Completed Books 12/30/09

Marcus:  The Secret of Droon:  City in the Clouds (88 pages), The Great Ice Battle (85 pages), Tony Abbot, Stuart Little (129 pages), E.B. White.

Marcus said Stuart Little was his second favorite E.B. White book so far.  Trumpet of the Swan was his favorite and Charlotte's Web ranked third.  He especially liked the part where Stuart Little meets Harriet because she is small too!

Lella:  The Secret of Droon: The Mysterious Island (85 pages), Tony Abbott, The Fairy Berry Bake-Off (47 pages), Daisy Alberto, Race Into Space (48 pages), Eric Arnold, George the Drummer Boy (61 pages), N. Benchley.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Joyful Noise, written by Paul Fleischman, is a children's book of poetry about insects.  Each poem is designed for two readers to enjoy together; there are two columns of verse for children to alternate reading aloud.  The poems are about the lives of six-legged creatures ranging from fireflies writing in the sky to a love affair between two lice, crickets eating pie crumbs and the single day in the life of a mayfly.

Marcus and Lella look forward to reading these poems aloud each day.  One of the poems even had me in tears, as it was so beautifully written. 

Enjoy!

Mary Poppins and Books Completed December 26, 2009

Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, is such a delightful book to read with children.  Each chapter is almost a story in itself!  Mary Poppins is charming; her stern and haughty exterior belies the delightful nonsense she harbors. Marcus and Lella have truly enjoyed this book!   202 pages

Marcus' recently completed books:  The Call of the Wild (GIC), Jack London, 238 pages, The Secret of Droon: The Mysterious Island, 85 pages, City in the Clouds, 88 pages, The Great Ice Battle, 87 pages (All written by Tony Abbott).

Lella's recently completed books:  The Secret of Droon: The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet, 80 pages, and Journey to the Volcano Palace, 85 pages, Tony Abbott, Christoper Mouse, William Wise, 151 pages, The Hello, Goodbye Window, Norton Juster, Wombat Goes Walkabout, Michael Morpurgo.


Both have read:  The Storm, Cynthia Rylant, 80 pages, Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane, Joanne Cole, D is for Doufu:  An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture, Maywan Krach, A Companion Book to D is for Doufu, Shen Krach, Do you Know Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren, 28 pages, Michael Phelps, Jeffrey Zuehlke, 29 pages, Crinkleroot Seris:   25 Fish Every Child Should Know, 25 More Animals Every Child Should Know, 25 Mammals Every Child Should Know, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Animal Tracking, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing The Trees (all written by Jim Arnosky), The Master Swordsman and the Magic Doorway, Alice Provensen, Pippi Longstocking in the Park, Astrid Lindgren.

Fun and Challenging Thinking Games

Marcus and Lella received two games for Christmas that are wonderful.  

The first, Brick-by-Brick by Thinkfun, challenges them to build a brick wall with five pieces.  There are sixty cards with different brick walls to build. 

The second, Q-bitz, can be played individually or with up to four players.  Players are challenged to replicate a pattern given a square of cubes.

Enjoy!

The Secrets of Droon and completed books 12/13/09

We recently discoverd this series at the library and Marcus is reading one/two every day!  There are 30+ books in the series and are approximately 80 pages each.  The reading level is around 3rd grade.

Summary:  Three friends, Eric, Neal and Julie, discover a secret doorway in Eric's basement that leads to rainbow stairs. The stairs reach down into the wondrous world of Droon; a land where all kinds of amazing things occur. A cast of magical characters appears to guide the kids on their journeys.

Recently Completed Books

Marcus:  The Secrets of Droon:  The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet, Tony Abbott, 80 pages, The Secrets of Droon:  Journey to the Volcano Palace, Tony Abbott, 85 pages,  George the Drummer Boy, N. Benchley, 61 pages, Otis Spofford, Beverly Cleary, 189 pages


Lella:  Birds Do the Strangest Things, Hornblow, 64 pages, How Not to Babysit Your Brother, Hapka and Titlebaum, 48 pages, Owl Moon, Jane Yolen, Lon Po Po, Ed Young, Cinderella, Marcia Brown


Both:  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert O'Brien, 233 pages, One Grain of Rice, Demi, The Little Brown Jay, E. Clair, 22 pages, The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed, Scholastic, Once a Mouse, Marcia Brown, The Sisters Grimm:  Magic and Other Misdemeaners, Michael Buckley, 304 pages

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, books completed 12/3/09

We are currently reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert O'Brien, 233 pages. The children beg to read this book each day and as it is one of my favorite stories as a child, I am happy to oblige!

Other books recently completed:

Both: Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde (The Selfish Giant and The Star Child), P. Craig Russell, Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde (The Young King and The Remarkable Rocket), P. Craig Russell, Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde (The Devoted Friend and The Nightingale and the Rose), P. Craig Russell (Note: The three books above are in comic strip form), Gilgamesh the King, Ludmila Zeman, The Revenge of Ishtar, Ludmila Zeman, The Last Quest of Gilgamesh, Ludmila Zeman, The Coat of Many Colors, Korlek and Baynes, The Golden Sandal, Rebecca Hickox, Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Silpha Mehta-Jones, The Winged Cat, Deborah Lattimore, The Friends of Abu Ali, Dorothy O. Van Woerkom, 64 pages, A Kitten Called Moonlight, C. Birmingham, 40 pages, Soccer Sam, Marzolla and Sims, 48 pages, So You Want To Be President, George and Small, 52 pages, The High Rise Private Eyes #3, The Case of the Puzzling Possum, C. Rylant, 48 pages

Lella: The Prince and the Pauper (GIC), Mark Twain, 239 pages

Marcus: Mr. Popper's Penguins, Richard and Florance Atwater, 139 pages

Turkey Art Project

"Hi there! We are Marcus and Lella's Thanksgiving turkeys! You can see we were made from their hand prints. Marcus made me. I am on your left. My sister, made by Lella, is on your right. We were thankful that Marcus and Lella's Mama got motivated to do an art project!"

Making Christmas "Soap" Globes

We had so much fun making soap with our Pastor's family! The project was extremely easy and the kids enjoyed placing the mini-ornaments inside the soft glycerin. The link below is to the website we used. Enjoy!

How To Make Soap

Recently Completed Books 11/22

Marcus:
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Farm, Betty MacDonald, 128 pages
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (GIC), Howard Pile, 238 pages

Lella:
Besides re-reading every single Magic School Bus we own :-)...
Gulliver's Travels (GIC), Jonathan Swift, 240 pages
Farmer Skiboo Stories, Martin Waddell, 31 pages
Dogs Rule!, Daniel Kirk (cute poem book about dogs)
Flying Feet, James Stevenson, 48 pages
The Mud Flat Mystery, James Stevenson, 56 pages
Heat Wave at Mud Flat, James Stevenson, 31 pages
The High Rise Private Eyes, the case of the Puzzling Possum, G. Brian Karas, 48 pages
A Kitten Called Moonlight, Martin Waddell

Both:
Once Upon a Crime, Michael Buckley, 296 pages
The Ghost Ship, Martin Waddell, 31 pages
Two Brown Bears, Martin Waddell, 31 pages
A Treasure of Turkish Folktales for Children, Barbara Walker
The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition, Cole and Degen
Nurse Matilda, Christianna Brand, 133 pages
The 5000 Year Old Puzzle, Claudia Logan

Nurse Matilda

"Full of such naughtiness- it may be better to keep these away from your children." --Emma Thompson

One day all the nurses and nannies and governesses gave notice together. "Mr. and Mrs. Brown, your children are so naughty that we cannot stand it one minute longer and are going away. What you need is Nurse Matilda."

...and so the laughter began. Marcus and Lella LOVED those naughty disobedient children (which I am not sure is a good thing!). Thankfully, they liked Nurse Matilda just as much :-)! One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the many British words that we got to pronounce and talk about. Do you know what blancmanges are? Enjoy!

The 5,000 Year Old Puzzle

Marcus and Gabriella LOVED this book! There are actual pictures from the real expedition and all of the facts are real; the fictional characters are delightful. I highly recommend this book (40 pages).

Summary:
When King Tut's tomb was discovered in Egypt in 1922, the world was abuzz. What would be the next big, newsworthy archaeological find? Might it be Giza 7000X, a secret Egyptian tomb buried deep within the earth? Logan and Sweet (with the cooperation of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston) answer that question and ask a few more in The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle, their truly splendid picture book for older readers.

11/12/09 Completed Books

Gabriella:
I Love Guinea Pigs, Dick King-Smith (short, easy read)
No Fighting, No Biting, Else Holmelund (short, easy read)
Dolphins and other Marine Mammals, Bobbie Kalman (31 pages about Marine Mammals)
Polar Bears in Danger, Roberta Edwards (short, easy read)
Mud Flat Spring, James Stevenson, (short, easy read)
Seven books in the High-Rise Private Eyes series, Cynthia Rylant (short, easy reads)

Marcus:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo (198 pages)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis (198 pages)

Abridged C. S. Lews, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

After Marcus finished this classic C. S. Lewis unabridged novel, Gabriella wanted to read it too. I was able to find this lovely abridged version for her. It was the perfect amount of reading (definitely longer in parts) and was true to the original story. She enjoyed the illustrations too!

Publisher: HarperCollins
Illustrator: Christian Birmingham

The High Rise Private Eyes

Gabriella happened upon this series at the library and asked if she could check some out. The reading level varies from book to book, but I would say it's on an average 1st - 3rd grade reading level. This reader series features detectives and best friends Bunny Brown and raccoon Jack Jones.

The books average about 50 pages and Lella reads them rather quickly. She has requested more!

Cave Paintings

Hall of Bulls Cave in Lascaux, France vs. Marcus and Lella's cave painting. Lella's reverse hand print is on the left and Marcus' is on the right. Fun!

Salt Map of Egypt

This was a fun project we did a couple weeks ago. Shaping the map caused the kids to easily see how Lower Egypt is actually North.

Directions:
Mix 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 3/4 cup water. (Add a little water at a time). This should make a very thick dough. Add more flour if needed. Spread dough over map you've outlined on heavy cardboard or plywood. I had the kids create their map in a gift box! Shape mountains, valleys, plains, etc. You may dip fingers lightly in water to smooth out rough places in dough. Allow to dry and paint with tempura.

Recently Completed Books 11/4/09

There were times when Marcus was reading E. B. White's classic tale The Trumpet of the Swan. Trumpet is an unforgettable, poetic and deeply moving story of love, friendship, and most importantly, coming to terms with a disability. The book not only teaches, but entertains. There were even several times Marcus laughed out loud!

Marcus:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis, 189 pages
The Trumpet of the Swan, E. B. White, 210 pages
Edward Tulane, K. DiCamilllo, 198 pages

Lella:
The Call of the Wild, Great Illustrated Classics, Jack London, 238 pages
Peter Rabbit, A Lift-the-Flap Rebus Story Book, based on the original by Beatrix Potter
Zak's Lunch, Palatini, 32 pages

The Chronicles of Narnia

I found this special read-aloud edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S Lewis, 189 pages) at the library recently, and Marcus was finished with it in five nights. He was intrigued by the large text, black and white illustrations and then, of course, was drawn into C. S. Lewis' magical and mystical world of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a charmingly written, classic story.

When I asked Marcus what he liked most about the book, he replied, "When Aslan died for Edmond. It reminded me of Christ dying for us."

We are ordering him the rest of this series for him on Amazon!

A Place in the Sun (Jill Rubalcaba, 80 pages)

We read A Place in the Sun today and compared Sunmet's life with the lives of Marcus and Lella in the following ways:

• Worship and Prayer
• Treating Sickness
• Home and Family
• Country Leader
• Punishment for Wrongdoing
• Entertainment

Summary of story:

When Sunmut's sculptor father is bitten by a cobra, Senmut believes that if he can carve a statue of the healer-goddess Sekhmet that will please her, she will help save Yuf. As the boy works, he carelessly throws aside a tool, accidentally killing a dove. This thoughtless act, in ancient Egypt, means a death sentence for Senmut, unless the gods intercede on his behalf. They do, and instead of a quick death, the boy is sentenced to work in the mines, which will lead, he knows, to a slower, but no-less-sure, demise. How Sunmut escapes this fate and, by virtue of his talent and some good luck, survives to become Royal Sculptor to the Pharaoh, makes for an exciting and information-filled adventure!

So many books, so little time...

Marcus is reading several books at the moment, but recently completed A Good Night for Ghosts, Mary Pope Osborne (~110 pages), and a few shorter stories like: Grandaddy's Place (Helen Griffith), Goldilocks and the Three Bears (a modern take on the old fairy tale by Steven Guarnaccia), How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball (David Shannon).

Gabriella is reading through all of her Magic School Bus Books again and also her "about" books: About Birds, About Mammals, About Arachnids, etc... (Catherine Sill). We have all of them and although they are very simple, she enjoys the illustrations and the longer descriptions of each animal in the back of the book. Gabriella is very much enjoying Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg (Levine, ~208 pages) and is almost finished.

Gabriella and Marcus both recently finished The McElderry Book of Aesop's Fables (Morpurgo), and The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, Book 2, ~320 pages).

We are currently reading The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Braum, ~200 pages). I particularly like the version illustrated by the Junior Library, as the writing is a bit larger and the illustrations are simple and sweet.

Steve recently finished his unit on Literary Devices and now, especially during family worship, the children are recognizing them when we read scripture. His plan is to teach them ten new devices each year. They now are familiar with: Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Hyperbole, Understatement, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Hendiadys, Eupemism, and Irony. If you would like to see what he has done, feel free to email him! He's happy to share :-).

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Kate DiCamillo writes such lovely childrens' books. You may recognize her other books: The Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn-Dixie.

Gabriella just finished The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (197 pages), and said it was one of her favorite books.

Summary:

Edward, a china rabbit, is lost when he is dropped over the side of a boat. Edward journeys home and has many encounters along the way. He learns valuable lessons about life through these encounters..

Recently read books 10/5

Marcus: Coudy with a chance of Meatballs (Junior Novelization) 112 pages, The Rockhound Science Mysteries (book 1, 2, and 3) all about 50 pages

Lella: Mole and Shrew (Koller), Pickles to Pittsburgh (Barrett)

Both: Nim's Island Movie Storybook (Scholastic), Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat (Miller), Three More Stories You Can Read to Your Cat (Miller)

It was so fun to see Marcus and Gabriella read to their stuffed cat "Alley". I am going to reserve the dog version for sure!

We are also reading the McElderly's book of Aesop's Fables. The kids love to read a fable and then write down what they think the moral of the story is.

Enjoy!

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs Junior Novelization

Marcus and Lella loved reading this book based on the soon to be released movie and famous book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by the Barretts . Marcus even laughed out loud at certain parts of the story!

Enjoy!

Books Recently Completed

Marcus: Apollo 13, The Movie Storybook, Around the World in 80 days (Great Illustrated Classics)
Lella: Three More Stories You Can Read to Your Cat (Sara Miller), Margarine and Marbles (A Go Bananas book), Moby Dick (Great Illustrated Classics)

Both: The McElderry Book of Grimm's Fairy Tales (Saviour Pirotta): The Sleeping Beauty, The Magic Bear and the Handsome Prince, The Golden Haired Girl in the Tower, The Princess and the Seven Dwarves, The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Tangrams

I recently picked up this book from the library:

The Tangram book : the story of the Chinese puzzle with over 2000 puzzles to solve
Slocum, Jerry.

Marcus loves to look at an image, create it using one set of Tangrams, and then check his answer. Gabriella likes to play with all of the Tangrams and create pictures (shown here). Either way, Tangrams are an easy, creative, smart activity for children.

Enjoy!

Choose Your Own Adventure Series

We recently purchased several "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from ebay and Marcus and Lella LOVE them! There are so many books in this series to choose from.

Gabriella recently finished Return to Atlantis and Marcus recently finished By Balloon to the Sahara. They eventually read the entire book, as they choose different paths each time.

Most of these books seem to be approximately 100 pages.

Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse

Gabriella and Marcus recently finished this delightful book and requested more from this series.

The author is George Seldon.

Summary:
This book tells the story of a mouse, Tucker, and a cat, Harry, who become friends, share food, and search New York for a home of their own. Their wanderings take them to the basement of the Empire State Building and to Gramercy Park, among other places. Eventually, they settle down in the Times Square subway station.

Books Recently Read, Handwriting Article, Hall of Presidents

Marcus' recent completed readings: Journey to the Center of the Earth (Great Illustrated Classics), Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, Andrew Jackson (Steve Potts)

Lella's recent completed readings: Swiss Family Robinson (Great Illustrated Classics), The Jungle Book (Great Illustrated Classics)

Books they have both read recently: G-Force, The McElderry Book of Grimm's Fairy Tales (Saviour Pirotta): The Magic Gingerbread House, The Girl Who Spun Straw into Gold, Little Mouse and Lazy Cat, The Swans and the Brave Princess, The Naughty Princess and the Frog, Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Wenzel and Wheeler): Little Snow White, The Three Sluggards, The Shoemaker and the Elves

This is an interesting article on handwriting:

Cursive writing may be fading skill, but so what?

Marcus is learning cursive this year and it's one of his favorite things we do in a school day. We use Handwriting Without Tears, Cursive.

This part of the article encourages me that this is not a waste of time: "...[A]ccording to Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who cites multiple studies showing that sloppy writing routinely leads to lower grades, even in papers with the same wording as those written in a neater hand."

Finally, a few months ago, Marcus and Lella asked me to buy them a place mat (it was $1.00) that showed all 43 U. S. Presidents, the time they served, their party affiliation, and various facts. They both took it upon themselves to memorize all 43 presidents! Marcus also memorized their party affiliation and is in the process of memorizing their years of service.

At Disney, The Hall of Presidents was recently redone and Marcus and Lella thoroughly enjoyed it! It was fun to see them find so much joy in our country's history. If you ever have the opportunity to view this exhibit and show, I highly recommend it!

Starry Starry Night

Although the children and I have no "formal" art curriculum, we often look through art books or "youtube" slide shows of famous artists. We recently studied Vincent van Gogh and this was Marcus' masterpiece.

If you have younger children, there is a delightful three series program called Classical Baby (art, music, or dance) that introduces children to various genres of art, dance and classical music. My children still love to watch these sweet shows every now and then!

Classical Baby

Paddle Dolls

As promised, here are the paddle dolls Marcus and Lella made after reading Senefer (see post below).

After they made their dolls, they created a short play for Steve and me to watch.

They have since requested to color more paddle dolls!

Enjoy!

The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1)

If your children are familiar with any of the Grimm Fairy Tales, they will love this book by Michael Buckley. Marcus and Lella are listening to this book on CD and so far, they have enjoyed this book more than any others we have listened to... even Magic Tree House!

We will definitely read more books in this series! I say "we" because I plan on reading more with the children. I am afraid I am hooked! There are currently eight books in the series and the reading level is 4th - 6th grade. Each book looks to be about 200 pages.

Enjoy!

Literary Devices

My husband recently started teaching Marcus and Gabriella literary devices using scripture as examples. So far, they have learned metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, and understatement; up next, metonymy and synecdoche. He gives them weekly quizzes and we are both amazed at how quickly they are catching on! Below are sample quiz passages. Can you match the literary device being used to the passage? Give it a try! :-)

Psalm 42:1 - As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Psalm 114:3-4 - The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped …

2 Chronicles 1:15 - the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone …

Deuteronomy 1:28 - are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven …

Matthew 4:2 - And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

John 6:51 - I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Mark 10:25 - It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Steve also fell in love with Tapestry of Grace, and as soon as it arrives, will officially be Marcus and Lella's humanities teacher. As a math major, I am extremely grateful!

Quick Summary:
'Young Genius in Old Egypt' is the exciting story of Senefer, an African child in ancient Egypt. Senefer was a carpenter's son who became a famous mathematician and engineer. The story of his adventures brings to life the rich culture of ancient Egypt and the African tradition to excellence in mathematics and science. Senefer's mother, Nefert, sells paddle dolls at the market and this is where Senefer shows off his mathematical talent to the scribes.
~~~~

When I read this to Marcus and Gabriella, we compared ancient Egyptian Numerals with Roman Numerals. We made a paddle doll similar to those Nefert sold at market. The children then used the dolls to act out a play. If you're interested, here is an image of a real paddle doll. I'll post their paddle dolls soon!

Books Completed in July and August, Great Illustrated Classics

I came across 45 Great Illustrated Classics books at a garage sale and bought the whole lot for $20. Each time you turn the page, you see a page of text and a sketch of what is happening in the story. These books are a wonderful way to expose children to classic literature and although they are abridged, the essence of the original text remains. Below is a list of books Marcus and Lella have recently finished.

Marcus: Flat Stanly (series), Swiss Family Robinson (Great Illustrated Classics), Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Invisible Man, Diary of Wimpy Kid (series)

Gabriella: Robin Hood (Great Illustrated Classics), The Jungle Book (Great Illustrated Classics), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)

Books on CD are grand!

I have terrible TMJ, and often when I am reading to the children, my jaw begins to hurt. Most of the time I just ignore the pain because I find so much joy in reading alound to Marcus and Lella. Recently, the children and I have been listening to some of their favorite books on CD (We are almost finished listening to Island of the Blue Dolphin).

I simply check out two actual books from the library and one sound recording. We sit on the couch and read along with the CD. The kids LOVE hearing other voices read to them and because they are also reading along, they are able to incorporate two learning styles in this activity. This is especially important for my daughter who is a kinesthetic learner.

We are about to embark on Freddy the Detective by Walter Brooks. Should be fun!

Firework Art

It is July 20 and Independence Day was a couple of weeks ago, but we, nevertheless, embarked on an Independence Day project. My daughter insisted we do this project after reading about Independence Day and seeing the project online.

Simply dilute paint with water, drip the paint on a piece of paper, and blow the paint drip with a straw.

The kids LOVED making fireworks of their own and even made sound effects! Enjoy!

The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

A dear friend of mine gave Marcus and Gabriella this classic tale and suggested that as I read the story, to let the kids make their own illustrations. They enjoyed this activity so much that they made a front and back cover to their pictures! What you see here is their interpretation of the little boy playing with the Velveteen Rabbit in the garden. Gabriella's picture is on the left and Marcus' is on the right.

Clay Art

I am always looking for art projects my children can work on independently. There are times when I need to focus on teaching one child a particular concept, practice piano, cook a meal, etc..., and I need an activity to occupy little hands.

I bought some molding clay in different colors last year and found it recently as I was cleaning out the art drawer. My daughter molded various animals for almost an hour and enjoyed every minute! She now requests to mold clay and chooses a different theme each time.

If you don't want to purchase molding clay, you can always make your own!

Recipe: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water - Mix well until it forms a ball and knead in food coloring. If your play-doh is too sticky, add more flour. If it is too dry, add more water. Enjoy!

The Puppy Place (book series)

My husband is in the process of selling books our children read last year in order to by new ones for this year and I was reminded of this sweet series of books by Ellen Miles called The Puppy Place. If your children love puppies and are just starting to read chapter books, then I highly recommend this series.

The first book in the series is called Goldie:

Charles and Lizzie Peterson love puppies. They want a puppy of their own more than just about anything. They know dogs are a lot of work, but their mom still doesn't think their family is ready for a puppy. Then, Goldie arrives. She is a sweet golden retriever that needs a home. Goldie is very young and she doesn't know how to be a good puppy yet. Will Charles and Lizzie be able to help her?

Mary Pope Osborne - The Odyssey

If your children loved reading the Magic Tree House series, they will equally love Osborne's series called Tales From The Odyssey. My children enjoyed reading these books (they are 6 and 7) and we plan on reading them again this year!

In these books based on episodes from Homer's Odyssey, Osborne brings to life the exciting adventures of one of the greatest heroes of all time...

The Odyssey

Op-Ed Columnist - The Best Kids Books Ever

In the opinion of the New York Times columnist, Mr. Kristof, these are the best children's books ever. I wouldn't say I necessarily agree with all of his choices; nevertheless, the article is an interesting read. Enjoy!

Best Children's Books Ever

Curriculum 2009 - 2010

MHR:

• Math: Horizons Level 3
• Grammar: First Language Lessons, Level 3, and Easy Grammar Level 3
  
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 3
• History: The Story of the World, Volume 1
  
• Literature: Recommended Reading in History
  
• Science: Real Science 4 Kids, Biology
• Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Cursive
• Spelling: Spelling Power by Beverly Adams Gordon
  
• Logic: Primarily Logic

GJR:

• Math: Horizons Level 2
• Grammar: First Language Lessons, Level 3, and Easy Grammar, Level 3
  
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 3
• History: The Story of the World, Volume 1
• Literature: Recommended Reading in History
• Science: Real Science 4 Kids, Biology
• Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears
• Spelling: Spelling Power by Beverly Adams Gordon
• Logic: Primarily Logic