Storytime

Today we attended the most delightful storytime session. We were gathered into the room and seated on the floor by the lovely teacher. She took her seat and read with such enthusiasm and eloquence.

The tale was, "Owl at Home", and boy did we giggle at the funny antics of Owl.

T (age 4) sat on my lap the whole time as we listened.

K (age 6) was unavailable to sit on the floor with us. She was quite preoccupied because...

SHE was the storyteller.

And I have never been so impressed by any storyteller. I believe T and I shall attend her sessions again next week.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By: Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though,
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Illustrated by: K Wilson (age 6)


Also Illustrated by: P Wilson (age 4)


(Yes, it was the same lovely winter poem. I believe she is picturing those woods in springtime.)

We have enjoyed focusing on setting this year as we read literature. The girls have enjoyed expressing the setting of a story or poem through painting, words, and drawings.

Making Memories

At a recent homeschool support group meeting, our guest speaker encouraged us to look at homeschooling as "making memories" rather than just "teaching". Too often we get focused on getting through our curriculum or keeping a particular schedule. We forget how precious and fleeting this time is with our children. She encouraged us to remember that each day is an opportunity to make wonderful memories with our children.

I really liked the idea of looking at each day and each week of study as an opportunity to make memories with my girls. It's easy on memorable days such as field trips or special events. But ultimately, most days are just run-of-the-mill homeschooling days. Yet the sum of those days will make a lifetime of schooling memories.

So I began to think...

One thing we did was create some games for our Explode the Code workbook. When she has to check yes or no for an activity or check the top or bottom sentence, she assigns me one category and her another. So I might be the yes boxes and she might be the no boxes. As she completes the assignment, we keep guessing who will win.

I thought this was ridiculous until she returned from her bible class one day and told me that she was sad when she did her Explode the Code homework. I asked her what made her sad and she told me that I wasn't there to pick a column and play our game.

Precious.

Even Explode the Code can make a fun family memory. Who would have thought?

Then one day last week I randomly suggested that K (age 6) be the teacher for our morning board and I would fill in her folder as the student.

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

Let's just say that it was a hit! She embraced the role of teacher and had a great time. Of course, she didn't want me to write in her folder, so she did both.

The next day, T (age 4) was our teacher and she led us through our morning board. She was quite happy to llet me be the student in her place and fill in her folder.

They both loved this.

I think I will continue to introduce our morning board on Monday, but let each of them have a turn as the teacher during the week. This was definitely memorable.

While I realize that not every lesson and activity are going to be a hit, it has been fun to make little changes in our day so that we can all enjoy one another even more.

Off I go to plan another day filled with memories!

President's Day

This book, So you want to be President by Judith St. George, was a book I stumbled upon at the library. I grabbed it to read to the girls for President's Day.

I LOVED IT! I am not sure my girls appreciated the wealth of information and humor in this book, but it was not wasted on me! The caricatures of the presidents are excellent. Each one was captured well, at least the ones I know....

The book includes fun tidbits...

Do you know which president wore a red carnation in his buttonhole everyday?

Who had an adversary throw a cabbage at him and responded, "I see that one of my adversaries has lost his head."

Who was caught skinn.y dipp.ing by a reporter?

The book also includes information on everything from pets that have lived in the White House to War Hero presidents, to the presidents' careers prior to their presidency. We also learn that some presidents were honest and some were not. Some liked the job of president and others did not. One complained that it was "the four most miserable years of my life."

It was a perfect pick for this holiday, for every age in this house! I highly recommended it.