Thoughts

One of the blessings of using Tapestry of Grace as our core curriculum is the number of options involved.  It covers history and literature at its core, but one of the other options is Christian world view studies.  Lately, as we're in the 1950s, we've studied the five martyred missionaries of Ecuador in that time period.

The men were sent by a few different groups, but all wished to reach the Waorani Tribe, then called the Aucas.  Since the middle children were reading a book on Nate Saint, I checked out Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, Jim Elliot’s widow, for me. It was beautiful and hard, exactly what you would expect from a young wife and mother, knowing she was sending her husband off to meet a group of people hitherto known for killing outsiders.  It was written quite soon after the men died, so it did not contain the events following the deaths, aside from the immediate actions of those who were involved in the attempt to rescue, which became the men who buried the missionaries, and their families' first steps to regroup.

We followed up by watching the movie End of the Spear.  This was written largely from the perspective of Nate Saint's son.  Here, while greatly condensed for time, we could see more if the time after the missionaries died.  We see a wife and sister make their way to join the tribe.

While personally the idea of sending a husband into so much potential danger seemed difficult, the fact that Elisabeth Elliot could take her young child amongst the people who had killed her husband is beyond my understanding.  While I know the safest place is in the place God has marked for you, that is a place I clearly was not called to.

There was fruit there, beyond all one could hope for.  The man who reports that he killed both Nate Saint and Jim Elliot became a Christian.

There is much to chew on there.  Beautiful thoughts, such as, that the men refused to use any weapons in violence (only to scare the on comers away) because they were ready for heaven, but knew those in this tribe did not yet have knowledge of Jesus.  There is bravery, joy, understanding.

As I looked a bit further though, I found some people felt there were mistakes made.  Of course, second guessing is always easier on the other side of history, but I found the article After Jim Elliot—the Good, Bad and the Ugly to be a pretty balanced view, as far as I can tell.  It discusses how the lives of the tribe members were disrupted, but allows that disruption may have occurred in a much less peaceable way, as the companies were seeking oil in their lands; as well as interpersonal issues of missionaries, who are people, after all.  It also led me to wonder if the men might have, given more time and guidance from older leaders, (Their Operation Auca was kept entirely secret, even from their superiors) found a safer way to reach out.

I suppose it is always good to look at all mankind, remembering that even the most pious are fatally flawed.  There may have been a better way to reach the Waorani, or maybe not.  Perhaps the jarring-ness of those deaths was imperative to the future of the tribe.  Our world is messy and full of gray.  Thankfully, God works all for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

My sources:
Through the Gates of Splendor
End of the Spear
After Jim Elliot—the Good, Bad and the Ugly

Reading List 2019

I had a friend post her reading list, so I decided to try to keep track of my reading this year.  It doesn't include the picture books or any books I only partially read, but here is my 2019 reading list...

Read	Style
An American Marriage	Book: fiction
A Man Called Ove	Book: fiction
Two Miserable Presidents	Read aloud: Non-fiction
Across Five April’s	Read Aloud: historical fiction
Keeper of the Lost Cities: Flasback	Katie read aloud: fiction
Jesus Among Other Gods	Ebook: theology
The Golden Son	Novel
Love Letters of Great Men	Letters
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule	Read aloud: Historical fiction
Whiskey in a Tea Cup	Autobiography
Cold Sassy Tree	Novel
Marilla of Green Gables	Novel
Ferragus -Balzac	Novel x
I am Ivan	Audio book (youth novel)
The Clockmaker's Daughter	Novel
Leaving Cold Sassy	Novel
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crowe	Audiobook
King Solomon's Mine	Historical fiction
Kids on a Strike	Juvenile non-fiction
All the Light We Cannot See	Novel
Magnus Chase	Audiobook (youth novel)
Extraordinary Ordinary Family	Autobiography
The Historian	Fiction
The Penderwicks	Juvenile fiction
Little House in the Big Woods	Juvenile fiction
Anna and the King of Siam	Historical fiction
Ordinary Grace	Fiction
Tuesdays at the Castle	Juvenile fiction
Wednesdays in the Tower	Juvenile fiction
Life in Community	Non-fiction (Christian Living)
Thursdays with the Crown	Juvenile fiction
Educated	Non-fiction:memoir
Thursday’s with the Crown	Juvenile fiction
Untangled: guiding teenage girls through the seven transitions to adulthood	Non-fiction
Eli	Fiction
The Cherry Orchard	Play
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	Fiction
Friday’s with Wizards	Juvenile Fiction
Anne of Green Gables	Fiction: abridged
All's Quiet on the Western Front	Historical Fiction
Saturday’s at Sea	Juvenile Fiction
Resident Alien	Nonfiction
Quiet	Nonfiction
Dignity	Nonfiction
If Our Bodies Could Talk	Nonfiction
Stardust	Fiction
The Pearl	Fiction

Reading

I was always a reader, but I must admit, the past few years it has been harder to get through books further than the ones we're reading for school.  I've managed to get some reading done around the edges of our days lately though.

Everybody Always...finished.  I didn't agree with every word, but this was a great book about caring for our neighbor, especially that one you don't like.

The Daniel Dilemma...partway through.  Another book confronting living out faith in our current social climate.  I have been reading borrowed books from the library, so I’ve not gotten as far in this one, since I get to keep it.

Lessons my Father Taught Me...several chapters in.  A very interesting biography of Ronald Reagan by his son, Michael.  I was a child during the Reagan era so I remember his voice on the nightly news and the jelly beans on his desk in the Oval Office.  I also remember him campaigning for George Bush in my hometown.  He'd been shot several years prior, and while he was in the basketball stadium there was a loud crack.  He hit the floor, secret service men covered him.  He chuckled as everyone came to realize a balloon on the stage had popped.  It is great to read about this man from the perspective of one of his sons.

Persuasion...barely started.  I love Austen, but I do find books with lots of characters more difficult to pick up in the middle, which is how I read, in short bursts these days, but it is Jane Austen, a favorite.

What are you reading?
Kristy

*no affiliate links, no payments for reviews

School Days

We're making our way through our year here.  We started late and we were a bit interrupted this fall with family circumstances, so we've been working hard to catch back up--starting early in January and going ahead with school when the local schools were out for snow and ice.

We are finishing our second year in Tapestry of Grace (for history, writing, and literature)--starting the final unit on the American Revolution.  Katie is in the Dialectic level, Gabby in Upper Grammar, and Nate in Lowe Grammar.  We've already purchased year 3, so we can start the introduction before we break for summer.  I plan to assign a couple of books for summer reading this year.  I don't usually do that, but with Katie moving in to 8th grade, we may mix in some of the high school books, if they look more interesting or they are easier to get.  I've already started Gabby reading a few of the novels that are at the next level up.

We found a great YouTube channel (Kristina Edgar) for introducing the era.  The kids have enjoyed her sense of humor.  And I liked that we could start it with all the kids together before we split up to do their individual readings.

Our science this year has been a History of Science experiment kit from Thames & Kosmos.  We will be switching over some this unit though, with a book about Ben Franklin (set at Gabby's level) that has experiments and activities in it.

Nate and Gabby are both in Singapore's Primary Mathematics, but as Gabby is nearly finished with the last of Singapore, we are supplementing her with a book called Balance Math (which is a pre-pre-algebra book that teaches balancing equations).  Katie is using Teaching Textbooks for Pre-Algebra.  We have the older version that doesn't self grade, so we just do it the old fashioned way, and I grade as she goes.  Since math is not her favorite way to spend her time, I have her read out each answer as she goes through it to help her get immediate feedback and prevent practicing a skill incorrectly.

Nate and Gabby are both in what we call The Orange Book for spelling, Spelling Power.  Gabby has a head for Latin and enjoys it, so she is using the Once Upon a Time, In Latin series to keep up on her Latin.  Nate is in Song School Latin I.  Katie is taking a break from languages for the next two years before we pick a high school language.  Instead, she has more focus on English grammar.  We have an ancient workbook I picked up at a curriculum sale and we use Khan Academy too.

Katie is doing part of Teaching Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home for Home Ec.  She made a dress--which she found not to be enjoyable.  She does, however, love making dinner for the family once a week.  Gabby is also working on a visual arts class (Artistic Pursuits), which she has enjoyed.

That's school here these days!

Kristy

Harry Potter

NO Spoilers

I was a bit late to the Harry Potter game.  I was never against the books, like some in Christian circles are, fearful of witchcraft and all, as I saw the same fear with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which are the opposite of antithetical of Christianity, catch my double negative.  I just was busy starting college, getting married, teaching in a field away from where those fit in.

The year I left teaching, we moved far away from all of our friends, and had no family close by either.  Kate was only one, and took long naps in those days.  I was bored and lonely.  My sister recommended I pick up the books, as  they could fill at least some of those hours.

I checked them out one by one at the nearby library, and read books The Sorcerer's Stone through The Half Blood Prince in quick succession.  I had to wait only for the last book to come out a few months later.

Over time, we've introduced the books to the older three kids.  We had a detailed plan of releasing them one book at a time, but as they grew, specifically Kate, she seemed ready for them more quickly than once a year.  Add to that Gabby was getting teased by Kate, who knew more of the story, and we ended up getting audio books, again from a library, and listened to them all.

They teach lessons about friendship, loyalty, that being a smart girl isn't a bad thing, and the value of self sacrifice.

When The Cursed Child came out, I insisted the kids let me read through it first, knowing that our original wizard friends would be all grown up, but I didn't find the content to move beyond the issues that one might have with the original books.  There is mention of an adulterous relationship (no details given) that I had to explain.

I found that the rich details of scenery and of character development are missing, since this is a play.  And I missed that.  Of course if you're seeing it in a theater, all those things will be on display for you.  The book also read extremely fast because of that.  I was able to read it aloud to the kids in four days, none of them long sittings.

I found the characters were true to themselves and the story, though much more brief than one of the original books, was good.

There were some great lines.  One of our favorites would be a horrible spoiler, so I'll not share it, but the next favorite at our house has been, "Rubbish.  Beautifully put but beautiful rubbish."

So all in all, a good story, even if it was a little threadbare.

Grateful

If you're here from the Raising Grateful Kids blog hop, welcome!

Gratefulness.

Sometimes it is easy to be grateful, but sometimes it can be so hard.  This is especially true in our children, who have seen less, who have less life experience.

Back before Christmas we were able to join a group to make blessings bags for the homeless in our community.  Everyone brought some things to put in--chap stick, tissues, baby wipes, socks, bottled water, and the like.   The girls also made arm knitted scarves, and we had one of those to give to a person we found.  There are a few corners that we know to look for people regularly, and we were able to brighten a few days by passing out the bags we'd made.  And our kids saw real needs and real people.

The kids also see the catalogs that come from Samaritan's Purse and Compassion International each Christmas, and want to send goats, pigs, and clean water around the world.  Those are good things, but they don't have enough money themselves for these gifts.  They are great about dropping coins into the little boxes to support children's hospital, the offering basket, and anywhere else they see a need, but these animals are more than the money they have on hand.  But isn't part of being grateful, being able to see all that you have, and being willing to give something to someone else from your abundance?

This year I offered a way for them to help pay for those gifts they want to send.  We don't go out to expensive restaurants or take lavish vacations, but we had made a habit of stopping for McDonald's, not full meals, but a small burger for each of them, a fry to share, and a coffee for me.  I told them that each week that we gave that up, we'd put the savings back, about seven dollars.  At the end of they year, we'll take those savings and buy chickens, goats, part of a well, or whatever they choose.

Then I was reading through my advance copy of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World (by Kristin Welch), and her family switched out Monday night dinners for rice and beans.  My kids don't like rice and beans at all, so rather than once a week, we decided we would do this ever two or three weeks.  I'll also add in the money for the meat we might have purchased for dinner that night to our savings.

They are small little sacrifices that they can make.  That they understand.  They can make a difference.  And I'm sure there will be excitement as they choose what to send next fall.  I wonder what they will choose.  I'm pretty sure these will be some of our favorite Christmas presents next year!

Are there any projects your kids have been in on lately?

Here is my full book review.

Inspiring an Attitude of Gratitude - by Alison Rasisng Grateful Kids - by amanda Why You Can't Buy Gratitude At The Dollar Store - by Andrea Missing - Gratefulness in our home - by Ange Choosing Gratitude - by Angela Gratefullness - by chaley 5 Steps to Gratitude-Fille Family - by Christa Practicing Grateful Parenting - by Dana Sing a Song - by Hannah Cultivating gratitude in our family - by Jamie Gratefulness In Our Home - by Jana Gratefulness In Our Home - by Jana Let It Begin With Me - by Jen Choosing Gratefulness - by Jennifer Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World - The Book - by jeri Eradicating Entitlement - What are you rooted in? - by Jessica Gratefulness in our home - by Kate The Problem With Entitlement is that it begins with us - by Katelyn 7 Unusual Ways I Know How to Be Grateful - by Kathryn Raising Grateful Kids - by Keri How My Children Remind Me to Pray with Gratitude - by Kishona Grateful - by Kristy Entitlement: The Ugly Truth of a Beautiful Lie - by Leigha The Most Important Thing You Can Do To Raise Grateful Kids - by Lindsey Dear Son: How Do I Teach You To Be Grateful Without Guilt? - by Marie Osborne Gratitude, A Practical Definition - by Mia Cultivating Gratitude in Our Home - by Nancy Learning Gratitude through Chronic Illness - by Rachel Being Grateful - by Rebecca I've Found Something I Can't Live Without - by Sarah The Power of Naming our Gifts - by Sarah Outfitted - by Sarah Jo Growing Gratitude in our Family - by Sondra Teaching Gratefulness - by Stephanie How Grateful Looks From Here - by Alison Fighting Entitlement in Children and All of us - by Leah Entitlement Problem - by Karrie Grateful Today - by Krystal
 

Picture Books

According to Kate these are the best picture books:

Amelia Bedilia
Busy Town
Someday
Tales of Peter Rabbit
Fairy Tales
The Little Engine that Could
My Little Golden Book About God
You are Special
Pumpkin Soup
The Velveteen Rabbit

Books for children

According to Kate:

Harry Potter books
The Chronicles of Narnia
Anne of Green Gables
The Hunch Back of Notre Dame
Ella Enchanted
The Railway Children
Little Women
Little Men
Little Pilgrims Progress
The Little Princess
Bridge to Teribithia
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
The Witches
Treasure Hunters
The Shakespeare Stealer
Shakespeare's Scribe
The Little House books
The Rose Wilder Lane books

Done

Our year ran later then usual this year, between illnesses, snow days (because who wants to do school when even the university is closed and there is legitimate sledding in central TN?), and playing hookie a few times to visit family.  In Tennessee we have to put in 180 days for our school year, and we aren't allowed sick days at all.  But it is O-V-E-R.  Well, except that we didn't quite finish our speller.  We'll work on that a few minutes a day for a bit to wrap it up.  But our daily lessons are done.

We're actually looking at the possibility of starting our next school year soon to get some days in on those off days that there isn't anything to do and the weather is bad, in the hopes to enjoy more days in May next year.  We'll see how that goes.  We may not get to it if we're having too much fun, and just get back to the books in August.  We're keeping an open mind about it!

I thought I'd review some of the books we used this year (I'm not receiving any compensation, so just my opinions).

We tried Sequential Spelling this year.  I've really liked it.  The only down side is it has 180 days of spelling lists plus a few assessments, so that put us above our 180 days to start, then there are days that we just didn't do spelling through out the year because we had a packed day with something else.  So we're hanging on a bit after the year ends.

I also tried Learning Language Arts through Literature this year with Kate (4th grade).  I like how it was set up--it was easy to use and literature based, which is a big plus in our house.  And I didn't have to make copies.  I like the idea of cost savings of reproducible books, but I'm not sure I actually save any money on most workbooks, since I have to pay for copy ink.  And this way I don't have to think ahead to be sure I have the copies that we need or leave someone waiting while I run pages off.

We've used Singapore math again, which I really like the strong basis of.  We've also kept to Writing with Ease in the lower grades.  Like I said last year, I don't like it for third grade, but I really do for first and second.

We used the second of the Song School Latin books.  The book was great, though this CD wasn't as fun to listen to.  I still don't have a full grasp of the declinations, but hopefully as we go through it in a new program next year I'll learn even more.  I did take the final test on the website and got an A in the vocabulary for this year, so I've learned something with the girls anyway!  I was hoping they would each earn a 75% on that test, but they both exceeded that quite well, with an A and a B.  It is very long, so I don't think that they scored even as high as the words they know, since they were likely a bit distracted by the end.

I haven't loved the second level of Noeo for physics.  We didn't get all the experiment kits, since they were expensive, but did use kits we had or found locally, so we weren't left wanting there.  My complaint is that in using 'real books' they were redundant.  We would often read about a subject in The Usborne Science Encyclopedia and then read about it again in Mysteries and Marvels of Science.  It became so common that I would read only small sections of the second reading on a topic to cut down on the repetition that was annoying.  Sometimes there were things stated in a better way or some new information, but it wasn't my favorite science we've done.  It did have some good readers though--We liked Along Came Galileo and Archimedes and the Door to Science.  I'm not sure that we'll find a program we like better over all, but I think I'll be prepared to do a little editing if we use it again, as the Encyclopedia and Mysteries books are in both Biology and Chemistry as well.

We also followed through with the final year of Story of the World.  Honestly, the kids didn't like it as much.  There is much more war and people were much better at waging those wars too.  They way these wars were written was much more real to them than the ancient wars we'd covered in the past, and they are older and understand loss more fully.  Nate may really take to it, but the girls would groan, as nearly every lesson talked of death, destruction, and war.

Happy Summer Break to all!

Characters

I have been re-reading books as the kids are getting older: books that have been sitting on my shelves since I was a girl, or ones I picked up in college, or that I chose to put in my classroom, or even ones that I borrowed from the library in ages past.  It is odd how differently I see some of the stories now.  Even the books I read when Kate was a little bitty thing are different.  I see the things I would like to hide from the children, of course, the death, the saddness, but the characters I relate to have changed as well.

Once upon a time, I saw myself in Anne and Diana in the L.M. Montgomery's books, now I see Kate as Anne.  Oh, I see so much Anne in Kate!  I see some of Jo March in her too.  I have moved on to Marilla and Marmee.  I left behind even Professor McGonagall for Molly Weasley.  Of course Molly is younger than the professor, but instead of being the teacher, I am the mama of many.

So, as I go back to visit these old friends, whose stories I have known, I find that while they have stayed the same, I have not.  I see the mothers and care takers, as they struggle to raise the children in their care--and that's where I am these days.  At least there are still some nice characters to relate to, we'll just hope I don't turn in to some of the grumpy, nosy, gossipy old women in their pages by the time I return to them again!

Do you have books that your view has changed of as you have grown?

Board Books

I love books.  When I was a child I loved Scholastic book orders, book fairs, book stores, and the library.  When I got to college, I got the opportunity to study children's literature there too.  I don't have nearly as much time to devote to reading (for myself) as I once did, but now I get to share great books with the littles (and not so littles--as Kate will be eight (!) in a week).  We've read some great classics in the past couple of years, but now we get to pull out some of those fun board books again.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Guess How Much I Love You is a sweet little book in which the parent always loves the child more.  It is the first book I remember Justin reading to the kids--

he also read Kate a lot of chemistry journal articles as a baby, but this is a little sweeter.  He'd lay on his back next to her in the floor and hold the book above them to read it.

Horns to Toes and in Between is a fun book.  It teaches body parts, I suppose, but it is so funny that you wouldn't know it.  And, unless your a monster, I guess most of us don't really have the tails that are described in the book either.  The children love that there are instructions to tickle them in the book.  Sandra Boynton is a favorite author here.

Moo, Baa, La La La! is another Boynton book.  It is full of animal sounds and more silliness.

Prayer for a Child is my absolute favorite.  I believe that it was in the church nursery when I was little because it seemed vaguely familiar to me when I read it when I was in college, as part of one of those literature classes.  It is simple and sweet and has the most darling illustrations.  We read it to

Kate every night for about a year.

Up Next...

For next year, we're simplifying a bit.  We'll hit all the major subjects, but I'm dropping a few of the extras we've been doing like Latin and health.  We, of course, cover health daily as we choose proper foods to eat and care for the children, so we figure a year off won't be detrimental, and we'll likely listen to our Latin CD over the next year--Nate asks for "Salve" all the time anyway, but I wanted to pick a really do-able set of subjects for us.

Here are the books and supplies we've collected so far, though I have more on order:

We buy used as much as we can, but we haven't been able to find everything that way.

Together the girls will be in The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times and The Story of the World Activity Book Three: Early Modern Times for history. I also picked up passports and stickers.  When we cover different countries, we can 'stamp' the passports.  Kate also gets her first timeline. The stickers for this are on back order, but are expected soon.  I think she has the skill now to record information about the things she learns in chronological order.

The girls will also being using the Noeo Chemistry I curriculum   This is much like the way I've done science in previous years, with lost of 'real' books.  This time someone else lined it all up for me though!  They do sell full sets, but I've found some of the books used, so I'm just ordering the curriculum guide there and picking up books here and there, wherever I can find the best prices.

Both girls are also using the same art, Rod and Staff's Developing Motor Skills in Art.  This one is graded 1st/2nd grade, but Kate could use the practice in these skills too, so I opted to buy the same set for them both.

Both girls are also learning the catechism (along with Nate, as best he can with Training Hearts Teaching Minds (Shorter Catechism).

The girls will each be in their respective grades in Singapore's Primary Mathematics.  Kate has already begun her third grade books and Gabby just started in the 1A book this week.  I've been very pleased with the math education Kate has gotten with the Singapore books.

Since we're dropping Latin this coming year we're upping Kate's other language arts.  She will continue in Spelling Power, Writing with Ease (book 3 this year), Wordly Wise , and the McGuffey Readers.  We have backed off on the frequency of the readers use, as she moved through them so quickly and she reads so much on her own.  Reading is not something she needs encouragement to do!  We are adding Editor and Chief this year.  I'm excited about this one.  It teaches grammar by having the student edit writings--perfect for the kid who doesn't really like writing and has a good bit in her other classes.  She's also asking to learn cursive, so I got her a really neat writing course called Pictures in Cursive A (Daily Cursive Writing Instruction Based on Picture Study Lessons) .  It has short little lessons that will get her started in cursive without adding too much, since we write a great deal in the Writing with Ease program.

Gabriella will be using Building Spelling, Writing with Ease (book 1), and McGuffey Readers this year.

* For the past few years I've been posting links to places to purchase books.  I have joined the Amazon Associates Program this year.  That means that if you click on one of the links to an Amazon item and place an order, then I can get paid a little bit--by Amazon, not by you!  I am not affiliated with the other sites I linked to. *

Ann with an 'E'

I have to admit it.  I was holding out on my girls.  I've shared some great works of literature with them.  Ones that are considered far beyond their years--Little Women, The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, The Jungle Book, and all of the Little House books. But my very favorite book of my childhood I've been holding back.  We started Anne of Green Gables this past week.

I didn't bring this book to them, Gabriella found the audio book when we were at the library.  I honesty hesitated.  I want them to love Anne as much as I do.  I just wasn't sure that now was the right time to introduce them to her--I had planned to pull out my copy when Kate was in fourth grade.  Ultimately, I wanted to let Gabby pick the book she wanted, so we are learning about the world of Anne Shirley.

I remember so clearly reading that book...and every other book in the series and eventually every book my public library had by L. M. Montgomery.  I remember where I was when I finished that first book.  It was that memorable--I was laying across the bed in 'the pink bedroom' at my Grannie's house.  It is one of those wonderful books: the ones you want to know how it ends, but you don't ever want it to.  And perhaps that was part of holding on to this book.  If we waited to read it together, we wouldn't get to the end so soon.

But if you need me, I'll be in Avonlea.

First Day

Kate's broken elbow has meant that most of the summer time pass times are out for the moment.  She's supposed to sit and, well, sit.  What fun is that?  So rather than sit for the next several weeks and then sit for the school year...we started school around here yesterday.

It's been a bit of a rush, but the first day went off pretty smoothly.  I placed the last of my school orders on Saturday, so that should be here in the next little bit.  The big things in that order are:

• Phonics cards for Gabby: I went straight into a McGuffey Reader with Kate, but I'm taking a different approach now.
• New math books:  We should run out of Kate's math in September (she started first semester 2nd grade math last spring).
• A Workbook for our writing curriculum:  I found all the selections last year, but in looking at the requirements for this year, I decided I would really appreciate the time it will save to have that done for me.  She can't write at the moment anyway, so we'll not be using it just yet anyway.
• Pattern blocks:  I have always thought these are really neat and I found a good sized set of used ones for sale at the online shop with the phonics cards.  It made me feel better about paying the shipping that was more than the cost of the phonics cards too!

1st day of Kindergarten

2nd grade

classmates

Gabby tells me her favorite part of her first day was making a pattern with her name (in math).  Kate tells me her favorite part was the school bell (we picked up a service bell the other day on a whim, but it does get their attention from most parts of the house without me having to call for them!).  When I pushed her further, Kate liked the etiquette lessons we do on Mondays.

I think it will get easier when Kate can write for herself.  For now, I have to try to keep Gabby in fairly independent work while Kate is doing her paper based work, since I'm scribing for Kate at the moment.  Soon enough Kate will be able to read some assignments and write her answers independently and I can just answer questions as they come up on her practice pages.

They are doing history and science together, though Gabby is mostly listening in on those at this point.  She did answer one of the history questions yesterday.  We will get some of her social studies and science from the Five in a Row books we're doing this year too.

As promised...

I ordered How the World Works a couple of weeks ago.  It has been one I've been considering for awhile, but since we're going to be studying geology in the fall, now seemed the very best time.

It might be called a pop-up book (and there are some pretty impressive pop ups), but it is less a pop up book and more a moving book.  There are tabs to pull, wheels to spin, and booklets to flip through.

My favorite page is the one that teaches plate tectonics.  You can see mountains and volcanoes formed and one plate passing over another.  It is a truly great visual.

I would be remiss if I did not note that this book takes evolution as indisputable fact.  The list of possible sources for the beginning of life includes aliens, but not God as a prime mover.

I think it is a very good book, both visually and kinesthetically on the scientific side, for many people the book will require some theological supplementation.  I, personally, try to avoid creation/evolution topics with the age my children are currently, but especially for older children, this might be a good stepping off point for discussing both views and where your family stands.

Books, Books, Books!

Have I told you lately that I love books?  I do.  They are wonderful.  You can learn about interesting people, travel to faraway lands, and learn some really interesting and important things from them.

This is the time of year when many home schooling families start selling off the curriculum they no longer need to help subsidize next year's purchases.  While we aren't ready to pass on curriculum yet, thankfully, we have been able to benefit from some of that!

This past week the kids and I went to a sale, where everyone sold out of their trunks in a church parking lot.

On the up side, you can pick up things you would have paid full price for (like all those flashcards) and you can add to your library things you've wanted, but put on the not really necessary list, like A Child's First Book of Virtues and A Child's Garden of Verses (until all of the sudden the book is only $3 instead of $25 or the cards to go with your spelling curriculum are free--score!).  There is the benefit that you can look at the programs you've considered (like Wordly Wise) in person and even talk to the person selling about what they and their children thought of it.

On the down side it is easy to get carried away.  I had a hard time walking away from several items and I picked up the Five in a Row: Character Development book on a whim, but when it is only a $2 whim at least you aren't out much...and I have to admit, I've heard great things about FIAR and will enjoy using it with the littles.

My most expensive purchase was $10 for the set of spelling and thesaurus books.  The spelling dictionary has already gotten good use, so I think it was money well spent.  I got all of the books and cards for less than $25.

These sales are much better if you go with loose expectations, like 'some type of poetry book' or 'a book to round out our geography unit,' not a specific text--though sometimes you'll luck into something.

My next strategy to getting used texts is by contacting other parents directly.  You can find some books on craigslist, but that can be time consuming.  I put out a list of 6 specific items I wanted on a local home school listserv.  I was able to get one of the items already at half price.  I've heard back about the possibility of three other books too.  If I'm able to get all four, I will have saved over $40 by purchasing used texts and gotten exactly what I wanted!  The down side on this is the coordination of meeting up and having to bow out of a sale with inflated prices and incomplete workbooks.

Then there is the very best way to get books--gifts.

Thanks to my parents for the box full of items that were on our wish list.

Want to 'Meet' my Friend?

I have a dear friend from KS, where neither of us live anymore, who wrote a book about trying to follow all the laws she can find. The book is "Technically, That's Illegal."

If you have cable and you'd like to know more, she has an interview that will be airing on Fox Business (The John Stossel Show) at 9pm Eastern tonight (Thursday, March 8, 2012), with re-airings over the weekend.

Congrats Ann!!