my little bookcase - day 2

A book that makes your children laugh.

The first that comes to mind for my littles is Amelia Bedelia.

The second is a math reader. It is particularly humorous. Rabbit and Hare Divide an Apple.

Rabbit and Hare can't figure out how to divide the apple when Mr. Raccoon comes along and offers to bite it in half for them.

He eats it all up.

He does this repeatedly. But Rabbit and Hare eventually catch on and solve the problem themselves. We find this reader so funny!

The third book my kids laugh at is An Extraordinary Egg by Leo Lionni. Have you read it? So sweet. 

Jessica, who is naturally curious and always bringing something interesting home, drags back a large white pebble that turns out to be an egg. Marilyn, who knows everything, knows it is a chicken egg.

"See!" exclaimed Marilyn, "I was right! It is a chicken."

Jessica and the "chicken" become fast friends, but eventually the chicken's mother finds her lost baby and she and Jessica say goodbye. Jessica returns home and remarks how the mother said the funniest thing to her baby...

Don't you just love it?

Interesting thing I discovered, in playing this Instagram game (hashtag #mylittlebookcase), is we don't really own any kids joke books. Nor do we ever check them out of the library. I had a joke book as a kid called Pop-Up Riddles and I loved it ... maybe time to revisit the library.

See you on Instagram?

my little bookcase - join in?

This morning, Elizabeth over at Real Learning posted about a meme going around on Instagram for the month of May where we share the best children's books. There is a different category for each day of the month, using hashtag #mylittlebookcase. 

Updated here to add: I wanted to find the source of the Instagram game, and it turns out that this originates with Jackie of My Little Bookcase! What a fun blog. I haven't explored it completely yet, but its worth a look if you like books.

I'm joining in the Instagram game (@livefaithgirl) and will post here on the blog as well. Doesn't that sound like fun? I'm always up for ideas and sharing in the way of books! You too? 

Day 1? A classic.

Brittany's pick - Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Dawson's pick - Old Yeller. "It was beautifully written and sad. A true tale of friendship between man and animal - almost a unity of the two."

Alexa's pick - A Little Princess by Frances Hodges Burnett. "Its such a sad story but its so happy at the end that you could cry." 

Maria's pick - Pinnochio.  "I just love the Talking Cricket and the Blue Fairy. I just love it so much."

Kate's pick - Goodnight Gorilla (she's two, so this pick was coerced!)

My pick - Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I recently read this and it was amazing. 

For more great picks and ideas, check out Instagram!

Young Explorers Booklist Block 1

Things are a-happenin' this fall let me tell you!

First item of business. Young Explorers Learning Group. I have planned a community homeschool pilot project for a 4-week block scheduled this fall. I'll be mentoring a group of children, ages 6-10, for two mornings a week and I am so pumped for this! Our group will not be your typical homeschool get-together-for-some-group-learning-and-crafts; no. Rather, first and foremost we will be rooted in the classics and socratic discussion. This age is prime for learning core lessons such as right versus wrong, good versus bad, true versus false - using literature as our vehicle and allowing the kids to come to conclusions on their own (not take it away from them or "tell them the answers.") What makes a hero? What is courage and how do I get it? What does it mean to be honest? Brave? What makes a house a home? What is a villainous character and what happens to them? Socratic discussion is based on asking questions, it begs one to think and form an opinion; in this case based on a set of experiences within the confines of great literature. All the lofty ideas we aim to come face to face with. We will also be doing living math, living science, and fine arts (art, drama, music appreciation). Gonna be so good.

Within a few hours of sending out the initial announcement and invitation to join the community homeschool pilot project, 5 of my 8 spots were filled. And a few days later, the 6th. I have only 2 spots left, friends, if you're thinking about it, before I cast out a wider net in the local homeschool world.

In the meantime, I've been carefully selecting the read-aloud list for block 1. Our group will read and discuss together - there will not be any reading preparation for the kids to do at home. We are going to discover it all together! In choosing titles, I wanted the piece to not only delight but to provide a good basis for discussion of core lessons and great ideas. The piece had to be doable in a 4 week block with no carry-overs (although we may at times include only excerpts of good classic literature). And, I was aware of the fact that the kids may have already been exposed to many of the really popular children's classics (like Little House on the Prairie, A Little Princess, Gullivers Travels, etc). Not to say we won't do them, but just not in Block 1. I'm hoping most of the material here is fresh for them.


1.The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey - we'll cover one habit each day

2. The Olive Fairy Book compiled by Andrew Lang  - We'll read "Samba the Coward."  Do you know the Fairy Books? They are classics, there are 13 differentiated by color, and are full of worthy tales and stories from around the world. Many available free on the handy dandy kindle.

3. Tolkien's Tales from the Perilous Realm. With "The Hobbit" being released in theatres this fall, the kids have been reading a lot of Tolkien. For that reason, I'm sure they will be receptive to hearing some of his lesser-known but equally awesome short stories found in this treasury. We won't do all of them, but either Roverandom or Farmer Giles of Ham.

4. The Proud Grain of Wheat by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This is a lovely short story about a grain of wheat who thinks he's better and finer than all the rest. Great jumping point to discuss the virtue of humility and the consequences of pride. And the really exciting part is along the way we are going to view some artwork depicting wheat in all its stages (think Van Gogh's The Sower; Sheaves of Wheat, etc). This story is found in a collection of novels and short stories by Burnett, author of The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and the likes. I am currently reading The Little Princess to Alexa (6). Not only does she love it, but its reaching her heart and making her think - exactly our goal. Had to include something by Frances HB for sure! 

5. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. Another heartwarming story about courage. Some of the kids may have read this one already, but a classic is a classic because you can come back to it again and again, and learn something new each time. And be changed for the better.

6. Children's Classics in Dramatic Form by Augusta Stevenson.  Oh, this is a find. It is a collection classic fables and tales, (Aesop, Andersen, Grimm) adapted into short little plays. Each play only has 2-3 characters and are simple enough to read and perform. Then discuss. Then perform again :). Free on Kindle!!

7. Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit. We'll probably do The Tempest or Romeo & Juliet, but I haven't fully decided. Never too young for a little Shakespeare, child-style though. As my friend said, is there any Shakespeare play that doesn't have something inappropriate for children in it? Don't worry, I'll be highly selective and careful with what's presented. On that note, when reading aloud to my own children, I'm pretty good about replacing words like "stupid" with "silly," etc. I'll do the same in any group read-alouds.

8. I'm debating over a couple of others. They are Pearl's Promise by Frank Asch, great little story about a mouse who escapes a pet store and promises to save her brother from a hungry snake AND keep her family together. GREAT story about courage, heroism, bravery, promises and keeping your word. But, in one small episode Pearl ends up seeing a fortune-teller's cat who gives her information from the crystal ball,(quite humorous yes), but not sure I want to have to explain fortune-tellers and crystal balls to the kids. I don't. Maybe I can edit this section out? The story is a page-turner and would appeal to all.  I'm also in the middle of pre-reading the classic Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. So far it has all the elements in a good piece of literature - heroines Bonny (rough and tumble) and cousin Sylvia (frail); wolves on the loose; the villainous and cruel Miss Slighcarp who plots against Bonny and Sylvia while Bonny's parents are away; and Simon the gooseboy who lives in the forest ... so far so good on this one.  And lastly, we'll add some great poetry into the mix. I have lots of that!

Lofty list? That's ok. We don't have to make it through everything, there's no rush. I'm optimistic that however far we dive in, we will savour the journey and enjoy the process!

I'll post later about our living math and living science plan.
'Till then, God bless your week!

Homeschooling Second Languages

Prior to homeschooling, we were very convinced of the benefit of early exposure to second languages. My own parents are European and speak a couple of languages other than English.  I speak some German and a little French.  My oldest brother's kids had gone through french immersion school and I had done a university research project on its benefits at that time.  So when my husband and I had our first two children, it was not a leap to enrol them in french preschools and then french immersion elementary school, especially when we were living in a small french community in northern Ontario at the time.

Enter homeschooling. Or, almost. The only thing that gave me second thoughts about pulling Brittany out of school was that we would be giving up the french.  And the last thing the principal asked me when I told her Brittany wouldn't be returning was whether I was going to keep up the french. Sigh.

Well, I tried.

I began with a great program called Le francais facile, or "the easy french."  This is a phonics-based, multi-level program packed with songs, activity sheets, literature suggestions, culture notes, and so on.  It looked really good and I was determined to make it work.  But alas, it eventually fell by the wayside.  My first year of homeschool I became pregnant, was sick, and just couldn't keep up the elective subjects.  Besides that, there were aspects of the program that frustrated me.  You listen to the story on CD then do some activities ... coloring pages ... I don't know, it just didn't click for us at the time.  And frankly, where we were at in our home education, it didn't make sense to put so much effort into french at this time.  The four R's - reading, writing, ratin (latin), and arithmetic had to take priority.

We put french on hold for Dawson and just focused on the latin.

For Brittany, we purchased Rosetta Stone - considered the cream of the crop for CD-based second language instruction - and just let her have fun with it, learning at her own pace.  I love this program and won't review it here since it is so universally accepted as a good solid program.  Keep in mind though, it wasn't designed for homeschooled kids, but for professionals working abroad who need to learn a second language quickly.  Nevertheless, it fulfills things like credits for high school, is interactive from a speaking perspective, and kids usually like computer-based learning.

Our next attempt at French for Dawson came in his fifth grade year.  This time we co-oped with several other families, several subjects, and worked through a wonderful, phonics-based program by Nallenart called L'art de Lire.  They have three levels:

• L'Art de DIRE (say): Grades K-3
• L'Art de LIRE (read): Grades 3-8
• L'Art d'ÉCRIRE (write): Grade 9

These are workbooks (or downloads) with CDs for pronounciation, and I really liked the format!  They can be worked on fairly independently, and most importantly, Dawson loved it!  Or you could start a little earlier (maybe grade 3-4) and work through it directly with child.  We worked through levels 1&2 the first year, then 3&4 the next.  Instead of moving to 5&6, we decided to go back and repeat levels 1-4 to solidify it.  Nothing wrong with repeating content according to the learning needs and desires!

You can download sample pages at the website, but they take a while to download so I've included a few pictures of our own:

Introducing the main words for the story, which provides the context for the particular phonogram being studied.  In this case, the french 'i'.

The following page introduces the 2-page sweet story, short little sentences with pictures.

And then some busywork pages for each unit.

The busywork pages also introduce the main verbs, like "etre" and "avoir."

Pronouns.

Does this give you an idea of what the program looks like?  I like the simplicity of it.  And, no photocopying or other type of preparation in order to make the program work.  Listening to the phonograms on CD is valuable but it is optional, especially if you have a french friend or some french background.  Each book includes unit tests and a final test if you're the testing type :).  Overall, the program is turn-key!   If you plan on using it for multiple kids, I would opt for the download rather than the physical book.  

Because I have been so pleased with the ease of the program, I decided to have a look at the K-3 curriculum for Alexa, L'art de DIRE, and I'm so glad I did!  It is a gentle, conversational program for young students, and I prefer to look at it not as a program so much as an outline of areas I can integrate into the plan, together with living books.  Sound good?  The only drawback is I find the download very expensive.  Here is a peek at the download:

There are no surprises in this program. It introduces all the basics of conversation and everyday vocabulary.  Hello, goodbye, red/yellow/blue, one/two/three.

Tables and chairs and things around the house.

Clothing.

Found these at the dollar store.  You can purchase online too.  Amazingly, they parallel all the Nallenart units. They are produced by Beaver Books.

Really nice, simple pages. There isn't a "story" so maybe they aren't truly 'living books,' but they are lively and colorful with concepts that are easy to get via the pictures.

Even my 3yo asks to read these books.

Maybe you can incorporate a little French into your homeschool too.  It doesn't have to be rigid, it DOES have to work for you, and this works for us!  We don't do it everyday, but its flexible enough that when we are really in the mood we can jump right in.

Voila!