Dawn K Homeschool

Quickly, I'd like to share some books we read or began reading today. History First, we read our third book in the "Adventures in Colonial America" series, Seventh & Walnut   and I just loved it! It was so much fun to read aloud, and it was so informative yet enjoyable.  The entire story is told from the perspective of the city's night watchman or town crier. Art Appreciation -- Impressionism Continuing with out introduction to Impressionism, I read  Charlotte in Paris  which is set up like a series of diary entries complete with watercolor paintings and scrapbook memorabilia.  Many French words are introduced along with French culture. Literature Read Aloud I am delighted we began  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang  -- the original book by Ian Fleming.  We only read one chapter (I'll read more tonight at bedtime), but so far, we are thrilled with it.  As is customary with books made into films, it is already astonishingly different!  Now, I d...

I'm not sure if he'll finish it, but he wanted to borrow this tome  from the library this week.

I'm off to do a little light reading in Julie Klassen's newest book  -- The Girl in the Gatehouse .  I had a busy day trying to catch up on my Project Life  album which can still be purchased here .  I'll share photos of my progress tomorrow.  I am only behind on it because we were sick so much this winter and because we've been so wrapped up in the bedroom renovation.  I actually love this project!

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home We all enjoyed this book about a mouse named Celeste.  It was really more of an introduction to John James Audubon and his teenage assistant Joseph Mason. The afterword includes fascinating information about both artists and their techniques (which would be considered animal cruelty these days, so please be aware that these methods are mentioned in the book). Here  is a study guide for the book. For more about Audubon, see here .  For other fabulous resources about him including coloring pages and other recommended literature for children, click here .

I have been collecting resources for our first few weeks of homeschooling, and I've spent part of the weekend looking through our read-aloud books for science, history, artist study and composer study. I just love this part of homeschooling -- learning along with the boys! So, I was trying to figure out how much time I wanted to devote to reading about Venice since we are studying Vivaldi this year. The Classical Kids teacher's guide for Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery (which you can and sample here ) stresses the fact that V stands for Vivaldi, Violin and Venice. After reading that, I decided I wanted to spend a little time learning about Venice. We have encountered the importance of Venice several times when studying Marco Polo, the Renaissance, and this year Monteverdi and Vivaldi. One book I have considered is Vendela in Venice .  I have really enjoyed reading it so far.  I have been learning so much about its culture, history, art, food, transportation, architecture, etc....

A fellow homeschooler brought this website to my attention, and for that, I am grateful!  So, I thought I would share: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/lordoftheringstrilogy/index.jsp

Okay. We read Mary Poppins -- long after I had already seen the movie countless times. I have to say, it was a strange book -- strikingly different than the movie. Overall, I have to admit I like the movie more (with the exception of the male-bashing and feminist overtones). So, this leads me to our next read-aloud -- The Brave Little Toaster . How many of you have seen this lame Disney movie? (it is Disney, is it not?) Totally uninspiring in my opinion, but I saw the book on the library shelf the other day and just KNEW it was going to be a quaint little book that would leave me saying to the boys the old adage: "You know the book is always better than the movie." Don't waste your time. I waded through a ridiculously lengthy romantic scene between a daisy and the toaster. (eye-roll) Then, I was reading along and came to a word I pronounced as "polish" with a short "o." I then realized the word was capitalized and was shocked to discover that in the ...

Our current read-alouds are: Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Poppins-Odyssey-Classics-Travers/dp/0152017178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221336536&sr=1-3 Wagtail by Alice Crew http://www.amazon.com/Wagtail-Alice-Crew-Fleming-Gall/dp/B000KZ9X9E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221336730&sr=1-1 Linnea in Monet's Garden by Cristina Bjork http://www.amazon.com/Linnea-Monets-Garden-Cristina-Bjork/dp/9129583144/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221336919&sr=1-1

and have now begun reading Mary Poppins . It's rather pathetic that it was not until I was 35 that I learned the movie was actually based on a book. GASP! For now, though, let me recommend Esther Averill to you. You will most likely recognize this book, written by her -- The Fire Cat. Well, you may not know (as I did not) that there were so many wonderful books about Jenny Linsky , a cute black cat with a red scarf, written by the same author and illustrator who was writing in the 40's We just finished one of these: Jenny and the Cat Club . There are several others which you can read about here: http://www.nybooks.com/authors/10014 If your library does not carry these, do not be surprised! Mine did not either, but I requested that they order one, which they did, and I have now recommended others. We'll see. I am certain other patrons will thank you if you can convince your library to carry them. And if not, Amazon does carry them for your home library. I may actually end up...

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've added a new category of links on the left-hand side of my blog. If you've noticed, I have other favorite sites grouped by type. You'll also now find "Free Literature Guides" with all of my favorite links.

Have you ever wondered what the OTHER books in a series are? Have you wondered what order they are in? Well, I use this site all the time. Whenever my son (one of them) finds a book he really likes, I go here to see what others are in the same series. This also helps me know what books my library is missing in a series. My library has been fabulous about ordering most of what I request, especially books in series. I know you will love this site. http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/ While I'm at it, this site lists books that have been made into movies: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies/ To see other book lists I've compiled, just scroll down the left-hand column. This is where I compile my "goodie" lists.