One thing I am learning to like about homeschooling is the flexibility. I do need to cover certain topics and complete a certain number of hours of school, but I am permitted to choose how to accomplish these things.
I have never before appreciated this flexibility as much as I have this week. Last weekend, I performed in a Christmas play at church. Due to my crazy schedule, we completed a lighter load of school work, and I figured that I could put in some extra hours this week instead, before beginning Christmas break on Monday. Well, my "break" came a little earlier (and a little differently) than I had planned.
On Sunday afternoon, after my final performance, we prepared to open Christmas presents with my family, since they had decided to visit for the weekend of the play. As I stepped off of the bottom step in my house, I felt my weak right ankle - the one I sprained this summer - roll under, and I knew instantly that I had sprained it pretty badly again. I stepped down with my left foot to catch myself, and I felt that ankle roll underneath me as well, with a little pop. I fell to the ground, and I reached down to grab my left ankle, realizing immediately that the bones were not all where they belonged and that I had definitely broken it. After my instant panic and yelling, I calmed down enough to make a rational decision about heading to the ER, feeling very grateful that my parents were able to stay with the kids.
I will spare the gory details, but my leg definitely broke, in two different places, and that ankle has enough instability that I need surgery on Monday to repair it. I will be off my feet for many weeks, especially since my "good ankle" is badly sprained as well. Needless to say, this is not the kind of "break" I had been anticipating. However, instead of feeling angry and depressed and sad, I have been overwhelmed with God's blessings.
First, I have been forced to rest and allow other people to serve me, particularly my husband. This has not been easy, but it has allowed me to see the incredible love that he has for me. Instead of whining and complaining, he has taken care of me with compassion and kindness, even though that means taking care of everything I need, including helping me bathe and getting up in the middle of the night to help me to the bathroom.
I have also seen the amazing, selfless love poured out by my church family. People bring meals to eat and meals to freeze for later. They return library books, pick up groceries, and play with my kids. One person found me a wheelchair to use for a while. Another person is bringing movies and paper plates. Someone I didn't even know by name wrote down my phone number and plans to come over and do laundry after my surgery! God is showing me how the body of Christ is supposed to function and is inspiring me to pour out the same blessings on others.
Finally, I have confidence that my accident, my "unexpected break," did not surprise God at all. He knew about it and even worked circumstances together to make it as smooth as possible - my parents were visiting for a few days, the play was over, I had already decorated the house completely... Even small details have worked out in ways I never expected. Because of this, I have quite a bit of peace about my upcoming surgery and recovery, even though I know it will not be easy. If God planned everything else so well, then surely I can trust him with those details too.
So, Christmas break in our house has begun a little early, and I don't think the kids feel too disappointed about that. I am actually looking forward to picking back up in January, too, when I am still off my feet and we all have cabin fever. I will be thankful then, as well, for the flexibility of schooling that allows me to teach from the comfort of my sofa, with my leg propped up on pillows, cuddling with my kids as we continue to learn and study. Most of all, though, I am thankful for a God who knows exactly what I need - even if that is an "unexpected break."
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Strolling Through China
For the past couple of weeks, our geography curriculum has focused on China. We colored and labeled maps, explored China on the globe, and read through a few non-fiction books and a student atlas from the library. The kids learned what the flag means and colored the flag for their geography notebooks, and I pulled out an old BBC movie about pandas for them to watch. They have learned quite a bit about the country.
On our visit to the library, I also decided to get out a handful of fiction books about China to add some literature to our geography study. The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wise takes place on the Yangtze River, which the kids labeled on their maps. The Empty Pot by Demi tells about an emperor seeking his replacement and teaches about honesty and the courage to do what is right. Huy Von Lee has written a wonderful series of books teaching Chinese characters and where they come from, for example, how the symbol for fire looks like a little campfire. We chose In the Leaves because it focuses on autumn and harvest time, and it fit in well with the time of year. However, I found another favorite book in the new edition of The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen. The story begins by telling about an emperor's blind daughter and the search for something that might help her see. An elderly man treks to the inner city with his special "seeing stick" that helps the young girl see - not with her eyes but with her hands. The illustrations are stunning, black and white in the beginning and becoming colorful and vibrant by the end. And, the end of the story is simple and lovely. I think I will be adding this book to my Christmas list!
Additionally, when I purchased my geography curriculum this summer, I stumbled across a kids' cookbook with simple recipes and activities from all over the world. The book's section on China includes instructions on making your own chopsticks and writing numbers 1-10 in Chinese. I decided that the chopsticks activity would better suit older children, but we did practice writing the numbers.
As a new family tradition, every Friday night, we have family game night, so we turned this past Friday into our "China party." The cookbook had two delicious and very easy Chinese recipes - honey-glazed chicken wings and birthday noodles with peanut sauce. On Friday morning, the kids and I made the noodles, so we could serve them cold as the recipe indicated, and we prepared the marinade for the chicken. Friday evening, I broiled the chicken and made a salad with an Asian dressing, and we all ate a delicious Chinese dinner. We even ate with chopsticks (the kids at least tried!) and had fortune cookies for dessert. For our game night, we taught the kids how to play Chinese checkers. It was such a fun way to learn about China!
Finally, we are beginning to wrap up our study so we can move on to the next country. I may still spend a little time discussing the Chinese new year and learning about parades, but we are just about finished. At this pace, I think we are strolling, rather than "galloping" around the globe, but I feel sure that the kids will remember these experiences, instead of packing them away at the end of the year with their old notebooks and completed worksheets. Their learning has not been all fun and games, but the fun and games have definitely helped with their learning!
On our visit to the library, I also decided to get out a handful of fiction books about China to add some literature to our geography study. The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wise takes place on the Yangtze River, which the kids labeled on their maps. The Empty Pot by Demi tells about an emperor seeking his replacement and teaches about honesty and the courage to do what is right. Huy Von Lee has written a wonderful series of books teaching Chinese characters and where they come from, for example, how the symbol for fire looks like a little campfire. We chose In the Leaves because it focuses on autumn and harvest time, and it fit in well with the time of year. However, I found another favorite book in the new edition of The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen. The story begins by telling about an emperor's blind daughter and the search for something that might help her see. An elderly man treks to the inner city with his special "seeing stick" that helps the young girl see - not with her eyes but with her hands. The illustrations are stunning, black and white in the beginning and becoming colorful and vibrant by the end. And, the end of the story is simple and lovely. I think I will be adding this book to my Christmas list!
Additionally, when I purchased my geography curriculum this summer, I stumbled across a kids' cookbook with simple recipes and activities from all over the world. The book's section on China includes instructions on making your own chopsticks and writing numbers 1-10 in Chinese. I decided that the chopsticks activity would better suit older children, but we did practice writing the numbers.
As a new family tradition, every Friday night, we have family game night, so we turned this past Friday into our "China party." The cookbook had two delicious and very easy Chinese recipes - honey-glazed chicken wings and birthday noodles with peanut sauce. On Friday morning, the kids and I made the noodles, so we could serve them cold as the recipe indicated, and we prepared the marinade for the chicken. Friday evening, I broiled the chicken and made a salad with an Asian dressing, and we all ate a delicious Chinese dinner. We even ate with chopsticks (the kids at least tried!) and had fortune cookies for dessert. For our game night, we taught the kids how to play Chinese checkers. It was such a fun way to learn about China!
Finally, we are beginning to wrap up our study so we can move on to the next country. I may still spend a little time discussing the Chinese new year and learning about parades, but we are just about finished. At this pace, I think we are strolling, rather than "galloping" around the globe, but I feel sure that the kids will remember these experiences, instead of packing them away at the end of the year with their old notebooks and completed worksheets. Their learning has not been all fun and games, but the fun and games have definitely helped with their learning!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Explorer Camp
What a busy autumn we have had! We traveled nearly every weekend in October - to Grove City College for our homecoming and Josh's reunion, to Josh's family's house for a fall festival, and to my parents' cabin in Pennsylvania for a nice visit. In between, we squeezed in Hannah's seventh birthday party, too! Part of our travels included one of my favorite homeschooling weeks so far - "Explorer Camp" at my parents' cabin.
The kids and I packed the car and left home on a Monday morning for the long drive to Pennsylvania. After a somewhat crazy car ride, which we spent listening to our Chronicles of Narnia radio dramas, we arrived at the cabin early in the evening, and the kids helped me unload the car. I placed a cardboard sign on the cabin's door, labeling it as our "Base Camp" for the week.
Because of the light drizzle, I let the kids watch Winged Migration while I made dinner and organized our things. Fortunately, everyone went to bed early to be well rested for the morning's activities.
While they slept, I planned the next day's agenda and created a map of our "base camp." I gave the rooms different names that made the cabin seem more like a camp, and I hung the map on the refrigerator.
Then, I wrote out the schedule for the day and hung it on the fridge as well.
The next day, I began the morning with breakfast and an introduction to Explorer Week. I poured the kids juice in coffee mugs and told them it was "explorer coffee," so they could begin the day like real explorers. This turned out to be one of their favorite parts of the week! Then, in light of our theme, I took our morning devotions each day from Numbers 13-14, which tells the story of the Israelite men exploring the land God promised them. We read and discussed a portion of the story each day during breakfast, and then we moved into the "explorers' lounge" for our lessons, which we referred to as "seminars" or "briefings."
Each day involved some indoor learning. During the week, we studied explorers and Christopher Columbus, eastern forests, autumn and leaves, making and reading maps and globes, finding North using the sun and on a compass, and the geography of the world. All of our curricula seemed to reach a common place at the perfect time for our trip. Our MAPS curriculum introduced real places on the globe, and our science curriculum addressed making and reading maps and finding the points of a compass. At the same time, we began Galloping the Globe by discussing the world and labeling continents and oceans. I also drew quite a bit from a wonderful resource called Woods Walk, which teaches about forests through treks in the woods. Because of the freezing temperatures that week, our indoor work allowed time for the weather to warm a bit before we bundled up and headed outside for our exploration.
The kids loved their time exploring in the woods.
Carrying their explorer notebooks, we hiked in the woods along my parents' stream and behind their pond.
We ran down the road to their property.
And, we climbed up the hill into a Ducks Unlimited project with abatement ponds designed to clean the acidic water contaminated by the mines.
The kids drew pictures and wrote notes about the many things they discovered.
Using a variety of field guides, we identified many of the things we found.
Tree Club Moss in the woods:
Witch Hazel blooming all around:
And, after studying a fallen log...
...we identified two interesting varieties of lichen - British Soldiers and Pyxie Cups:
We also identified many of the fall leaves, tracing them on similar colored construction paper and then cutting them out to make lovely fall leaf collages.
Overall, we had a wonderful week and the kids learned so much more through hands-on experiences and exploration. I think we may make this a seasonal event, except maybe winter (brrr!), so we can see how the forest changes throughout the year. This is the kind of learning that makes homeschooling so much fun!
The kids and I packed the car and left home on a Monday morning for the long drive to Pennsylvania. After a somewhat crazy car ride, which we spent listening to our Chronicles of Narnia radio dramas, we arrived at the cabin early in the evening, and the kids helped me unload the car. I placed a cardboard sign on the cabin's door, labeling it as our "Base Camp" for the week.
Because of the light drizzle, I let the kids watch Winged Migration while I made dinner and organized our things. Fortunately, everyone went to bed early to be well rested for the morning's activities.While they slept, I planned the next day's agenda and created a map of our "base camp." I gave the rooms different names that made the cabin seem more like a camp, and I hung the map on the refrigerator.
Then, I wrote out the schedule for the day and hung it on the fridge as well.
The next day, I began the morning with breakfast and an introduction to Explorer Week. I poured the kids juice in coffee mugs and told them it was "explorer coffee," so they could begin the day like real explorers. This turned out to be one of their favorite parts of the week! Then, in light of our theme, I took our morning devotions each day from Numbers 13-14, which tells the story of the Israelite men exploring the land God promised them. We read and discussed a portion of the story each day during breakfast, and then we moved into the "explorers' lounge" for our lessons, which we referred to as "seminars" or "briefings."Each day involved some indoor learning. During the week, we studied explorers and Christopher Columbus, eastern forests, autumn and leaves, making and reading maps and globes, finding North using the sun and on a compass, and the geography of the world. All of our curricula seemed to reach a common place at the perfect time for our trip. Our MAPS curriculum introduced real places on the globe, and our science curriculum addressed making and reading maps and finding the points of a compass. At the same time, we began Galloping the Globe by discussing the world and labeling continents and oceans. I also drew quite a bit from a wonderful resource called Woods Walk, which teaches about forests through treks in the woods. Because of the freezing temperatures that week, our indoor work allowed time for the weather to warm a bit before we bundled up and headed outside for our exploration.
The kids loved their time exploring in the woods.
Carrying their explorer notebooks, we hiked in the woods along my parents' stream and behind their pond.
We ran down the road to their property.
And, we climbed up the hill into a Ducks Unlimited project with abatement ponds designed to clean the acidic water contaminated by the mines.
The kids drew pictures and wrote notes about the many things they discovered.
Using a variety of field guides, we identified many of the things we found.Tree Club Moss in the woods:
Witch Hazel blooming all around:
And, after studying a fallen log...
...we identified two interesting varieties of lichen - British Soldiers and Pyxie Cups:
We also identified many of the fall leaves, tracing them on similar colored construction paper and then cutting them out to make lovely fall leaf collages.Overall, we had a wonderful week and the kids learned so much more through hands-on experiences and exploration. I think we may make this a seasonal event, except maybe winter (brrr!), so we can see how the forest changes throughout the year. This is the kind of learning that makes homeschooling so much fun!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Autumn at the Zoo
Hannah turned seven on Tuesday, and, as we often do on our kids' birthdays, Josh took the day off, and we took a surprise trip to the zoo. I love visiting the zoo in the fall. First of all, on a weekday, students are in school, and, especially in the afternoons when any school groups have left, we have the zoo nearly to ourselves. The weather was beautiful and sunny, neither too warm nor too cool, and the fall leaves added a splash of lovely color to our day.On such wonderful, warm autumn days, many of the animals move around more, because they are not uncomfortably hot or cold, and the shier animals often come out instead of hiding from the crowds.
This autumn afternoon did not disappoint us! When we reached the flamingo exhibit, we could hear them squawking loudly at each other. Two of the flamingos in the very back had their feathers all ruffled up as they made their raucous noises.
The penguins enjoyed the lovely weather as well.
Birds in the African aviary seemed less afraid to show themselves as we stood quietly in their exhibit. This bird perched quite close to me for a little while.
And, the East African Crowned Cranes strutted around next to the walkway.
The big African cats, more comfortable in warmer weather, appreciated the chance to lounge in the warm fall sunshine.
As we walked through the Australian section of the zoo, we heard nearly deafening screams and wails coming from the gibbon cage nearby. We hurried over to that area and saw that the zookeepers had confined one gibbon in the caged portion of the exhibit while allowing the rest of the group to roam outdoors. Apparently, these apes did not like being separated and loudly expressed their displeasure to the entire zoo! They whooped and wailed and shrieked back and forth to each other, calling to each other in a clamorous frenzy.As we watched, we observed the caged gibbon puffing out his throat like a frog before he howled to the others. After a while, we moved on, partly because their loud noises actually hurt the kids' ears. I told them they often sound like that on their rowdier days. They did not seem to appreciate the comparison...
Heading to the orangutan exhibit, we noticed both auburn apes settling down for a nap. The male climbed to the lower platform with an armful of dried grass.
The female rested herself against the glass with a dreamy expression on her face.
She even looked right at me for a photo!
We wrapped up our visit by heading to Hannah's favorite place - the manatee exhibit. Of course, all three kids had to pose on the sculpture for a picture.
Hannah always loves seeing the sting rays.
This one appeared to like seeing people as well. It swam over to the glass and hovered near Hannah as she watched him. It almost looked like it was smiling, and we could clearly see its many teeth.
Because it was Hannah's birthday, Josh took her to the gift shop and allowed her to pick a small present for herself. She chose a tiny stuffed penguin, just like the baby emperor penguins in the movie March of the Penguins. She named him Fluffers and wrote about him in her journal yesterday. I must say that I am impressed at how accurate her drawing has become, at least when she tries to draw exactly what she sees. Her penguin drawing is pretty impressive, I think, though I may be a bit biased, of course!
The other drawing is a giant tortoise, drawn from memory, so not quite as accurate. Still, I am beginning to think that Hannah may very well become an author and illustrator someday, just as she wrote to Mo Willems.Overall, we enjoyed our autumn trip to the zoo on Tuesday. The animals entertained us, we learned quite a bit, and we also had a lot of fun. Hopefully, we will return to the zoo very soon, perhaps for another fall fun day!
Monday, October 11, 2010
An Enchanting Tale
As part of our morning routine, I have given Hannah pages from a workbook that thoroughly covers grammar and writing skills at a first and second grade level. She has completed all of the grammar lessons and now must apply those concepts to her writing. Today's assignment required her to write a story or a report about a frog or toad. It suggested topics and word choices, but of course, my little author already had plenty of her own creative ideas. After several hours of writing and brainstorming and talking through her ideas, Hannah finished her enchanting tale: "Rainbow Diamond's Wonderful Treehouse."
Here is her story:
Once upon a time there lived a frog who lived in an enchanted forest. She was an enchanted frog. Her name was Rainbow Diamond. Rainbow Diamond is an enchanted name, as you can see. But this was no ordinary forest. The hills were pink, the trees were purple, the flowers were green, and she was all the colors of the rainbow! Unlike other frogs, the only problem in her life was that she couldn't find a home.
Then one day, she lay down in the mud just relaxing and wondering what she should do to have a home. Then, all of a sudden, she saw a rainbow lily pad come floating toward her. She gasped! There on the lily pad was the most wonderful seed! It was all the colors of the rainbow! "Is that seed magic?" she wondered. She did not know that the seed was very magical indeed.
It was so very magical that as soon as she planted it, up grew a house. She was so excited about her house that she didn't see Hannah the fairy come flying toward her. Finally, she noticed Hannah. "Hi, Hannah," croaked Rainbow Diamond.
"Hi, Rainbow Diamond," said Hannah.
Then, Hannah spied the high, enormous treehouse. "What a big treehouse!" said Hannah. "How did you make it?"
"I planted it," answered Rainbow Diamond.
"Let's go for a swim," said Hannah.
"Sure, we can go for a swim," said Rainbow Diamond.
"All right! Yay! Hip hip hurray!" they yelled together.
"Wow! Look at that strange glow," said Rainbow Diamond.
"And I know what it is," said Hannah.
"What?" asked Rainbow Diamond.
"A lamp," said the fairy.
"How did you know?" asked Rainbow Diamond.
"I gave you the seed, and I gave you the lamp. I wanted you to have a rainbow house and a rainbow lamp, just like you. I know that today is your seventh birthday. Happy birthday, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.
"Wow! Thank you, Hannah," said Rainbow Diamond. "What a wonderful friend you are! Would you want to live here with me?"
"Sure, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.
They both lived together in the treehouse for the rest of their lives.
The end.
Here is her story:
Once upon a time there lived a frog who lived in an enchanted forest. She was an enchanted frog. Her name was Rainbow Diamond. Rainbow Diamond is an enchanted name, as you can see. But this was no ordinary forest. The hills were pink, the trees were purple, the flowers were green, and she was all the colors of the rainbow! Unlike other frogs, the only problem in her life was that she couldn't find a home.
Then one day, she lay down in the mud just relaxing and wondering what she should do to have a home. Then, all of a sudden, she saw a rainbow lily pad come floating toward her. She gasped! There on the lily pad was the most wonderful seed! It was all the colors of the rainbow! "Is that seed magic?" she wondered. She did not know that the seed was very magical indeed.
It was so very magical that as soon as she planted it, up grew a house. She was so excited about her house that she didn't see Hannah the fairy come flying toward her. Finally, she noticed Hannah. "Hi, Hannah," croaked Rainbow Diamond.
"Hi, Rainbow Diamond," said Hannah.
Then, Hannah spied the high, enormous treehouse. "What a big treehouse!" said Hannah. "How did you make it?"
"I planted it," answered Rainbow Diamond.
"Let's go for a swim," said Hannah.
"Sure, we can go for a swim," said Rainbow Diamond.
"All right! Yay! Hip hip hurray!" they yelled together.
"Wow! Look at that strange glow," said Rainbow Diamond.
"And I know what it is," said Hannah.
"What?" asked Rainbow Diamond.
"A lamp," said the fairy.
"How did you know?" asked Rainbow Diamond.
"I gave you the seed, and I gave you the lamp. I wanted you to have a rainbow house and a rainbow lamp, just like you. I know that today is your seventh birthday. Happy birthday, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.
"Wow! Thank you, Hannah," said Rainbow Diamond. "What a wonderful friend you are! Would you want to live here with me?"
"Sure, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.
They both lived together in the treehouse for the rest of their lives.
The end.
Friday, October 8, 2010
A Budding Mathematician
Most people who know my children would assume that this post would be about Ben, and for good reason. Ben is currently moving through the same first-grade level math book as Hannah, slowly but surely. He understands the concept of addition and has memorized his +0, +1, +2, +8 and +9 facts, though he is still a bit shaky on the 8's and 9's. His fine motor skills and his need to wiggle out of his chair fairly regularly limit him to only a few minutes of math per day, but I am satisfied with his progress, especially for a kindergarten boy!
However, this post is not about Ben, but about Hannah. In the past, Hannah has struggled a little to grasp mathematical concepts such as place value, whereas Ben seemed to understand it almost instinctively. This year, though, everything suddenly clicked for Hannah, and she is just flying through her math book! She has memorized all of her addition facts and has moved on to subtraction. She enjoys it so much, that she often completes an entire unit in a day, including the test - and she rarely writes an incorrect answer! Actually, I have had to console her once or twice when she has missed a question on a test, because she becomes quite distraught when she does not get a perfect score. I am glad that she wants to excel, but I would hate for her to give up when the work becomes more challenging, simply because she cannot handle being less than perfect...
I must say, however, that I feel delighted that she cheers when I give her math worksheets to do in the morning, and I smile gladly when she announces, her face aglow, "I am good at math!" I think I am going to have to order the second grade curriculum soon, though. At the rate she is working, she will have completed the first grade book by the end of October...
However, this post is not about Ben, but about Hannah. In the past, Hannah has struggled a little to grasp mathematical concepts such as place value, whereas Ben seemed to understand it almost instinctively. This year, though, everything suddenly clicked for Hannah, and she is just flying through her math book! She has memorized all of her addition facts and has moved on to subtraction. She enjoys it so much, that she often completes an entire unit in a day, including the test - and she rarely writes an incorrect answer! Actually, I have had to console her once or twice when she has missed a question on a test, because she becomes quite distraught when she does not get a perfect score. I am glad that she wants to excel, but I would hate for her to give up when the work becomes more challenging, simply because she cannot handle being less than perfect...
I must say, however, that I feel delighted that she cheers when I give her math worksheets to do in the morning, and I smile gladly when she announces, her face aglow, "I am good at math!" I think I am going to have to order the second grade curriculum soon, though. At the rate she is working, she will have completed the first grade book by the end of October...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Why I Love Mo Willems
Although Hannah loves to read longer chapter books, she still takes delight in shorter picture books, too. Last year, in kindergarten, she fell in love with the Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon books by Mo Willems. I had never heard of the books, so when we first went to the library, we checked out Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny, Too. The books are definitely simple enough for young readers, but the illustrations and humor can win over adults and older kids as well. Hannah certainly loves them!
Anyway, I no longer remember what I was trying to find online, but I stumbled across Mo Willems' web site and blog, which included his fan mail address and some of his favorite letters and drawings from young fans. When I told Hannah she could write him a letter, she was thrilled and began working on it at once. I wish I had saved a copy of the letter and drawing she did for him, but she placed it in the sealed envelope, and we mailed it before I thought about it. I do remember that her letter explained that her kindergarten teacher had read her some of his books, and that she writes her own books as well. She told him, "I want to be an author and illustrator just like you," and then she signed her name, adding at the end, "PS... I am 6 years old."
Not very long later (maybe a month?), we received a brown envelope in the mail, addressed to Hannah, with a tiny drawing of Knuffle Bunny next to the address. Inside, she had the following letter:
Well, I don't know who was more excited by the letter - me or Hannah! I do know that Hannah could not stop grinning as she read it over and over again. I love that the letter was completely personalized in response to what she wrote, and not just a form letter. He obviously took a little time with it, drawing a picture for her alongside his name. My favorite part, however, is that he encouraged her to keep writing and drawing, not to be just like him, but to be herself! It immediately inspired her to begin creating another book, and of course, she wants to send a copy to her favorite author - Mo Willems!
Anyway, I no longer remember what I was trying to find online, but I stumbled across Mo Willems' web site and blog, which included his fan mail address and some of his favorite letters and drawings from young fans. When I told Hannah she could write him a letter, she was thrilled and began working on it at once. I wish I had saved a copy of the letter and drawing she did for him, but she placed it in the sealed envelope, and we mailed it before I thought about it. I do remember that her letter explained that her kindergarten teacher had read her some of his books, and that she writes her own books as well. She told him, "I want to be an author and illustrator just like you," and then she signed her name, adding at the end, "PS... I am 6 years old."
Not very long later (maybe a month?), we received a brown envelope in the mail, addressed to Hannah, with a tiny drawing of Knuffle Bunny next to the address. Inside, she had the following letter:
Well, I don't know who was more excited by the letter - me or Hannah! I do know that Hannah could not stop grinning as she read it over and over again. I love that the letter was completely personalized in response to what she wrote, and not just a form letter. He obviously took a little time with it, drawing a picture for her alongside his name. My favorite part, however, is that he encouraged her to keep writing and drawing, not to be just like him, but to be herself! It immediately inspired her to begin creating another book, and of course, she wants to send a copy to her favorite author - Mo Willems!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Loving the Library
As part of our homeschool routine this year, we visit the library every other Monday morning. That gives us time to read the books we choose, while also allowing us to rotate the books regularly to match our lessons and interests. Usually we pick out a few books to fit with a school theme, while the kids choose other books simply because they look fun or interesting.
Last week, while browsing the non-fiction section, I noticed a nice picture book about John James Audubon. Written as a poem/letter from Audubon to his father, explaining his passion for studying birds and nature, the story interspersed various writings from his journals and his actual paintings of birds alongside the lovely illustrations in the book. As an aspiring author and illustrator, Hannah grew more and more delighted as she learned Audubon's story. As soon as I finished reading her the book, she leaped up from the couch and announced, "I'm doing that! I'm going to draw pictures of birds and bugs and sea creatures when I grow up!"
She asked if she could draw some pictures instead of doing her Sing, Spell, Read and Write that afternoon, and I agreed. First, she brought her pumpkin to the school table and studied it carefully, drawing exactly what she saw, just as Audubon did. Then, she took a second piece of paper and wrote a brief paragraph:
"This is a pumpkin that I drew all by my self! I copied a real pumpkin. We also might make pumpkin pie or bars. I really like my pumpkin."
When she had completed that page, she asked permission to get two apples out of the refrigerator, and she drew those as well. She had one large, green apple with a stem, and one small red apple with no stem, and she again focused on drawing each one as she saw it. She finished by writing another paragraph:
"These are two different kids of apples. They are two different colors. One is red and one is green. They look so yummy that I think I am going to have to eat them for a snack."
I love seeing books inspire my children to learn, and I love having the flexibility to change my schedule as needed to accommodate their excitement for what they are learning. Sometimes their creativity extends my lesson plans beyond what I even expected to teach, and, thanks to a wonderful public library, we have a fresh supply of books to broaden our knowledge and kick off new ideas for studying and exploring the world.
Last week, while browsing the non-fiction section, I noticed a nice picture book about John James Audubon. Written as a poem/letter from Audubon to his father, explaining his passion for studying birds and nature, the story interspersed various writings from his journals and his actual paintings of birds alongside the lovely illustrations in the book. As an aspiring author and illustrator, Hannah grew more and more delighted as she learned Audubon's story. As soon as I finished reading her the book, she leaped up from the couch and announced, "I'm doing that! I'm going to draw pictures of birds and bugs and sea creatures when I grow up!"
She asked if she could draw some pictures instead of doing her Sing, Spell, Read and Write that afternoon, and I agreed. First, she brought her pumpkin to the school table and studied it carefully, drawing exactly what she saw, just as Audubon did. Then, she took a second piece of paper and wrote a brief paragraph:
"This is a pumpkin that I drew all by my self! I copied a real pumpkin. We also might make pumpkin pie or bars. I really like my pumpkin."
When she had completed that page, she asked permission to get two apples out of the refrigerator, and she drew those as well. She had one large, green apple with a stem, and one small red apple with no stem, and she again focused on drawing each one as she saw it. She finished by writing another paragraph:"These are two different kids of apples. They are two different colors. One is red and one is green. They look so yummy that I think I am going to have to eat them for a snack."
I love seeing books inspire my children to learn, and I love having the flexibility to change my schedule as needed to accommodate their excitement for what they are learning. Sometimes their creativity extends my lesson plans beyond what I even expected to teach, and, thanks to a wonderful public library, we have a fresh supply of books to broaden our knowledge and kick off new ideas for studying and exploring the world.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Wheel on the School
Last week, Hannah and I finished the first chapter book we worked on together - The Wheel on the School by Miendert DeJong. What a lovely book! We both fell in love with it from the very first page. Lina, the main character, is so sweet and thoughtful and full of dreams. She reminds me very much of my Hannah!
At first, the book focuses only on the school children and their teacher, as they are the only "important" characters in the story. But gradually, more and more characters become "important" until the list includes the whole town and even some people in adjacent towns: the oldest man and woman, the young tots, the fathers, the women, the poor tin man, and even the once-outcast legless man with a cherry tree in his back yard. By the end of the book, everyone has come together to make Lina's "impossibly impossible" dream a reality.
Last Friday, Josh surprised Ben by taking him away for the weekend to a Virginia Tech football game with all of the guys on that side of the family. Since I didn't have to plan any school work for Ben that day, I decided to spend the whole day with Hannah working on a project to wrap up our reading of the book. I planned to do three lapbooks - one on the book, one on the Netherlands, and one on storks. In advance, I found a few printables from homeschoolshare.com, and I designed a few booklets myself. Using some non-fiction books from the library about the Netherlands and storks, Hannah and I planned out the rest of the ideas. She did most of the writing, though I wrote the titles on each item and the tiny labels on the timeline. I also filled in the main character list, when her hand became tired. Of course, she helped me by listing characters and describing the main events. Once we finished assembling the lapbooks, Hannah decorated the cover of each one. I am absolutely amazed at how they turned out!
The cover for the book lapbook:
The inside of the book lapbook:
The cover of the Netherlands lapbook:
The inside of the Netherlands lapbook:
The cover of the stork lapbook:
The inside of the stork lapbook:
In addition, during play time yesterday, I noticed that Hannah had used her Legos to build a replica of the village of Shora. The little girl even has on a pair of wooden shoes!
Amazingly, Hannah has nearly finished reading the entire book for a second time on her own! The reading level is fairly challenging, but she loves the story so much that she does not mind. This is one reason why we opted to homeschool this year. Last year, school exhausted her so much that she never wanted to read on her own anymore. She seemed to have lost her love of reading. Obviously, that love returned once we provided a more restful and academically stimulating school environment. I am very excited by how this project turned out, and I am already considering our next one when we finish our new chapter book. I love how much fun learning can be - for my kids and for me!
At first, the book focuses only on the school children and their teacher, as they are the only "important" characters in the story. But gradually, more and more characters become "important" until the list includes the whole town and even some people in adjacent towns: the oldest man and woman, the young tots, the fathers, the women, the poor tin man, and even the once-outcast legless man with a cherry tree in his back yard. By the end of the book, everyone has come together to make Lina's "impossibly impossible" dream a reality.
Last Friday, Josh surprised Ben by taking him away for the weekend to a Virginia Tech football game with all of the guys on that side of the family. Since I didn't have to plan any school work for Ben that day, I decided to spend the whole day with Hannah working on a project to wrap up our reading of the book. I planned to do three lapbooks - one on the book, one on the Netherlands, and one on storks. In advance, I found a few printables from homeschoolshare.com, and I designed a few booklets myself. Using some non-fiction books from the library about the Netherlands and storks, Hannah and I planned out the rest of the ideas. She did most of the writing, though I wrote the titles on each item and the tiny labels on the timeline. I also filled in the main character list, when her hand became tired. Of course, she helped me by listing characters and describing the main events. Once we finished assembling the lapbooks, Hannah decorated the cover of each one. I am absolutely amazed at how they turned out!
The cover for the book lapbook:
The inside of the book lapbook:
The cover of the Netherlands lapbook:
The inside of the Netherlands lapbook:
The cover of the stork lapbook:
The inside of the stork lapbook:
In addition, during play time yesterday, I noticed that Hannah had used her Legos to build a replica of the village of Shora. The little girl even has on a pair of wooden shoes!
Amazingly, Hannah has nearly finished reading the entire book for a second time on her own! The reading level is fairly challenging, but she loves the story so much that she does not mind. This is one reason why we opted to homeschool this year. Last year, school exhausted her so much that she never wanted to read on her own anymore. She seemed to have lost her love of reading. Obviously, that love returned once we provided a more restful and academically stimulating school environment. I am very excited by how this project turned out, and I am already considering our next one when we finish our new chapter book. I love how much fun learning can be - for my kids and for me!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
A Matter of Science...
... or perhaps I should title this "The Science of Matter."
One disadvantage of buying my curriculum online is that I do not always know if it will meet my expectations. For that reason, I debated about this science curriculum for a long time before I finally purchased it. In fact, I think it sat in my Amazon cart for almost 6 months before I finally committed to buying it. However, after a little over a week of school, I can say that I am more than delighted with this book! It has exceeded all of my expectations so far.
The author of this book, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, is an environmental scientist who dislikes the random fashion most elementary science curricula use to present topics. He decided to create a book to teach even young children to think about science as a whole and to see how various topics build on each other. Rather than jumping from animals to weather to rocks to plants, this curriculum weaves together different branches of science while guiding students to think as scientists.
Using the book, we began with the idea of organizing things into categories. We practiced grouping items around the room into categories, and I showed them how to complete larger jigsaw puzzles using the same idea. First, we categorized pieces into edges and non-edges. Then, we grouped them by color. A seemingly impossible task quickly became much simpler.
This week, building upon that idea, I introduced the concept of matter and its three states - solid, liquid, and gas. We found various items around the house and organized them into these three categories. I showed them that all of the liquids needed containers to keep them from flowing into the carpet. Josh even explained "viscosity" to them, and they could identify which liquids had higher or lower viscosity. We experimented with ice and butter on the stove and saw how matter could change from one state to another, and we also discussed how living things are a combination of the three states - not just one.
As a final project, I put together a small book, with a label or sentence on each page, and I allowed the kids to write and draw what they learned about matter. I gave them a lot of freedom, though I required that they write at least one thing on each page and I assisted them with spelling if needed. I was so impressed! Their books showed just how much they really learned about the subject:
Ben, age 5 (kindergarten):
Hannah, age 6 (first grade):
One disadvantage of buying my curriculum online is that I do not always know if it will meet my expectations. For that reason, I debated about this science curriculum for a long time before I finally purchased it. In fact, I think it sat in my Amazon cart for almost 6 months before I finally committed to buying it. However, after a little over a week of school, I can say that I am more than delighted with this book! It has exceeded all of my expectations so far.
The author of this book, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, is an environmental scientist who dislikes the random fashion most elementary science curricula use to present topics. He decided to create a book to teach even young children to think about science as a whole and to see how various topics build on each other. Rather than jumping from animals to weather to rocks to plants, this curriculum weaves together different branches of science while guiding students to think as scientists.
Using the book, we began with the idea of organizing things into categories. We practiced grouping items around the room into categories, and I showed them how to complete larger jigsaw puzzles using the same idea. First, we categorized pieces into edges and non-edges. Then, we grouped them by color. A seemingly impossible task quickly became much simpler.
This week, building upon that idea, I introduced the concept of matter and its three states - solid, liquid, and gas. We found various items around the house and organized them into these three categories. I showed them that all of the liquids needed containers to keep them from flowing into the carpet. Josh even explained "viscosity" to them, and they could identify which liquids had higher or lower viscosity. We experimented with ice and butter on the stove and saw how matter could change from one state to another, and we also discussed how living things are a combination of the three states - not just one.
As a final project, I put together a small book, with a label or sentence on each page, and I allowed the kids to write and draw what they learned about matter. I gave them a lot of freedom, though I required that they write at least one thing on each page and I assisted them with spelling if needed. I was so impressed! Their books showed just how much they really learned about the subject:
Ben, age 5 (kindergarten):
Hannah, age 6 (first grade):
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