129-130

Yesterday I read two more chapters from Margaret Pumphrey's Pilgrim Stories, and On the Mayflower by Kate Waters. E did math and more of the TOPS Green Thumbs 38: Radishes. I read a few more pages from Kids Discover Magazines Stars & Nebulae issue. Then we went to the science center with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Imax movie Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, which was very good, and we played a little at the science center afterwards.

Today E had her piano lesson and then we went to the library. After lunch we did more TOPS radish experiments.

52

Started out reading about the end of the Greek Empire (Alexander's Empire) and the beginning of the Age of Rome in Carlson's Classical Kids. Then I read Living in RomanTimes, by Jane Chisholm. E did her math, T watched Peep, and then E answered questions about Saturn in her notebook. We looked at the super-long list of Saturn's moons, and decided we would just make a few of the most important ones for our solar system wall, and post the list beside them. She also added the dwarf planets Ceres (with the Asteroid Belt), Pluto, and Eris. We looked at these photos of King Tut being exhumed and reboxed and the reconstruction of his face.

27--The bad attitude monster strikes again!

Well, yesterday just started out bad. I was sick, for one thing. Then I discovered not one, not two, but three secret caches of toys, dirty clothes, and general STUFF that E had hidden instead of putting away when she cleans her room (probably been going on for at least a week). It was all put into a giant trash bag, which she was made to put away later, on HER time. She was also grounded from reading for a day, which you would have thought she was going to call Child Protective Services about, she wailed so loud. (I've since come up with a better punishment, and I told her if she failed to pass inspection on any given day, {and I'll be looking for the secret caches} she would have to clean her room AND T's room the next).

Needless to say, after all this she was rather uncooperative and balky, and was just not listening to the story for narration. So I lost it, and told her if she'd rather go to public school she could. After I calmed down, I said to her "You know, when you were a baby, I fed you everything you ate. But now you're a big kid, and you feed yourself. I buy the food, fix it, and put it on the table, but you are responsible for eating it so you don't starve, and no one forces you to eat. It's the same way with your education. I can't force you to learn. I can gather knowledge and try to present it in a fun, interesting way, but it's up to you to learn it. You can make your education happen, or you can starve your brain and be ignorant, but it's your education and you have to participate if you want to get anything out of it."

After this little speech she was a lot more cooperative and even (somewhat suspiciously) enthusiastic. But we didn't have much more morning left at that point, so I had her do a leftover Egyptian math sheet, and had her write some numbers in arabic numerals and Egyptian numerals to show her the benefits of our system (99 in Egyptian is something like nnnnnnnnniiiiiiiii). Then I read Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Nancy Ellwood and Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Then they colored leaves and made leaf men of their own, an activity I found at the book's website. After lunch, we went to their dance and tumbling classes.

26--party!

Today we had our Ancient Egyptian party. We set up a table with all of E and T's projects and also her math review and Draw Write Now notebook. We made Barley bread (from Avery Hart's Pyramids!) and put together plates of cucumber sticks with yogurt and pita bread with hummus. She dressed up in the Egyptian dress and wig from last Halloween's costume and wore her "faience" necklace. T wore a "loincloth" (diaper) and his bead necklace. While waiting for Grandma and Grandpa, I read Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger, and the rest of Dewey's _Antarctic Journal_. Grandma and Grandpa loved the feast and the exhibits, and I was really proud of how she was able to answer them when they quizzed her, even though I don't really support the whole concept of quizzing. She played the piano piece she's memorizing, and they took us out to lunch. Dad took tons of pics and said he meant to make himself a false pharaoh's beard to wear but didn't get to it. He promises a toga for Greece, which should be a sight to see. I'll bet good money we won't get Mom in a toga this lifetime.

Ancient Egypt study unit

I put together this study unit on Ancient Egypt because most of the ones I could find online were very internet-heavy (and I'm trying to keep my kids out of that vortex for now) and also more geared toward older children. This one is designed to be used with Grades 1-3, and is more reading/activity oriented. I got all of the books from the library, except for the Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest (ISBN: 1561384623) which is worth every penny. Many of these books can be read by independent readers.

We didn't do any "Egyptian Math" because most of what I found online was beyond my daughter's abilities, but if you want to you can look here and here.

Read Rotten Ralph Helps Out by Jack Gantos and Nicole Rubel

Read Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole

Begin reading Egyptian Diary: the Journal of Nahkt by Richard Platt (read a few sections every day)

Read I Wonder Why Pyramids Were Built by Philip Steele

do map and stamp activity from Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest

make model of Egypt from Pyramids! by Avery Hart

read selections from Technology in the Time of Ancient Egypt - Judith Crosher

make model shaduf from Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors by Marian Broida

make Egyptian clothes from Spend the Day in Ancient Egypt by Linda Honan

make crowns from Pyramids! by Avery Hart

make jeweled collar from Crafts from the Past: Egyptians by Gillian Chapman

make sistrum from Spend the Day in Ancient Egypt by Linda Honan

Read You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pyramid Builder by Jacqueline Morley

do the sledge activity from Pyramids! by Avery Hart

watch "Building the Great Pyramid" BBC DVD

take a virtual tour of Khufu's pyramid at Nova's site

build a paper model of Khufu's pyramid (paper model of Sphinx also at this site)

Read selections from Mummies and Pyramids by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne

Read Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki

Read Mummies by Joyce Milton

field trip to Natural History Museum to see mummies

make mummy case from Egyptians by Rachel Wright and "mummify" plastic doll

Read Tut's Mummy: Lost...and Found by Judy Donnelly

Read I am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting

make shabti necklace from Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest

Read A Place in the Sun by Jill Rubalcaba

Read Seeker of Knowledge by James Rumford

Use hieroglyphic stamps and papyrus in Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest

make scarab stamp from Crafts from the Past: Egyptians by Gillian Chapman

have an Egyptian feast with recipes from Avery Hart's Pyramids! and Linda Honan's Spend the Day in Ancient Egypt

25

We started out with Hatshepsut, His Majesty, Herself by Catherine M. Andronik, which was disappointingly longwinded. Then we built (finally!) the model shaduf from Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors by Marian Broida, did a few activities from the Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest and then after recess and lunch, E did her math. Now she's stringing her painted "faience" beads into a necklace. T did his too, and I was very impressed with his stringing ability for a 3 yr old. After the necklace is done, E will letter some cards to place at the various "exhibits" tomorrow and then if she wants to, she can finish her Draw Write Now that she started yesterday.

23

Started with reading Why I Sneeze Shiver Hiccup and Yawn by Melvin Berger. Then we finished Platt's _Egyptian Diary_ and read Seeker of Knowledge by James Rumford. I had E do a worksheet deciphering hieroglyphs, and another alphabetizing Egypt words. Then after recess and lunch, math, and then I had her start reading A Place in the Sun by Jill Rubalcaba on her own. She and T both watched Peep.

22

Started the day reading The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino and Use Your Brain by Paul Showers. Then more from the ever-popular _Egyptian Diary_ by Platt, and we paged through and read bits from Judith Crosher's Technology in the Time of Ancient Egypt. Was planning to build a model shaduf (from Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors by Marian Broida) but it needed a little more prep than I could do this morning. So we'll try that tomorrow. But we did start making "faience beads" (painted ziti) for our Egyptian necklaces (The Egyptians by Gillian Chapman) I read to them from Dewey's _Antarctic Journal_ while they painted the beads. The painting resulted in baths for everyone. E did her first Review in her math book and got 100%. T watched Peep while she was doing that. Now she's doing a Draw Write Now page till it's time to go to Dance/Tumbling. If we do hieroglyphics tomorrow, and Hatshepsut on Wednesday, that gives us Thursday and Friday to work on our Egyptian Feast. Then on to Greece!

20

We started reading Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton, jumping around and doing everything it says in the book, which was fun. Then E narrated "It Could Always Be Worse" from the Hirsch book, and I read some more sections from Platt's _Egyptian Diary_,which they both enjoy a lot. Then I read Hear Your Heart and A Drop of Blood both by Paul Showers. E did her math while T watched Peep and then I gave them each a picture of a heart to color while I fixed lunch. After lunch we went to Pump It Up in Trussville and they had a good time bouncing and sliding. E made a new friend, Jill. I had E read Gail Gibbons' Spiders aloud to T on the way there.

18

This morning E and T were playing so nicely together, I just couldn't break them up. So they got out all their winter gear and went outside to play winter (it was about 75 degrees out there, but what the heck...). I got some cooking and laundry done, and if E didn't learn much, T did. A big sister is the best preschool teacher around, if you ask me, and he just loves to learn everything she wants to share with him.

Then finally it was time to come in and dress more appropriately to the weather, and I read some more of Platt's _Egyptian Diary_, then we put together a mummy case (I got the pattern from The Egyptians by Rachel Wright). E is going to decorate it with markers and hieroglyphic stamps (from the Ancient Egypt Treasure Chest) and then we'll "mummify" a doll I got at the dollar store and stick her in. During lunch I read the last chapter of Lacey's _What's the Difference?_ (turtles and tortoises) and a few more sections of Dewey's _Antarctic Journal_. E finally finished her math, (with help from her cuisenaire rods) and then she baked cookies, doing all the recipe reading and figuring herself.

I let T watch Peep and the Big Wide World on the computer (E watched too) Now she is downstairs hopefully finishing the Draw Write Now page from eons ago. Finishing not a big priority with this girl.

17

This morning E was busily reading Osbourne's _Mummies and Pyramids_ before school even started! She also read I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting. So we started with a narration of "The Knee-High Man" from the Hirsch book--I broke the reading into two parts and had her narrate each part. Then I read Tut's Mummy: Lost...And Found by Judy Donnelly, and we did her music note flashcards (with much bellyaching). Then I read Aliki's Mummies Made in Egypt, informative but a touch on the long side, and had her label a map of Antarctica (with only 3 things--not much in Antarctica, really). Then recess, which ended with her and G in great disgrace and grounded from recess this week. After we got through all that, she did her math (more bellyaching, but she seems to be getting the concept) and then lunch, during which I read a chapter from Lacey's _What's the Difference?_ about the pinnepeds: seals, sea lions, and walrus'. She was still eating so I read several chapters from Antarctic Journal by Jennifer Owings Dewey and then we all settled on the couch for more of Platt's _Egyptian Diary_ which is so excellent, in its coverage of various aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture and its interesting storyline and its gorgeous illustrations--really a great book. Now she is (hopefully) finishing the Draw Write Now page from Friday, and then we'll go to Dance/Tumbling. After which she must finish her math. What a day. Tomorrow should be more fun--maybe we'll start on our sarcophagus.

16

Well, I guess you could say I was the one in dawdle mode today. So we didn't do much in the way of formal schooling. But on her own, E read What Happens to a Hamburger? by Paul Showers and Mummies and Pyramids by Mary Pope Osborne, and we put together the Canon model of the Great Pyramid. She did also do a math lesson, and we all watched a big orb spider weave its web right outside our kitchen window. At the bookstore I found a display folder for the state quarters, so I bought that for her and she's filling it now. And she set up a "school" this morning in the basement, in which she taught Daddy and T while I fixed supper. So not a wasted day, thanks entirely to her. I can see now how unschoolers do it, though I think I still want just a little bit of structure, anyway.

T knows all about his skeleton and how to feel it under his skin. And last night E read You Can't Make a Move Without Your Muscles by Paul Showers to him. This is too easy.

15

Today started out s...l...o...w... E was is full dawdle mode and didn't get her room ready (in fact it still isn't ready) till 10:30... So we skipped narration, because sullen, just-yelled-at kids very rarely have much in the way of concentration, I've found. Instead I read Petersen's Antarctica, and then I read the first three sections of Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht by Richard Platt. After that I read Your Skin and Mine by Paul Showers, and we did some of the activities in the book ie looking at our skin and fingerprints with a magnifying glass. E sat down to do her math (from yesterday) and went back into dawdle mode, occasionally asking me such questions as "Mommy, what's 25 + 1?" Now, I don't mind helping, but she knows darn well how to add 1 to something, so she got some chewing out and I sat on her till she finished, then told her no reading today, since she wasted so much time NOT doing her math. While she finished lunch, I read the next chapter of Lacey's _What's the Difference?_ about Octopuses and Squids and other cephalopods. The kids really like this book and ask for it often--too bad it's OOP. I'll have to see if I can find it at a library sale or used book store sometime. After she had lunch, we watched the first episode of A&E's "The Greatest Pharaohs". Dad taped it for me from the Cable in the Classroom version. E's verdict: better than the classification video, but still boring--not as good as the Great Pyramid video. Not helped by very poor sound quality on the tape Dad made for me. But she wanted to watch it through. She wants to see Tutankhamen, her favorite. I told her he'd come later. I want to see Hatshepsut. Hopefully the show will perk up a little, though it doesn't seem likely. After that I forced them outside to play ( AM a mean Mommy today) and when they came back in I gave E a new Draw Write Now book that dealt with the Polar Regions, since we read about Antarctica today. She's working on it now, then I will probably have mercy on her and tell her she can call G to play or read or make the paper model pyramid with me if she wants to.

T played with Legos and Play Doh, and requested a reading of _Your Insides_ by Cole.

14

Well, a better day today! This morning we started right after breakfast with a little fun compass activity I got here. I made up a "treasure" in a shoe box with some toys, stickers, and chocolate coins, and hid it under the rose bush. Alan drew a skull on a big rock in our back yard to make "Skull Rock" and I typed up the directions with some free pirate fonts I downloaded here. Then I printed them out onto some parchment-like paper, and Alan burned around the edges to make it look like a real treasure map. This morning when I came in with the paper, I dropped the document on the table, saying, "Look what I found in the yard!" They had fun using the compass and finding the treasure, though I think E is just barely not too old for this, so I'm glad we did it now.

Then after we were all ready for the day, we still had about a half hour before her piano lesson, so E sewed on her toy dinosaur project and I read a chapter from _What's the Difference?_ by Lacey about the difference between hares and rabbits, and the book The Indian Ocean by Ylvisaker. Then when we got back from piano, I read "The Boy at the Dike" in the Hirsch book, and E narrated. Then You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pyramid Builder! by Jacqueline Morley, which covered again the stuff we saw in the movie yesterday, and we took a little online tour inside Khufu's pyramid, provided by NOVA. I had E start working on her math, but she didn't get far and she and T were hungry so we broke for lunch. I told Jen she could send G over after lunch while she runs some errands, so instead of going back to math, I just read The Magic Schoolbus Inside the Human Body and Your Insides both by Joanna Cole. _Your Insides_ has some neat transparency pages at the end to show the different systems. After G goes home I'll have E finish her math, then maybe we'll build the paper model of Khufu's pyramid that I got at the Canon website, or maybe I'll send her out to play with Hayden and Dawson, as this may be their last day here.

Yesterday I read Green Eggs and Ham to T at his request. Later in the day, he asked me to read it again. I got as far as the first "I do not like green eggs and ham" when he interrupted and said "But Mommy, he tried them already and liked them!"

13

Ugh! Another weird day! This morning E was SO into her sewing project, (making a stuffed dino for T) that she begged to be allowed to continue to work on it. I said ok, but we would have to do school in the afternoon. Guess what. That doesn't work. She and I are too tired and wigged by afternoon. so I don't think we'll do that again. Anyway, she did do some math, and we watched BBC's Building the Great Pyramid video, which was excellent. Then we went to the library, where she checked out 2 Magic Treehouse books, a Boxcar Children, 2 Cam Jansons, 2 Goosebumps (which I am hope hope hoping she will not like), and 1 of some other reader series I've never heard of. She's reading now--we'll see how long they last. T checked out some books too, including some Bob books, which he picked out by himself. Let's see, what else. T played with the Lego set all morning, and is playing with the Play Doh now, and I read Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller to him as he was asking about eggs this morning.

11

Today E woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at her usual time of 7:30! Imagine how much difference it makes when you don't spend all night reading...

We started with a narration of "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs" from the Hirsch book, probably the last of our Aesop narrations--on Monday I'll see how she does with a short tale. Then I read the Egypt pages from Millard's _First Civilizations_. We noticed the sun was shining, so we ran outside to the driveway to draw our shadows and label them W (an activity from Branley's _North, South, East and West_ that we couldn't do yesterday because it was overcast. We went out again at noon and labeled the new outlines N and we'll repeat in the afternoon and then check them against compass readings. Over the weekend I will put together some fun "treasure" and a "treasure map" and do a little compass/orienteering activity on Monday. Then I think we'll be done with the cardinal directions for the time being.

When we came back in, I read I Wonder Why Pyramids Were Built by Philip Steele. The text is a bit sketchy, but the illustrations are great and very realistic-seeming; they give you a real feel for what Ancient Egypt might have looked like. Then we went out back and made a model of the Nile, an activity I got from Avery Hart's Pyramids! We made some sculpey pyramids to go on the west bank, and planted grass seed along the fertile border of the "Nile" which will hopefully sprout as the river "floods".

As they were dawdling a bit at lunch, I sat down and read the next chapter of _What's the Difference?_ about camels. Then Many Luscious Lollipops by Ruth Heller, more than you wanted to know about adjectives. Now E is doing her math, and then she must do a Draw Write Now page before she can see if Georgia can play.

8

First I should say that last Friday we still had some time so we sorted out the animal classification cards, first into Backbone/No Backbone, then the Backbones into Mammal, Reptile, Amphibian, Fish and Bird. The kids both seemed to enjoy the activity, and we may do the Invertebrates sometime this week if they want to. I want to finish up with Taxonomy this week and start the human body next week.

Today we started with narration: Aesop's fable of The Maid and the Milk Jug, from the Hirsch book. I didn't know this was the source of "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched"! I think I'm learning more than she is some days. It's been 3 days since she did a narration and you could tell: she was pretty rusty. But not too bad.

Next I read Africa by Petersen, since we're starting Egypt today, and we wrote some things about Africa in her notebook. Then I read the Introduction and first chapter of What's the Difference: a Guide to Some Familiar Animal Look-Alikes by Elizabeth A. Lacey. The first chapter deals with the crocodilians, and we listed some of the differences between crocodiles, alligators, and gharials in her notebook. Then we called Georgia and she came over for recess.

A terrible thing happened during recess. The kids were playing up at the top of the yard with (I thought) the play hoe. Turns out they had Alan's big rusty shovel, which he had left up there when he built the cave. I should have checked. But I was hanging up the laundry and I didn't. Georgia hit her foot really hard with the shovel, and now her parents have taken her to the doctor because she's losing the toenail. I don't know if they'll ever forgive us. And what will this do to her swimming and soccer? I feel so miserable. What a stupid thing to let happen. If things were reversed I would be livid at the irresponsibility of the other parent. Anyway, still waiting to hear from them after the doctor trip. Had it been an accident with the play tools, I would feel bad about it, but these things happen. But that Alan left the shovel out, and that I didn't check to see what they were doing, was unconscionable.

Well, after that we did go back to school, after a prayer for Georgia's health. Emma did a math lesson, and I read Rotten Ralph Helps Out by Jack Gantos and Nicole Rubel, which is a silly little story that kind of introduces some of the things the Ancient Egyptians invented, like pancakes (!)
Then after lunch I read Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole. There's alot in the illustrations to this book that I passed over but I expect E will be going over it again with her fine toothed comb this afternoon. Now she is labeling a blank outline map of Africa I printed up from this site, and then she can play play doh with her brother.

He sat through all the readings today, though he was playing with the loop loom when we started and I half hoped he might just do that for a while. But he was a good boy and listened well. Last night we were talking about school and he said "E has school tomorrow?" and I said "Yes and you do too" and you should just have seen his little face light up like a million Christmas trees: " I have school TOO?" It was so precious.