Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Reading, Reading, Reading!

Hannah just loves to read. She reads through a book passionately and then searches for more. Many of her books are like good friends. She comes back to them again and again, reading them until she could recite the story from memory.

I should have suspected that she would be like this. After all, she had memorized the entire "Hungry Caterpillar," word for word, before she reached her second birthday. Moreover, I was an avid reader, too. In early elementary school, I discovered the Nancy Drew series and read them one by one until I had finished my mom's entire collection.

I remember reading "The Wind in the Willows" over the course of about an hour when I was a kid, and my mom did not believe me when I told her I had finished the book. She began flipping through the pages and asking me questions about the story. I answered every one!

Recently, the same situation occurred with me and Hannah. I purchased her the first book in the Magic Treehouse series, and she read it, cover to cover, in an hour and a half. I started quizzing her about the plot and the different chapters, and she could answer all of my questions! She has since read and enjoyed two more books in the series. Actually, she reads whatever she can get her hands on for several hours every day.

I am thrilled at her love for books! I know the feeling of infatuation when reading a good story, a quickening of the pulse when I open the book to read and a sadness when I must put the book away for a time. I know the heartache of finishing a well-loved story and wishing that it didn't have to end, that I could enter the story and continue to interact with the "friends" I had grown to love. In fact, part of me secretly enjoys the opportunity to reread my favorite childhood stories with her. I almost feel as if I am returning home after a long absence and finding that, indeed, nothing has changed! Can I confess that I am looking forward to having an excuse to read Nancy Drew again?

I am glad to pass that passion on to my daughter, who is like me in so many ways. I hope that I can continue to cultivate her appreciation for the written word, and that she will carry it with her into adulthood. Maybe someday, if she has a family, she will one day reopen these books and remember the familiar delight of being a carefree, imaginative, five-year-old child.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Creative Writing

Hannah has begun to appreciate the fun of creative writing. I am amazed at the improvement in her journal entries since the beginning of this year. Her first journal about roller coasters had no punctuation, poor spelling, and few spaces between words. I can really see how her grasp of the written language has blossomed over the past few months.

In this first entry, she wrote about our trip to Apple Hill Orchard:


She wrote, "One day we went to apple hill. there where no apples. we ran in the grass. and we aete cider pops." Translation: "One day, we went to Apple Hill. There were no apples. We ran in the grass, and we ate cider pops." Not bad at all! In case the picture is difficult to decipher, she drew a sunny day, a tan cider pop, a tree with a large trunk and an apple crossed off, and apples all over the ground under the tree!

Her next creative writing assignment came from School Zone's Big Second Grade Workbook. We talked about superheroes like Spider Man and Super Man and then brainstormed together about what kind of superhero she would like to create. I helped her with spelling for this activity, but this is what we invented (click on the picture to see it larger):


For her next project, I think I will work with her to write down one of the many fantastic stories she makes up while playing, and I will print it on cardstock so she can write and illustrate her own book.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Apples and Owls

This weekend, we went apple picking. The problem? There were no apples left on the trees to pick! When we found out, the kids seemed on the verge of a meltdown, so we let them "pick" apples from the bins in the store instead. Then, I discovered the freezer full of "cider pops" - homemade popsicles made from fresh apple cider. Yum! They really enjoyed their cider pops!

Hannah is in the middle of writing a journal entry about the weekend. She suddenly seems excited about writing, and I want to encourage that. When I told her she had to write one story in her journal today, instead of complaining, she told me that she wanted to write three stories instead! I'll post it once she finishes it so she can describe our weekend in her own words...

Today, the theme at preschool was owls. I made Ben this lovely "mask" for show and tell. The eyes are the size that his eyes would be if he were an owl (about the size of softballs). His teacher says he explained it pretty well to the class and that they enjoyed the lesson. Doesn't he make a cute owl?

Where homeschooling is just a small part of becoming life-long learners.