Rockhound Place

Wordless Wednesday - It's Bigger on the Inside

2012-01-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

GeoMagz creation by J.J.

Favorite Holiday Music No. 17 - 12 Days (the David Chase remix)

2011-12-23T09:30:00.003-05:00

I laughed until my eyes were tearing almost constantly the first time I heard David Chase's arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as performed by the Boston Pops and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus under the direction of the fabulously brilliant Keith Lockhart. The maestro has this to say about the piece:

"I knew we had a winning new arrangement of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' when we premiered it in 2007, but the audience's enthusiastic response night after night was unlike anything I've ever seen at the Pops," said Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart. "Then a flood of letters and phone calls came in requesting a recording of the new arrangement-an incredibly creative twist on one of the greatest Christmas-time classics. We knew then and there that we would make a recording of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' and that it would become a staple of our Holiday season programming."

The piece is available for sale in various audio download formats at the BSO website. There's a commercial for it on the BSO's YouTube channel and as a free podcast on iTunes that lets you hear little snippets, but the music is mostly covered up by the voiceover, unfortunately.

added on the afternoon of 12/23:
You might just be able to catch a live performance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" via Classical New England online live streaming on Christmas Eve at 7 p.m., EST. Check out this link to see what else Classical New England has to offer this holiday season.

And I didn't mention it earlier, but this arrangement of the familiar carol has snippets of music from Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Offenbach, Souza, Saint-Saens & Tchaikovsky to Rogers & Hammerstein and even an unexpected appearance by a popular seventies British rock band whose name I will not mention for fear of spoiling the surprise. It is truly an inventive re-imagining of the original song, and David Chase gets my highest respect for coming up with it!

As an aside, the one new Christmas picture book I bought this year (I can't believe it was only one!) was Laurel Long's Twelve Days of Christmas, which is absolutely gorgeous.

Happy Holidays!

Even Cleverbot knows the Truth.

2011-12-14T19:32:00.000-05:00

Jazz's first conversation with Cleverbot went as follows:

!!!!!!!

More "Family Trees"

2011-12-09T21:25:00.001-05:00

I mentioned a little while ago that I'd post more pictures from our museum visit to see these wonderful trees that are decorated in the theme of children's books. I already can't wait for next year's crop!

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (sorry, no flash permitted in the museum)

Hitty--Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Orange Peel's Pocket by Rose Lewis with illustrations by Grace Zong

Little Women (I'm wondering if there is an Alcott tree each year. It would seem a sin not to have one in this town.)

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram (a family favorite of ours)

An activity to go along with the above tree

"I love you as much as Christmas morning." Quite the statement, I thought.

How Full Is Your Bucket for Kids (new to me, but sweet and not *too* in your face with the message for us, at least the first time through it.)

This was probably my favorite tree: A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead with illustratations by Erin Stead

I'm a sucker for a cute owl. The penguin doesn't hurt, either.

Another family favorite: If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by the fabulous Felicia Bond

So cute!

Alice through the Looking Glass

According to one of the docents, this one figurine took the woman who created the "Alice" tree forty hours to complete!

Happy Holidays, all!

Favorite Holiday Music No. 16 - Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)

2011-12-06T22:13:00.001-05:00

Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote a Christmas mass based on four French carols, each of which is sung preceding the movement it inspired. The fourth and last carol is the one in the YouTube video above, and is performed by the Aradia Ensemble under the direction of Kevin Mallon. Find the cd or mp3 download of the entire Messe de Minuit pour Nöel here.

Wordless Wednesday - Family Trees

2011-11-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday - The Halloween that Wasn't

2011-11-02T16:26:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - Finally, Frost!

2011-10-26T10:44:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - An Autumn Avenue

2011-10-19T19:56:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - It's Apple Picking Time

2011-10-12T06:42:00.000-04:00

No comment.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Sept. 26-30

2011-09-30T12:02:00.001-04:00

I'm going to experiment with writing a summary of what my home learners did each week just as several of my friends do with their kids. Hopefully this idea will lend itself to more regular blog posts and also give me a little bit of extra motivation to get something done at home even when none of us feels like it!

We're still slowly adding in subjects as September comes to a close. Grammar Town, Writing With Skill, and Artistic Pursuits start next week!

JaneG. is thrilled with Spelling Workout--spelling is quickly becoming her favorite subject. She completed one lesson and began the next this week.

Teaching Textbooks Math isn't a favorite, but it is getting the job done with few tears and complaints. She is more concerned with her score than I thought she would be, and aims for 100+ percent for each lesson. She completed seven lessons this week.

Jane is slowly getting a handle on Vocabulary from Classical Roots, and finished the first lesson with a smile on her face. Her least favorite part is reading about each lesson's words and roots; she prefers the activities that help her to learn the definitions.

We began science this week by learning about the scientific method while reading Stephen P. Kramer's How to Think Like a Scientist. Using well-written passages that are a pleasure to read aloud, Kramer tells stories to illustrate how the scientific method works. Charming pictures by Felicia Bond (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, et. al.) are the icing on the cake. Highly recommended, and we'll be looking for more books by Kramer, a former junior high school biology teacher. School Library Journal puts this book at the 3rd-5th grade reading level.

Jane read some of Thorkill of Iceland: Viking Hero-Tales, and explored the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia's entries about the Vikings. I helped her find one important thing in each section in the encyclopedia to write down in her history notebook.

Both Jane and J.J. listened to several read-alouds this week, including the Story of the World chapters that have to do with the Vikings. The D'Aulaires book Leif the Lucky was read and enjoyed as well. We're going to give The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum (whose Children's Homer we so enjoyed a couple of years ago) a go next week.

J.J. continues to show reluctance to learn how to read, and would prefer to play with Lego rather than work in his Miquon math book. He completed a math lesson or two, though, and several pages of Explode the Code. He listened to his first (in his memory) Jack & Annie book this week, and is showing signs of developing a Magic Tree House passion already. Both Dogs in the Dead of Night (monks in the Alps) and Polar Bears Past Bedtime (the Arctic) had a (loose) tie-in or two to the Vikings that I took full advantage of. Now if I could just find our copy of Viking Ships at Dawn, I'd be a happy homeschooling parent.

Jazz is at the charter school, happily reading and discussing The Outsiders, writing personal narratives, learning some algebra, and getting to know many kids his own age. He's still finding his way, but he seems to be enjoying the journey.

Remembering Jim Henson

2011-09-24T21:22:00.000-04:00

My kids and I were privileged to experience Jim Henson's Fantastic World at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA in the spring of 2010. There were several short films available to view within the exhibit, and this one was one of our favorites.

For more to watch, check out The Jim Henson Company on YouTube.

Happy birthday to a much missed genius!

Wordless Wednesday: Down on the Farm, or Over the River and through the Woods. . .

2011-09-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

All photos by Jazz, 13

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-09-04T21:23:00.000-04:00

To borrow from the Scottish poet for a moment:

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley.

I hadn't written up our homeschooling plans for the fall on this blog quite yet, though we did start back on Tuesday with a few subjects after an August hiatus for camp and vacation. We generally ease back into things oh-so-gradually, and were following that pattern, when a call from a local charter school came the day after we'd begun. Jazz's number was up.

We'd originally applied to this school, which is part of the Coalition of Essential Schools, when Jazz was halfway through his sixth grade year of homeschooling. He was waitlisted. The school has three or more applicants for every space available, so we weren't too surprised, and we were grateful that his number wasn't in the triple digits like it was for a couple of our homeschooling friends.

This past spring we learned that he'd moved up to #14 for 8th grade, which was a vast improvement on his initial number but, since the school generally sees a turnover of 0-3 students between 7th and 8th grade, we didn't expect him to get in for this year. But we were hopeful for 9th grade, so this year (2011-2012) was supposed to be our Big Push, the Last Chance to Get Everything Done. We were planning to do a lightning round of Joy Hakim's A History of US (three weeks per book), get two years of math done in a matter of months (via Teaching Textbooks), dissect frogs & other slimy creatures plus view onions and a whole host of living and formerly living things under the microscope while noting it all down like good classical homeschoolers via Classiquest Biology, and forge ahead with Michael Clay Thompson's language arts programs, as well as read literature on a regular basis, including several Great Books. Oh, and we were also to begin our study of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish, since that is the foreign language option at the charter school.

With the exception of MCT's Caesar's English, which Jazz wants to keep going with on his own, none of what we planned will be part of Jazz's education this year. I'm mourning the loss, even while realizing that accomplishing the list above was probably somewhat idealistic, especially with a 5th grader and a 1st grader tagging along. At the same time, I know he will be energized by his exposure to new teachers and peers and ideas, and will be motivated by someone other than Mom, which is a great thing for this kid at this age.

Essential Schools follow ten Common Principles, which list is one of the things that drew us to this charter school in the first place. They are definitely ideals that apply to our homeschooling philosophy, as well. My favorites are the following:

learning to use one's mind well
less is more: depth over breadth
student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
a tone of decency and trust

The following few weeks will bring many adjustments for Jazz and for the rest of us, who are trying to figure out what shape our home education will take now that the driving force of the year is no longer present. Wish us luck!

Mutual of Omaha presents. . .

2011-07-16T21:46:00.000-04:00

. . . our backyard. ☺ (That's a seventies tv reference for those of you old enough to remember it.) It's been a hotbed of wildlife activity around here since spring. Here are a few of our sightings, and some pictures, such as they are.

One.

Two.

You guessed it.

We have a hawk's nest in the woods directly behind our house and have had fun watching the three youngsters grow stronger (and louder). Needless to say, we haven't seen that many squirrels and chipmunks hanging around, or at least not for long. . .

We think this is Mama, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.

Wild turkeys seem to be overtaking this area of Massachusetts, and we have one that enjoys a shady corner of our backyard. She can be seen hanging out there from time to time before turkey-stepping back into the woods.

"Our" robin was back several weeks ago, using last year's nest in our holly bush by our front walk. This location made it easy for the kids to peek carefully at the nest every couple of days or so. That blue of the eggs is my favorite color. And it was such a treat to watch the mother bird give the babies flying lessons. As they went from hatchlings to being out of the nest and hopping about the yard to flying, it amazed me again how quickly they go from being newborns to fending for themselves.

Other birds love the woods here, and we've had visits from our friendly neighborhood downy woodpeckers are well as a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers, among others.

Downies

We also sighted a snake, a painted turtle, and a snapping turtle, all within days of each other, all on our smallish suburbanish property.

All this busy-ness keeps our own not-so-wildlife happy.

Wordless & Wildlife Wednesday

2011-07-06T22:41:00.002-04:00

More on these guys later--have been working on a post about them for a couple of weeks now!

Bliss

2011-06-15T07:36:00.002-04:00

If you scroll forward to 30:25 in this recent Proms performance by The King's Singers, you can hear the final piece in the concert I was so privileged to attend last night: "La Guerre" by French composer Clement Janequin (ca. 1485-1558). It was one of the finest concerts I've ever attended, and I hope this amazing group of singers comes back to Boston soon.

Science in the News for kids

2011-06-13T10:12:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite free homeschooling resources is Science in the News, which is published in pdf form by Science A-Z, and has recently been archived on that website, making different topics easy to find and print. My kids enjoy reading something new each month, and the articles have sparked many interesting conversations.

Sweet surprise

2011-06-04T19:46:00.000-04:00

Big thanks to Kelly of Writing in the Margins, Bursting at the Seams for an award that not only makes me smile, but also gives me something to post about. According to "the rules," I need to tell seven things about myself and pass the award along to fifteen other blogs.

Here goes.

Seven things about me:

1. I'm an unabashed reader of YA and middle grade fiction. I just finished Maureen Johnsons' The Last Little Blue Envelope and Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice, and thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

2. Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite wine. New Zealand 2009 SBs had a lot going for them. 2010, not so much. Am converting back to CA and French wines for 2010.

3. When I was seven I was sure I was going to be an artist (pencil or pen & ink). I hope to get back to drawing one of these days.

4. I just bought a book of Scarlatti piano sonatas, since playing Bach is a little more work than I have time for just now.

5. I am close to being done planning out the 2011-2012 homeschooling year.

6. My age will equal the Answer on my birthday (next month already--how did that happen?).

7. David Tennant is my Doctor.

Hey, that was easy!

Fifteen other blogs (in random order) to which I am passing on the Irresistibly Sweet Award (some of you have probably already received this illustrious award, but hey, twice (or more) makes it even more special, right?):

1. The Beauty of Being

2. Funschooling

3. Greenridge Chronicles

4. Farm School

5. Canadian Home Learning

6. through the wardrobe

7. Playing by the Book

8. Wonder in the Woods

9. The Opposite of Indifference

10. Days with My Daughter

11. I Capture the Rowhouse

12. Yat-Yee Chong

13. Sorting through Life's Lessons

14. Jen Robinson's Book Page

15. Homechooling a Texas Tornado and a Preschool Tag-a-Long!

Oh dear, now I have to go comment to let everybody know, don't I? Will get to it ASAP, promise!

Let Evening Come - Jane Kenyon (1947-1995)

2011-05-17T21:42:00.003-04:00

photo by Jazz, age 12

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles 
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

by Jane Kenyon

Hear the words set to music by Brian Holmes.

Celebrating John J. Audubon

2011-04-26T10:28:00.000-04:00

Wildlife artist John James Audubon was born on this day in 1785. His paintings and descriptions of the birds of America are familiar to and appreciated by birders everywhere. While he is one of the most famous avian illustrators, he is not one of the founders of the Audubon Society. His name was chosen because his work inspired the organization's efforts to protect birds and their habitats.

Some links we'll be using today to learn about the man and his life's work:

Enchanted Learning's Audubon page and coloring pages of several of his paintings.

PBS American Masters

New York Historical Society's Audubon's Aviary exhibit mp3s and images

The National Gallery of Art's information and images

Other resources:

The Boy Who Drew Birds, by Jacqueline Davies with illustrations by Melissa Sweet

Audubon's Birds of American Coloring Book

John James Audubon, Wildlife Artist, by Peter Anderson

Birds of America, by John J. Audubon

John James Audubon's Journal of 1826

John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature (2006) on Netflix Streaming

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Book Sharing Monday - Poetry books for Patriots' Day

2011-04-17T19:41:00.000-04:00

I had never heard of Patriots' Day until we moved to Massachusetts over a decade ago. Commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord, the holiday is a huge deal in this area: parades and celebrations abound. Evidently the day is also celebrated in Maine, but it was completely off my radar during the four years I lived there.

While my crowd-shunning family rarely goes to parades, we do enjoy a patriotic read from time to time. Here, then, are a few books of American poetry for kids that we found last week at a local library.

The Smithsonian Institution's Celebrate America in Poetry and Art, edited by Nora Panzer. This book pairs prints or photos of artwork from the National Museum of American Art with poetry by American poets. Carl Sandburg's "Niagara" with George Innes's painting of the same name, for instance, and a selection from Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning" with a print by commercial illustrator George Giusti, as another example, make this book one to savor.

The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems, edited by Donald Hall. This book contains poems from anonymous Native Americans to Sarah Josepha Hale to many well known 18th and 19th century poets all the way through to some lesser known 20th century writers. It seems to have something for everyone, and ranges from the solemn (Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes) to the poignant (Rachel Field) to the silly (Nash, Prelutsky, Seuss, and Silverstein).

A Revolutionary Field Trip: Poems of Colonial America, by Susan Katz with illustrations by R.W. Alley. This cartoonish book of amusing yet informative poetry for younger children ("Grace Dips a Candle," "Blacksmith Shop," and "Shearing Poor George" are three of the twenty titles in the book) would be a good accompaniment to a real field trip to a historical reenactment site such as Old Sturbridge Village or Plymouth Plantation or a similar colonial American site.

Especially appropriate for Massachusetts readers on Patriot's Day is the ever popular "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." Several illustrators have taken on the task of illustrating Longfellow's poem, and one we like especially is the one illustrated by Christopher Bing's engraved paintings.

I've saved the best for last. My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States, with poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Each region of the country is represented by several poems and a map, and each state is given its own box with capital, nickname, etc. as well as a Great Fact or two. For instance, did you know that the first baseball World Series games were played in Boston in 1903? (I didn't.) The Boston Pilgrims were victorious over the Pittsburgh Pirates. ☺ Poets represented in the book include David McCord, Frank Asch, Carl Sandburg, X.J. Kennedy, Myra Cohn Livingston, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Douglas Florian, and many more. Highly recommended.

Happy reading! Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning.

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And now for something a little different. . .

2011-04-16T14:54:00.000-04:00

National Screen Free Week always coincides with spring vacation week here in New England. I think a conspiracy is afoot. While we, as homeschoolers, do not have to follow the school district's schedule, I find that we usually do, for one reason or another. It would be easier (I think) to be screen free during a week when our normal activities were still happening, but we're going to give it the old college try, anyway.

We've never participated in Turn Off Your TV Week (the phenomenon's former moniker) before, but at this point in our house our media viewing (TV, movies, computer games, Xbox, iPods, etc.) is at an all time high and I think we will all benefit from a break. I'll have at least one blog post scheduled to appear (Book Sharing Monday), but other than a few minutes each morning and evening to check and respond to emails, I don't expect to be around at all in an online capacity.

What we plan to do in the coming week:

bake cookies at least once

finally get to that Marc Chagall-inspired watercolor project I've been wanting to do with the kids

go for a long walk or hike on a day that the weather is nice, maybe even at a beach

meet up with friends

listen to lots of music

listen to some audiobooks (we picked up Hotel for Dogs, The Magician's Elephant, and Risby at the library yesterday, and I finally broke down and bought Story of the World vol. 3 on audio CD in case we head out on a longer car trip or two)

play board games

do some Pysanky egg decorating

finally do some of the experiments in Physics Experiments for Children

I know Alex and co. over at Canadian Home Learning are participating in Screen Free Week, as well. Anyone else? More ideas are welcome. : )

Photo courtesy of nestingdolls.net

Book Sharing Monday - Poetry books

2011-04-11T09:56:00.001-04:00

Since April is poetry month, I thought I'd share some of the poetry books we think are worth keeping on our shelves. I just realized that my fluorescent orange copy of Chief Modern Poets of Britain and America is missing from this photo, as is Leaves of Grass. Those are in with the classic literature in the study, but for some reason Antonia Fraser's Scottish Love Poems is on with a shelf of mostly kid-friendly titles!

For learning about poetry, we have Michael Clay Thompson's Music of the Hemispheres and Building Poems from Royal Fireworks Press, as well as Knock at a Star, by X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy. I also have a copy of Rose, Where Did You Get that Red? by Kenneth Koch, which must be out on loan (or is in another stack or on another shelf somewhere in this house that is full of what I like to call décor des livres when I'm not complaining about a house stuck in the "late grad school" period). I give all four my highest recommendation for teaching kids from about grades 3-8.

Some favorite anthologies include Helen Ferris's Favorite Poems Old and New and A Journey through Time in Verse and Rhyme, edited by Heather Thomas. We've begun many a fine day of learning at home with poems from these two books.

No children's book collection is complete without at least some Shel Silverstein! That copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends is my own well-loved copy from thirty-some years ago. And another childhood favorite of mine that I bought just after Jazz was born is The World of Christopher Robin, which has both A.A. Milne volumes of poetry: When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six.

My eldest child knows me very well, and his thoughtful gift last Mother's Day was Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems, edited by Stephen Addiss. Highly recommended.

Children's book illustrator Susan Jeffers has illustrated at least a couple of books based on famous poems, including Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost, and Hiawatha, by Henry Longfellow. Her fairy tales are not to be missed, too!

For more picture books, try Jane Yolen's Ring of Earth (a gorgeous book of poetry about the seasons) and Caroline Kennedy's collection, A Family of Poems. Missing from the photo above are two of our very favorite poetry books, which are off the shelf because they've been in use quite a bit this month: Talking Like the Rain (short poems for young children illustrated by Jane Dyer), Poetry by Heart, edited by Liz Attenborough. We also like the Poetry for Young People series, which has over twenty titles which are still in print and widely available.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Hop on over and join the fun!

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A little Bach. . .

2011-04-06T08:48:00.004-04:00

on my Wednesday morning:

Poetry and Photo Friday

2011-04-01T08:33:00.002-04:00

For the first time in a long time I had both of the older two kiddos do some memorization this week. Jazz headed straight for Where the Sidewalk Ends to find a poem that should have been appropriate for April:

RAIN

   I opened my eyes
   And looked up at the rain,
   And it dripped in my head
   And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

   I step very softly,
   I walk very slow,
   I can't do a handstand--
   I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

by Shel Silverstein

But I think that, given the date and what our backyard currently looks like (see photos below), this one is more appropriate:

OH HAVE YOU HEARD

Oh have you head it's time for vaccinations?
I think someone put salt in your tea.
They're giving us eleven-month vacations.
And Florida has sunk into the sea.

Oh have you heard the President has measles?
The principal has just burned down the school.
Your hair is full of ants and purple weasels--
   APRIL FOOL!

by Shel Silverstein

April Fools'?

2011-03-30T09:30:00.002-04:00

Oh, how I wish this was a joke. Maybe it is, but it's one Mother Nature is having on us!

And that's 7.9 inches in Worcester, in case anyone was wondering. . .

Book Sharing Monday - Easter

2011-03-28T10:33:00.002-04:00

While we're desperately waiting for spring to arrive here in the Northeast, I have two spring-y books to share today: The Bunny Who Found Easter by Charlotte Zolotow and Helen Craig and Jan Brett's The Easter Egg.

There's something about Charlotte Zolotow's writing that is captivating to me. There's definitely a poetic quality to her words, and her books have a gentle feel to them. The Bunny Who Found Easter pairs the author's lovely story with illustrations by Helen Craig (Angelina Ballerina).

I was thrilled to find that Jan Brett has an Easter tale. This author's books never fail to delight me on a visual level, and this one has a particularly creative storyline, as well. Jan Brett has a website filled with excellent resources. I highly recommend taking a look.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Alex has a post about a spring book today, too!

Kitchen Kismet

2011-03-15T21:02:00.002-04:00

Every once in while I'll experience a bit of serendipitous activity in the kitchen. You know the drill. You went shopping, only to find certain items not in the store, or you forgot to pick them up, or the freaking foodie store you planned to go to is CLOSED ON TUESDAYS. Ahem.

So I had this recipe for Greek-style vegetarian stuffed peppers, and ended up with the following recipe, instead, having substituted what was on hand, which turned out to be absolute delight for the taste buds. I'm having the leftovers (what little bit there was) for lunch tomorrow, and no one else had better steal them (the warning is meant for DH, who is working from home tomorrow. Are you reading this, dear?).

From-the-Fridge-and-Pantry Greek-style Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

EVOO
1 medium sweet onion, diced
3 oz. or half a bag of baby (or other) spinach (washed if not already cleaned), sliced into ribbons
salt and pepper
2 cups cooked Israeli couscous, prepared according to package directions
grated zest from about a half a shrunken lemon
juice from same
5 oz. feta cheese (if you actually shop for this item and don't go with what's in the fridge, get good, imported Greek sheep's milk feta in brine), (drained if need be and) crumbled
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried thyme
1 t. dried Italian parsley
16 green olives (I happened to have some French-style green olives without pimentos on hand)
4 medium bell peppers (I had 1 HUGE and 2 medium tri-colored peppers from Trader Joe's--the red pepper tasted best)
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 or so. Higher if you're in a hurry (but not much higher or you'll have crispy-on-the-outside-raw-on-the-inside food), or about 350 if you've got an hour or so until everyone is ravenous.
2. Cook onion in about a tablespoon of EVOO on medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes. Add spinach and cook until greens are wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Season with a bit of salt and pepper (remember the feta and olives you'll be adding later), and set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cooked couscous, lemon zest, lemon juice, feta cheese, herbs, olives, and onion/spinach mixture. Taste to correct seasonings.
4. Cut off the top 1/2 inch or so of your peppers. Save them to use as a lid once your peppers are stuffed. Using a paring knife, trim away all the ribs and seeds from the peppers. If necessary, trim away a small slice on the bottom of any peppers that will not stay upright in your baking dish. Try not to make a hole to the inside, or at least not a very big one (she says with the authority of experience).
5. In a smallish baking dish, place peppers and fill with couscous-spinach mixture. Put the caps back on the peppers. (Save leftover filling, if any, to heat in the microwave for lunch the next day or the day after that. If you can resist eating it up with a spoon immediately, that is.) Pour the water into the bottom of the pan.
6. Bake for 45 minutes at 375, or until peppers are soft and slightly browned, and filling is hot.

Next time I'm going to double the recipe so that there are leftovers for several lunches instead of just one. Maybe I'll feel like sharing then.

Book Sharing Monday - Me. . . Jane

2011-03-14T06:42:00.002-04:00

New book alert! It's supposedly not out until April, but Amazon shipped my copy this week. We really enjoyed this brief look into Jane Goodall's childhood and absolutely adored the charming illustrations by Patrick McDonnell (creator of the comic strip MUTTS).

Jane Goodall currently travels the world to inform others about animal welfare and conservation in general and about chimpanzees and their habitat in particular.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Stop by and see what books others are blogging about today, or add a book that caught your eye this week!

Bitesize science, math, English

2011-03-10T15:29:00.001-05:00

I came across a link to Bitesize from BBC Schools today (thanks, Secular Homeschool and Free Technology for Teachers). Looks like there are fun educational activities for elementary through junior high here. Example of a science activity I would expect Jane would enjoy below.

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Book Sharing Monday - Hanne's Quest

2011-03-07T08:47:00.001-05:00

Olivier Dunrea has been a favorite in our house for some time. His Gossie series is not to be missed for young children, and Bear Noel is a perennial Christmas read-aloud for us. But the first book of the author's that we ever came across was Hanne's Quest.

This dense picture book tops out at about a hundred pages, so it's not one we've gobbled up in one setting. But the story of Hanne and her adventures is rich and well worth diving into! All ages will enjoy this tale.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Drop by and share what caught your eye this week, or get some new titles for your library queue!

What works for Jane. . .

2011-03-04T06:42:00.006-05:00

Here is, finally, part two of the Winter 2011 version of What's Working at Our House. In part one, I focused on what is working best for my seventh grader. This one will feature Jane, whose summer birthday puts her in Waldorf grade three, or PS grade four.

Jane has two great loves: animals and art. She is our go-to font of fauna-related facts, and is never happier than when she has a paintbrush in her hand. Her learning style is similar to Jazz's--like him, she needs to see the big picture before things make sense, and prefers to get her information visually vs. aurally.

Jane is finishing up First Language Lessons Level 3, and the program has been good for her, even though she doesn't really enjoy it. It lays everything out very plainly and I feel like she has a good grasp of grammar as a result. But what's missing is a love of words and a playfulness with language that is important to me, even at this stage of the game. My plan is to transition her to Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts in the fall. If, for some reason, she doesn't do as well or needs extra work for reinforcement, we'll utilize whatever parts we need to use of First Language Lessons Level 4.

We finished up Writing with Ease Level 2 early in the year, and haven't yet gone on to WWE3. I need to take a look at the next book before I decide if she should continue with it. The style of the series feels a little artificial to me, but perhaps we need the deliberateness of the program to keep going with narration. Jane still does copywork almost daily, using Penny Gardner's Italics, Beautiful Handwriting for Children, supplemented with the Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting program and, when the time is right, holiday-related passages or quotations I find for her.

I admit to some bouncing around with math curricula. Sigh. We have never quite found one that meets everyone's needs. Right Start Math is a good match for visual-spatial learners, but with three children I found that I couldn't make the time to sit down with each child every day for the length of time it took to complete this one subject with this particular curriculum. Combine that with the fact that we find it to be a hard series to pick up and do after a break, and we've fallen a bit behind. Jane is currently doing a combination of Singapore and the self-directed Math Mammoth (on sale through the end of this month through the Homeschool Buyers' Co-op), but I plan to take a closer look at Teaching Textbooks for her soon.

Oh dear, this is turning into a "what doesn't work" post, isn't it? Or rather, what is okay but I wish could be better. Let's see if I can put a positive spin on the rest.

While Jane usually chooses her free reading (Puppy Place books being her favorite of favorites, even though they are "too young" for her), she is willing (most of the time) to take a look at my suggestions, as long as animals are central characters. Books by Beverly Clearly, Meindert DeJong, Walter Farley, and other authors of classic children's literature have made it to her bedside table. I'm still waiting for her to pick up Harry Potter, but I guess Hedwig doesn't play a central enough role for her taste. The literature selections from our secularized Sonlight Core 5, Jane's required reading titles, have been just right. She never would have voluntarily picked up any of these books (most, if not all, of them have had human protagonists), and yet she has read, enjoyed, and learned from each one.

For other learning in relation to Core 5, Jane does map work, which she does neatly and about which she doesn't complain (hurrah!), reads non-fiction books about the country we're "in," and usually finds out something about the animals from that area of the world, as well. We use Schlessinger Media dvds toward the end of each unit to wrap up.

Jane isn't too old to enjoy the Let's Read and Find Out science books, so we've been using the ones having to do with energy, motion, force, etc. this year, and plan to do the experiments in Physics Experiments for Children, which recommendation came from The Well-Trained Mind. I've looked through the book, and it seems very doable. She also enjoys the free monthly Science in the News pdfs from Science A-Z (look in the left-hand sidebar of the main page) and both National Geographic and National Geographic for Kids magazines.

While she doesn't mind learning about art, Jane really prefers to do art. We've done some lessons from How to Teach Art to Children, and we both love the kits we've gotten from Hearts and Trees. But most fun of all seems to be when I clear the table and put out paper, brushes, and paint, and let her go to town. Our valentine exchange families (via Secular Homeschool) saw the fruits of her labors, and family members often benefit from them, as well.

Jane's continued music education involves Mike Venezia's Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series of books (Jane loves the humor in the cartoon-like drawings that appear in the books. Note to self: I should really get some of the Artists books for her, as well), Classics for Kids podcasts, and listening to her mother blather on about whatever happens to be on the radio that strikes a chord. ; )

My plan for Jane for the remainder of the year is to finish FLL3, master (or at least not melt down during) multiplication and division and other 3rd-4th grade math-type subjects, continue her journey through the Eastern Hemisphere, not injure herself while doing the experiments that go along with all that science reading she's done, tolerate some new music, and keep enjoying art.

Up next: what works for JJ, in which I attempt to justify "trickle-down" homeschooling.

My pal, Alex, has been posting about what works for her kids, as well, over at Canadian Home Learning. She's got reviews of some fabulous-looking resources, some of which have already made their way into my Amazon cart or onto my Rainbow Resource wish list.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-02T10:42:00.002-05:00

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on this day in 1904. JJ and I unknowingly celebrated the birthday of one of our favorite children's authors last evening, when we watched the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra's Notes Alive! production of My Many Colored Days. While I found the animation (from 1999) dated, we both enjoyed the text as read by Holly Hunter and the music, which was composed by Richard Einhorn. You can hear two of the movements from the piece here and here, but I highly recommend finding the dvd at a library and enjoying all the "days" in their various moods.

What is your favorite book by Dr. Seuss?

Book Sharing Monday - The Pea Blossom

2011-02-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

While I still need to update our Core 5 substitutes page with all the wonderful books about Korea and China we've enjoyed in the past few weeks, I do want to share this particularly lovely title for Book Sharing Monday:

The Pea Blossom, retold and illustrated by Amy Lowry Poole

Poole has take the Hans Christian Anderson tale "Five Peas from a Pod" and given the story an Asian setting:

Once upon a time, in a small garden near the great city of Beijing, there were five peans in one shell. They were green, and they believed that the whole world must be green, for that was all that they knew.

Poole's beautifully tinted watercolors gave us such pleasure that we find ourselves flipping through the book almost daily to view them. Poole has two other titles we'll be seeking out, as well--The Ant and the Grasshopper and How the Rooster Got His Crown--and we look forward to more books by this artist, whose delight-filled website is here.

What works for Jazz. . .

2011-02-19T18:56:00.003-05:00

Inspired by a question posted on a homeschooling email list I'm on, here is part one of the Winter 2011 version of What's Working at Our House. I'm finding it a challenging yet heartening exercise. ☺

By a huge margin, Jazz's most successful curriculum to date is the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts program. I feel a bit like a broken record (if you're on the Secular Homeschool forum you've probably already "heard" me blather on about it), but it is really quite amazing to see the amount of retention of material that happens with so little "work." By work I guess I mean what I did in school for language arts--filling in blanks on vocabulary worksheets (or worse! filling in circles for multiple choice!), reading mind-numbingly boring grammar books, completing meaningless writing assignments, etc. Jazz gets to learn about the origin of words and word roots, analyzes a few sentences per week, reads about seemingly every aspect of poetry, and completes writing assignments that make sense to him.

He still likes to read, but would read fantasy and science fiction almost to the exclusion of all else if he didn't have a little "assigned" reading for our history & geography curriculum from me. I choose his books carefully, and if he balks at one of my selections (usually one I didn't put as much thought into) and he has a good reason for not liking the book, I'll find him something else to read. Usually he ends up enjoying his assignments. Sometimes they even make it up to his room to be tucked on a shelf next to his bed.

Tucked in his bed, even though he finished reading it for homeschooling, is Joy Hakim's Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way. I hope we're seeing the beginning of a passion for science here (or a passion about anything not having to do with Jedi Academy, please, please, please). Next up is Newton at the Center--may it be as interesting to him as the first book! We did try the Student's Quest and Teacher's Quest guides to go with Aristotle, but didn't enjoy them as is. In my opinion, the manuals need some serious adapting for successful non-classroom use, and I had neither the time nor inclination to take on the task. In a co-op setting, the quest guides could help a parent run an excellent study group based on the book, though.

My plan for Jazz for the remainder of the school year: finish his MCTLA level, read and discuss Newton at the Center, get as far across the Eastern Hemisphere as we can (we're almost to Russia), complete the PLATO Physical Science for Middle School program, finish his pre-algebra course, and follow any rabbit trails that appear. Art will happen with his co-op (a stained glass class), and if we get back on track with composer study a la Charlotte Mason, I will be a happy homeschooler once more.

Poetry Friday - Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979)

2011-02-11T12:14:00.003-05:00

It was Elizabeth Bishop's birthday on Tuesday (and also the grandfather of science fiction, Jules Verne's), so, to help celebrate both it and Poetry Friday, here is another work by the Massachusetts-born poet:

Five Flights Up

Still dark.

The unknown bird sits on his usual branch.

The little dog next door barks in his sleep

inquiringly, just once.

Perhaps in his sleep, too, the bird inquires

once or twice, quavering.

Questions--if that is what they are--

answered directly, simply,

by day itself.

Enormous morning, ponderous, meticulous;

gray light streaking each bare branch,

each single twig, along one side,

making another tree, of glassy veins...

The bird still sits there. Now he seems to yawn.

The little black dog runs in his yard.

His owner's voice arises, stern,

"You ought to be ashamed!"

What has he done?

He bounces cheerfully up and down;

he rushes in circles in the fallen leaves.

Obviously, he has no sense of shame.

He and the bird know everything is answered,

all taken care of,

no need to ask again.

--Yesterday brought to today so lightly!

(A yesterday I find almost impossible to lift.)

I posted a poem of Bishop's about music two years ago around this same time of year. Read that one here.

Poetry Friday is being hosted today by Carol at Reading Is Fundamental.

Music Monday - Borromeo String Quartet

2011-01-31T06:42:00.002-05:00

Classical music meets Mac. Makes my heart go pitter-patter.

These guys are amazing! If you ever have a chance to see them live, please do so--not only are they fabulous players, but they often give lecture-concerts. If you live in the Boston area you should get plenty of opportunities, but in the next several months they will be in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Arizona, and Colorado, as well. Website of the Borromeo String Quartet here. Calendar here. First violinist Nicholas Kitchen's YouTube channel here (and check out this video for more Beethoven and for the screenshots behind the quartet). There was also a recent article about the quartet in the NYT titled "Bytes and Beethoven."

My thanks to Tabatha Yeatts (The Opposite of Indifference) for inspiring this post.

Ca' the Yowes - Robert Burns

2011-01-25T04:42:00.006-05:00

for Mary Kate

Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes

by Robert Burns

Chorus
Ca' the yowes to the knowes,
Ca' them where the heather grows,
Ca' them where the burnie rowes,
My bonie dearie.

Hark, the mavis' e'ening sang
Sounding Clouden's woods amang,
Then a-faulding let us gang,
My bonie dearie.

We'll gae down by Clouden side,
Thro' the hazels, spreading wide
O'er the waves that sweetly glide
To the moon sae clearly.

Yonder Clouden's silent towers,
Where, at moonshine's midnight hours,
O'er the dewy bending flowers
Fairies dance sae cheery.

Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear -
Thou'rt to Love and Heav'n sae dear
Nocht of ill may come thee near,
My bonie dearie.

Fair and lovely as thou art,
Thou hast stown my very heart;
I can die - but canna part,
My bonie dearie.

Secular Homeschool Jan. Giveaway

2011-01-21T21:36:00.002-05:00

The Secular Homeschool Community, a place I love to visit and feel right at home commenting about science curricula, sibling rivalry, and even science fiction, generally has two giveaways running at any one time. January's are Arithmetic Village, a story-based Waldorf math program I would love to use with J.J., and Learning at Home: a Mother's Guide to Homeschooling (newly revised edition) by Marty Lane. If you homeschool for secular reasons, I encourage you to check out the community.

Here is where you can find the link to the Arithmetic Village giveaway, and here is where you can find out all about secularhomeschool.com. Be sure to stop by my profile and say hello! Informational video about Arithmetic Village below.

Who are your Top Ten?

2011-01-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

The New York Times is currently running a "Top Ten Classical Composers" video series hosted by NYT chief music critic Anthony Tommasini. The videos are easily digestible, truly informative, and enjoyable--win, win, win--so I greatly encourage you to check them out. You may need to sign up for the NYT online to access the series, but signing up is free.

Read the article here, then watch the videos (more will be added through January 21st), and cast your vote! Related Arts Beat posts here.

Mine were Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn (of course), Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, and Copland, though I admit personal bias made my choices more than who I think is most important to Western classical music. Handel and Mozart would have made the list, in that case, at least.

Book Sharing Monday - picture books featuring Korea

2011-01-17T09:21:00.002-05:00

We're slowly making our way around the Eastern Hemisphere, and I've especially enjoyed supplementing Core 5 with picture books for the six-year-old. Here are the books we've found for this week's study of Korea:

The Green Frogs--a Korean Folktale, retold by Yumi Heo

The Firekeeper's Son, written by Linda Sue Park with illustrations by Julie Downing

Bee-bim Bop! written by Linda Sue Park with illustrations by Ho Baek Lee

Behind the Mask, by Yangsook Choi

The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi

The Have a Good Day Cafe, by Frances Park and Ginger Park with illustrations by Katherine Potter

Count Your Way through Korea, by Jim Haskins with illustrations by Dennis Hockerman

In addition, the older two have read or are reading these books by Linda Sue Park:

A Single Shard
The Kite Fighters
SeeSaw Girl
When My Name Was Keoko

Jazz gives A Single Shard high marks, and is starting When My Name Was Keoko tomorrow. JaneG. admits that The Kite Fighters was a good story, even if it was about two boys. She's reading SeeSaw Girl now.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Stop by and find some new books to enjoy and share what caught your eye this week!

Book blurb: Crunch

2011-01-14T12:17:00.003-05:00

Crunch by Leslie Connor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love books in which kids find the inner strength to accomplish monumental tasks, and this one really knocks it out of the park. The author's writing style and the closeness of the relationship between the siblings in the story reminded me quite a bit of Madeleine L'Engle, even though Crunch is firmly rooted in the Real World. I passed this book right off to my eldest, and I'm looking forward to reading other books by this author.

View all my reviews

Book review: Rival

2011-01-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the peek into the minds of serious young vocalists! The competition in their musical and romantic lives makes this book a fast, emotionally engaging read, and the author does a great job of differentiating between the two main characters' voices when they take it in turns to narrate the story. I didn't want the story to end, and can't wait for this author's next book!

Rival comes out February 15, 2011 but is available for pre-order at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rival-Sara-Bennett...

View all my reviews

One other quick note: the recommended age from the publisher is "12 and up." Due to mature content I would push that lower age limit up to 14.

Winter reads

2011-01-08T13:01:00.002-05:00

I've come across a wealth of new book titles to check out from a variety of sources. The Cybils finalists were announced on January 1st, so a big chunk of my library queue was suddenly overtaken by many of the books listed there. And many book publishing or blogging sites have listed or asked for lists of readers' favorites from 2010 or even from the previous decade.

The stack of books beside me as a type includes

YA:

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (finished just this morning; a well written, emotionally engaging story, IMO)
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (read this afternoon; not my usual fare--disturbing story of high school "mean girl"; hard to feel sympathy for protagonist)
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healy
Plain Kate by Erin Bow
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate (author of Fallen and Torment)

Middle grade:

The Emerald Tablet by P.J. Hoover
The Shadow Hunt by Katherine Langrish
The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham
The Magnificent 12 - The Call by Michael Grant
Crunch by Leslie Connor

Mystery:

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
The Sting of Justice - a Mystery of Medieval Ireland by Cora Harrison

In my queue but not on hand yet:

The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke (wow, is this ever a tome--782 pages!)

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
The Shadows by Jacqueline West
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World by Mary Pipher

A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley (pub. date: February 8)

Next on my list of things-to-do-that-might-actually-result-in-a-blog-post: go through my reading history in my library account and pull out *my* favorite reads from the past year.

Happy reading!

Note to self. . .

2010-12-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

December giveaway at SecularHomeschool.com

2010-12-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

Head on over and check it out! A Blogging 101 course is the December giveaway on SecularHomeschool.com, one of my favorite places to visit online.

Merriest of winters holidays to you all.

Book Sharing Monday - some favorite Christmas reads

2010-12-06T09:53:00.001-05:00

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum. The author of The Wizard of Oz has written a fantastical story about a baby raised by wood-nymphs and elves in the Forest of Burzee--that baby eventually grows up to be the jolly man in red. We have two versions, one with Baum's original text and one with the tale somewhat abbreviated and lushly illustrated by Charles Santore. Both are worth reading. The text is available as a free Kindle book at Amazon and in many different electronic formats at Project Gutenberg.

One that I've bought but haven't brought out yet (it's going "in" tomorrow's advent calendar, not that it will actually fit!) is Richard Scarry's Best Christmas Book Ever! My two youngest are big Richard Scarry fans, and have enjoyed Watch Your Step, Mr. Rabbit! to Cars and Trucks and Things that Go and many others. Jazz was a big fan when he was younger, too, and can still be caught hanging around when a Richard Scarry book is being read aloud.

And finally, a book that I haven't yet bought but am sorely tempted to include when ordering Christmas presents is Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas, by Julia Rawlinson. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves is an all-time favorite autumn book in our house, and this latest tale of a little fox and his experiences with the seasons looks equally charming.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning.

Favorite Holiday Music No. 15 - Irving Berlin

2010-12-03T00:04:00.000-05:00

Still waiting for our snow to arrive.

For those of you who, like me, can't get enough holiday music, Amazon is giving out free mp3s of one holiday song per day until Christmas. Yesterday's (Dec. 2--there are a couple of hours left for those of you that are west of here) was by the Indigo Girls. For some reason December 1st's freebie is still available, though I've never heard of the band (though that's not saying a lot, as I mostly listen to Sting and classical music).

Poetry Friday: Mary Oliver, again

2010-11-26T00:01:00.003-05:00

White Eyes
by Mary Oliver

In winter

all the singing is in

the tops of the trees

where the wind-bird

with its white eyes

shoves and pushes

among the branches.

Like any of us

he wants to go to sleep,

but he's restless—

he has an idea,

and slowly it unfolds

from under his beating wings

as long as he stays awake.

But his big, round music, after all,

is too breathy to last.

Read the rest here.

Poetry Friday is being hosted today at Check It Out. Enjoy!

Book Sharing Monday - Too Many Turkeys

2010-11-22T00:01:00.005-05:00

As big fans of Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White and Megan Lloyd, we were thrilled to learn that the same author/illustrator pair had a new book out in time for Thanksgiving! Too Many Turkeys is just as captivating a story, and one of my children declared she liked it even more than Too Many Pumpkins.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Stop by to see some great selections from children's books, or post about a book that caught your eye and join the fun!

My weekend looks like this--

2010-11-19T16:35:00.000-05:00

--dress rehearsal for this:

then rush home for a birthday party for my baby who will be SIX, and then back out the next day for the actual concert.

The music is the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, an amazing piece of choral music that I am so jazzed to have had the opportunity to sing. Above is one of my favorite movements of the lengthy work, and below is one of my other favorites. Sung here by the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Holiday Stress Reliever

2010-11-17T17:42:00.001-05:00

Need help getting into the holiday spirit?

2010-11-13T09:14:00.003-05:00

Book Sharing Monday - Where's the Dragon?

2010-11-08T08:09:00.000-05:00

Where's the Dragon? by Jason Hook and illustrated by Richard Hook

J.J. picked this one up at one of the (four) libraries we visit. A charming book with the added challenge of finding all of the hidden dragons at the end, this title will delight young squires of both genders. My almost-six-year-old and nine-year-old were both enthralled from start to finish while reading, and then from finish while dragon "hunting"!

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Stop by and see what's caught the eye of discriminating families worldwide!

Halloween fun

2010-10-27T11:14:00.001-04:00

It's dark and dreary here today, and we're taking it easy as one of the kiddos is under-the-weather. Some of the holiday-related things we've got on hand for the week are coming out today:

One book I forgot to mention in my Book Sharing Monday post--another great title from Barefoot Books: Tales of Mystery and Magic (book and audio cd), retold and narrated by Hugh Lupton and illustrated by Agnese Baruzzi. We're listening to this one as I type.

Classics for Kids October shows from years past (and this year, though this last podcast has another episode to be released before it is complete). Mussorgsky (2008), Grieg (2009), and Stravinsky (2010) are the featured composers.

Halloween Shrinky Dinks: my younger two love these! This set comes with a halloween tree from which to hang the shrunken ornaments, once finished.

Spooky Doodles: great for the artistically inhibited, or kids that just wanna have fun. The black pages require metallic gel pens or other such drawing implements.

Spooky Classics for Children, as told by Jim Weiss, which includes abbreviated versions of Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost," Hawthorne's "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," and Kipling's "The Sending of Dana Da." We are big fans of this storyteller.

I'm also tempted by this unabridged version of "The Canterville Ghost," narrated by Rupert Degas, which is also available on iTunes.

And then there are also the movie versions of the tale! I grew up watching the 1944 version starring Robert Young (Father Knows Best, Marcus Welby) and Margaret O'Brien, but have also enjoyed both the 1986 movie featuring Sir John Gielgud and Alyssa Milano and the 1995 made-for-tv version with Patrick Stewart. Neither of these latter two versions appears to be available in DVD or streaming format, but there is a 1985 version that is bargain priced at Amazon and might be worth checking out.

Because I can't let go of homeschooling completely, even on a "sick" day, I put together a few pages of copywork (for this year and next) with a spooky theme. Charles Dickens predominates, but Conan Doyle and Poe make appearances, too, as does childhood favorite L.M. Montgomery.

Halloween Copywork

Book Sharing Monday - Halloween books!

2010-10-25T13:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some spooky and not-so-spooky titles that are either new or new to us. We're enjoying them this week as we count down to that orange-and-blackest of all holidays.

Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth. The author of Zen Ties and Zen Shorts has a charming Halloween story to share.

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen. While not strictly speaking a Halloween book, this title appealed to us because of another by Sidman that we've enjoyed--Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow--a great spring read!

Gobbolino The Witch's Cat, written by Ursula Moray Williams and illustrated by Paul Howard. This shortish chapter book was a read-aloud at the homeschooling co-op we used to attend a few years ago, but two of my three were not present to hear the story at the time, so we're giving it a go here at home this week.

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. Unbeknownst to me, this haunted space-time adventure has also been made into a movie, which doesn't appear to be available on DVD (though Amazon sells the VHS for $12 or so), but it is available on YouTube (in parts). As with any video recommendations, I highly suggest parental pre-watching to determine appropriateness for your own kiddos!

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Happy reading!

Five questions, in which I play a round of tag.

2010-10-24T14:29:00.005-04:00

Alex at Canadian Home Learning tagged me, let's see now, three weeks ago! Yikes. Evidently there is a black hole in my house that is sucking all the time into it. Not to mention socks. And my sanity. If only The Doctor was here to save me.

Anyhoo, the game goes something like this--another blogger tags you with a number of questions to answer. You write up a post answering them and tag another set of bloggers to answer a new set of questions you've made up. Both Alex and Barb (Harmony Art Mom) used five questions, so I'm going to go ahead and see if I can come up with that number, as well.

Here are Alex's questions (centered around the theme of "favorites"), and my answers--

1. I have been looking for some simple but interesting halloween crafts/decorations, what is your favourite one to do with your children? please include a link if you have one.
It's a good thing I didn't wait too much longer to answer! Hmm. I'm not the most crafty of people and have been wanting to try the shrunken apple heads my friend Lynne did a year or so ago, but if we're talking Halloween crafts the kids and I have actually done together, I'd guess I'd say salt dough ghosts like these.

2. What is your favourite way to spend a rainy day with your children?
Cozying up on the sofa, reading (aloud or separately) and watching movies. If I can tie in an enjoyable movie to something we're studying, that's nearing perfection for me.

3. What is your favourite fall food?
Apples, apples, and apples. Apple pie, apple crisp, apple-carrot-ginger juice, mulled cider, or just plain, raw, in-their-own-skin apples. Though that pumpkin spice latte at the corner coffee shop is awfully tasty, too. I'm working on creating my own non-dairy version at home, but without success as of yet.

4. What is your current favourite read aloud book?
That's a tough one. We did just finish up The Phantom Tollbooth, narrated by David Hyde Pierce, and it was excellent. If I had to pick one that *I* enjoyed reading aloud the most, I think it would be Charlotte's Web. Our current read-aloud is The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson, but we're not far into it enough to know whether or not it will be a favorite.

5. Last one just for Mom..what is your favourite novel?
That's an easy one. Pride and Prejudice wins, every time. And it was even my favorite before Colin Firth was Mr. Darcy.

Now on to the most difficult part of the ~~assignment~~ game: coming up with my own questions!

1. What book from your childhood do you remember the most, and why?
2. What type of music do you enjoy the most? Please include examples!
3. What subject do you find most challenging (to teach or to learn)?
4. What is your favorite hot drink? Bonus points for including the recipe!
5. About what new book, movie, or tv series do you want to let others know?

And now for the tagees, in reverse alphabetical order, as that is how my brain is working these days:

Suji at Funschooling
Sheila at Greenridge Chronicles
Renee at Days with My Daughter
Lynne at 3-Ring-Binder
Cori at Wonder in the Woods

Have fun!

Book Sharing Monday - books from Australia and New Zealand

2010-10-18T14:53:00.004-04:00

We're spending an extra week on Australia and New Zealand in our study of the Eastern Hemisphere, as that area is of high interest to the kids, and there are so many resources that we wanted to get through but haven't yet. Here are some of the books we are using either to substitute in or supplement Sonlight Core 5.

Storm Boy, by Colin Thiele. Becky over at Farm School recommended this title to me, and we are using it as a read-aloud instead of Island of the Blue Dolphins, which we'd already read.

Stories from the Billabong, by James Vance Marshall and Francis Firebrace. Interesting artwork and a paragraph of corresponding information accompanies ten Aboriginal plant and animal tales.

"Koala" from Magical Tales from Many Lands, retold by Margaret Mayo and illustrated by Jane Ray. Other countries represented in this title include China, Russia, India, Peru, France, the Caribbean, Scotland, South Africa, Japan, and more.

Are We There Yet? A Journey around Australia, by Alison Lester. A picture book my younger two are enjoying, with a look at many different places around the smallest continent.

Whale Rider, by Witi Ihimaera. Jazz is having a bit of trouble "getting into" this book (its lyrical style is not his cup of tea), but I know we'll watch the movie (again) this week, anyway. He's also reading The Boy Who Spoke Dog, by Clay Morgan, which he seems to be enjoying.

Whale's Canoe, a Folk Tale from Australia, retold and illustrated by Joanna Troughton. An amusing story about a bunch of animals that want to get to a land across the sea.

"The Dreamtime," an Aboriginal creation myth in The Illustrated Book of Myths, retold by Neil Philip and illustrated by Nilesh Mistry. A DK book with tales from many of the countries we'll be studying this year.

Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths, Tales, and Legends, retold by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and illustrated by Michael Foreman.

River Song, by Belinda Hollyer. JaneG. is following up Sonlight's reader, Red Sand Blue Sky, with this story of a girl who lives with her Nana in a Maori village until her mother convinces her to move to the city for a time.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Come share a title or two that you've enjoyed!

Snapshots from September - Museum of Life and Science, Durham

2010-10-12T07:02:00.001-04:00

Our journey to North Carolina in September included our third trip to Durham's Museum of Life and Science. If you are ever in the Triangle area, we highly recommend a visit! We arrived just after lunchtime, and, since the main building was fairly crowded with school groups, headed right outdoors to the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind exhibits.

Left: Exploring river ecology Right: Learning how seeds fly

Catch the Wind!

Top: using sound cannons to make mirrored discs move (and blow each other's hair back)
Bottom left: mist garden Bottom right: making vapor rings

In addition to these two trails, the youngest of member of the family much enjoyed the dinosaur walk and train ride. Indoor options include an insect room and butterfly pavilion in an auxiliary building, and weather, gem & fossil, space, germ, and a whole host of other science activities in the main building.

Book Sharing Monday - our latest audiobook

2010-10-11T09:53:00.001-04:00

For the past week or so, we have been greatly enjoying David Hyde Pierce's narration of The Phantom Tollbooth. I loved the story as a kid, and valiantly tried it as a read aloud last spring, but it proved beyond me and we gave up about a third of the way in. Pierce is amazing in his ability to give voice to the motley assortment of characters we meet on Milo's journey--if I didn't know better I would never have believed that only one person was narrating. All three children (the almost teenager, the nine-year-old, and the oh-so-picky almost-six-year-old) are loving listening to it and will be sad when it's finished. Suggestions for what to put in the car next are welcome!

photo by David Shankbone via Wikimedia Commons

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Stop by and share what book caught your eye this past week!

Snapshots from September - Sylvan Heights

2010-10-01T17:29:00.000-04:00

We were recently in North Carolina visiting family, and had the pleasure of visiting Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck. Even though the weather was a formidable 98 degrees, we enjoyed walking around with our intern-guide, Matt, and learning more about birds from all over the world. It's definitely worth the drive from the Triangle area!

Clockwise from top left: JaneG. feeding a crane; a Nene (Hawaiian Lava Goose); Jazz talking with a Scarlet Macaw; Scarlet Ibis

Left: Boardwalk to the breeding center. Right: Bebop feeds the toucan a guide-provided grape; unknown berry (still looking for this one's name--its bright fuchsia color caught both my eye and Jane's)

Book Sharing Monday - David Wiesner

2010-09-20T08:04:00.000-04:00

A new David Weisner picture book is out--let there be great rejoicing!

Art and Max, by David Wiesner

It's a good one, too. I love many things about this book: the quirky little reptiles and the author-illustrator's use of color, for instance. But what I love most about this book is the celebration of thinking outside the, well, not "box" in this case, but canvas.

Here is Wiesner, talking about the creation of this book:

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning. Head on over and share what book caught your eye this week!

Light at the Edge of the World

2010-09-15T19:30:00.004-04:00

As part of our study of the Eastern Hemisphere, the kids and I watched the Polynesia episode of Light at the Edge of the World, a Smithsonian Channel production written and hosted by Canadian anthropologist and ethnobotanist (and modern-day explorer) Wade Davis. The four-hour series is based on his book of the same title, and possibly this one, as well. It was informative and thought-provoking, and we'll be watching the other episodes soon.

I like this quote from Davis, which I hopefully transcribed correctly from his Monarch Films biopic, titled Wade Davis: Explorer:

The key, real challenge in life is not to know where you're going to go, but to prepare your character so that when those wondrous moments of serendipity occur, you can listen to your heart and know what it is you need to do.

Book Sharing Monday - the late edition

2010-09-13T22:39:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post about these two beautiful books for a while now and just tonight realized that it was Book Sharing Monday already again!

A Calendar of Festivals: Celebrations from around the World retold by Cherry Gilchirst and illustrated by Helen Cann shares stories of Purim (Jewish), Holi (Hindu), Vesak (Buddhist), Tanabata (Japanese), Halloween (Celtic), Christmas (Christian), Kwanzaa (Caribbean), and New Year (Russian).

Stories from the Silk Road retold by Cherry Gilchrist and illustrated by Nilesh Mistry is just plain gorgeous. I can't get over the artwork chosen for the vast majority of Barefoot Books titles. We're lucky enough to live just a few minutes from the flagship store of this stellar publishing company, and I love walking in there. And I never come home empty-handed (insert happy dance here).

We're using parts of the first and all of the second with our Eastern Hemisphere studies this year. I have to say that I can't wait to hit the Silk Road, as not only do we have Gilchrist's books, we also have Russell Freedman's and Demi's biographies of Marco Polo, Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvelous Journey to China by Janis Herbert, and two ensemble cds headed by Yo-Yo Ma to enjoy.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning (formerly Serendipity Homeschool). Alex has a great book about Lego to show us all--one that my youngest just got from the library yesterday, too. How's that for Serendipity? :)

Book Sharing Monday - Explorers

2010-09-06T14:56:00.002-04:00

The year of exploration is upon us here at Rockhound Place. Waldorf-knowledgeable friends assure me that this theme is a great one for pre-adolescents who are determined to spread their wings a bit, so it's propitious that Jazz was instrumental in helping to choose this year's history/geography subject matter.

We've been looking at books about explorers in order to replace one of Sonlight Core 5's spines, Exploring Planet Earth, which is too religiously slanted to be useful to us. We've come across some helpful and/or beautiful books whilst doing so, and what better day to share them than Book Sharing Monday?

So You Want to Be an Explorer? by Judith St. George; illustrated by David Small. Small's goofy illustrations are a big part of the appeal here, I think. Jazz grabbed this one and enjoyed reading it from cover to cover before we started back with organized homeschooling. St. George's tone is conversational and appealing to younger kids, and, while she runs the gamut from Alexander the Great and the Greek trader Pytheas all the way through to Buzz Aldrin and cohorts, and even further into the world of 21st century genetic scientists, the succinct text is mainly a roll call to familiarize readers with famous names in exploration. Fun for ages five and up, if my kids are anything to go by.

The World of Exploration by Philip Wilkinson. This OOP Kingfisher title isn't that difficult to find used, and its division by geographic region is especially helpful, as that is how we are pursuing our study of exploration. Like most of the thinner Kingfisher books, this one has, for each geographic region, a two-page spread with a just-right amount of text for my nine-year-old, and contains both photos and drawings as illustrations.

The Usborne Book of Explorers from Columbus to Armstrong. This particular Usborne title alternates between featuring famous names and familiar movements of exploration, such as the Vikings' expansion into North America or the opening of the American West. The table of contents lists both by region, though, which makes this little volume handy to have around. Both Jazz and Jane will use this book.

Like the previous Usborne title, The Look-It-Up Book of Explorers by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel divides the text up by region, and provides information about an even longer list of explorers. Each name is allotted about three pages of text interspersed with maps and black-and-white illustrations. I think this book is most appropriate for middle school-level students.

The World Made New--Why the Age of Exploration Happened & How It Changed the World by Marc Aronson and John W. Glenn. This beautiful National Geographic title would be a great addition to a year spent studying the exploration of the Americas, but unfortunately doesn't meet our needs for our pursuit of knowledge of the Eastern Hemisphere. I'll definitely keep it in mind when we hit American history again.

The Encyclopedia of Explorers and Adventurers by Justine Ciovacco. My feminist little heart goes thumpity-thump with the inclusion of more than two dozen women in this 127-page book, from familiar names such as Sacagawea and Amelia Earhart to not-so-familiar ones like Naomi Uemura and Annie Smith Peck. While not terribly relevant to the region we're studying this year, this is still a great book to have on hand to find out information about adventurous people of the past.

Around the World in a Hundred Years--from Henry the Navigator to Magellan by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Anthony Bacon Venti. Any narrative by Jean Fritz is going to make a wonderful read-aloud. This book is exactly what it claims to be--a look at one hundred years of exploration. While it's not all about the Eastern Hemisphere, and we can't jump around by region as it is a continuous story much like The Story of the World (with chapters even more connected, I dare say), I'm planning to make time for this book as soon as we finish Holling's Seabird, as I can imagine referring back to the various explorers mentioned in this book when we get to them in Core 5.

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Canadian Home Learning (formerly Serendipity Home School). Head on over and see what books other families are enjoying!

Dipping in a toe. . .

2010-09-03T07:42:00.006-04:00

We made a start with homeschooling this week, but it was a gentle beginning with fun activities and/or visits with friends happening most afternoons, once the basics were were covered in the (yawn! eyes open yet?) morning.

First thing (while kids are eating breakfast or just after--quick, snag them before they run off!): we light a candle and read aloud either, from Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts (MCTLA), Music of the Hemispheres, or, from Sonlight Core 5, All the Small Poems (and Fourteen More), and then the day's portion of our Core 5 read-aloud book. This week: Seabird, by Holling C. Holling. I usually have the older two write down the "words to know" from the Sonlight read-aloud guide. J.J. likes to join in and tends to illustrate his words.

After reading together, Jazz and Jane are off to their workboxes, and J.J. is off to Legoland-in-the-Living-Room. His workboxes are filled with Montessori activities and Five-in-a-Row (FIAR) books, but right now we get to those when the spirit moves one or the other of us.

Workbox #1: Both of the older two are doing another round of Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting, with a focus on cursive. In the past, Jazz learned the serifs that go with the cursive italic letters, but somehow never got in the habit of connecting the letters, so his handwriting is spiky, and since he writes quite small, it can be difficult to decipher. Soon I'm hoping to alternate handwriting and copywork.

Workbox #2: Sonlight Core 5's Eastern Hemisphere Explorer. I had debated about using this part of the curriculum, but am very glad I went ahead and bought it. Used in conjunction with World Book Encyclopedia 2010 software (which has a fun Mussorgsky intro. that sent us down a rabbit trail for a bit), the guide challenges students to find out a little bit of information each day about the region they are studying. For instance, yesterday's task was to compare and contrast three regions of islands in the Pacific (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia). They also get to "choose an adventure," to be completed by the end of that region's study, which can take the form of a detailed drawing, a mini-report, the preparation of a meal, a mock journal entry, or another out-of-the-ordinary task to tie up what they've learned.

This workbox also contains a Book of Time for each kid. More on this later. . .

Workbox #3: Jane is continuing with Writing with Ease, while right now Jazz has Sonlight's How to Do a Research Project to read while we wait for Grammar Town to get here (should be arriving on the Big Brown Truck any day now). I was going to split the levels and go with Grammar Voyage, since Jazz already has a pretty solid background in grammar, thanks to First Language Lessons, levels 3 and 4, but decided to keep everything in the same level and use Grammar Town as a refresher course. There's nothing like coming at a subject from a different angle to help make things stick in the ol' noggin.

Workbox #4: Jazz is loving Caesar's English so far. Michael Clay Thompson's word roots curriculum is far, far different than traditional vocabulary programs like Wordly Wise, or even Vocabulary from Classical Roots, which we also really liked last year. Thompson's love for language resonates on every page, inspiring students to love it, too. Jane has her Sonlight reader in box #4--this week it's Henry Reed, Inc.

Workbox #5: I've given Jane the Writing Skills book by Diana Hanbury King that Jazz used for a bit, but am not sure this is a great match for her. I'm sorely tempted by the Island level of MCTLA, but feel like I have already donated a kidney to Royal Fireworks Press and need to wait until it grows back before I can order from that company again. She probably gets enough (for now) from Writing with Ease (narration, copywork, dictation, and narration, in four-day cycles), so this box will probably become the First Language Lessons box.

Jazz has his pseudo-Sonlight reader in this box. Pseudo because a) he reads at a much higher level than most of the Core 5 books, but mostly because b) he and his sister would find something to fight about if they were reading the same book at the same time. This week, instead of Henry Reed, Inc, he's reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, which we somehow missed in the past, to go with the seafaring theme of both Seabird and the Pacific Island region of Core 5's first couple of weeks. Jazz also has a few pages of Ships, Sailors, and the Sea to read each day, and that book is kept here, too. ("Why do I have to read two books in this box?" said in his best petulant twelve-year-old voice. I immediately pictured him curled up in the box, reading. Somehow, the humor didn't translate.)

And that's it for this week. I'm currently gathering ideas for next week's "fun" learning, which will hopefully include some Polynesian cooking (using Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen and Kids Around the World Cook) the making of tissue paper flowers, and very likely the viewing of a surfing DVD or two. Workboxes #6 through #9 will be added eventually, and will have science, Latin, art, music, and hopefully foreign language in them at some point.

2010-09-02T07:47:00.002-04:00

You know you're a homeschooling parent when. . .

2010-08-14T21:09:00.001-04:00

. . . you've just made Pineapple-Beet-Ginger-Lime juice, you want to try a tiny bit of tequila with it to see if it would make a nice apéritif, and you run to the closet to get a (clean) pipet from your science supply box to put a couple of droppersful in your glass.

Along with this tasty concoction, DH and I had the recreation of a spinach-watermelon-blueberry-goat cheese salad we eaten recently at a local restaurant (sans red onions, yuck), with the addition of toasted pecans, as suggested by my friend Lynne. Healthy and delicious--gotta love that combination.

Books as birthday gifts for kids

2010-07-15T09:16:00.002-04:00

I love giving books as gifts, but every once in a while I'll find a combination book/toy gift that is a real winner; for example, a set of pentominoes with Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett (Jazz and I have loved all three of her books that have been published so far and are anxiously awaiting a new one from her).

Here is my latest favorite combo, and it was a big hit with JaneG. just last week:

The gift was Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Douglas Toys' red dragon. JaneG. will sit with both book and dragon in her lap and is currently devouring the story.

Poetry Friday: Mary Oliver (b.1935)

2010-07-09T00:01:00.004-04:00

Breakage
by Mary Oliver

I go down to the edge of the sea.

How everything shines in the morning light!

The cusp of the whelk,

the broken cupboard of the clam,

the opened, blue mussels,

moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred—

and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split,

dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone.

It's like a schoolhouse

of little words,

thousands of words.

First you figure out what each one means by itself,

the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop

full of moonlight.

Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story.

Poetry Friday is being hosted today at Carol's Corner. Check it out!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T16:54:00.001-04:00

Eastern Hemisphere books

2010-06-27T15:31:00.002-04:00

I'm in the process of replacing some books within Sonlight's Core 5, which is probably the hardest Core to secularize, due to the emphasis on missions and missionaries. I picked a good one to start with, it seems. But the subject matter (the Eastern Hemisphere) held the most appeal for my kids, and the non-missionary books all seem to be excellent titles, so away we go!

Here is what I've got so far:

To replace 100 Gateway Cities and the Unreached Peoples dvd, we're going to use Material World: a Global Family Portait, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, Women in the Material World, Houses and Homes around the World, and possibly some of Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days, which is currently available through Netflix streaming.

To replace or supplement (I haven't decided which yet) Sonlight's Eastern Hemisphere Explorer, I'm looking at McDougal Littell's Eastern Hemisphere middle school text, the Enchantment of the World series, and/or the Trail Guide to World Geography. The 2003 version of the McDougal Littell student text is available chapter-by-chapter in a pdf version here.

Another book we'll be substituting that is central to this core is called Exploring Planet Earth. We already have the Usborne Explorers book, so we'll use that, but I'm planning to take a look at Around the World in A Hundred Years, Explorers Who Got Lost, and the NatGeo publication Exploration Experience, which uses primary source materials and reminds me of those 'ology books that were so popular a few years ago (though it's not listed in the children's section).

From what I can tell without the Instructor's Guide in front of me just yet, Torches of Joy is one of the first read-alouds, if not the very first. The book tells of the Dani people of Irian Jaya, who were a Stone Age tribe that first came into contact with "modern" people in 1960, from the perspective of a missionary couple who traveled there to convert the native people to Christianity. While there does seem to be one secular children's book about the Dani (The Fighting for Survival: the Dani of Irian, by Liz Thompson, 1998) , it is OOP and not available anywhere that I could find. I'm thinking there must be a National Geographic issue about the tribe from the 1960's, but my cd-rom drive is down so I can't check our Complete National Geographic (Every Issue Since 1888). So far I am planning to substitute with Indonesian folktales such as The Gift of the Crocodile (an Indonesian Cinderella story), The Adventures of Mouse Deer or Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, and possibly parts of Child of the Jungle, a true account of the daughter of linguist parents who grew up among the Fayu tribe in western Papua New Guinea, and with websites like this one from PapuaTrekking.com and a DVD called Cosmos Global: Dani, which claims to be "global edu-tainment."

More at a later date. . .

Book Sharing Monday - Ulysses Moore, farewell!

2010-06-21T14:28:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I posted about an audiobook we were planning to listen to, The Door to Time. Originally written in Italian by P.D. Baccalario, the series is comprised of nine books. Four of them have been translated into English, and the publisher, Scholastic, doesn't plan to translate the rest of the books! (Insert much weeping and gnashing of teeth here.)

We are currently listening to disc two (of four) in the last translated book, The Isle of Masks. The series has been fun and engaging for all three of my children (who range in age from 5 to 12, with quite different personalities and tastes), and I've enjoyed listening along, as well, plus we've recommended the series to other families, some of whom got a taste of the story by being in the car with my children going somewhere or other over the course of the last few weeks.

Paul Debraski, librarian and blog author of I Just Read About That, is trying to get a grass roots campaign going to convince Scholastic to translate and publish the remaining books in the series. The contact person at Scholastic is Linda Schenker, and she can be reached at LSchenker@Scholastic.com. Visit Paul's site to see what he had to say to her. I've already sent email to both Scholastic and Brilliance Audio, who release the audiobooks here in the U.S., but plan to send another email to Scholastic addressed specifically to Ms. Schenker and one to Scholastic UK (SCBenquiries@scholastic.co.uk), just to cover all my bases.

I was thinking we might have to learn Italian as a family to finish the rest of the series, but books 5 & 6 have been translated into French and German (and are available through amazon.co.uk), as well, so we may very well have several options for foreign language study now. I had a year of French in college, but we have several German-speaking friends, so I don't know which is the best way to go. Jazz is, of course, hoping the books will be a) translated into Japanese and b) made into a movie by Hayao Miyazaki. ☺

Book Sharing Monday is hosted by Serendipity Homeschool.