Olympics are a-comin'

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To go on my "mad money" list

Just in case you don't read Cyrillic, the composers are, left to right, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Mussorgsky, and Scriabin.

Winter copywork

This time around I had a little more time to select passages for copywork, so I chose some passages that mention winter, snow, or ice from children's books instead of relying on thinkexist or Bartleby for material.  I tried to pick short excerpts that showed a good use of visual imagery or word rhythm.  Once again, I wanted different copywork selections for the eleven-year-old and the eight-year-old, so material and length vary.


 

If any of you happens to find these documents useful, I'd love to hear about it--please drop me a line in the comments section!

Two favorites, together.

Science and music, melded beautifully.  Thanks to Suji for posting about these videos on the Living Science list.  I *love* watching and listening to them.  Here is the latest video, "The Unbroken Thread," featuring David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, and Jane Goodall:

What you will. . .

Twelfth Night is almost upon us--let there be mirth and laughter!  There seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether or not the holiday is January 5th or 6th (the 12th day is the 6th, of course), but we will celebrate it whenever the movie of the same name (the 1996 version) arrives from Netflix (since someone else has checked it out from the library right now).  In addition to movie watching,  here are some resources for the related Shakespeare play that we will be using today and tomorrow:

Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb. In this narrative version of the Bard's plays, Twelfth Night is sixteen pages long, and the language used is that of the authors, i.e., that of early nineteenth century England.  It is, however, easier to read than a novel written for adults around the same time, as the authors wrote it for children, and I find it particularly engaging.  I found the book in my middle school's library and devoured it almost in one sitting at about age twelve or so.  The entire book is available at Bartleby.com, and Twelfth Night can be found here.

Many people prefer the retellings in Shakespeare Stories I and II by Leon Garfield (and illustrated by Michael Foreman), as, in addition to more current language (first published in 1985 and 1994, respectively), there are some fun black-and-white pictures in and amongst the text, as well as some truly gorgeous full-color, full page illustrations placed sporadically throughout the book.  Twelfth Night has the distinction of being the first story in the first volume, and is twenty pages long.  I will likely choose this version to read aloud with my five- and eight-year-olds, but will give the Lamb to DS (almost twelve) in one of his workboxes tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes.  : )

The only movie version (the one from 1996) I have seen stars Imogen Stubbs as Viola/Cesario, Bellatrix Lestrange Helena Bonham Carter as the fair Olivia, and Ben Kingsley as a most excellent Feste.  But, there are at least a couple of others, including an animated version (on disc four of the set), one from the BBC (1979), and one directed by and starring Kenneth Branaugh (1988).

There are seven songs in Twelfth Night, and many, if not all, can be found in various incarnations.  In the play, four of the songs are sung by Feste, and three by Sir Toby.  Of the seven, I'd guess "O Mistress Mine" is the most popular text chosen by composers, and the one found in the 1996 movie (sung by Ben Kingsley) is particularly charming:



But there is also a fairly new choral setting (2001) by Romanian composer György Orbán (b. 1947) that appears with regularity on concert programs:



Sung by Chicago a cappella in this 2005 recording.  Text below:

O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and hear! your true love's coming
    That can sing both high and low;
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journeys end in lovers' meeting--
     Every wise man's son doth know.

What is love? 'tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
    What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,--
Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty,
     Youth's a stuff will not endure.

Good finds of the week. . .

. . . and it's only Monday!


1. Thanks to Sheila for letting me know that Joshua Bell is featured in this month's Bon Appetit magazine.  An interview by Amy Albert can be read here.  The illustration (right) is by Masa.


2. Ten Dollar Dinners is a new cooking show on Food Network that the kids and I discovered after watching a marathon of "The Next Food Network Star" on New Year's Eve and Day (the show is the winner's "prize").  While I'm not sure our Massachusetts prices will allow me to make all of the meals for under ten dollars, I was pleasantly surprised to look at the recipes available and realize that a) most of the ingredients are ones I have on hand, b) most of the recipes contain foods my kids eat, and c) with a few minor modifications I can actually eat most of the foods prepared as directed (I don't eat eggs or soy in any form, and limit my dairy intake).  


Toujours bon appetit!

New Year's Copywork

Just a few for this week, then we'll move on to winter copywork (coming soon).

New Year's Copywork

Transitioning

Favorites of mine in 2009

Music:

At Home with Friends, by Joshua Bell, et. al.
If on a Winter's Night, by Sting

Requiem, by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Books:

The Language of Bees, by Laurie R. King (King's Mary Russell novels are perennial favorites of mine). Book trailer:

Austenland, by Shannon Hale

Graceling and Fire, both by Kristin Cashore

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart

TV:

Glee (Yeah, I know--me and the rest of the world.)

honorable mention: Castle. I've seen the first two episodes, and I think there's some potential. The chemistry between Mal Castle and Beckett is pretty convincing, and it's early days (in my viewing history, anyway).

Movies:

Ponyo

Star Trek

Homeschooling resources (mine):

For the almost twelve-year-old: Complete-a-Sketch; Life of Fred
For the eight-year-old: Writing with Ease, by Susan Wise Bauer
For the five-year-old: anything involving clothespins or playdough

For all three of them: workboxes

Homeschooling (the kids'):

David Macaulay dvds

Professor Noggin's card games

The Children's Homer, by Padraic Colum

Biographies (Mary Anning, Charles Darwin, and Bindi Irwin come to mind)

Food:

Beets and goat cheese. Friends Lynne and Stephen introduced me to these two ingredients fixed together, in the form of crostini, which I then recreated at home. Beets are delicious! I had no idea, since my mother grew up eating them to the point of nausea in WWII-era Virginia, and refused to make them once she was in charge of the kitchen. My crostini had chopped wild arugula instead of the watercress Stephen used (though I think I liked the 'cress better), as the watercress I found didn't look good to begin with, and certainly didn't improve after a few days in the refrigerator.

Chicken with Saffron Rice. I think it's almost time to make this dish again!

Technology:

myPhone. I'm a cliche. I know it.

Chet Raymo's Science Musings blog

Least favorites of 2009

Music: Benjamin Britten's St. Nicolas. I so wanted to love this cantata, but was bored, bored, bored by it.

Books: Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer. I truly enjoyed the middle two books of the series, and liked the first one because of the introduction of the characters, but the last book left a bad taste in my brain.

Movies: I don't remember seeing any movies that were horrible. I know there were some that were not memorable, but can't recall their names or what they were about or. . .

Homeschooling resources (I didn't have any least favorites--these are the kids'):

Type to Learn 3

Brainware Safari

Food : Carmelized Red Onion and Fig Dip. Ugh. DH picked it up at the local foodie haven. I think it's my turn to go there next.

Personal: Turning forty. Not so much the age, but the fact that I didn't recognize the birthday with any pomp and circumstance, which I didn't do because I didn't want to be stressed out planning and running a party in the middle of the summer. Since forty-two is the meaning of life, perhaps I'll celebrate then, instead. ☺

What I'm looking forward to most in 2010

Music: Getting to sing the Duruflé Requiem, along with songs by Eric Whitacre and John Corigliano

Books:

The God of the Hive, by Laurie R. King (April)

A River in the Sky, by Elizabeth Peters (April)

The Black Cat, by Martha Grimes (April). I'm hoping the author has regained her sense of fun, which has been sadly lacking from the last several Richard Jury novels.

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCall Smith (January)

Aunt Dimity Down Under, by Nancy Atherton (February)

Steamed--a Steampunk Romance, by Katie MacAlister (February)

Also looking forward to reading La's Orchestra Saves the World, by Alexander McCall Smith; The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins; and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, though all three of these have already been released (and are currently in my house, waiting for me to read them).

Movies:

The Young Victoria (came out in December but not out locally yet): Emily Blunt

Leap Year (January): Amy Adams (Enchanted, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Julie & Julia)

The Lightning Thief (February)

Letters to Juliet (May): Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia)

Paris (September) : Juliette Binoche

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 (November)

honorable mentions: Valentine's Day, with a huge cast list including Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Garner, Hector Elizondo, and many, many more; and Beastly, which has only a teaser so far, but I'm a sucker for retold fairy tales, so I have hopes for it.

TV: Joss Whedon directing an episode of Glee? Did I read that right? Could be cool.

Homeschooling resources: Brave Writer's Writer's Jungle. I'm reading it. And even planning to implement it. Wish me all kinds of luck. Please.

New year, new goals:

more yoga

more walking

more (any) strength training

more hanging out with friends

more adventures (and less stressing about them)

How about you, friends (if you've made it all the way down here to the end of what turned out to be a very lo-o-o-ng post)? What were your favorites and least favorites in 2009? What are your goals for 2010?

Christmas Workboxes - Pt. 2

Two books featured prominently in the kids' workboxes over the last week or so.

DD (8) throughly enjoyed Christmas around the World, by Mary D. Lankford. In the first section of the book, the traditions of twelve different countries are highlighted, with each country receiving a two-page spread. The countries covered are Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, The Philippines, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska). The second part of the book features crafts from window stars to pinecone pine trees (to be attempted this week--wish us luck!). A glossary of terms from advent to yule, a pronunciation guide, a list of Christmas superstitions (e.g., wearing new shoes on Christmas Dy will bring bad luck), a bibliography, and an index fill out the remainder of the book.

I gave an unabridged copy of A Christmas Carol--Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, by Charles Dickens, and gorgeously illustrated by P.J. Lynch, to DS (11) to read over the course of last week, and it made its way out of the workbox up to the top bunk in the boys' room, which is always a good sign. When the book was finished, DS read a short biographical sketch about Dickens from abcteach and answered some reading comprehension questions to go along with it. Now I'm searching to see if there is a "real" biography of Dickens out there that is both engaging to and appropriate for an almost-twelve-year-old. Two I'm looking at are Tales for Hard Times, by David R. Collins, and Dickens (The Great Writers), by Nicola Barber.

A couple of read-alouds this week: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by Frank L. Baum (oh, the rich language in this one!), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, by Dr. Seuss, to prove to DD (8) that the Grinch is not as scary as Jim Carrey's creepy interpretation in the live action movie, which she has never seen except in commercials. But she did get completely freaked when the Grinch slithered his way across the screen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade one year, and that was it--no more Grinch for her. I'm hoping that the read-aloud combined with the gentler animated version from 1965 will get her past her prejudice, as the story is one of my all-time holiday favorites.

Not 'Twas the Night. . .

. . . but pretty intriguing, at least as I've listened so far. An original, specially commissioned dramatic narrative series, Tim Slover's Christmas Chronicles is available at Classical 89. The story tells "a true and complete history of Santa Claus."

Music Monday - Favorite Holiday Music No. 14

From his 2008 CD What a Night!, here is Harry Connick, Jr. singing "Please Come Home for Christmas" on the Today show. The song starts about a minute and half into the video. Matt and Harry have a little banter with each other first.

Happy Holidays

King Winter has arrived. . .

. . . for real this time. Happy, happy kids here.

Workbox Wednesday, Christmas edition, Pt. 1

The children were nestled, all snug in their beds,

While Mom ran around, going out of her head. . .

A familiar scene to many homeschooling parents, and workbox users in particular, I'm sure. ☺

Tonight my mission was to get Christmas copywork up and running, and, by tinsel, now I can rest . . . for the moment.

For this round of copywork, I gathered quotations and parts of poems, Christmas carols, and prose to use for DS (12 in January) and DD (8). While I pulled largely from the internet, I did check sources when I could, and included authors and publication dates as available. The font size is larger than the Thanksgiving copywork I posted for some reason--Microsoft Word tells me both documents use the same size and font, but I beg to differ. Anyway, if anyone would like to use these secular Christmas selections, please do so, and let me know if you have any problems downloading them.

Christmas Copywork

Music Monday - Favorite Holiday Music No. 13

It's that time of year again. The Christmas issue of BBC Music Magazine arrived today, and I've been enjoying taking a look at "Choirs at Christmas," the cover article, plus I can't wait to delve into "Bleak Midwinters," which views how composers create music that brings frosty weather to life.

But until I get a chance to sit down with a cup of tea and the magazine in a clean, well-lit place (that happens to be quiet, too, my first requirement), I'll have to rely on recent experiences to share some new favorite holiday music.

Just yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing several friends sing in a local "Christmas chorus" concert. The program featured French carols, and, besides Noël Nouvelet, a favorite I wrote about last year, one of songs the group sang was The Basque Carol, or Gabriel's Message. One reason my ears perked up when this song started was that it is also on Sting's new CD, If on a Winter's Night. While the traditional arrangement that the chorus sang is lovely in and of itself, what Sting has done with the song makes it sound both more introspective than the usual hymn-like form the song takes and also reflective of what is probably the melody's origin: 12th or 13th century chant.

An interesting compare-and-contrast exercise is listening, in succession, to Sting's 2009 version of the carol, and his 1989 version, on the multi-artist CD, A Very Special Christmas.

While both have their merits (nostalgia being foremost when I listen to the one from two decades ago), I have a decided preference for the later one.

Another new favorite from Sting's 2009 CD is the second track, There is No Rose of Such Virtue, which, like Gabriel's Message, also has its roots in the Middles Ages, though this song likely began in a royal court rather than a monastery. Beginning with a quiet open fifth drone, Sting uses his newly-outed baritone voice to sing an entire verse virtually unaccompanied. And then the world beat kicks in and it becomes a whole new, gorgeously presented song. Even after listening to it a few dozen times, I still feel a little zing when the song transitions.

Workbox Wednesday, Thanksgiving edition

Thanksgiving has been the workbox theme around here since last week, and here a few samples.

Copywork slips with Thanksgiving quotes can be found in this cornucopia basket, which was my grandmother's.

I chose to give different quotes to each of my older two kids, so I stamped each slip with either a leaf or an apple and made sure they knew whose was whose. The writing paper is from abcteach.

DD (8) has some alone time with her grandmother tomorrow so I'm leaving this hinged puppet project in her last workbox; from History Pockets: Life in Plymouth Colony.

Thanksgiving-themed verbal analogies from Enchanted Learning. DS (11) is getting the Thanksgiving version of a "grammar potpourri" worksheet from that same site in one of tomorrow's boxes.

Word problems having to do with Thanksgiving from abcteach are keeping both kids' math skills sharp while we take a little break from Right Start Math. We'll hop right back into the curricula as soon as December 1st rolls around.

Schlessinger Media DVDs are great--we were lucky enough to get this one (Early Settlers) and one about Plimouth Plantation via interlibrary loan to watch this week. Wish this company would start streaming videos, and soon!

A few of the many Thanksgiving books that have made their way into the boxes in the past week or so.

Squanto's Journey, by Joseph Bruchac

Thank You, Sarah--The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving, by Laurie Halse Anderson

The First Thanksgiving, by Jean Craighead George

The New Americans (part of The American Story series), by Betsy and Giulio Maestro

I'll post more as time allows.

Thanksgiving copywork

Here is my first attempt at using Scribd to post a pdf. Let me know if it works! Below is a list of mostly secular Thanksgiving quotations that my kids are using for copywork as we get close to Thanksgiving. I printed them out, cut them into individual slips, and put them in a basket for the kids to choose from each day.

Thanksgiving Copywork

Thanksgiving, by Amelia A. Barr (1831-1919)

Thanksgiving

by Amelia A. Barr

"Have you cut the wheat in the blowing fields,

The barley, the oats, and the rye,

The golden corn and the pearly rice?

For the winter days are nigh."

"We have reaped them all from shore to shore,

And the grain is safe on the threshing floor."

"Have you gathered the berries from the vine,

And the fruit from the orchard trees?

The dew and the scent from the roses and thyme,

In the hive of the honeybees?"

"The peach and the plum and the apple are ours,

And the honeycomb from the scented flowers."

"The wealth of the snowy cotton field

And the gift of the sugar cane,

The savory herb and the nourishing root—

There has nothing been given in vain."

"We have gathered the harvest from shore to shore,

And the measure is full and brimming o'er."

"Then lift up the head with a song!

And lift up the hand with a gift!

To the ancient Giver of all

The spirit in gratitude lift!

For the joy and the promise of spring,

For the hay and the clover sweet,

The barley, the rye, and the oats,

The rice, and the corn, and the wheat,

The cotton, and sugar, and fruit,

The flowers and the fine honeycomb,

The country so fair and so free,

The blessings and glory of home."

I was reminded of this poem by Living Books Curriculum's Holiday Helper: Thanksgiving, which is this week's free download from CurrClick. Victorian romance author Amelia Barr is best known for "Remember the Alamo" (1888).

Wordless Wednesday - Red Apple Farm

So my husband walks into a Starbucks. . .

. . . and what does he see but a brand new Sting cd.

Sting. With a beard. Singing one of my favorite Christmas carols ever, along with a host of other songs to bring cheer on a winter's night. My day just got a whole lot better.