Originally posted February 9, 2006
1. Crayons read her first really real book out loud today: Arthur's Pen Pal, by Lillian Hoban. This isn't the aardvark Arthur from Marc Brown's TV series; this Arthur is a chimp.
2. The Apprentice made chocolate chip cookies all by herself. OK, she's baked other things, but this was her own idea and she did all the work. Except for cracking the eggs. The Apprentice will do anything to avoid getting gook on her fingers.
3. Ponytails can sing all the words to Kiki Dee's part of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." She's also got most of the Kings and Queens of England song down pat, even though the Beethoven's Wig CD had to go back to the library.
4. French Fry (the hamster) had a little tour around the house in his plastic ball. (We're pretty sure that French Fry is a boy.)
Some days are just full of new things.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
What's for supper? (Mr. Crockpot took care of that)
Chicken fajitas in the Crockpot (put chicken in Crockpot, put salsa on top, cook on High for a few hours)
Things to eat with the chicken: chopped peppers, cheese, sour cream, the last of a can of olives, whole wheat tortillas, rice
Vanilla milkshakes
Things to eat with the chicken: chopped peppers, cheese, sour cream, the last of a can of olives, whole wheat tortillas, rice
Vanilla milkshakes
Found at the thrift store: no books, are you surprised?
I worked on unpacking and pricing books all afternoon (instead of the computer work I have been doing recently). But I didn't bring home any books, just some yarn. I'm busy reading a couple of library books right now anyway (like Bookless in Baghdad). Crayons was the one who brought home a Chicken Soup book that she wanted.
Most interesting title this afternoon:
Most interesting book that I might have gotten but didn't (because we are already have lots of Star Trek books):
Most interesting title this afternoon:
Most interesting book that I might have gotten but didn't (because we are already have lots of Star Trek books):
The cost of homeschooling: right up there with socialization
Of all the reasons for or against homeschooling, the supposed "real costs" or "missed-opportunity costs" argument has to be about the second-oldest after the socialization question, and it's just as misleading.
The Deputy Headmistress of The Common Room has posted her current thoughts on this, here and here. It's also worthwhile to go back to her 2005 post here, because the comments are so interesting. I originally posted a response to that one here. (The DHM and I have been friends a long time.)
All I can add, to all that, is this: first, you may save money by homeschooling. It depends on your lifestyle, your curriculum, how many kids you have, how much money you were making or spending before, and so on. As the DHM and others have pointed out, you won't be spending money on extra shoes, band trips, and pizza days either, and you may be saving money related to daycare or other parental work expenses. But most people don't begin to homeschool solely with the intention of saving money. As in, we can't afford to send you to public school any more, so you'll just have to stay home. There are usually other reasons involved in the decision--academic, religious, health reasons, bullying, bad teachers, whatever. So from my admittedly limited economic understanding, this is not something you can approach with a simple comparison of costs.
Second, as far as the actual cost of the actual homeschooling goes--that is, minus the arguments over whether or not the kids' shoes wear out faster, or whether you have lower medical expenses because they're not being coughed and sneezed on by thirty other kids, or how much money you won't have to spend on peanut-free granola bars and juice boxes--the only point that all homeschoolers* can agree with on this, is that we're in control of that cost. If we have money to burn and count a whole lot of things as "school", we can homeschool very expensively. If we're broke, we can scrounge and use freebies. In most cases (see the note below), we are free to decide that this year we will or won't teach a certain subject, will or won't have swimming lessons, will or won't buy a new printer.
Yes, you could put together some kind of an "average" family picture, and say that "most" homeschoolers pay a certain amount for math materials, reading books, computer stuff; or that people who spend a certain amount are more successful at homeschooling than others. But what's the point? A glance through any general homeschooling magazine, or through a week's Carnival of Homeschooling, will show such a diversity of approaches and lifestyles that such comparisons would be meaningless. Even within our own family, every year's expenses are a little different: some years we've just re-used what we had, other years we've needed to buy new materials.
Conclusion? There isn't one, except that, like the socialization question, the "costs" question is just as red a herring.
*"All homeschoolers" meaning all who live where they are free to plan their own work and/or choose their own curriculum provider, rather than being required to teach a set curriculum, buy required books, etc.
The Deputy Headmistress of The Common Room has posted her current thoughts on this, here and here. It's also worthwhile to go back to her 2005 post here, because the comments are so interesting. I originally posted a response to that one here. (The DHM and I have been friends a long time.)
All I can add, to all that, is this: first, you may save money by homeschooling. It depends on your lifestyle, your curriculum, how many kids you have, how much money you were making or spending before, and so on. As the DHM and others have pointed out, you won't be spending money on extra shoes, band trips, and pizza days either, and you may be saving money related to daycare or other parental work expenses. But most people don't begin to homeschool solely with the intention of saving money. As in, we can't afford to send you to public school any more, so you'll just have to stay home. There are usually other reasons involved in the decision--academic, religious, health reasons, bullying, bad teachers, whatever. So from my admittedly limited economic understanding, this is not something you can approach with a simple comparison of costs.
Second, as far as the actual cost of the actual homeschooling goes--that is, minus the arguments over whether or not the kids' shoes wear out faster, or whether you have lower medical expenses because they're not being coughed and sneezed on by thirty other kids, or how much money you won't have to spend on peanut-free granola bars and juice boxes--the only point that all homeschoolers* can agree with on this, is that we're in control of that cost. If we have money to burn and count a whole lot of things as "school", we can homeschool very expensively. If we're broke, we can scrounge and use freebies. In most cases (see the note below), we are free to decide that this year we will or won't teach a certain subject, will or won't have swimming lessons, will or won't buy a new printer.
Yes, you could put together some kind of an "average" family picture, and say that "most" homeschoolers pay a certain amount for math materials, reading books, computer stuff; or that people who spend a certain amount are more successful at homeschooling than others. But what's the point? A glance through any general homeschooling magazine, or through a week's Carnival of Homeschooling, will show such a diversity of approaches and lifestyles that such comparisons would be meaningless. Even within our own family, every year's expenses are a little different: some years we've just re-used what we had, other years we've needed to buy new materials.
Conclusion? There isn't one, except that, like the socialization question, the "costs" question is just as red a herring.
*"All homeschoolers" meaning all who live where they are free to plan their own work and/or choose their own curriculum provider, rather than being required to teach a set curriculum, buy required books, etc.
Charlotte Mason carnival, with nature study bonuses
The latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at Handbook of Nature Study. So take a nature walk over in that direction, because there's lots to take in.
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
What's for supper? Stuffed peppers
Tonight's menu:
Stuffed red peppers, like this
Brown rice, sweet potatoes, broccoli
Chocolate cake (a small one)
Clementines.
Stuffed red peppers, like this
Brown rice, sweet potatoes, broccoli
Chocolate cake (a small one)
Clementines.
Festivals and Carnivals today
The Festival of Frugality is up at My Personal Finance Journey. They are looking for hosts for upcoming carnivals, so frugal bloggers might want to consider taking that on.
Mrs. Mama Hen hosts the 319th Carnival of Homeschooling.
As noted previously, the method of submitting to carnivals has had to change recently due to technical glitches. An e-mail to a carnival's address always works, but some carnivals such as the FoF have also created their own contact boxes for submissions. Check with the individual carnival for instructions--it's not really any harder than going through the main carnivals page.
Mrs. Mama Hen hosts the 319th Carnival of Homeschooling.
As noted previously, the method of submitting to carnivals has had to change recently due to technical glitches. An e-mail to a carnival's address always works, but some carnivals such as the FoF have also created their own contact boxes for submissions. Check with the individual carnival for instructions--it's not really any harder than going through the main carnivals page.
Some recipes I'm thinking of trying
These all came out of the February 2011 issue of Chatelaine Magazine that I got free from the Apprentice's hair salon, back while she was still working there last summer. I was being her volunteer head so that she could finish her course (you do not want to know how awful I look in a finger wave), and while she was doing things to my hair, I got interested in the magazine and asked if I could take it home since it was already a few months old. Turns out that the recipes are online too, but I didn't think of that at the time.
Red-curry-peanut noodles with chicken and broccoli
(Mr. Fixit can't handle peanut butter in any large amount, but we'll either cut it way back or figure something else out...like maybe using cashew butter.)
Smoky corn chowder with bacon
Herbed cheddar soda bread
Spanish Rice with peppers and sausage (no chorizo for us--we've tried it and it was a bit too much. But I might try it with a less-heat sausage.)
Chunky chipotle-pork chili (also no chipotles for us this time around, mainly because we don't have any. But for our wussy tongues, the chili powder would probably be enough, and Mr. Fixit can add his own Frank's Hot Sauce.)
This one's not from Chatelaine, but it looks very melt-in-your-mouth: Strawberry 2 Ingredient Fudge. This was linked recently from A Holy Experience, and I thought it looked good then, so I checked this weekend to see if our discount supermarket carries canned strawberry frosting--it's not something I've ever had a reason to look for. Nope--they just had chocolate and a couple of kinds of vanilla, which was not a big surprise. Well, I'll check around; we could always add some flavouring to a can of vanilla frosting, I guess.
Red-curry-peanut noodles with chicken and broccoli
(Mr. Fixit can't handle peanut butter in any large amount, but we'll either cut it way back or figure something else out...like maybe using cashew butter.)
Smoky corn chowder with bacon
Herbed cheddar soda bread
Spanish Rice with peppers and sausage (no chorizo for us--we've tried it and it was a bit too much. But I might try it with a less-heat sausage.)
Chunky chipotle-pork chili (also no chipotles for us this time around, mainly because we don't have any. But for our wussy tongues, the chili powder would probably be enough, and Mr. Fixit can add his own Frank's Hot Sauce.)
This one's not from Chatelaine, but it looks very melt-in-your-mouth: Strawberry 2 Ingredient Fudge. This was linked recently from A Holy Experience, and I thought it looked good then, so I checked this weekend to see if our discount supermarket carries canned strawberry frosting--it's not something I've ever had a reason to look for. Nope--they just had chocolate and a couple of kinds of vanilla, which was not a big surprise. Well, I'll check around; we could always add some flavouring to a can of vanilla frosting, I guess.
Monday, February 06, 2012
I will not be indexed**...well, sometimes it's all right (meal planning)
One line from a book that has stuck with me for years is Peg Bracken's phrase, "the recipes we swear by instead of at." Do you have some of those? I remember her also writing something like "I just want to know one little thing you can do with a chop besides broil it."
Well, I don't broil chops too often (all right, never), but I do know that you can leave them in a slow cooker all day on top of some sauerkraut, and they'll come out all right.
I keep a couple of binders of favourite, medium-favourite, and sounds-good-let's-try-it recipes. But I've also started a notebook--a very low-tech, dollar-store notebook--with pages listed by main ingredients that I want to use up, food I have in the fridge or the cupboard, or things that happen to be on sale this week. The recipes and ideas I've written in--not full recipes, just page numbers or notes like "in the red binder under Soups"--are pretty basic ones, and/or things you could do without adding a lot of other ingredients or taking a whole lot of time. What's the most basic thing you could do with a sweet potato? Stick it in the oven until it's done. Or peel it and cook it in a potful of water, or a steamer. Sometimes we forget the obvious. What else could you do with a sweet potato? Sweet potato fries. Fritters. Sweet potato salad. What else? Mash it and use it as a substitute for pumpkin puree (or feed it to the baby, if you have a baby). And so on. Canned pineapple? Besides just eating it or mixing it with other fruit, you could freeze it and then run it through the food processor for sherbet. Celery? Celery sticks, celery in salad or chili or stew or soup or stir fry, or Kitchener Special, or something sweet and sour. Sometimes it's not more recipes you need, it's just a review of the possibilities.
Red peppers are on sale this week at the discount supermarket. Okay, they're not local, but they're unusually inexpensive and I'll probably buy some. What can I do with them? Eat them raw as snacks or in salad--that might be as far as I'd need to go. But I could also plan a fajita meal, because I do have some tortillas (bought on sale) in the freezer, and I know we have chicken--now you're talking, as Mr. Fixit would say. Or I could put them in chili, or a stir-fry. Or I could chop some and flash-freeze on a cookie sheet.
I have one or two pages each dedicated to cabbage, barley, pineapple, peanut butter, ground turkey, and so on. It's like a personal index of the stuff we eat, so that I don't have to reinvent the wheel every time Mr. Fixit brings home ground turkey (oh yeah, last time we had Turkey Sloppy Joes), and so that I don't have to fish through all our cookbooks for an appropriate recipe.
I know that Gayle at Grocery Cart Challenge uses this idea on a larger scale. If she has chicken, tomatoes, and green beans, she goes on a large recipe website and plugs in those ingredients to find an appropriate recipe. My version is more limited, but it works for me.
**You never watched The Prisoner? "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered."
Well, I don't broil chops too often (all right, never), but I do know that you can leave them in a slow cooker all day on top of some sauerkraut, and they'll come out all right.
I keep a couple of binders of favourite, medium-favourite, and sounds-good-let's-try-it recipes. But I've also started a notebook--a very low-tech, dollar-store notebook--with pages listed by main ingredients that I want to use up, food I have in the fridge or the cupboard, or things that happen to be on sale this week. The recipes and ideas I've written in--not full recipes, just page numbers or notes like "in the red binder under Soups"--are pretty basic ones, and/or things you could do without adding a lot of other ingredients or taking a whole lot of time. What's the most basic thing you could do with a sweet potato? Stick it in the oven until it's done. Or peel it and cook it in a potful of water, or a steamer. Sometimes we forget the obvious. What else could you do with a sweet potato? Sweet potato fries. Fritters. Sweet potato salad. What else? Mash it and use it as a substitute for pumpkin puree (or feed it to the baby, if you have a baby). And so on. Canned pineapple? Besides just eating it or mixing it with other fruit, you could freeze it and then run it through the food processor for sherbet. Celery? Celery sticks, celery in salad or chili or stew or soup or stir fry, or Kitchener Special, or something sweet and sour. Sometimes it's not more recipes you need, it's just a review of the possibilities.
Red peppers are on sale this week at the discount supermarket. Okay, they're not local, but they're unusually inexpensive and I'll probably buy some. What can I do with them? Eat them raw as snacks or in salad--that might be as far as I'd need to go. But I could also plan a fajita meal, because I do have some tortillas (bought on sale) in the freezer, and I know we have chicken--now you're talking, as Mr. Fixit would say. Or I could put them in chili, or a stir-fry. Or I could chop some and flash-freeze on a cookie sheet.
I have one or two pages each dedicated to cabbage, barley, pineapple, peanut butter, ground turkey, and so on. It's like a personal index of the stuff we eat, so that I don't have to reinvent the wheel every time Mr. Fixit brings home ground turkey (oh yeah, last time we had Turkey Sloppy Joes), and so that I don't have to fish through all our cookbooks for an appropriate recipe.
I know that Gayle at Grocery Cart Challenge uses this idea on a larger scale. If she has chicken, tomatoes, and green beans, she goes on a large recipe website and plugs in those ingredients to find an appropriate recipe. My version is more limited, but it works for me.
**You never watched The Prisoner? "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered."
Sunday, February 05, 2012
That's one frugal makeup bag (crochet projects)
This started out as an example of "crocheting a rectangle," something coming up soon in our girls' crochet class. The class project that week will be to make a small purse for a doll (since this is a class of tweenage girls, there are several doll projects--and doll projects work up quickly), but I wanted to show how the same idea--folding a square or rectangle in half--could be used to make a bigger purse, glasses case, Barbie sleeping bag, whatever.
Ingredients: one 50 cent ball of thrift-store yarn (of which I used about half), one red zipper taken from a one-dollar thrift store skirt (most of the skirt had already been sacrificed for another purpose), two red buttons, two daisy motifs from a thrifted bag of trims, and a bit of red thread. Total cost--maybe seventy-five cents?
Turn it inside out, sew up the sides, thread a sewing needle with thread to match, and sew each side of the zipper to one side of the case. Keeping the zipper partly unzipped while you sew it is a good idea, because otherwise, when you get it all sewed together, you'll have to poke at the zipper tab and open it upside down and backwards to turn it right side out, if you know what I mean.
Decorate as you feel inspired. I happened to have the daisies and a box of buttons nearby, so that's what I used.
Crayons' Grade Five: Focus on the Underground Railroad, Week 2
Week 1 is here.
Crayons, as I could have guessed ahead of time, is already a bit Underground-Railroaded out. We don't usually put so much focus on just one topic during the week. I had also intended on having her do some independent reading on Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, or someone like that, but we seem to be getting a bit of information about all those people just "by the by" as we read the other books, so I'm not sure how worthwhile that is.
But we will carry on. Towards the end of the week the focus shifts to a quick look at the U.S. Civil War. I said a quick look. This is Canada, people; yes, this country (as it existed then--Confederation was still a couple of years off) was affected, but it's not something elementary students here learn about in any great detail. As Gladys Kravitz said to Abner, "The North won."
I'm thinking about incorporating Janet Lunn's novel The Root Cellar, a time-slip story about the Civil War. This book has been fairly popular, I think, with teachers and homeschoolers studying this time period; but I remember it as being a bit dark for a fifth grader. Any opinions there?
Anyway, here's the plan for this week:
MONDAY
Bible
Poem: "Mother to Son," by Langston Hughes
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Math
(A break here to go outside and skip, since the ground is dry and it's unusually sunny and warm for February)History: pages 88-93 in The Last Safe House, including information about Alexander Milton Ross
Workbook (unit study pages): more information about Ross
French
Chapter from Silas Marner (nothing to do with this topic, it's just what we're reading anyway)
TUESDAY
Bible: chapter from Matthew
Poem: "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Math
History: pages 110-114 in The Last Safe House
Draw something from this time period in the sketchbook
Watch part of the Homestead Blessings DVD on Crafts
Lunch break, and telephone technology (with Dad)
French
Plutarch's Life of Dion, Lesson 7
WEDNESDAY
Bible
Poem: "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes
Underground to Canada
Workbook: math problems (distance travelled to Canada, etc.)
French (computer games)
Science
Draw something from this time period in the sketchbook
Probably start reading The Root Cellar together
Afternoon: volunteering at the thrift store
THURSDAY
Bible
Poem: "I know why the caged bird sings" and "Touched by an angel" by Maya Angelou
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Workbook: map exercise
Math
History: Canadian history textbook, two pages about the Civil War
Draw something in the sketchbook
French
Two short chapters from Silas Marner, written narration
FRIDAY
Bible
Poem: "Life Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson
Copywork (poem or quote)
Finish Underground to Canada.
Math
History: Canadian history textbook, finish the section on the Civil War
Creative narration project: to be decided.
Weekend reading assignment: continue reading The Root Cellar, or choose another book set in the same time period (Little Women etc.).
Crayons, as I could have guessed ahead of time, is already a bit Underground-Railroaded out. We don't usually put so much focus on just one topic during the week. I had also intended on having her do some independent reading on Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, or someone like that, but we seem to be getting a bit of information about all those people just "by the by" as we read the other books, so I'm not sure how worthwhile that is.
But we will carry on. Towards the end of the week the focus shifts to a quick look at the U.S. Civil War. I said a quick look. This is Canada, people; yes, this country (as it existed then--Confederation was still a couple of years off) was affected, but it's not something elementary students here learn about in any great detail. As Gladys Kravitz said to Abner, "The North won."
I'm thinking about incorporating Janet Lunn's novel The Root Cellar, a time-slip story about the Civil War. This book has been fairly popular, I think, with teachers and homeschoolers studying this time period; but I remember it as being a bit dark for a fifth grader. Any opinions there?
Anyway, here's the plan for this week:
MONDAY
Bible
Poem: "Mother to Son," by Langston Hughes
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Math
(A break here to go outside and skip, since the ground is dry and it's unusually sunny and warm for February)History: pages 88-93 in The Last Safe House, including information about Alexander Milton Ross
Workbook (unit study pages): more information about Ross
French
Chapter from Silas Marner (nothing to do with this topic, it's just what we're reading anyway)
TUESDAY
Bible: chapter from Matthew
Poem: "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Math
History: pages 110-114 in The Last Safe House
Draw something from this time period in the sketchbook
Watch part of the Homestead Blessings DVD on Crafts
Lunch break, and telephone technology (with Dad)
French
Plutarch's Life of Dion, Lesson 7
WEDNESDAY
Bible
Poem: "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes
Underground to Canada
Workbook: math problems (distance travelled to Canada, etc.)
French (computer games)
Science
Draw something from this time period in the sketchbook
Probably start reading The Root Cellar together
Afternoon: volunteering at the thrift store
THURSDAY
Bible
Poem: "I know why the caged bird sings" and "Touched by an angel" by Maya Angelou
Copywork (poem or quote)
Underground to Canada
Workbook: map exercise
Math
History: Canadian history textbook, two pages about the Civil War
Draw something in the sketchbook
French
Two short chapters from Silas Marner, written narration
FRIDAY
Bible
Poem: "Life Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson
Copywork (poem or quote)
Finish Underground to Canada.
Math
History: Canadian history textbook, finish the section on the Civil War
Creative narration project: to be decided.
Weekend reading assignment: continue reading The Root Cellar, or choose another book set in the same time period (Little Women etc.).
Friday, February 03, 2012
Bisy, backson, and all that
We are pulling up the ladder to the Treehouse for the weekend. There's nothing wrong, we just need to get some other things done! See you next week.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
What's for supper? Frozen everything.
Tonight's menu:
Frozen fish
Frozen fries
Mashed-potato scones (we had a cupful of leftover mashed potatoes)
Frozen green beans
A bit of leftover smoked sausage and sauerkraut
Blueberry crisp made from frozen blueberries.
Frozen fish
Frozen fries
Mashed-potato scones (we had a cupful of leftover mashed potatoes)
Frozen green beans
A bit of leftover smoked sausage and sauerkraut
Blueberry crisp made from frozen blueberries.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Found at the thrift store
Again this week I was doing data entry part of the time (I think that will be an ongoing part of the Wednesday routine), but there were also a lot of books to unpack. I got a few boxes done...
What did we bring home? Three part-balls of yarn (for the crochet class), one bag of ponybeads and beadie-critter ribbon, a couple of cookbooks, one Beanie Baby Handbook (for Crayons), and one Little, Brown English handbook (for everyone).
That's all. Not even any weird book stories today--sorry.
What did we bring home? Three part-balls of yarn (for the crochet class), one bag of ponybeads and beadie-critter ribbon, a couple of cookbooks, one Beanie Baby Handbook (for Crayons), and one Little, Brown English handbook (for everyone).
Monday, January 30, 2012
From the archives: a winter day six years ago
Originally posted January 25, 2006. Updates added January 30, 2012.
Time: 3 p.m.
View from the window:
Snow. (Like this.)
Snow on the swingset, on the fences, all over the back yard.
2012: Yes, it's the same today!
Listen In
CBC radio playing in the kitchen 2012: Crayons and I are listening to "The Underground Railroad" from Adventures in Odyssey, while she chooses an "artifact" to draw.
It's too quiet upstairs. I'd better make sure nobody's cutting their hair off. [Postscript: I found The Apprentice reading The Bells on Finland Street to Ponytails. Crayons was also not doing anything particularly scary.]
2012: also listening for the doorbell, since Ponytails should be back soon from writing a first-semester geography exam. The Apprentice has an extra-busy day at the university today.
Supper Plans
Spaghetti and meat sauce; reheated garlic breadsticks (from the Hillbilly Housewife site--those have become a favourite around here); lettuce and mushroom salad; brownies. [Postscript after dinner: Oops, forgot about the breadsticks. I knew there was something else I was going to do.]
2012: Spaghetti pie, and maybe I'll make breadsticks too.
Other sounds
The ding of the garlic-shaped timer to say that the brownies are supposed to be done. But they're not. (I love my timer. I found it at a yard sale after the buzzer on our stove quit working, and it still makes me smile.)
2012: Don't have that timer any more--it broke, and I miss it.
In the Living Room
Agh! It's tidy!
(Some CM mammas are coming over tonight to talk shop.)
Beauty in the Common Things
DHM's recipe for crockpot cereal (we used shortgrain brown rice and pearl barley).
Bach on the CBC.
A set of magnetic words (Magnetic Poetry), that we bought so long ago that the only extra word we added was The Apprentice's name. (I guess we should add a couple more now.)
Crayons asking for more Little Tim books, please.
Time: 3 p.m.
View from the window:
Snow. (Like this.)
Snow on the swingset, on the fences, all over the back yard.
2012: Yes, it's the same today!
Listen In
CBC radio playing in the kitchen 2012: Crayons and I are listening to "The Underground Railroad" from Adventures in Odyssey, while she chooses an "artifact" to draw.
It's too quiet upstairs. I'd better make sure nobody's cutting their hair off. [Postscript: I found The Apprentice reading The Bells on Finland Street to Ponytails. Crayons was also not doing anything particularly scary.]
2012: also listening for the doorbell, since Ponytails should be back soon from writing a first-semester geography exam. The Apprentice has an extra-busy day at the university today.
Supper Plans
Spaghetti and meat sauce; reheated garlic breadsticks (from the Hillbilly Housewife site--those have become a favourite around here); lettuce and mushroom salad; brownies. [Postscript after dinner: Oops, forgot about the breadsticks. I knew there was something else I was going to do.]
2012: Spaghetti pie, and maybe I'll make breadsticks too.
Other sounds
The ding of the garlic-shaped timer to say that the brownies are supposed to be done. But they're not. (I love my timer. I found it at a yard sale after the buzzer on our stove quit working, and it still makes me smile.)
2012: Don't have that timer any more--it broke, and I miss it.
Agh! It's tidy!
(Some CM mammas are coming over tonight to talk shop.)
Beauty in the Common Things
DHM's recipe for crockpot cereal (we used shortgrain brown rice and pearl barley).
Bach on the CBC.
A set of magnetic words (Magnetic Poetry), that we bought so long ago that the only extra word we added was The Apprentice's name. (I guess we should add a couple more now.)
Crayons asking for more Little Tim books, please.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Crayons' Grade Five: Four Poems by Arna Bontemps
Who was Arna Bontemps? (More here)
1. The Day-Breakers
We are not come to wage a strife
With swords upon this hill,
It is not wise to waste the life
Against a stubborn will.
Yet would we die as some have done.
Beating a way for the rising sun.
2. Southern Mansion
Poplars are standing there still as death
And ghosts of dead men
Meet their ladies walking
Two by two beneath the shade
And standing on the marble steps.
There is a sound of music echoing
Through the open door
And in the field there is
Another sound tinkling in the cotton:
Chains of bondmen dragging on the ground.
The years go back with an iron clank,
A hand is on the gate,
A dry leaf trembles on the wall.
Ghosts are walking.
They have broken roses down
And poplars stand there still as death.
3. A Black Man Talks of Reaping
I have sown beside all waters in my day.
I planted deep, within my heart the fear
that wind or fowl would take the grain away.
I planted safe against this stark, lean year.
I scattered seed enough to plant the land
in rows from Canada to Mexico
but for my reaping only what the hand
can hold at once is all that I can show.
Yet what I sowed and what the orchard yields
my brother's sons are gathering stalk and root;
small wonder then my children glean in fields
they have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit.
4. Reconnaissance
After the cloud embankments,
the lamentation of wind
and the starry descent into time,
we came to the flashing waters and shaded our eyes
from the glare.
Alone with the shore and the harbor,
the stems of the cocoanut trees,
the fronds of silence and hushed music,
we cried for the new revelation
and waited for miracles to rise.
Where elements touch and merge,
where shadows swoon like outcasts on the sand
and the tried moment waits, its courage gone--
there were we
in latitudes where storms are born.
1. The Day-Breakers
We are not come to wage a strife
With swords upon this hill,
It is not wise to waste the life
Against a stubborn will.
Yet would we die as some have done.
Beating a way for the rising sun.
2. Southern Mansion
Poplars are standing there still as death
And ghosts of dead men
Meet their ladies walking
Two by two beneath the shade
And standing on the marble steps.
There is a sound of music echoing
Through the open door
And in the field there is
Another sound tinkling in the cotton:
Chains of bondmen dragging on the ground.
The years go back with an iron clank,
A hand is on the gate,
A dry leaf trembles on the wall.
Ghosts are walking.
They have broken roses down
And poplars stand there still as death.
3. A Black Man Talks of Reaping
I have sown beside all waters in my day.
I planted deep, within my heart the fear
that wind or fowl would take the grain away.
I planted safe against this stark, lean year.
I scattered seed enough to plant the land
in rows from Canada to Mexico
but for my reaping only what the hand
can hold at once is all that I can show.
Yet what I sowed and what the orchard yields
my brother's sons are gathering stalk and root;
small wonder then my children glean in fields
they have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit.
4. Reconnaissance
After the cloud embankments,
the lamentation of wind
and the starry descent into time,
we came to the flashing waters and shaded our eyes
from the glare.
Alone with the shore and the harbor,
the stems of the cocoanut trees,
the fronds of silence and hushed music,
we cried for the new revelation
and waited for miracles to rise.
Where elements touch and merge,
where shadows swoon like outcasts on the sand
and the tried moment waits, its courage gone--
there were we
in latitudes where storms are born.
Crayons' Grade Five: Focus on The Underground Railroad, Week 1
This week's school schedule covers only Monday through Thursday, because this Friday is a school holiday. I borrowed a couple of ideas for this from "Charlotte Mason Undercover," an article on CM-style co-op lessons, by Jeannette Tulis. As I mentioned previously, we are including some "workbook" activities, mostly map work, from a purchased unit study.
MONDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
History: The Last Safe House, pages 22-23, 16-17
Online activity: National Geographic Site, “Underground Railroad” simulation
Workbook: map activity 1
French
Find an artifact to draw in to the “sketchbook” while listening to a CD
Adventures in Odyssey, “Underground Railroad,” episodes 2 & 3
TUESDAY
Bible, hymn
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
Plutarch’s Life of Dion: oral narration
French
History: The Last Safe House, pages 20-21, 34-37, 54
Workbook: map activity 2
Underground to Canada, chapters 1, 2: oral narration
Activity: The Underground Railroad for Kids, page 45: Make a handbill
WEDNESDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
History: The Last Safe House, pages 40-43; Canadian history textbook pages 261-267
Workbook: points of the compass
Folk songs: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Underground to Canada, chapters 3, 4: oral narration
Choose an artifact to draw in the “sketchbook”
Drawing while listening to music
THURSDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Nature study
Poem (see handout)
History: The Last Safe House, pages 56-59; Canadian history textbook pages 268-272
Workbook: Latitude and longitude; read about Secrets & Codes
Activity: The Underground Railroad for Kids, page 54: Code Words
French
Underground to Canada, chapters 5, 6: written narration
Possibly: a craft or cooking activity
MONDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
History: The Last Safe House, pages 22-23, 16-17
Online activity: National Geographic Site, “Underground Railroad” simulation
Workbook: map activity 1
French
Find an artifact to draw in to the “sketchbook” while listening to a CD
Adventures in Odyssey, “Underground Railroad,” episodes 2 & 3
TUESDAY
Bible, hymn
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
Plutarch’s Life of Dion: oral narration
French
History: The Last Safe House, pages 20-21, 34-37, 54
Workbook: map activity 2
Underground to Canada, chapters 1, 2: oral narration
Activity: The Underground Railroad for Kids, page 45: Make a handbill
WEDNESDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Poem (see handout)
Copywork
History: The Last Safe House, pages 40-43; Canadian history textbook pages 261-267
Workbook: points of the compass
Folk songs: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Underground to Canada, chapters 3, 4: oral narration
Choose an artifact to draw in the “sketchbook”
Drawing while listening to music
THURSDAY
Bible, hymn
Math
Nature study
Poem (see handout)
History: The Last Safe House, pages 56-59; Canadian history textbook pages 268-272
Workbook: Latitude and longitude; read about Secrets & Codes
Activity: The Underground Railroad for Kids, page 54: Code Words
French
Underground to Canada, chapters 5, 6: written narration
Possibly: a craft or cooking activity
Saturday, January 28, 2012
From the archives: Make It Do
First posted January 28, 2007
Make It Do has always been one of my favourite topics. Except that the phrase Make It Do sounds a bit grim, like Grin and Bear It. I prefer the DHM's question What Do You Have In Your Hand? Or in your cupboard...or on your bookshelf. What DO we have in this camp kitchen to feed the vegetarians? (I talked the cook into putting some of the soup into another pot before he added meat.) What can we do with all this coloured telephone wire in the crafts room? (Braided bracelets for eighty campers.) What would you do with these hypothetical food hamper groceries for four hungry people for three days? (That was for a community nutrition class--and I got a good mark on that one! Nobody else thought of making peanut butter balls...) [In 1996 or thereabouts, we weren't as worried about peanut allergies.]
What's In Your Hand is Ma Ingalls and blackbird pies. It's popsicle sticks and Cheerios for math, and teaching phonics with a pile of old Highlights magazines. It's all those recipes invented to use up things like rhubarb that really don't taste so good on their own. (OK, I know there are people who chew on raw rhubarb...) It's how my friend Marsha and I once taught Sunday School in a un-child-friendly college classroom: we stuck pictures up with Stick-tack and took them down again every week, brought old couch cushions to sit on and our own toys to play with, and let the kids colour at the adult-sized tables. And they really did manage fine without mini-sized chairs.
It's a dull prairie cabin with sunflowers planted around it. (Virtual sunflower seeds if you can help me remember where that story came from, because I've forgotten.) [2012 update: I still haven't found the story. Any ideas?]
Use Your Creativity is about surprise and discovery, instead of just "I suppose I can make do with it." It's Athena's kids retelling stories with Playmobil. It's Ponytails' coloured-pencil drawing to go with Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave. It's Homeschool Radio Shows' Fourth Annual Make-Your-Own-Radio-Show Contest. It's Meredith's closet makeover and tree-frog-painted table. It's two balls of Dollarama yarn that got turned into one pair of slippers (for Crayons), a dolly hat and scarf, and a couple of hair scrunchies. (You couldn't buy all that even at Dollarama for the two dollars the yarn cost.)
Make It Do is combining two or more parts to make something better than a whole. Instead of waiting for the perfect thing to arrive, the perfect homeschool curriculum to be written, or our body to revert to the perfect size, we use what's there. Can we use it a little differently? Do we need to adapt, go faster/slower, make it more challenging, skip the questions or tests, include more hands-on activities? Or should we use just the best part of it? (For Meredith: Every cloud has a cashmere lining.)
We're using a not-perfect curriculum for math; but it doesn't matter that it doesn't cover everything, because there are lots of ways to learn the things that it doesn't include, and it's kind of interesting having a break from the same workbook all the time anyway. Combining resources for homeschool science can make a stronger overall program than trying to pick one perfect textbook or study guide. We just got an Astronomy book for next year's school--but we also have an old Sky Science experiment kit and several books about the solar system, so we'll combine what we have.
And Make It Do is finding new ways to use what you already have. Cutting holes into the bottom edges of a cereal box is one surefire way of getting kids to notice long-neglected marbles (you shoot them at the holes). You can use wooden blocks to build temporary furniture for plastic trolls. You can learn new rules for cards, checkers, or dominoes.
Not what you ordered? Not just what you hoped for? Make it do. And have fun.
Make It Do has always been one of my favourite topics. Except that the phrase Make It Do sounds a bit grim, like Grin and Bear It. I prefer the DHM's question What Do You Have In Your Hand? Or in your cupboard...or on your bookshelf. What DO we have in this camp kitchen to feed the vegetarians? (I talked the cook into putting some of the soup into another pot before he added meat.) What can we do with all this coloured telephone wire in the crafts room? (Braided bracelets for eighty campers.) What would you do with these hypothetical food hamper groceries for four hungry people for three days? (That was for a community nutrition class--and I got a good mark on that one! Nobody else thought of making peanut butter balls...) [In 1996 or thereabouts, we weren't as worried about peanut allergies.]
What's In Your Hand is Ma Ingalls and blackbird pies. It's popsicle sticks and Cheerios for math, and teaching phonics with a pile of old Highlights magazines. It's all those recipes invented to use up things like rhubarb that really don't taste so good on their own. (OK, I know there are people who chew on raw rhubarb...) It's how my friend Marsha and I once taught Sunday School in a un-child-friendly college classroom: we stuck pictures up with Stick-tack and took them down again every week, brought old couch cushions to sit on and our own toys to play with, and let the kids colour at the adult-sized tables. And they really did manage fine without mini-sized chairs.
It's a dull prairie cabin with sunflowers planted around it. (Virtual sunflower seeds if you can help me remember where that story came from, because I've forgotten.) [2012 update: I still haven't found the story. Any ideas?]
Use Your Creativity is about surprise and discovery, instead of just "I suppose I can make do with it." It's Athena's kids retelling stories with Playmobil. It's Ponytails' coloured-pencil drawing to go with Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave. It's Homeschool Radio Shows' Fourth Annual Make-Your-Own-Radio-Show Contest. It's Meredith's closet makeover and tree-frog-painted table. It's two balls of Dollarama yarn that got turned into one pair of slippers (for Crayons), a dolly hat and scarf, and a couple of hair scrunchies. (You couldn't buy all that even at Dollarama for the two dollars the yarn cost.)
Make It Do is combining two or more parts to make something better than a whole. Instead of waiting for the perfect thing to arrive, the perfect homeschool curriculum to be written, or our body to revert to the perfect size, we use what's there. Can we use it a little differently? Do we need to adapt, go faster/slower, make it more challenging, skip the questions or tests, include more hands-on activities? Or should we use just the best part of it? (For Meredith: Every cloud has a cashmere lining.)
We're using a not-perfect curriculum for math; but it doesn't matter that it doesn't cover everything, because there are lots of ways to learn the things that it doesn't include, and it's kind of interesting having a break from the same workbook all the time anyway. Combining resources for homeschool science can make a stronger overall program than trying to pick one perfect textbook or study guide. We just got an Astronomy book for next year's school--but we also have an old Sky Science experiment kit and several books about the solar system, so we'll combine what we have.
And Make It Do is finding new ways to use what you already have. Cutting holes into the bottom edges of a cereal box is one surefire way of getting kids to notice long-neglected marbles (you shoot them at the holes). You can use wooden blocks to build temporary furniture for plastic trolls. You can learn new rules for cards, checkers, or dominoes.
Not what you ordered? Not just what you hoped for? Make it do. And have fun.
Crochet Class Number Two: Make a Scrunchie
Did you crochet along with us last time?
Today the girls will be getting together again, and the planned project is a hair scrunchie. Scrunchies are endlessly variable...searching for "crocheted scrunchie" will bring up all kinds of patterns.
The basic idea is this: take a coated ponytail elastic, and in this case, cheaper is not better: you don't want the ends to pop apart in a week. Make a slip knot with the yarn--any kind is fine, and scrunchies are a great place to experiment with little bits of novelty yarn. Attach the yarn to the hair elastic, using a slip stitch; in other words, hold your slip knot against the elastic, bring the yarn over the hook, and pull that through both the elastic and the slip knot so that they hold together. It's really easier than it sounds, but if you have trouble, watch one of the videos linked below.
All attached? The very simplest version is to single crochet around the elastic, filling it up as much as possible, just like last week's pipe cleaner ornaments. Slip stitch to end off, and work in the ends. That's what I had the slightly younger group of girls do a couple of years ago, and some of them found it fairly challenging. However, a much nicer scrunchie can be made by combining chain and single crochet stitches, for instance, chaining five in between each single crochet stitch. If you're confident enough to do a second or third row, you can keep going and make an even bigger, loopier scrunchie.
Here’s a good video, except that she’s using double crochet instead of single crochet. Here’s another one I like: (this one has a pattern of five chains, one single crochet; she also shows you how to add beads without stringing them on first). One more. (Notice that everybody has a slightly different way of getting the yarn locked on the hair elastic?)
One thing to remember from today's lesson is that chains are used in more than one way in crocheting. When you learn to crochet, you're probably shown chains as just a base for learning to make the other stitches: you make a chain of a certain length, then you work crochet stitches into those chains (something we'll be doing in the next class). But they're also used within the crocheted work, both to begin rows (getting the row started at a certain height by making one or more chain stitches) and to make spaces or loops. Lacy doilies are full of chain stitches. If you've ever seen something crocheted in a mesh pattern, or filet crochet, that's usually a combination of single crochet and chain stitches.
Another example of chains used to leave a space: when I crocheted a hat for a doll with a ponytail, I just stitched along to a certain point and then made a chain of about ten stitches, skipped over the same number of stitches in the previous row, joined the chain back to the work with a slip stitch, and then kept crocheting. When I got back around to the chain, I worked ten stitches over the chain (just like crocheting over the hair elastic) and then just kept going from there. That created a big "buttonhole" in the side of the hat.
Last example of chains as spacers: last week I made a big "granny square" for a baby afghan. The granny square has been a popular crocheting motif for years; usually you make a lot of small ones and sew them together, but I hate sewing things together so I made one big one instead. Anyway, the pattern for a big or small granny square is the same: you work, usually, in blocks of three double crochet stitches (double crochet is a bit taller than single crochet--you "yarn over" first, and then bring the loops off in two steps) with a chain stitch in between each group of three. Corners are made, usually, with two groups of three double crochet stitches, and three chain stitches between those--that's what makes the square corners. If you want to know more, check out You-tube videos on granny squares, or most basic crochet books will show you how they're made.
Does all that sound like too much information if you're just trying to make a scrunchie? Well, the point of this project is that you can think of the chains as loops to dress up the scrunchie, and the single crochets more just as "connectors." Use whatever combinations you like with this project--you really can't go wrong.
And next time we'll get into the "real stuff": figuring out where the stitches go, when there isn't an elastic.
Today the girls will be getting together again, and the planned project is a hair scrunchie. Scrunchies are endlessly variable...searching for "crocheted scrunchie" will bring up all kinds of patterns.
The basic idea is this: take a coated ponytail elastic, and in this case, cheaper is not better: you don't want the ends to pop apart in a week. Make a slip knot with the yarn--any kind is fine, and scrunchies are a great place to experiment with little bits of novelty yarn. Attach the yarn to the hair elastic, using a slip stitch; in other words, hold your slip knot against the elastic, bring the yarn over the hook, and pull that through both the elastic and the slip knot so that they hold together. It's really easier than it sounds, but if you have trouble, watch one of the videos linked below.
All attached? The very simplest version is to single crochet around the elastic, filling it up as much as possible, just like last week's pipe cleaner ornaments. Slip stitch to end off, and work in the ends. That's what I had the slightly younger group of girls do a couple of years ago, and some of them found it fairly challenging. However, a much nicer scrunchie can be made by combining chain and single crochet stitches, for instance, chaining five in between each single crochet stitch. If you're confident enough to do a second or third row, you can keep going and make an even bigger, loopier scrunchie.
Here’s a good video, except that she’s using double crochet instead of single crochet. Here’s another one I like: (this one has a pattern of five chains, one single crochet; she also shows you how to add beads without stringing them on first). One more. (Notice that everybody has a slightly different way of getting the yarn locked on the hair elastic?)
One thing to remember from today's lesson is that chains are used in more than one way in crocheting. When you learn to crochet, you're probably shown chains as just a base for learning to make the other stitches: you make a chain of a certain length, then you work crochet stitches into those chains (something we'll be doing in the next class). But they're also used within the crocheted work, both to begin rows (getting the row started at a certain height by making one or more chain stitches) and to make spaces or loops. Lacy doilies are full of chain stitches. If you've ever seen something crocheted in a mesh pattern, or filet crochet, that's usually a combination of single crochet and chain stitches.
Another example of chains used to leave a space: when I crocheted a hat for a doll with a ponytail, I just stitched along to a certain point and then made a chain of about ten stitches, skipped over the same number of stitches in the previous row, joined the chain back to the work with a slip stitch, and then kept crocheting. When I got back around to the chain, I worked ten stitches over the chain (just like crocheting over the hair elastic) and then just kept going from there. That created a big "buttonhole" in the side of the hat.
Last example of chains as spacers: last week I made a big "granny square" for a baby afghan. The granny square has been a popular crocheting motif for years; usually you make a lot of small ones and sew them together, but I hate sewing things together so I made one big one instead. Anyway, the pattern for a big or small granny square is the same: you work, usually, in blocks of three double crochet stitches (double crochet is a bit taller than single crochet--you "yarn over" first, and then bring the loops off in two steps) with a chain stitch in between each group of three. Corners are made, usually, with two groups of three double crochet stitches, and three chain stitches between those--that's what makes the square corners. If you want to know more, check out You-tube videos on granny squares, or most basic crochet books will show you how they're made.
Does all that sound like too much information if you're just trying to make a scrunchie? Well, the point of this project is that you can think of the chains as loops to dress up the scrunchie, and the single crochets more just as "connectors." Use whatever combinations you like with this project--you really can't go wrong.
And next time we'll get into the "real stuff": figuring out where the stitches go, when there isn't an elastic.
Friday, January 27, 2012
What's for supper? (Day before groceries)
Broccoli quiche, made with Parmesan cheese, yogurt, leftover vegetables, powdered milk, eggs, and a whole wheat pat-in crust
Leftover sausage and a bit of perogy casserole
Baked potatoes
Rye bread
Carrot and celery sticks, canned black olives
Peach crisp with milk or yogurt (canned peaches and peach jam)
Extra cookies and fruit, because we ended up having a friend stay to supper
Leftover sausage and a bit of perogy casserole
Baked potatoes
Rye bread
Carrot and celery sticks, canned black olives
Peach crisp with milk or yogurt (canned peaches and peach jam)
Extra cookies and fruit, because we ended up having a friend stay to supper
Baby afghan, baby "stress toys" (crocheting)
Pattern: Just a big granny square
Photos: Mr. Fixit. Copyright 2011 Dewey's Treehouse.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Travelling the Underground Railroad (Crayons' Grade 5)
We don't usually do unit studies in our homeschool. But I had thought about spending a couple of weeks during February emphasizing the Underground Railroad. We are just about at that point in our Canadian history book, February is Black History Month, and so on.
So I was very interested to come across an ad for a homeschool mom's unit study on that topic, and went so far as to ask Mr. Fixit to pay to download it.
I'm not going to name the study or the company, because I was very disappointed in what we received. What we got, we'll use, but it certainly is skimpy. However, I did make a list of other related material that we are going to work into February's school. Here are some ideas:
Adventures in Odyssey Episodes #314-316, "The Underground Railroad." We borrowed these on CD from a friend. Note that they are a bit intense--not for the youngest children.
The American Girl Addy books, from the library. I took the six books out from the library last weekend, and Crayons has already read through all of them. They're quite well done, and they cover not only Addy's early life and escape from slavery, but also what life was like afterwards for her family in Philadelphia. Each book has historical notes in the back.
The Last Safe House, by Barbara Greenwood (combines story, historical notes, and a few activities)
Underground to Canada, a novel by Barbara Smucker (there's a chapter-by-chapter study guide here)
Freedom Train, by Dorothy Sterling (biography of Harriet Tubman)
Poems from this website
Composers such as William Grant Still and Joe Sealy
One book I found which I did not like that much: The Underground Railroad for Kids. Maybe it was the title, maybe it was just the fact that the library's copy was so beat up, but it just didn't seem like the sort of book you would want to turn kids loose with--more than intense, this one was a bit on the Martyr's Mirror end of things. There are lots of great photographs, which you could use selectively. Some interesting activities, but they're the sort of projects we probably would end up just reading about, not doing.
ADDITIONS: I forgot that we have a copy of Life in Lincoln's America, by Helen Reeder Cross, which is the perfect sort of book for finding "artifacts."
And I forgot to add something we already watched: a Wishbone episode called "Bark That Bark." Not totally about the Underground Railroad, but it does incorporate a version of "The People Could Fly."
And there are lots of websites, of course.
More ideas?
Related posts: Schedule for the first week of this study, Four poems by Arna Bontemps
Linked from the Carnival of Homeschooling
So I was very interested to come across an ad for a homeschool mom's unit study on that topic, and went so far as to ask Mr. Fixit to pay to download it.
I'm not going to name the study or the company, because I was very disappointed in what we received. What we got, we'll use, but it certainly is skimpy. However, I did make a list of other related material that we are going to work into February's school. Here are some ideas:
Adventures in Odyssey Episodes #314-316, "The Underground Railroad." We borrowed these on CD from a friend. Note that they are a bit intense--not for the youngest children.
The American Girl Addy books, from the library. I took the six books out from the library last weekend, and Crayons has already read through all of them. They're quite well done, and they cover not only Addy's early life and escape from slavery, but also what life was like afterwards for her family in Philadelphia. Each book has historical notes in the back.
The Last Safe House, by Barbara Greenwood (combines story, historical notes, and a few activities)
Underground to Canada, a novel by Barbara Smucker (there's a chapter-by-chapter study guide here)
Freedom Train, by Dorothy Sterling (biography of Harriet Tubman)
Poems from this website
Composers such as William Grant Still and Joe Sealy
One book I found which I did not like that much: The Underground Railroad for Kids. Maybe it was the title, maybe it was just the fact that the library's copy was so beat up, but it just didn't seem like the sort of book you would want to turn kids loose with--more than intense, this one was a bit on the Martyr's Mirror end of things. There are lots of great photographs, which you could use selectively. Some interesting activities, but they're the sort of projects we probably would end up just reading about, not doing.
ADDITIONS: I forgot that we have a copy of Life in Lincoln's America, by Helen Reeder Cross, which is the perfect sort of book for finding "artifacts."
And there are lots of websites, of course.
More ideas?
Related posts: Schedule for the first week of this study, Four poems by Arna Bontemps
Linked from the Carnival of Homeschooling
What's for supper? Sausage and things
Tonight's dinner menu:
Perogy casserole, made with shell pasta instead of lasagna noodles because that's what we had
Farmer's sausage baked with sauerkraut
Broccoli
Banana muffins and brownies
Perogy casserole, made with shell pasta instead of lasagna noodles because that's what we had
Farmer's sausage baked with sauerkraut
Broccoli
Banana muffins and brownies
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Found at the thrift store
Today was the first Wednesday in a long time that I did not work primarily on books. I was asked awhile back to help with some data entry work for the store, so today was my training day.
But I did find a few books towards the end of the afternoon. And Crayons found a bathrobe, which she needed. And a Jean Little book she had wanted to read.
(We do have a copy of the Blue Fairy Book, but it's the Puffin Classics edition and it's missing about five of the stories that are included in the Dover book.)
But I did find a few books towards the end of the afternoon. And Crayons found a bathrobe, which she needed. And a Jean Little book she had wanted to read.
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