67

This has been a terrible week for getting anything done. Oh well, bound to happen. Yesterday was a wash--the only thing we got done was making E's ornaments to give everyone. Today I read from Galen by Marissa Moss, and then Hannibal and His 37 Elephants by Marilyn Hirsh, which I would not recommend (it's really twee and light on the history) but it was all I could find on Hannibal at the library for this age group. I can recommend the next book I read: The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth by Meredith Hooper and Chris Coady. Then in preparation for Daddy's little cotton unit tomorrow, I read Cotton by Chris Oxlade. We checked out some animations of different kinds of tectonic faults, and got some info on Uranus' moons. Then E made little drawings of the 5 biggest ones to add to our solar system wall, and I printed out a list of all of the known ones to post beneath. E did her math, made some felt bracelets from a kit as presents for her friends and cousin, and is working on a Draw Write Now page. And of course they both watched Peep.

60

Today E narrated parts of "Felicia and the Pot of Pinks" from Lang's Blue Fairy Book. Then I read Atlas of the Earth to T, and Volcanoes by Franklyn M. Branley and Volcanoes by Seymour Simon to both of them. E did her math, T watched Peep, and after recess and lunch I read Destination: Jupiter by Seymour Simon and a bit more from Marissa Moss' Galen. E is currently finishing her Draw Write Now page, and then we're done.

59

What a busy day today. I'm exhausted, and it's only 7:30. This morning E read Fox in Socks to T, then I read from Galen by Marissa Moss and Spend the Day in Ancient Rome by Linda Honan. We started on volcanoes today with Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld's How Mountains Are Made and Hill of Fire by Thomas P. Lewis. Then E did math and everybody watched Peep. After lunch E barely had time to begin a Draw Write Now page before we had to go to Dance and Tumbling, and when we got home from that we barely had time for Kid Cuisines before she had to go to basketball tryouts. And she got 3 baskets! Yay E! That's one more basket than she got all last year! I think she may do really well this year.

58

I had every intention of doing at least 2 days of school last week, but E had her birthday on Monday and felt sick on Tuesday, and that plus general laziness meant we didn't do much but play. We did a few things here and there though, so I'm going to list them and call them about one day's worth of school. E and T had dance and tumbling class Monday. I read Geysers by Larry Dane Brimner, and we went online to watch a video of Old Faithful erupting and an animation of how geysers work and looked at some cool infrared photos of Yellowstone. On her own, E read Danger--Icebergs! by Roma Gans, Get Ready For Robots by Patricia Lauber, Amazing Grace: The Story of the Hymn, by Linda Granfield, and countless chapter books (why the Cul-de-Sac kids are so cool, I'll never know). We watched Peep several times. We gathered a basketful of leaves and made a wreath for our door, writing something we are thankful for on each leaf. E did a GeeArt lesson. We also made paper turkeys out of a footprint and several handprints and gave them to Grandma and Grandpa. E and T worked on the ornaments they're making to give as Christmas presents. E's are like this, only she's making them out of colored paper decorated with glitter glue. T's are made from small rectangles of craft foam to which he added sticky craft foam cut-outs. Alarmingly, they show a very nice grasp of composition. E did a copper embossing project from Klutz's Book of Artrageous Projects that she got for her birthday, and she wrote and illustrated a thank you note to her godmother.

55,56

Yesterday E had a great piano lesson, and then we went to the library for about an hour--they were having storytime and we all checked out books. E wanted the librarian to request a book for her, but the librarian ended up trying to show her how to do it herself on the computer. Not sure how much of it stuck. Then E did a Draw Write Now page and after lunch she had her Habitats class at the zoo.
Today we went first thing to the orthodontist, so I wasn't sure how much school we'd get done, but we actually got back about the time we usually start school. I had E "narrate" from the story she'd been reading in the car, about Jason and the Argonauts from Collier's The Junior Classics Book 3, Myths and Legends. Then I read Gravity is a Mystery and The Beginning of the Earth, both by Franklyn M. Branley. We looked at some cool graphics of the breakup of Pangaea in National Geographic's pop up/moveable book The Earth Pack, and also a cool animation of the same. Then we did an activity called Egg Tectonics, using the shell of a hard-boiled egg to demonstrate the movement of the tectonic plates, and then we cut up the egg to show how it resembles the earth's crust, mantle and core. We also looked at a moveable of how the Himalayas were formed by tectonic action in Rocks & Minerals by Dougal Dixon. All this takes almost longer to type than it actually took to do.
I read a bit of Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome by Marissa Moss, and also the beginning of Spend the Day in Ancient Rome by Linda Honan, and we broke for lunch and Peep. Then E did her math lesson and helped me finish building a paper model of the earth, with a cutaway to show the core (T has already managed to dent it, much to everyone's dismay). Now she is finishing her questions about Venus, and then we're either going to stop or make bullas, a project in the Honan book. So, a pretty full day after all!

53

Today we had a tiny bit more of Ancient Greece, because I got a great book from the library about Eratosthenes: The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky. I read "Rumplestiltskin" from Lang's Blue Fairy Book, and E narrated part of it. Then we read Who Were the Romans? by Phil Roxbee Cox, taking a break midway through (it's a thin book, but packed) for E to do math and T to watch Peep. Then we read about Venus in the book by Larry Dane Brimner, and to kick off our study of the composition of the earth, we read The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole and How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty. Then we set up experiment 18 "Grow a Stalactite" from Neil Ardley's 101 Great Science Experiments (and the fact that the book plainly states that it will take several days for the stalactites to grow has not stopped any of us--me included--from checking it several times an hour). E made a thank you card for our neighbors who gave us all the great Let's Read and Find Out Science books, and did a TINY bit of weaving on her round mat, now destined to be a Christmas present for Grandma and Grandpa.

42

Began today reading Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros, then E narrated another of Heracles' tasks, the Golden-Antlered stag, and we read more from Amery's Greek Myths for Young Children, Bellerophon and Pegasus, King Midas, and the adventures of Perseus (which was cool because she was just asking about Medusa yesterday). Then in the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, we read about Eos and Tithonus, who got eternal life without eternal youth and turned into a grasshopper, Helios and Phaethon, Selene and sleeping Endymion. She wrote in her notebook, answering 9 questions I posed about Mars, and did her math and watched Peep with T. She also started weaving a round mat, an activity from Laurie Carlson's Classical Kids, and we got in the mail a Magnetic Mosaics kit, so she and T played with that as well. T is getting great at puzzles, even jigsaws, and he also played with Play Doh and the Lego Simple Machines set. E also finished her Draw Write Now page. And tonight Alan finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Ulysses by Vivian Webb and Heather Amery to her.

41

Narration today was another one of Heracles' tasks, the 9-headed Hydra, from Amery's Greek Myths for Young Children. Then, as the end of our Greek unit beckons in a couple of weeks, I read ahead in that book, the stories of Echo and Narcissus, and Daedalus and Icarus. Then from the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, we read about Dionysus, and the Fates, and again the story of Prometheus and Epimetheus and Pandora, and then the myth about Deucalion and the flood, which I was unfamiliar with. Very interesting, all these cultures thereabouts have legends of a great flood--it must have been a doozy, indeed. And finally we read about Aeolus and the four winds. Then I read You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete! by Michael Ford, and we had recess, math, two grammar pages (verbs) and Peep. Then E went down to start a new Draw Write Now and after lunch we read Mars by Larry Dane Brimner, and E made two little moons with labels to put on our solar system wall. Then we went to their Dance/Tumbling classes.

30

started with narration: Damon and Pythias from _50 Famous Stories Retold_. Then we did some more lessons from the USGS Map Adventures packet and E drew a map of our house. Then I read The Sun by Allison Lassieur and looked at the sun in various wavelengths, then watched some animations of 3 kinds of solar eclipse. We had lunch and E worked on her homework from her Habitats class at the zoo (which included some drawing and handwriting), then she watched Peep with T and did her math.

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.

24

one of those days where you're busy busy busy and have almost nothing to show for it. Piano lesson in the morning, then to the library, home for lunch, then to the dentist, and then the grocery store for supplies for our Ancient Egypt reception for Grandma and Grandpa on Friday. E is doing a Draw Write Now. That's about all we have the heart for, I'm afraid. Tomorrow we'll read about Hatshepsut, and then try to finish up all our Egypt projects and make signs, etc, for the reception.

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.

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.

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.

5

Narration (her choice): The Fox and the Grapes. At T's request, I read Wild and Woolly Mammoths_. Then I reread parts of _Europe_, and wrote down what she remembered from it in her notebook. She labeled about 13 places in Europe on the free sample map I got here. This took about forever, but she finally got it done, and then she ran over to Georgia's house for recess. After that she went downstairs to cut out and label the European animal cards and put them in her notebook. Lunch. After lunch a very short math lesson, then I read You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mammoth Hunter by John Malam. Then we watched the Animal Classification video, which was a bust. After that I gave her Draw Write Now and told her to pick a page and do it, which she happily did once she discovered she could copy the words from the book instead of coming up with her own. I don't know what went on in her kindergarten class to make her so leery of creative writing, but I'm just going to stay away from it for a while.