Books, Books, Books...

In addition to all the reading I do with my kids, I love to read for my own pleasure, and I read for school as well. I always have a stack of books by my side! So I thought I'd share what reading delights I am up to at the moment.

For school:

and

And then, just for myself, I am reading:

and





I have my next couple of books planned out too:

and 

The second book here is the updated version of the book I am currently reading, that goes back and checks in with the teenagers as adults - I think it'll be interesting to see what they made of their lives so far!

So what are you reading? Any good recommendations?

Bookish Thoughts...

I'm listening closely these days to my kids, to see what they are thinking about, what intrigues them, and how I can help them build on those interests. With that in mind, besides all the fun reading I have here, I'm creating possible book title lists to help them explore those interests at a deeper level...

For The Girl, the world currently revolves around princesses/queens (real ones, not fantasy), and animals. She's really enjoying the Royal Diary: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of Tudor, for example. So with all that in mind, here are some titles I am considering:

Royalty:
Various selections from the Royal Diaries series
And from the Landmark/World Landmark series:
Queen Elizabeth & the Spanish Armada, by Frances Winwar
Marie Antoinette, by Bernardine Kielty
Cleopatra of Egypt, by Leonora Hornblow
Queen Victoria, by Noel Streatfeild
Catherine the Great, by Katherine Sherman
and so forth!

Animal Related:
Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot (maybe the others in the series as well)
The Scientist in the Field series, by various authors
The Story of Dr. Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting


And for The Boy, the world is about science, inventions, Victorian times, and Steampunk. Titles under consideration include:

Fiction:
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne

Victorianism:
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
Dodger, by Terry Pratchett (also falls under Steampunk)

Science:
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
The Magic of Reality, by Richard Dawkins
Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Childhood, by Oliver Sacks

I'm sure there are other titles that will come to mind as we go, and other interests that will spring up!

Relaxation in the Redwoods...

Yesterday we took a much needed break, and headed way out to a favorite park... Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.We hiked probably about 3 miles, half of it uphill of course!

Enjoying the interior of a tree

Beautiful redwoods (Coast variety, if you are wondering)

A redwood with a nose!

A brief break along the way. Notice the cute headband she made for herself out of the neck section of an outgrown turtleneck shirt!

Hiking is thirsty work!

I love the sunlight coming through the trees! This is in the higher elevations, where the redwoods give way to oak, manzanita, and madrone.

It was an afternoon of much-needed outdoor beauty, away from everything. Next time though, we need to head out earlier so we can make it all the way to the Bullfrog Pond and back!

Around the House...
The Girl has been re-watching the Walking With series, and so we're breaking out some Landmark and All About books for the next couple of weeks, namely Prehistoric America and All About Dinosaurs. She's written two more stories in the last two days, and she's been doing some self-guided crafts (see the headband picture above!).

The Boy and a friend are running a "who can spot the ugliest car" contest through email, so The Boy is working on his photography skills. I'm also actually looking at a couple of lapbooking automobile studies for him (such as this one), since he loves the idea of lapbooking -- all those fold-out bits and pieces, etc., which remind him of his favorite Ologies books.

Right now, as I waver, forever apparently, back and forth in how to approach homeschooling this fall, I am simply trying to find productive/creative outlets for what the kids are interested in.

Nature Walk...

We went for a lovely evening nature walk a couple of day ago, at a local wetlands preserve.

We saw butterfly bush in bloom....

Explored an area that in the winter is 6-10 feet under water (it's a retention basin)...

Enjoyed a view of the river/creek...

Admired some wildflowers and blackberries....

The trail on the way out...

The kids also tried an activity from Keepers of the Earth. Each found a quiet spot, a little out of the way, and simply sat in peace for a while. I stayed on a bench not too far away, and enjoyed my moments of peace! Just what I needed. And we'll be repeating this activity a few times... the kids said it was "lovely", "refreshing", and "marvelous".

Politically Aware...

Yesterday, my kids and I happily participated in the March Against Monsanto. They made their own signs, and off we went!

We ran into a few different friends, listened to a couple of short speeches, and some great music by the the Hubbub Club kept the energy up!

When we got home, we downloaded a suggested app, Buycott, and The Girl tested various products in our house. We were pleased to see that much of what we buy supports a sustainable future, or at the very least does not support Monsanto/etc... in fact, the only foods that came up a big fat NO were the cans of stuff left behind by BIL when he moved out!

It's really got the kids thinking abut what we're putting on our plates. I'm writing up this week's menu and grocery list shortly, and they asked me to "please be careful about what you buy". I wonder if they're ready for Food Inc.? It's been a while since I watched it honestly, so maybe I should screen it again first - The Girl, especially but The Boy to a degree too, tends to have issues with some factory farming images.

I think too I may have them start watching CNN Student News - of course I would watch it with them - but at 10 and 12, I think they should maybe have some familiarity with what's going on in the world.

Anyhow, for their first march/political protest, I am satisfied that it was a good choice. It is something they feel strongly about, and the atmosphere was largely calm and upbeat, not quite like the anti-war protests I marched in back in 1991!

Are your kids politically aware/active? Do they have pet causes?

Are Textbooks Where It's At?

Being the kind of homeschooler I am, and all that, I have generally avoided textbooks like the plague. But, I am finding them creeping insidiously into our homeschooling journey.



First, it was history. I bought the book on the left three times, and sold it twice before we actually tried it out. And when we tried it at long last, we loved it!

And then it was math... we tried to make a non-textbook approach work, but there were too many gaps...

 Now, science?


 

Well,I don't know... yet. I did order the four books above, which are older versions, but I heard they haven't changed much in the last ten years, so I don't mind older. And they were cheap that way.

I think what it comes down to is that I am tired of trying to piece things together. I know I don't want an all-in-one curriculum in a box, because I like to pick and choose what we will use, but using books like the above do make things more streamlined for me. And I know the basics are covered.

I'll admit, I'm looking into "all in one" language arts too...

I'm not positive yet if I will buy these... I do still love Brave Writer. Hmmmm.....

ETA: I'm going to go with my gut, and stick to Brave Writer, with a little extra thrown in.

How have you found your approach to homeschooling changing over the years?

Coming Up...

We seem lately to be getting a better rhythm to our days. I've backed off in some areas, made others more rigorous, and we're finding time for some rabbit trails. I start each week now with two things: one, a list of books from A Picture Perfect Childhood to read during the week (and what days they are particularly applicable); and two, a list of general goals for the week.

On the agenda this week:

Some of our general reading/Afternoon Basket, just to give you the flavor of a week's worth of books from A Picture Perfect Childhood (note: not all these titles are the actual "suggested" ones--sometimes I fill in with other books on the same topic):



There are a few more on my to-read-this-week list, but this will definitely give you the general idea! We usually read 2-3 of these picture books a day, and have enjoyed all of them so far!

In math, I'm changing things up a little this week, mainly because we've almost finished our current Life of Fred books, and I have yet to put in an order for the next ones. So, The Boy will be working in Zacarro's Primary Grade Challenge Math (level 3 and "Einstein" level work), while The Girl and I explore Everyday Number Stories. I did read a bit of it to her already, and she really liked it. Reading through it makes me want to pull out Primary Language Lessons for her again, which I may well do.

I did pick up a copy of The Paragraph Book for The Boy. I think it'll be a good, solid, and not heavy-handed introduction to basic writing techniques. After that, we'll just have to see!

Continuing work/reading: We'll be reading about Babylon this week, in K12's Human Odyssey, finishing up the Mesopotamian area, and then we'll be prepping for Egypt. I am trying to decide if I want to buy one of these...







Or there is this one (less than half the price, so I could get two!)...



We'll also be continuing with The Sea of Monsters (audio book); The Invention of Hugo Cabret (what a gorgeous book!!!!); and The Magician's Elephant. Cassia and I have almost finished  Dancing Shoes, and then we'll start maybe Circus Shoes, or she's been wanting to learn more about Sacajawea, and I found these books...

We'll see how far her interest goes! I also found this video, and that alone may be enough to satisfy her interest at the moment!

Also on the agenda:
A lesson from The Sentence Family
Spelling and phonics
An art project
Some science with Dr. Art's Guide to Science and The Magic of Reality, and a DNA project (thanks Michelle!)... and perhaps this project on DNA, as well as a review of photosynthesis.

Yes, I have officially abandoned a pre-made science study. We really enjoy books like Dr. Art's Guide, and The Magic of Reality, and it is certainly easy enough to tie in projects, and extra books, so I'm just going to go with the flow! Plus, Dr. Art has an entire website devoted to expanding on the topics in his book! This approach also allows us to explore what we're really interested in, rather than what so-and-so says we "should" study next. Plenty of time for a more formal science study in high school/junior college.

I think that's it for now. Happy Chinese New Year, and I hope your Year of the Snake gets off to a good start!