I love Walter Farley. My favorite by him is The Horse-Tamer.

I read The Chronicles of Prydain (better known as The Black Cauldron series) when I was in second grade and I've been addicted to fantasy ever since. SO MUCH BETTER THAN HARRY POTTER. I mean it. Harry Potter has his place, and I enjoyed reading them, but Lloyd Alexander was the master at writing fantasy for this age group. All children should have this series in their home.

I really love Cheryl Harness. Her books are shorter, but excellent. I would recommend trying out a few with your sons. Especially They're Off!. My son carried it around with him for days after we read it for the first time. Then again, he fancies himself a cowboy.

My other HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION goes to the book the Davis County Library has about John Smith. I need to own this book, but don't yet, as it is out of print. Grr. I posted all about it here. It is probably one of the best adventure books I've ever read. Loved it!!!

Now, these were all off the top of my head. I'll email my sister--mother to Jethro--and see what she has to say on the matter considering she has an 8 year old boy who is a reading junkie. I'll let you know what she has to say.

Baptism Prep: The Checklist

2011-01-11T14:21:00.002-07:00

I am not sure that the checklist I put together with Miriam is the most complete or perfect baptism preparedness list in the world, but I'll share it anyway. Most of the ideas I took straight out of Elaine Cannon's book Baptized and Confirmed: Your Lifeline to Heaven pages 17-20. Then I added a few things that I thought were important. Miriam and I talked about each item and where and how she would learn them/do them.

Here's the list:

1) Turn 8 years old.
2) Be able to explain the Plan of Salvation.
3) Explain what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ.
4) Bear your testimony.
5) Explain what humility means.
6) Explain how you can be and want to be an example of Christ and His teachings.
7) Do you want to do what is right?
8) Have you repented and asked Heavenly Father to forgive you?
9) Do you want to join the Church of Jesus Christ?
10) Memorize the first article of faith.
11) Memorize the second article of faith.
SAME FOR ALL THIRTEEN ARTICLES OF FAITH
12) Do you attend church regularly?
13) Memorize four promises Heavenly Father makes to you when you get baptized and confirmed.
14) Memorize four promises you are making to Heavenly Father when you get baptized and confirmed.
15) Give service every day for two weeks.

A small note on #4--we have a family testimony meeting every fast Sunday. Miriam is not comfortable bearing her testimony in church, but her dad asked her to bear her testimony every month until her baptism in our family testimony meeting to check that one off.

A small note on #2. Number two--explain the Plan of Salvation--was on Miriam's checklist well before Christmas when my sister gave me this book by David Bowman:

However, although it was on Miriam's list prior to this book, her understanding of the Plan of Salvation has radically improved since the advent of this book into our home. Same for all my children. While I love Bowman's hero books--this one is by far his most wonderful contribution to our family gospel study. Miriam wants to check this requirement off her list on this coming Sunday so she has been reading this book almost every day to cement the info in her head. Then she practices telling me so she'll be ready to tell her dad.

I highly recommend this book.

Miriam's list isn't numbered. It just has boxes in front of each one that her dad checks when she's completed them. I'm sure you could put it together any number of ways. Miriam keeps it in the front of her baptism prep binder and we go through it every day at the beginning of baptism prep to remind her of what she has left to do/learn. Sometimes she doesn't want to work on anything but her articles of faith, and other times she picks an additional requirement to work on. I leave it pretty much up to her and continue on with our normal baptism prep activities when she doesn't want to work on a specific requirement. So far she has 9 things checked off, 17 things left to go, and 6 months until her baptism. I think we're pretty on track.

Hope this helped!

Books For 7 Year Old Girls

2011-01-10T21:21:00.004-07:00

My hubby and I used to go to Barnes and Noble on pretty much every date.

Then I quit working full time and not being able to buy a book every time we went was a little depressing, so we stopped going there and started hitting the book section in DI. That is fun because you can afford to buy a book, but it led to my being unusually out-of-touch with the current YA fiction market.

I love YA and middle reader books. LOVE THEM. It is what I write, after all, and I used to pride myself on always knowing about/reading all the new books as they came out. I also used to pride myself on being the go-to girl for book recommendations. Not to mention all the people who think of my house as a library. Seriously--I make them write down what they borrow and everything. I own a lot of books.

But you all know how it is. The more kids you have the less time you have to read, the less time you have to read the more selective you are in what you read. The more selective you are the less familiar you become with the market as a whole.

And then that sad day comes (for me it was just before Christmas) when you go to Barnes and Noble for the first time in a loooonnnggg time, and you find yourself staring at your beloved YA shelves with mouth gaping open and a sense that your universe just fell apart.

Because every book on every shelf has a cover picturing a half-naked teenage male vampire.

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?????????

Are they really only selling harlequin romances dressed up as YA in the YA section??

I was devastated, actually. That's my genre. My happy place.

Then, when I was still trying to get over my shock in realizing that my happy place will now have to be middle readers, I read several middle readers that had inappropriate sexual material in them. Inappropriate because it is a MIDDLE READER. What in the world?? Since this has all happened around Christmas, I decided it was time to start sharing more good books on this blog as apparently, not that much of great worth is being published these days. (Of course, when my book gets published it will be worth reading . . ..) I didn't realize I'd have to pre-read all Miriam's middle reader books. Grr.

So, without further ado, here are the books that have thrilled Miriam to pieces over the past month.

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker. Now, I read this one first to make sure it was decent, and I really liked it. The writing isn't great but the plot is really fun and clever and everything is entirely appropriate for the age group. I have tried to read E.D. Baker before--her Wings: A Fairy Tale appears to have a very clever plot but the writing was so bad that I put it down after three chapters. Baker has improved and I can happily endorse this book for the youngish girl crowd.

Good Luck, Ivy by Lisa Yee I have not read, but Miriam liked it. I have read numerous American Girl books and liked them, so I'm hoping this was equally clean. I checked it out for Miriam for the San Francisco part of our Babies unit.

Miriam adores mysteries so it is no surprise that she is in love with the Cabin Creek Mysteries--all three that she's read. I have not read them myself, but a word of caution. Because Miriam loved the Cabin Creek Mysteries so much, I checked out a bunch of other books by Kristiana Gregory. I read Jenny of the Tetons and quite enjoyed it but did not think my 7 year old needed the sex ed that was included as part of the story (it was very mild but still). So I took it back to the library. Her books are probably all pretty clean (I haven't read any except the Jenny book), but just a small warning that you might want to glance through them first.

Peppermints in the Parlor by Barbara Brooks Wallace is such a great book!!!!! It came up when I was searching for San Francisco and since Miriam loves mysteries, I checked it out. Then I read it. And loved it. Then Miriam read it. And loved it. She still hasn't stopped talking about it. Get it. Read it. Love it.

Some other books I've read lately (not Miriam) and my thoughts: The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley. I didn't think it was worth the time I spent reading it.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall. LOVED IT!!!! I am not having Miriam read it because the oldest girl is twelve and has a crush on a teenager and while I think it was handled perfectly and authentically and wonderfully, I still don't think my daughter needs to read it until she is at least ten. No need to give her ideas. Still, if you have older daughters, get it for them. I really loved it.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I really enjoyed this book but don't give it a whole-hearted recommendation. It was fun. It kept you flipping the pages. The plot was excellent. But it wasn't a "must-read" by any stretch. Still, if you have nothing else on your book list and you want a fantasy that has a great plot--give this one a shot. But not until you've read the Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Because really, you shouldn't read "good" books if you haven't bothered to read the "best" books. Also, much too old for Miriam--definitely a YA, not anywhere near middle reader.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor. LOVED IT. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Too old for my daughter but I will be purchasing this one for when she's older. Such a fabulous story. So well-written.

The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Browne Boyack. The best parenting book I've ever read. The two chapters on teaching your children finances were amazing. So many great ideas. My hubby is reading those two chapters now so that we can decide how to incorporate some of her ideas into our own family. Just loved it.

Okay--this post is ridiculously long. I've been reading more than normal because I'm getting close to delivering and I tend to read more then (something about sitting down . . .). I'm a retired English teacher who is passionate about books--if you have an age group for which you need some recommendations, let me know.

In the meantime, let us try to help each other avoid the books that are a waste of time.

Oh, and by way of warning, I used to read a lot of Tamara Pierce novels. She has a whole series aimed at the middle reader crowd (the books I let my seven year old read) with homosexual girls as the main characters. I was not impressed. In fact, I threw away all my books by her so that Miriam wouldn't find them, like them, and then go looking for more by that author. Homosexuality in books aimed at elementary kids might not be a problem for you, but it is for me. So, you've been warned.

Happy reading!

PS--If you haven't bought the Ranger series for your sons yet, shame on you.

Review of the first half of the Year

2011-01-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

So far, this has been our best year of homeschooling ever. I am more than a little surprised that I am saying that. I am not what anyone would consider a cheerful pregnant person. I fall into the short-tempered, grumpy, and highly irritable pregnant person category.

I didn't have high expectations for this year.

I didn't even have a strong spiritual witness that I needed to homeschool this year. In fact, when I prayed about it I felt like it didn't matter if we homeschooled or not. I could choose.

I chose to homeschool because I wanted to have baptism prep with Miriam and I was unable to fathom entertaining Cowen with Miriam gone every day. The boy is very dependent on her. There were other reasons, but those were my main two. (Putting Cowen in public school kindergarten was out of the question for various reasons.)

I went into the school year with lingering nasty morning sickness, a sense of doom, and a commitment to baptism prep. That was it.

And yet, this year has been fantastic beyond my wildest hopes. I've thought long about why this has been the case and I've hit on a few answers.

1) I started to practice what I preach in that I don't think children need formal academics before they are 8.

Ever since I started taking education classes and thinking about education systems and the purpose of education, my opinion on early education has shifted and solidified to anti-formal schooling for young children. I have come to believe most strongly that a mother's influence is the most important thing a child can have--especially for children under the age of 8--and that time with mother is the best gift you can give a young child. I have also come to believe very strongly that pushing academics early on can distort a child's self-perception and diminish a child's interest in learning.

I have long thought that, but when you first start to homeschool you get hit with a barrage of anti-homeschooling sentiment from all those around you. Especially your nearest and dearest who worry about your children out of love. It is hard to resist feeling the need to "fight back" by proving your children's smarts and pushing them to achieve according to public school standards. We are so used to competing and measuring and comparing that it is hard to let that go no matter how firm our convictions.

This year, I stopped worrying about it. If Miriam got "behind" in math, I didn't care. If Cowen didn't learn to read in kindergarten, I didn't care. I don't think children need to know anything specific before they hit age 8 except gospel principles and how much you love them. I finally, finally, gratefully lived up to that belief. It has made all the difference.

2) I remembered that I am a teacher who can adapt to her student's learning styles.

Some of you might be rolling your eyes right now. I know--most homeschool moms are really good at recognizing their children's learning styles and adapting to them. Again, for me, this was related to wanting to prove that my children were not falling behind. Instead of looking at my daughter and evaluating her needs, I pushed her in math to get a certain amount done just to get it done. I really am a good teacher. Professionally speaking that is. It took watching a teacher give a fantastic lesson on graphing for me to remember that I am good at creating lesson plans to teach things and I never used textbooks when I taught professionally. Why was I so welded to Miriam's math book?? It was an "aha" moment. I could teach math. Not just stick a math book in front of my child.

Reevaluating my math strategy has changed our homeschool drastically. Miriam's favorite subject this year has been math and it is because I am teaching it and because I took the time (a great deal of time) this summer to really think about how Miriam would learn math best.

3) I tried harder to match lesson plans to my children's interests.

At the risk of sounding like an unschooler--which I am not--I have to say that following my children's lead in what to study has made a big difference this year. I started out the year thinking we would study ancient history. I tend to focus on history because it is my thing, so I know a lot about it and I can easily create lessons plans. Easy is a good thing.

But this year, Miriam told me that she wanted to be an animal rescuer so I scratched my lessons on Persia and started our animal classification unit. Not because Miriam said to, but because I was paying attention to her interests. Let me be perfectly clear here--I am not an unschooler. I do not believe that children know enough to know what they want to study, let alone what they should study. I am also not a real TJEder. I like some TJEd ideas, but not "inspire not require." I believe in a whole lot of requiring. But I am also a teacher, and teacher's know that students only get excited about learning something if you sell it to them well. With animal classification I was able to sell it well in addition to my children's pre-existing interest.

The result was one of the best units I've ever put together. Not because the actual lesson plans were always that great, but because interest remained high long after I thought it would wane. I originally planned on spending a total of one month on the whole thing. Instead we spent almost a month on each category of animal because my children really loved learning about the subject.

4) I was less rigid about our schedule.

5) I spent more time during the summer pondering my end goals for my children and aligning my homeschool to match those goals.

Clarity of purpose creates stunning results. I started homeschooling for particular reasons, but those reasons have shifted a great deal in the three years we've been at this. During the summer I figured out what my goals are now. Then I focused our day around those things. For example, piano is more important to me than math right now. So, at the end of the day if Miriam hadn't practiced piano I felt grumpy. Once I realized this, I planned our schedule to make sure the critical things--devotional, music time, piano practicing, and baptism prep--always happened. If we didn't get to other subjects like math or language arts, I didn't mind because we did the things I felt were critical. Having a really solid focus has meant that I am happier at the end of the day with what has been accomplished and that my children are happier because I am happier.

6) I actively found ways to let my children create.

My children have been happier and more joyful during school time because they love to create. Seeing their enthusiasm has made me happier. I like to facilitate happiness in my little ones.

7) I asked for more revelation in school matters because school affects everything else in our family, including the spiritual development of my children.

This is the most important difference this year. I read several good books this year about Christ and developing a more loving attitude towards those around you. I highly recommend President Eyring's book To Draw Closer to God. I also listened carefully to Sister Beck who promised that revelation will be given in abundance to the sisters if they ask for it.

I started asking for it.

Revelation has come that is so simple, but has helped in so many ways. For example, Miriam and I put together a check list of things she needs to know and do before she is baptized in July. At the end of one week, I pulled out the list and was going to go through it with her and check off the items she had done. But then I had a thought--that this was something she should do with her priesthood leader. So that Sunday, Miriam and her dad had their first baptism meeting/interview and went through the list together.

I could have done it. It wasn't the difference between doing something bad or something good. It was the difference between doing something good and doing something much better. I didn't think of it myself. That kind of revelation has been so helpful. Nothing earth shaking, but I have felt more confident in my decisions. I have felt more love from my Savior. I have felt more love and peace in my home. Even with my losing my temper every sixty seconds. (Irritable pregnant person syndrome.) I have felt more guided in what I should do for and with my children. I have given Miriam more independance and trusted her and my Savior more. I have felt less need to control everything all the time. I have even managed to not yell at my kids during devotional now and again. :)

I still have a long way to go in creating the atmosphere in my home that I want, but diligently seeking more revelation has changed our home this year. And because of that, our homeschool has changed.

As I get nearer and nearer to delivering number five, I remain hopeful that home and homeschool won't fall apart and that this year will continue to be the best homeschooling year we've had.

Japan

2011-01-07T01:56:00.001-07:00

Days two and three of the new unit got a little derailed. I had to run a gazillion errands on Tuesday and then yesterday Cowen threw up and I was dealing with that.

However, since the baby's arrival creates a bit of a deadline for this unit, we persevered as best we could.

On Tuesday, after taking Eli to the doctor (ear infection) and making copies at Weber State for the class I teach that starts tonight, and picking up medicine, and dropping off library books and picking up new ones . . .

we also went to my favorite Asian market. It is called Oriental Market Foods and Gifts and is on Riverdale Road as you head into Roy. So, if you are at the Target in Riverdale, you head west toward Roy, going past all the freeway exits and entrances, and just before you hit the main road that runs through Roy, on your right is the Oriental Market.

I love that place.

I took a Chinese cooking class back in the day so I do a lot of Asian cooking. Mostly Chinese and Thai. The man who owns the market is from Taiwan and he is as nice as could be--but doesn't speak much English. His son is there most of the time and he's fluent. Don't worry though, if you write down the ingredients you need the owner can find everything for you. I've never had a problem.

At the market we picked up some seaweed for sushi, some Japanese soup base, some frozen rice cake things for a soup we are trying, and then I let the kids pick a few different treats.

The treats, like most foreign treats, weren't that great (how come sweets don't transfer borders the way the rest of the food does???). We are making our fancy Japanese meal the beginning of next week--I'll post all about it.

However, even if you don't want to tackle actual Japanese cooking, you should definitely go on a field trip to the Oriental Market. There are lots of fun dolls, statues, fans, carp kites, fancy tea sets, origami paper, and even a fancy samurai helmet that had Cowen's heart yearning. He continues to yearn, but seeing it was awesome. Plus all the dried squid (yum!! I'm serious--yum, you should try it), and other foods that look very different from our own. Since I don't know of any museums around these parts with a good Japanese representation, this is as close as I can get.

So that was Tuesday. On Wednesday, despite Cowen's illness we managed to read the following three books:

I Live in Tokyo by Mari Takabayashi is a good one. The baby in the movie lives in Tokyo, so that got the kids' interest right off. We liked it.

K is for Kabuki: A Japan Alphabet by Gloria Whelan didn't keep my kids' interest quite as well as the other two. I think that was mainly because Eli was crawling on and off my lap and trying to get me to read a different book and screeching when I wouldn't. To give the book its due--it has a lot of good info and the kids like looking through it on their own. I think I will try to revisit it with the kids when Eli is asleep.

Of the three, My Japan by Etsuko Watanabe was the runaway favorite. It is fairly similar to the Tokyo book but it also has Japanese letters in the back and pictures of food that Miriam has been practicing writing/drawing much of the morning. If you do anything with Japan, definitely get this one.

This morning was hectic as I was trying to finish getting my class ready for tonight, so school was kept to a minimum. We did two things. In the picture below you can see Cowen coloring a picture of a boy and girl in kimonos. We then hung the finished pictures on the wall as a decoration for our forthcoming Japanese dinner.

You can find the coloring page here. Just scroll down a little.

We also did a little vocabulary. I put the words on the wall and spread the definitions on the table. The kids looked through the definitions and matched them to the words on the wall. They knew most of them, so it didn't take them long to figure out the last two or three that they didn't know.

We used the words:

kimono--a loose robe fastened with a wide sash; made of silk

sayonara--goodbye

konnichiwa--hello

archipelago--a group of islands

samurai--Japanese warriors who were masters of archery and swordmanship

origami--the art of Japanese paper folding

pagoda--Buddhist temple; symbol of heaven

ancestor--a relation who lived a long time ago

Hopefully, tomorrow we'll be able to get back on track.

NEW UNIT: Babies/Geography

2011-01-06T10:00:00.001-07:00

I'm having a baby in two months.

I know that isn't pertinent to all of you, but it does play a part in why I'm putting a hold on animal classification (I'm really sorry all of you who are starting the unit this January and expected to have my unit plans to assist you--I promise I'll finish up amphibians and mammals after baby arrives) and switching to a babies/geography unit.

I was inspired by my own pregnancy and that Miriam and Cowen are old enough to have a sincere interest in the process of growing a baby and in how to help take care of their soon-to-arrive youngest sister. Emeline has always been a little mother, so this unit was created with her in mind as well.

I was also inspired by the wonderful documentary Babies.

I'm sure you've all seen it by now, but I'll tell you what I love about it. First, I love that the movie illustrates that mothers love their babies. All mothers, all over the world. Second, I love that it shows how much mothers need other mothers. I was jealous of the African mothers who were so connected to each other. They were never isolated, off in their own house doing their own thing without adult companionship for hours and days at a time. Third, I love the scenery--just beautiful. Fourth, I love that the film provides such a powerful testament that mothering is cultural. It makes you really stop and think about why you do the things you do. It makes you wonder if we're not just a bit overprotective around these here parts. It makes you wonder what CPS would do if you tied your child up so you could go milk a cow. Not saying I'm going to do it, just . . . saying. And lastly, I just plain loved watching the babies.

I decided that the movie would perfectly whet my children's interest in the places the four babies live while building on their already high interest in babies.

And thus, a unit was born.

We started the unit today.

First, we went downstairs and watched the movie together. As fair warning, there is a lot of nudity in the movie--mostly breasts as nursing is a major baby activity. Also, the San Fran mom shows off her backside as she gets out of a hot tub with her baby. I didn't find it offensive. I thought it was all very natural, very National Geographic, and very okay for kids. However, you should definitely preview the movie as you might feel differently.

My children loved it. They laughed hysterically when the Tokyo baby has her melt-down fit when she can't get her toy to work properly. They laughed at the older Mongolian boy tormenting his baby brother. They were totally charmed by the African baby's smile. Basically, they loved it as much as me.

After we watched the movie we returned to the couch and read two books about babies.

Babies: All You Need to Know by Deborah Heiligman.

What's Inside Your Tummy, Mommy? by Abby Cocovini.

I read through a lot of books about babies development in the womb and how to take care of newborns while putting together this unit. Many of them had too much information for my little, little ones. These two I thought were particularly good without going overboard in the info department.

My children enjoyed both books, but they enjoyed more that after I read the books I bared my belly (I don't often do that as I don't often have time to just lay around letting the kids poke me) and let the kids examine to their hearts content. They poked, prodded, pushed, listened for a heart beat, and giggled when the baby pushed back. I was glad baby woke up and moved around for them as she usually is pretty quiet during the day. We were able to identify a few body parts of the baby (or we had fun thinking we'd figured it out), and she even did a great spasm-like movement that made my whole belly shake and jiggle and wiggle. My kids were in heaven.

It was a good kick-off to what I hope will be a very fun and successful unit.

Reptile Books

2011-01-05T09:27:00.001-07:00

A quick look at some of our favorite reptile books. And yes, after reading them, we added information to our chart. We just don't tire of it!

Life-Size Reptiles by Hannah Wilson is a very large book with fold out pages so you can see many of the reptiles life-sized. My children thought this book was totally awesome and amazing and they loved to look at it and unfold the pages, and fight over it, and give mom a heart-attack thinking they were going to rip the pages and we'd have to *donate* even more money to the library. Fortunately, they didn't destroy the book. I highly recommend even though it might raise your blood-pressure just a little.

I love DK books. Love them. Reptiles by Colin McCarthy was no exception. We didn't read this book from cover to cover, but the children spent tons of time poring over the incredible pics. Definitely check this one out.

Reptiles by Catriona Clarke was our favorite reptile book to read cover to cover. The format is very child friendly and the pics are great. Fantastic book.

What is a Reptile? by Robert Sneddon we used as a reference mostly. The pics are great. Especially the pic of the frilled lizard--Miriam's favorite reptile. It is another good one.

Warning: What Do You Call a Group of Alligators by Emma Nathan causes hysterical giggling. I am not sure exactly why a group of toads being called a knot is so funny to my children, but it is. Alligators=congregation, another one that had them laughing. A group of frogs=army. You should have heard my son with that one. Anyway, either they were in a very silly mood or this book is high comedy. Either way, it was fun and informative.

Life Science: Reptiles by Janice Parker is another solid choice. Good pics, accessible text (although we skimmed quite a bit because we'd read so much by then).

Do not be confused or alarmed. I recognize that the book in this picture is not about reptiles, however, there is another book in the same series about reptiles and that is the one we read. I couldn't find a picture of it, so I substituted because the covers are almost identical.

The book is actually called Animals in Disguise: Reptiles by Lynn Stone. Maybe it is a boy thing, but my son loves anything to do with the concept of camouflage. He lays on the floor and thinks you won't be able to see him if he is wearing brown and he practices blending in the with the background. Every animal we study we try to find a "disguise" book to go along with it because my kids never tire of the concept. This was a good one.

To sum up our reptile unit: It could have been better. I was trying to put together a different unit and stuff reptiles in during the holidays, so we didn't do everything I had planned. On the other hand, we did read quite a few good books and made a few fun crafts, so if could have been worse.

I recommend you spend a little more time than we did and that you do some charades with reptiles. Since there are so few kinds, the kids can act out the different reptiles and guess them fairly easily. Also, my kids don't care if there are twenty million repeats, so the game remains fun for them for a long time.

I also recommend going to a local pet store and looking at their collection of lizards/snakes/reptiles in general for sale. Kids like that and it is free.

Good luck and let me know if you do anything really fun with reptiles. I'll add it to the list of good ideas to help others.

Reptiles: Crocodilians

2011-01-04T08:56:00.001-07:00

The library had a surprising number of crocodilian books. We read World Book's Animals of the World: Alligators and Other Crocodilians first. It was a mistake. The book had great pictures and tons of information. Too much information for my children to take in at one time. Although I recommend getting this book, I don't recommend trying to read it all in one sitting. Also, it might be a better choice as a reference book. We liked some of the other books better, but by the time we finished the World Book, we were pretty done with crocs.

On the other hand, the book contained a section titled "How Do Alligators Move on Land?" This section was awesome because it talked about the difference between a "high walk" and a "belly walk." I encouraged my children to demonstrate the difference between the two, which led to ten minutes of hilarity and good times. If you are going to study crocs--please practice high walking and belly walking. It's fun!

Alligators and Crocodiles: Amazing Animals by Angela Royston is an excellent pick for the younger elementary crowd. The information is concise, the pics are excellent, and there is a quiz at the back. I know, not everyone loves a good quiz, but my kids sure do!

In the Wild: Crocodiles by Claire Robinson was another good one for my children's age group. We had read so much about crocs by the time we got to this book that we just looked at the pictures and I reiterated some of the earlier information. Still, a good pick for the younger crowd as the text is pretty minimal compared to the other croc books. (Sorry about the pic--it was the largest one I could find.)

GOLD STAR BOOK!!! I told Becky I would try harder to alert her to the best books, as her library carries almost none of the books I mention. This way, she knows if it is worth her $2.00 interlibrary loan fee. This one is worth it!

Super Croc: Paul Sereno's Dinosaur Eater by Paul Sereno and Natalie Lunis is about the discovery of an ancient, intact, head of a crocodile. The head was six feet long. Crazy. Those of you who know me well have probably heard my anti-dinosaur rants. I think scientists get a little crazy stretching what little they know into the extensive world that is paleontology. I have to admit, though, that this book hooked even me. (No, I don't share my anti-dinosaur feelings with my offspring--I try to avoid passing on my biases to them.) The writing was very accessible for the younger crowd, the pics were great, and my children were mesmerized. They all wanted to go dig for bones immediately. Maybe a trip to the dinosaur museum is in order. Or maybe it is time to buy one of those kits from amazon where you dig out a t-rex skeleton and put it together. Has anyone tried one of those? Are they worth the $20?

Regardless--get the book and read it with your kids. Good times.

I have to admit that I planned on doing a cute little alligator craft with my kiddos, but between the holidays and my laziness, and putting together a new unit, the alligator craft didn't happen. But, I still think it would be a good one. If you interested, you can find it here. Good luck, and let me know if it is worth doing.

Reptiles: Snakes

2011-01-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

None of the snake books we read were truly amazing, but some weren't bad.

Snakes! by David T. Greenberg was a huge hit with my children. I thought it was disturbing.

My children also really liked Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman much more than I did.

Amazing Snakes! by Sarah L. Thomson was a great intro to snakes. It is an early reader so the text is limited--perfect for my younger children.

The rest of the books my son Cowen loved, but the other children didn't as much. I think it is because all the snake books discuss the same things--the expandable jaw, for instance. Miriam was done with snakes after the first three books but Cowen wanted me to read every single snake book I brought home from the library. I indulged him because although I find snakes creepy, I don't find snuggling up to my son creepy.

Cowen's favorites include Animals of the Rainforest: Anacondas by Christy Steele.

He also liked Sea Snakes by Colleen Sexton.

And Taipans by Doug Wechsler.

After reading through the snake books, we made a snake. This is a great craft. It requires you to save a great many toilet paper rolls, but it is worth it.

First, cut the toilet paper rolls in half. Then divide the halves amongst your children. I wanted the kids to have plenty of time to paint so they made rather long snakes. Cowen wanted to make an anaconda. It required a lot of sections.

Then, let the kids paint the toilet paper rolls however they want their snakes to look. None of my children made a pattern but I'm sure older kids would have.

Then we attached the pieces together with yarn, added googly eyes (those things are invaluable) and a forked tongue (that my hubby made). Voila! A fantastic snake.

You can find the directions here. You'll notice we didn't follow the directions. I thought using construction paper was way too fussy. We did, however, tie the snakes together with yarn on the top and bottom of each tube. That helped keep it from getting all tangled together.

While studying snakes is not really my "thing"--it wasn't too bad. Just mildly bad. :) Hope you enjoy it!

Reptiles: Turtles and Tortoises

2010-12-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I sort of cheated with turtles/tortoises. I had an ultrasound so my sister and her hubby watched my children. Since I didn't have a day to waste, I made my sister "do school" with the kids. I gave them the books to read, I showed my brother-in-law the password to the computer so he could access the craft instructions, and I had all the supplies in a bag on the piano. Everything was ready.

I left.

They read the books. (I read them later because I was annoyed the kids knew things that I didn't.)

Sea Turtles by Judy Wearing.

A Mama for Owen by Marion Dane Bauer.

Tortoises by Chuck Miller.

Box Turtles: Weird Pets by Lynn M. Stone (different cover).

My sister said the kids liked all the books and were especially interested/excited by the fact that sea turtles return to where they were born to lay eggs. They told me all about it when I got home. They also told me about some sea turtles that have spikes/spines in their throat. Weird. But cool.

The craft didn't happen.

After reading the books my brother-in-law went to the computer and typed in what he thought was the password, but it wasn't. Without the instructions they were hesitant to plow ahead. Instead, they drew pictures of turtles and had a lovely time doing that.

When I came home the kids all demanded we do the craft, so I fed them lunch, put the baby to bed, and whipped out the glue gun.

We should have left it at drawing turtles. This craft was lame. As in entirely unsuccessful and I am only telling you about it to warn you away.

The craft is called Baby Pet Turtles. You can get the instructions here.

You start out with some heavy paper. I used a paper plate and trimmed it to a smaller size. Then you put glue all over the plate and, starting in the center, wrap yarn in ever increasing circles to cover the plate. Then you add some appendages and googly eyes and you're done.

Ha.

Don't be fooled by how cute Cowen's turtle looks in the picture below. The craft had some serious issues.

1) The paper wasn't heavy enough to hold up to the yarn so when the kids tried to play with their baby turtles the turtles flopped around too much. They played with the things for three minutes before giving up. Not a good sign.

2) The yarn didn't stick to the glue very well. I used white school glue (Elmer's) and had the kids spread it around their plates with a paint brush. Because the yarn didn't stick well, none of my children could put the yarn on themselves. Besides, creating the circles was really hard for my children. Putting the yarn on is the bulk of the craft. I do not like crafts that are intended for children that children cannot do themselves. Maybe if the glue stuck better the kids would have had a better time of it. In the end, I did all of Cowen's and Emeline's turtles. Miriam did her own, but 90% of the yarn fell off within minutes of completing the craft.

I can't think of a better glue to use. Hot glue is too hot. Glue sticks aren't any stickier than Elmer's. Fabric glue?? I haven't played with that much.

I made one major mistake and that was making my paper circles too big. Cowen's was originally larger, but the wider the circle of yarn got, the harder it was to get it to stick. I finally cut the yarn and trimmed the paper to match. I definitely should have made really small baby turtles.

Also, if you do attempt this craft, I recommend using cardboard for the circle body. That will hold up the yarn and make it so your kids can play with the final result easier. That stills leaves the problem of what adhesive to use.

Even if I had done things differently/better, I still don't see how my kids could have done it themselves. I let Miriam make her own appendages and glue on her eyes, and she liked that. Otherwise, the craft was a huge disappointment for all involved.

Reptiles: Lizards

2010-12-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

I know what you are thinking: where is the post that introduces reptiles and lists all the best reptile books? What about the chart? What is going on???

Well, I can't post that yet because we haven't read all our books about reptiles and my children still want to, so I cannot with any authority say which books are our favorites. I know this doesn't matter to people who don't live around here. I realize that libraries have wildly different titles available so I might be wasting my time a little by posting the books. But. I know there are people in Davis County, Utah who read this blog and they have the same library system as me. So I will continue posting the book titles just in case it is helpful to someone sometime.

As for reptiles--they are creepy. We are enjoying them. They are also easier to organize for study as there are only four groups of them. Lizards is one of the groups.

Xtreme Predators: Lizards by S. L. Hamilton. This book was primarily about komodo dragons. It was freaky. The girls and I shrieked several times. Cowen loved it. I highly recommend despite the title containing a misspelled word. Grr.

A True Book: Lizards by Trudi Strain Trueit. This book is about what you'd expect from the title. We all really liked it.

For lizard day we read the two lizard books and a few books about reptiles in general. Then we took the quiz on the National Geographic website. My kids only missed one and that is because while the books we read mentioned that some lizards can detach body parts and regenerate them, they never mentioned what that is officially called. You might want to look that up before taking the quiz. Just a hint. Other than being annoyed that they missed a question, my children enjoyed the quiz. (Obviously, it involved the computer.)

You can find the quiz here.

If the link fails you, here is the actual address: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/games/

The game/quiz is called Lounging With Lizards and is halfway down the page.

Have fun!

Fishing Books

2010-12-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

In our study of fish, we read quite a few books about fishing. They were fun. Here are our favorites:

Just Fishing WIth Grandma by Gina and Mercer Mayer.

Grandad's Fishing Buddy by Mary Quigley.

Gus and Grandpa Go Fishing by Claudia Mills.

A Good Day's Fishing by James Prosek.

Dirty and Dangerous Jobs: Deep Sea Fishing by William David Thomas.
This last book scared Emeline. It talks about all the hazards of deep sea fishing. Death, body parts getting cut off, freezing--that sort of thing. My son LOVED it. Sometimes boys disturb me. If you have a boy--I highly recommend this book.

Last Fish Craft

2010-12-14T09:59:00.001-07:00

I have to admit that today made me a little proud of myself. Good pride. Really. But pride nonetheless.

I helped the kids with the most complex craft we have ever done. You can find out all about it and get the pattern here. Scroll down until you get to the

No Sew Stuffed Woven Fish Toy Craft

Long name.

Step Number One: Print out the pattern and instructions.

Step Number Two: Have your husband explain to you how to put the fish together. This step might not be necessary for everyone. It was critical for me.

Step Number Three: Take your kids to Michaels, or wherever, and have each child pick out two 8x10 pieces of felt. Try not to spend $70 for a $6 project (we were also buying Christmas presents to paint for grandparents and great-grandparents, but that store is almost as bad as Walmart for eating your money $2 at a time).

Step Number Four: Have your children who are old enough trace the pattern onto each piece of felt. Basically, you are making two of the same thing and then gluing it together to make the body. It would make more sense if I didn't try to explain it. Note to self: take a technical writing course, or, don't do crafts.

In all seriousness, this craft was above my ability level and the ability of Emeline and Cowen. If you have all children 6 and under, or non-crafty kids, or boys who aren't very particular--this craft might not be for you. I only did it for Miriam. And she loved it. Miriam loves, loves, loves crafts and this one let her use a glue gun and trace and cut and use batting--lots of things she doesn't normally get to do. She was in heaven and so it was worth it. Plus, at 7, she could do the project almost entirely herself. In fact, if I wasn't such a nervous mother about the glue gun, she could have done it all herself.

Below you see the patterns traced onto the felt. The instructions didn't call for two tail pieces, but I liked the extra thickness and the kids liked having two colors. So--optional.

Then you cut out the pieces, weave them together, glue the weaving together so the sides of your fish won't fall apart, and stuff it with a little batting.

You'll notice below how the weaving makes it look fun and two-tone. Once the two side pieces were woven together, I glued the edges together and that made it really easy to add the batting. Then I put some glue on the inside of the fish, the fish's owner pushed the tail down until it dried, and then we glued around the rest of the body. The tail flaps really well, which excites the children.

If I could change anything, I would have bought larger googly eyes. The children didn't mind. They played with their fish all afternoon. Success!!

I've always been scared of non-food homemade presents, but these fish made me think that next year I might try having the kids make homemade gifts for each other. We always have the kids draw a sibling name out of a hat two days before Christmas, then Timothy takes two kids and I take the other two and we head to Target or Toys R Us and let the kids pick out something for his/her person. It is fun, and we love it, but in the interest of making sure our kids don't get too much (hard when you have a LOT of relatives and your kids are the only grandkids on one side of the family), homemade might just be the better choice for us next year.

Especially if Timothy agreed to spearhead the helping committee.

Other Fish Books We Liked

2010-12-13T23:00:00.001-07:00

The Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone.

What's it Like to be a Fish? by Wendy Pfeffer.

The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole.

Skeletons: An Inside Look at Animals by Jinny Johnson.

The Cod's Tale by Mark Kurlansky. (From the author of the best-seller Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World.) This was one of our favorite books. It is actually a history book explaining how the Vikings learning to dry cod changed the world. FASCINATING. A must read! It would work well for an American history lesson on colonization or the Revolutionary War, or early visitors to the Americas. Loved it.

FIsh: Shark Day

2010-12-10T06:00:00.003-07:00

We didn't do much of anything exciting with sharks (besides a few accidental terrifying youtube videos the kids clicked on when I turned my back for a second--we were supposed to be learning about marlins), but we did read several books that we really liked.

Risky Business Marine Biologist: Swimming with the Sharks by Keith Elliot Greenberg. This book pretty much convinced my son he wanted to be a marine biologist.

The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Great Shark Escape by Jennifer Johnston. This one Miriam read to herself. She loves Magic School Bus.

All About Sharks by Jim Arnosky. Perfect for the younger crowd--lots of info but not too much and very interesting.

Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark by Ann McGovern. This book is about 100 pages long. I checked it out for Miriam to read on her own, but she turned up her cute little nose and said it looked "boring." I said, "fine," and proceeded to start reading it to Cowen. Within 10 seconds Miriam was tucked up next to us on the couch. She and Cowen stayed that way while I read the entire thing in one sitting. There are lots of pics and larger print. Emeline stayed for half of it. Her story was fascinating, especially from a feminist standpoint since she was a working mother before that was acceptable in a job that almost entirely excluded women. My children didn't really get that, but they certainly loved the first part about her childhood and the parts where she hung out with the prince of Japan. They liked all of it, as did I. I just wished she'd managed to keep her family intact while accomplishing everything else she accomplished. Not really my business. I know.

The Shark Almanac by Thomas B. Allen. This book is an adult book and too detailed to be useful with really small children except for the center portion with a number of large color photos. We liked those. We liked those a lot. Not National Geographic quality, but still very nice to have all in one place so we could compare different sharks and find things like gills and lateral lines.

After reading through our shark books, we made our own little shark book. I used the kidzone Itsy Bitsy Books printout. You can find it here.

After coloring, cutting, and stapling our little books, we filled out the shark labeling worksheet. I used the "beginner" worksheet that has the possible word choices listed at the top of the page. Miriam adores worksheets and we hadn't done one in awhile. Plus, excellent handwriting practice. You can find the worksheet here.

More Fish: Field Trip

2010-12-09T06:00:00.002-07:00

I love field trips. This one ended up way cooler than I had imagined. Yeah!

We went to a fishmongers, or as close as Utah gets: Coast 2 Coast Seafood Market. I didn't know anything about this place except that it was there. For those of you in my area, it is in Layton, south of the Walmart.

I am now a huge fan.

Some people get a little weird when you say you are homeschoolers--but not the owner of this store. I told him we were there on a homeschool field trip and we wanted to look around at the variety of seafood things in his shop and he got totally excited.

First he brought out a huge salmon.

Then he brought out whatever fish is in the picture below. He said it came from Hawaii but I can't remember the name. Not something with which I was familiar. The children were amazed and impressed and thrilled.

Then he brought out a salmon that he'd cleaned. Cowen asked to see the bones so the man wrapped up the bones for us to take home and examine. Awesome! After we'd looked at all the amazing fishing pics on the wall (he's gung-ho), and oohed and aahed over the items he carried, I let the kids pick something to try. They picked clams, so I bought two pounds of live clams in the shell.

When he was ringing me up, Miriam mentioned she wanted a jar of oysters, so he threw it in for free because it was nearing its expiration date. He also gave us a container of seaweed salad because "the kids should try this" and two mussels so the kids could "compare mussels and crabs."

Basically the man was thrilled that the kids were learning about what he's passionate about. Now, my dad would say he was just making sure I would be a repeat customer, but I don't think so. I think he just got into the spirit of the thing and thought it was fun to impress and entertain and excite the children.
Plus, he was really, really nice.

In the picture below you can see our salmon head/bones/tail. We did our first quazi-dissection with it. We poked out an eyeball to examine (the kids loved feeling the clear covering on the eye), we felt all the vertebrae and we think we found a kidney. We also pried the mouth open to examine the teeth but the kids lost interest in that pretty fast when I accidentally stabbed myself with one of the teeth. So yes, I guess you could say I was bit by a salmon. No worries--my blood blended with the salmon blood. I guess you could say I'm blood brothers (sisters??) with a salmon.

Just kidding. I didn't bleed that much. But, in the future, I will be more wary of salmon teeth.

The scales were a big hit, as was the slime that covered everything still intact. We pried off all the meat in one spot to uncover the ribs. Plus much poking, prodding, touching, squishing was done by all. I quite enjoyed myself and the children loved it.

After we'd finished with the fish bones, we read World Book's Animals of the World: Salmon and Other Bony Fish. This is the thing about homeschool--when I checked out 1600 books on fish (slight exaggeration) and examined them when I got home, I intended to take the salmon book back. It was lengthy and more detailed than I thought the children would enjoy.

But I hardly ever return books until after the unit is over in case one of the children wants to look through the pictures. So this book had been lying around unused until very unexpectedly we "dissected" a salmon. All of a sudden my children wanted to know everything about salmon and especially its skeletal structure. This book, though lengthy, was perfect. My children listened to me read the whole thing (well, Emeline lost interest halfway through, but she's four) and we all learned a ton about salmon. So there you go--you never know for sure what will come in handy during a unit because sometimes complete strangers give you bones.

(Miriam scrubbing clams.)

For supper that night we had steamed clams, fried oysters, seaweed salad, and rice. And two mussels that we shared equally amongst ourselves. (Meaning mom got one and let Miriam and Cowen share the other one. I love mussels.)

Fun times. Tasty too.

Fish: Day Two and A Dose of Homeschooling Reality

2010-12-08T06:00:00.001-07:00

Are your tired of crafting, I mean, creating? (It helps me to frame it as creating. More palatable.) Don't be. The creating ideas are just flying out of the internet in my general direction.

Today's project centered around the ever popular and bizarre puffer fish. Actually, a porcupine fish, but of the puffer family.

First we read Puffer's Surprise by Barbara Gaines Winkelman. And we loved it. Definitely one of our favorites lately.

Then we made our own puffer fish out of a paper plate. Instructions can be found here.

The project started out typically enough. I started pulling out the craft supplies and my children leaped and shrieked for joy. I showed them the picture online of the finished project and then they started coloring their spines.

Some of these pics highlight the difficulties of homeschooling with a two year old. He's charming but loud. And demanding.

My finished fish. Yes, I am proud of it.

Eli pulling every single crayon out and piling them on a plate. There are worse things. Like when he tries to pile them on the floor. A delicate balance between not letting him get away with creating major disasters and being able to help the other children.

Notice that in the following picture Miriam is working alone. No siblings about anywhere. Here's where the dose of homeschooling reality comes in.

For whatever reason, and I really don't know the reasons, Cowen and Emeline were excessively tired this morning. Cowen claims Eli climbed into his bed and woke him up by hitting him with a truck. That might be so. Transitioning Eli to a big boy bed has had its rough patches.

Regardless, Cowen and Emeline started to cry hysterically about ten minutes into the puffer project because they couldn't get the glue stick to glue adequately. Then I compounded matters by telling Cowen I wouldn't help him because he knows how to glue. When Cowen threw himself on the ground and proceeded into full melt-down mode, I told him it was time for a short nap and he could finish the project when he woke up.

Then he threw the glue stick at the wall.

Then I took a moment to reflect on WHY I thought it was so important to spend such lovely, quality time with my children.

Then I took Cowen downstairs and put him to bed.

He fell asleep in precisely 30 seconds and woke up cheerful and ready to finish his project.

Sometimes homeschool has to flex and adjust to our children in suprising and completely unplanned ways.

That is a reality of homeschool.

(And for those of you charming mothers whose children would never throw glue at the wall, I congratulate you. But I've been a mother long enough to realize you don't exist. You or your children.)

The children ended up loving the project. We printed the spines on regular paper and then colored them. You can leave them white, but my children didn't want to and after a moment's reflection, I didn't want to either. Then we glued the spines to cardstock and cut them out. For younger kids who are perfectionists, you might have to help cut out. Cowen wanted them to look perfect but couldn't do it himself. Emeline didn't care--she just likes to use scissors. The cardstock helped the spines stick out.

Then we used a glue stick to glue the spines on. Cowen and Miriam wanted them to stick out like mine. Emeline didn't care. She was just happy to use glue.

PS I put Emeline and Eli to bed as well as Cowen, so Miriam and I had an unexpected 90 minutes with each other. I read my scriptures, she finished Mr. Popper's Penguins (yes I made her read it and yes she loved it), we had baptism prep and then she drew pictures and I did research for a book I'm working on (yes I'm an aspiring author--isn't everyone??). It was lovely.

Fish: Day One

2010-12-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

Like most of my school days, this one started with some books. Books about fish. We liked them both.

Fish: A Practical Guide to Caring for Your Fish by Mark Evans.

Weird and Wonderful Fish by Colin S. Milkins. (No pic available.)

After reading the books, we added to the fish section of our chart. The children still love this and the chart has really filled up.

After that, we made a fish. It seemed only fitting. I wanted to make the water bottle fish craft but couldn't get our water bottles to cooperate. I substituted by making this craft.

It was ridiculously easy and we all loved it. Even me. Because it wasn't too hard for the kids and I could make something that turned out looking decent.

First, I printed off the template for each child. Then I cut up a bunch of tinfoil and tissue paper in a variety of colors. Then I grabbed crayons, colored pencils, scissors and glue sticks. That was it. All the prep required.

Our fishes evolved as we figured out how different things would look. For example, I started out by coloring so the color would show through the tissue paper. Then I realized how awesome and shiny tissue paper looks over foil and ended up covering my fish with foil--completely covering up the original coloring. The children's fish evolved also as they discovered the properties of tissue paper.

When the fish were done, I was going to paste them onto blue paper to create a swimming in the ocean effect, but most of my children were opposed to this. They wanted their fish free to swim wherever.

I gave Eli my fish because he was sad he didn't have one. We did the project while he was napping . . . for obvious reasons.

Miriam felt that her fish needed a lot more space--so she found every blue paper in her collection and created an ocean. Hands down, her ocean was my favorite part of the day. Miriam dreams large. Even for her fish.

The children loved the project so much that a few days later when our Christmas advent chain said, "Put together a Christmas package for Great-Grandma Ruth and mail it," they all opted to make Grandma a fish. So, we did the craft again and had just as much fun the second time.

I'll tell you a little secret. I wasn't looking forward to fish. They seem so . . . uninteresting. I was wrong. So wrong. Fish are fascinating. And strange. More like aliens than any other creatures we've studied. We're having a grand and fishy time. I hope you are too!

2010-12-06T13:24:00.007-07:00

why i love homeschooling,
reason #3,459

because when we get the wiggles
in the middle of our morning,
we can all go outside
and have a leaf fight.

this is brought to you by becky.

What Else We've Been Doing: Reading

2010-12-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure it comes as no surprise, considering I don't think children should attend school until they are 8, that I am adamantly opposed to teaching children to read in kindergarten.

Especially boys.

ESPECIALLY BOYS.

Here's why. Most boys are not ready to learn how to read as early as girls are. Their brains usually focus more on physical things and less on abstract/academic things during the early years. By early, I mean until age 8.

As a teacher I saw firsthand what happens to students who fail to read at the ridiculously young ages that we try to teach them. They give up. They tune out. They hate school. And most importantly, they think they are stupid.

Let's review a very important child development fact: anything you teach a child before said child turns 8 is pretty much a permanent fixture in the child's brain and almost impossible to change their mind about. That was confusing. In essence, before 8, a child believes everything you teach him/tell him and it is almost impossible to convince the child that the information is wrong later. So if a child thinks he is loved before age 8, he always will. If a child thinks he is smart before age 8, he always will. If a child thinks he is NOT SMART before age 8, he always will.

Eight is a magic number in child development.

So what happens to the child in kindergarten, the grade in which reading is currently being taught in most elementary schools, who is not ready to learn to read? You guessed it. The child assumes he is dumb and believes it the rest of his life.

I am opposed to teaching children, especially boys, to read before they are seven or show many different signs that they are ready.

But, you say, won't the later learners be behind?? No. Research shows that early and late readers generally reach the same reading competency by age 11. Meaning, it all evens out before they hit middle school years/adolescence.

So, you say, explain the picture below.

Hmm.

How embarrassing. Caught *gulp* teaching my five year old son to read.

My only explanation/defense is this: sometimes my children don't care about all my education expertise and INSIST that I teach them what they want to know.

In other words--Cowen was showing a lot of signs of reading readiness.

For example, if I asked him to spell a word like "hat" he could do it by sounding out the different letters in the word.

He knows all his sounds and letters.

He knows how to tell when a word starts and stops.

He understands that a period marks the end of a sentence/idea.

He turns six in March and has been begging me to teach him to read for two years now. He wants to read Ranger's Apprentice. And every other book with cover art that includes a knight/sword/hobbit/horse/or cowboy.

He's desperate to be able to do what Miriam does.

There was no need to wait any longer. He was ready. We're proceeding slowly and cautiously--ready to slow down even more if any signs of trouble pop up. For now, he's progressing rapidly and loving it.

There are several methods/programs out there for teaching reading. Most are junky. Most are overpriced. Most introduce too many words too quickly.

I taught Miriam how to read using a white board. When she knew her sounds, I wrote "at" on the white board and showed her how to combine the two sounds. Then I added different letters on the front of "at" to make "cat," "hat," "sat," "mat," "fat," etc. When she was reading those words confidently I would write a silly sentence like "Miriam sat on the cat." I would read her the sentence, she would giggle, and then I would have her circle the words she could read.

Then we moved on to "it" and all the words that end with "it."

Etc., etc., etc.

Until she was comfortable with the concept of sounding out.

Then I moved her into the following program called Little Books: Set One.

http://iseesam.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_9&products_id=1

When you first see this series you will think it is plain and possibly non-academic because it is all black and white pictures. Trust me, the color of the pictures matters not. In fact, every once in awhile I would copy a picture for my daughter to color to keep her interest level high.

These books are fantastic. They introduce new words and new word families and new sounds very slowly so a child always feels success. That is very important.

I used the whole first set with Miriam and half of the second set. By then she was ready to move into early readers at the library so we discontinued using them.

Cowen spends ten minutes with me every day on reading because he insisted. That's plenty for a wiggly boy child. He started with the white board until he was comfortable spelling lots of easy sound-out words. (Oddly, Cowen could spell words long before he could read them. Boy brains are weird--I'm just saying.) Recently, I let him get out the first Mat the Rat book (what my kids call the Little Book books). Cowen was THRILLED. Learning to read is a big thing at our house--a privilege of sorts.

He's currently passed off the first three books and is still practicing with Level One: Book 4 and Level One: Book 5. He's still loving it. He's still feeling very successful.

Yeehaw!!

If you have a baby, the best thing you can do to raise a reader is to read yourself. That's even more important than reading to your child. If you lack time, like myself, I tell my children about different books I love. As I walk by my bookshelf I'll casually pull a book out and skim through it and mutter to myself, "I love this part." My children will beg to know more.

There are a whole bunch of preliteracy strategies and they work. The more you make your child want to learn to read, the better reader the child will be.

Other preliteracy strategies include ordering a monthly magazine for your child so the excitement of getting mail transfers to reading the mail. I recommend the National Wildlife Federation magazines. We started with Animal Baby, moved on to Your Big Backyard, and now adore Ranger Rick. There are a lot of good options.

Reading a story so many times that your child can recite it is also a good strategy. Then have your child "read" the book to any person willing to listen. Heap praise on the child for his "great reading!"

There are others. My basic point--be very, very careful with reading. Preliteracy is key. Absolutely essential. Then, don't start teaching reading until you know your child is ready. Set them up to succeed. Always praise, praise, praise when it comes to reading. And if you have a boy that is not reading as early as you think he should--relax. Most boys will be ready to read by age 7, but some not until they are 8. It will be fine.

Hope some of this info was useful.

I also recommend reading: Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences by Leonard Sax.

And The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon by David Elkind. This one is a little dated, but it still provides excellent food for thought.

Happy reading!

What Else We've Been Doing: Hiking

2010-12-04T07:00:00.001-07:00

We went on our last hike of the season. Not because of the snow, although that plays a part, but because pregnant Mama can't haul the baby around anymore. The chug is almost two, after all, and he sometimes forgets he came equipped with legs.

Still, the weather was glorious.

I love to hike.

So do my children.

So do my dogs.

Until spring, then.

What Else We've Been Doing: Handwriting

2010-12-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

While shapes dominated our math time for a week or so, handwriting has become a staple every single day.

Thanks to numerous commenters who insisted that Handwriting Without Tears was heaven-sent, I took the plunge and bought the kindergarten, first grade, and pre-school books along with some of the special paper and the box of "special" pencils.

I am in love with this program.

Miriam had the worst handwriting on the planet and after only one short month it has improved by 3000%.

I was and am amazed. Seriously amazed. Not only because Miriam's and Cowen's handwriting has improved but because they love to practice their handwriting. One of the most boring subjects on earth and they beg to do extra pages! Incredible.

As for the specific items I purchased, here is a little run-down on how I feel about them.

1) First Grade Book. Yes, Miriam is technically in grade two, but her handwriting was so terrible that I decided we'd better start with some remedial work before moving into her grade level book. I think it was a wise choice. I haven't seen the second grade book to know how similar/different it is, but I am glad that there is another book with which to practice printing before she hits the cursive books. And yes, we'll be sticking with this program for years to come.

2) Kindergarten Book: I am glad that I started Cowen off with the kindergarten book. It moves through the letters more slowly than the first grade book with more practice for each letter. That is good for my son. Although his handwriting is just as good as Miriam's--I want him trained thoroughly and properly from the get-go. None of this repent and retrain that I'm doing with my oldest.

3) Pre-School Book: Essentially a waste of money for people wanting to use it as a handwriting/get ready for school book. Then again, that is what I think about 99.9% of preschool products, so it might just be me. However, I am grateful I bought it because 4 year olds want to do what the big kids are doing and it keeps Emeline happy and busy. Well, happy as long as I don't tell her what she's supposed to be doing and just let her decide.

4) Extra specially lined paper. Good investment for me. I don't know that it would be worthwhile for other people, but Miriam has really entrenched bad habits. Since starting the program we've used the special paper for ALL of Miriam's writing (spelling words, for example) and that has really helped solidify the new concepts for her and given her extra practice.

5) Draw and Write Notebook. We haven't used these yet because I am saving them as a "reward." My children practically salivate every time they see the books, but first they have to do all the pages in their practice books. The concept is common--blank space at the top for an illustration, lines at the bottom for the writing. So far they've worked great as a motivator!

6) The box of pencils. When I first saw the pencils I was a little disgusted with myself for having purchased them. I was thinking they were the extra thick pencils. They are not. They are exactly the same diameter as any other normal pencil. They are just really, really short. However, I no longer regret the purchase. It didn't cost much for a huge box of them and the "wow" factor for my kids made it worth it. Part of the fun of doing handwriting is getting to pick a pencil out of the box. So, yeah, sort of lame, but also sort of fun.

Overall--I highly, highly, highly recommend this program. I spent $40 for all the above (a really huge expense in my homeschooling budget) but I don't regret a penny. Yes, I definitely could have done it cheaper, but I'm glad I didn't. These are the first books I've bought that my children can write in (I usually have them write on a separate sheept of paper or put it in a page protector and have the kids use white board markers), and I definitely think that is the way to go. However, if you are strapped, you could buy the extra paper and the practice books, and just have your child practice on the extra paper.

If you can though, and you are in the market for an excellent handwriting system, I'd get a practice book for each child and let them write in it. I absolutely love this system.

2010-12-02T21:07:00.005-07:00

hello, becky from here.
i'm here to tell you how much
i love butcher paper homeschool lessons.
i know, i know...enough with the butcher paper already.
well, too bad.
i love me some butcher paper.
and i have lots more projects to share.
(hint: we're doing the nativity next week)

my sis-in-law thinks i need to buy stock in a paper roll company.
and a recycling plant.
today's butcher paper "school" went something like this -
reading
writing
decorate the christmas tree
review numbers 1-10
write numbers 1-10
20 math problems (reference 1-10 review)

my kindergarten teacher friend once told me,
have them read and write every single day -
and throw in some math for them if you can.
so, that has been my priority -
read, write, math.
that's what i use the butcher paper for.
and then cluttered around the edges,
we have piles of art projects
and science experiments and history books.

and by the way,
the current science experiment
of sprouting beans from the pantry
has been such a rip-roaring success,
we decided to sprout a whole forest this time.
i'll post pics later.

What Else We've Been Doing: Mathematics and Tangrams

2010-12-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

In math, Miriam had a chapter on shapes: similarities, differences, congruency--that sort of thing. Since shapes are a great topic for my 4 year old as well, I checked out several books from the library on shapes. I also found two books about tangrams.

Not too long ago Becky asked me if my children liked tangrams. I said no. A year or so ago I tried tangrams with my darlings and nobody was interested. But this time I introduced them to Miriam using two stories. She was riveted and became something of a tangram junkie for a few days.

Grandfather Tang's Story: A Tale Told With Tangrams by Ann Tompert.

Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone.

What Else We've Been Doing: Gospel Education

2010-12-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

We finished talking about faith and repentance and moved on to baptism.

For baptism, we are reading Baptized and Confirmed: Your Lifeline to Heaven by Elaine Cannon.

The new cover looks like the one below. The one Miriam is holding is the copy my parents gave to me when I was baptized.

My favorite things about it:
1) it has scriptures listed for just about every idea/topic it covers. Because of that it is easy to use our scriptures every day.

2) It has a list of what a child needs to know/do before baptism. That really helped Miriam see that she needed to prepare for baptism. Very helpful.

3) The author did a good job of making the material accessible to a 7 year old.

Other Bird Ideas

2010-11-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

We have, quite reluctantly, come to the end of the bird section of animal classification. I'll be posting about fish on here pretty soon but before I do, I thought I'd share a few other bird ideas. Of course, if you type in "bird craft" in google, you get a gazillion ideas. Whatever floats your children's boats.

Idea One: Make a Bird Feeder.

I found instructions for the simplest bird feeder possible online. Then Timothy made it with the children. They loved it.

Disregard the bowl: Emeline was just licking it for any remnants of yummy stuff. It has nothing to do with birds and a lot to do with candy apple pie.

I just think she's pretty.

Pouring in the birdseed.

The steps include saving a juice/milk bottle of some sort. Sticking some sort of perch through the bottom, cutting holes for the birds to reach through for bird seed, filling it with bird seed, and hanging it outside. Simple, simple. Perfect for the youngest academics.

Idea Two: Send your child outside with a camera to try and take pics of local birds.

I know the top picture doesn't contain a bird, but I think it is a pretty great picture nonetheless. Besides, getting a bird in a picture was much harder than I would have guessed. When I tried I failed miserably. Miriam at least got the bird pictured below and a few great pics out of it.

Idea Three: Paper Plate Birds in a Nest Craft for Kids.

Go to this site: http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/birdcrafts.html. It has some really great bird crafts. My favorite is the Paper Plate Birds in a Nest. We didn't do this craft because it was beyond my crafting ability, but I think it looks like a lot of fun. If you aren't craft-handicapped, you might really like this site.

And that is it for birds. Hope you're having fun!