BrainPop

Marcus and Lella have officially graduated from BrainPop Jr. to BrainPop.  This is such a wonderful way to incorporate computer time into the school day.  There is a wide range of topics covered and after each short video, students are given the opportunity to take an online quiz.  You can sign up for a free trial with no obligations.  The monthly fee is $9.95 (sign up under the "Family" section and not the "Homeschool" section). 

The characters remain consistent throughout each video and the videos are informative and even funny at times!  BrainPopJr. is a bit more fun than BrainPop, but the topics are limited.   Enjoy!

Books Completed 1/5/10

I noticed over the past week or so that Lella has read more than Marcus, which isn't usually the case.  Then, it dawned on me that Marcus has been watching college football with Steve at night instead of reading!  So, less reading for Marcus this past week, but definitely more bonding time with Daddy!

Marcus:  The Secret of Droon:  The Sleeping Giant of Goll (91 pages), Into the Land of the Lost (95 pages), The Golden Wasp (101 pages), Tony Abbott.

Lella:  The Secret of Droon:  City in the Clouds (88 pages), The Great Ice Battle (85 pages), The Sleeping Giant of Goll (91 pages), Into the Land of the Lost (95 pages), Tony Abbott, Pippi's Extraordinary Ordinary Day, Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Goes to School, Astrid Lindgren, I Was Born in a Tree and Raised by Bees, Jim Aronsky, Pippi to the Rescue, Astrid Lindgren, Beachcombing, exploring the seashore, Jim Aronsky, Little Lions, Jim Aronsky.

Both:  Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper, T. Mollel, Anansi and the Magic Stick, E. Kimmel, Anansi the Spider, a tale from the Ashanti, Gerald McDermott, Zomo the Rabbit, Gerald McDermott, The Pot of Wisdom:  Anansi Stories (63 pages), Adwoa Badoe and Baba Diakite.

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