94-96

We took Monday off to clean house. Yes, the whole day. No, my house is not clean yet.

Tuesday: read about Chinese New Year with The Great Race by Dawn Casey and Lanterns and Firecrackers by Jonny Zucker. This site has lots of activities, crafts, and printables. Watched Life in the Middle Ages: The Serf. E did math

Wednesday: E had piano and dance lessons and did math.

Thursday: Read from Castle Diary by Richard Platt and If You Lived in the Days of the Knights by Ann McGovern, and E did math, took a spelling test, had a Spanish lesson, and went to Grandma's house for her sewing lesson.

90

This morning E had a spelling lesson and then we watched the inauguration (I confess I used it as a carrot--I told her if she didn't do her spelling quickly enough we'd miss it. I've never had a spelling lesson go so fast!) We went out to lunch to celebrate and then instead of doing math I let her go over to her friend G's house to watch two American Girl movies: Molly and Felicity.

89

Today was King day, but I wasn't on top of things, so we didn't do anything special about it, though E did notice on her own how fortuitous it was this year, coming the day before Obama's inauguration.

Today we read Forces & Motion: A Question and Answer Book by Catherine A. Welch, which is excellent, by the way, and then Lift-a-Flap Castles by Jamie Elder, Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson, and some more of Castle Diary by Richard Platt. Then E had a spelling lesson and a math lesson. Finally, I gave her an issue of Kids Discover Magazine that is about China's Great Wall, and told her to read it on her own time.

Happy King Day!

85-88

Tuesday: read A Medieval Feast by Aliki and "Beowulf" from Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales, and a few entries in Platt's Castle Diary. Did math and Spanish.
Wednesday: E had piano and dance lessons, and did math
Thursday: E had math and spelling, and they watched A History of the Middle Ages on DVD. We read a story from Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales ("The Island of Lost Children") and a little bit of Castle Diary by Richard Platt, as well as playing around with Knights in Armor by Sally Hewitt (for T) and learning more about forces and friction with Energy in Motion by Melissa Stewart and The Magic School Bus Plays Ball by Nancy E. Krulik. (I really don't like the TV adaptations of the MSB series as much as the original books, but you try to find an engaging book about friction for gradeschoolers!)
Friday: we attended a performance by Complexions Dance Company and E has basketball practice tonight and a game tomorrow. She is doing a math lesson and then we will watch Social Structure in the Middle Ages and probably do a Spanish lesson.

84

Today we started learning about the Middle Ages with Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole, then the first of Mary Pope Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales, "Finn MacCoul". We also read the first few entries in Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt. After a break we started learning about forces: Forces Make Things Move by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and had a spelling lesson. After lunch we watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient China, had our first Spanish lesson, and now E is doing her math. T has started teaching himself to read with starfall.com and the Bob Books.

81-83

Things have been topsy turvey all week since we started housing 3 indigent relations.

Wed: E had piano, did a math and spelling lesson, and had her first dance class.

Thursday: read The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher and explored a 360 degree panorama of the Great Wall. E did math and had a sewing class.

Friday: math and park day was all we could manage today.

79-80

Yesterday was a sort of half day, but E did a math lesson and a spelling lesson.

Today she got 100% on her end-of-book math review! and we read You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China by Jacqueline Morley and Maples in the Mist: Children's Poems from the Tang Dynasty by Minfong Ho. Then we read a bit of Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children by Peggy Goldstein and E worked on drawing several Chinese characters from the book. She was really taken by it--and I almost didn't bring it out today!

77

Today we read the rest of Beijing Through Time by Richard Platt, The Chinese Story Teller by Pearl S. Buck, The Transcontinental Railroad by James P. Burger, and Coolies by Yin. I gave E two books to read on her own: The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps by Stephen Krensky and Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. E did a spelling lesson and two math lessons (so she'd be done for the semester) and we watched the DVD Pioneer Life for Children: Daily Pioneer Life.

75-76

I was at the dentist again today. Grandpa read several books including Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, and Adventures in Ancient China by Linda Bailey. E had a really long math lesson and the kids watched "Building the Transcontinental Railroad" on the DVD This is America, Charlie Brown.

Last Friday I read a few more pages of Beijing Through Time by Richard Platt, and Striking it Rich: The Story of the California Gold Rush by Stephen Krensky. E had math and spelling, and on her own she read California Gold Rush: A Guide to California in the 1850s by Julie Ferris. She also had a basketball practice and a game on Saturday.

74

Today we read Winter by Ron Hirschi, Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep by Jane Yolen, and Animals in Winter by Susanne Riha. After spelling and lunch and math, we read Liang and the Magic Paintbrush by Demi and several more pages of Beijing Through Time by Richard Platt. We also listened to "Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon: a Collection of Traditional Chinese Music".

72

Today we started out with Dear Rebecca, Winter is Here by Jean Craighead George, Why Do Bears Sleep All Winter? by Mary Engler, and Old Bear by Kevin Henkes. Then I read a page or two of Beijing: Through Time by Richard Platt (almost everything he writes is terrific), and then Bronco Charlie and the Pony Express by Marlene Targ Brill and Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express by Eleanor Coerr. After a nice recess outside (gorgeous day this morning) T and I did the letter "M" and E had a spelling lesson. After lunch we read Cells and Tissues by Leslie Jean LeMaster and The Quest to Digest by Mary K. Corcoran. Then E did her math lesson and now she's finishing some ornaments she's giving as gifts.

68-70

School keeps getting interrupted this time of year, with all the holiday stuff going on. This week we managed to go to a piano lesson, do some math and spelling, attend the service of Lessons and Carols at the cathedral downtown, and E had her first basketball practice of the season. We also read Cells Are Us by Dr. Fran Balkwill, Kites by Demi, and Ma Jiang and the Orange Ants by Barbara Ann Porte. E and T both worked on ornaments to give for Christmas presents.

66-67

We did a regular day of school last Tuesday, but I can't remember what any of it was! I think I read Cassie's Journey by Brett Harvey, The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen, and The Fourth Question by Rosalind C. Wang. Probably there was more, but I can't think of it now. And of course math and spelling. Over the weekend E got to bake some cupcakes with the little mini set she bought with her birthday money.

Today we started with Polar Bear, Why is Your World Melting? by Robert E. Wells, then Dakota Dugout by Ann Turner, and Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders. While we were on the subject of wool, we looked at a little folder with samples of wool at different stages of manufacture that I got free from Pendleton. Then I read The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China by Joanna Cole. After lunch and spelling I read I Know How My Cells Make Me Grow by Kate Rowan and then E did math. Over the weekend we did a lot of getting-ready-for-Christmas stuff, like making an advent wreath at church and making paper chains to keep track of how long until Christmas (and keep T from pestering me: "Is it tomorrow, Mommy?") and we started listening to the serial radio program (from the 1930's) "The Cinnamon Bear" which we got from homeschoolradioshows.com.

65

For T I read Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman & Ben Cort (my husband wanted some "boy-friendly" books--when he saw the title, he said, "Yep. That's about right."), and Parts by Tedd Arnold. Then Thanksgiving by Alice K. Flanagan, which is a good introduction to the holiday and its antecedents. Then Lon Po Po by Ed Young, Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong, and The Dragon's Tale by Demi. We did spelling and the kids found China on the world map and colored China's flag and banners with their Chinese zodiac characters (dragon for E and monkey for T--I always said he was a little monkey). Then math for E and the letter K for T. She finished writing her thank you notes for birthday presents and now they are downstairs watching her new "Schoolhouse Rock" DVD.

59-64

Since last time I posted:

E had her final 2 art classes, and a sewing lesson, piano lesson, math and spelling. Read The Fourth Question by Rosalind C. Wang, The Empty Pot by Demi, A Time of Golden Dragons by Song Nan Zhang, Mei-Mei Loves the Morning by Margaret Holloway Tsubakiyama, A to Z China by Justine and Ron Fontes, Celebrating Birthdays in China by Cheryl L. Enderlein. We also watched the DVD "Families of China" and Disney's "Mulan" (ok, not so much Chinese as...not. E has the story of Mulan in a book and she kept saying in a wondering voice "But that's not in the book...". Hey, they enjoyed it anyway--at least she's not a "princess") On her own E has read/is reading The Mystery on the Great Wall of China by Carole Marsh and Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne. We also finished Ellen Levine's If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon and Going West by Jean Van Leeuwen. And she and T did this online activity about electricity. I also out of curiosity had her start taking the sample test in Get Ready! For Standardized Tests, Grade 2. She's done about half the test so far and gotten all of them right except 2 questions which asked which part of the word was the suffix--we've never talked about suffixes so of course she didn't know.

56-58

Monday we had a really good day, which is a relief because it looks like the rest of the week is mostly a wash.

Monday: read You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer! by Jacqueline Morley, then did a bunch of experiments/fooling around with electrical circuits, wires, bulbs, making a nail into an electro-magnet, and so forth. Got some of the ideas from All About Electricity by Melvin Berger (note to self--a stack of nickels and pennies won't make a crude battery any more...not enough real nickel or copper in them!) and Experiment With Magnets and Electricity by Margaret Whalley. Spelling and math, then read Count Your Way Through China by Jim Haskins, The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy, The Cloudmakers by James Rumford, and The Empress and the Silkworm by Lily Toy Hong.

Tuesday my parents were taking care of my niece who had the day off from school for Veteran's Day and they absconded with E to keep her company. So I took T to see the model train exhibit at the hands-on museum and we played with a friend of his in the neighborhood.

Wednesday was piano lesson and library day, and we went to have T's "school picture" done.

Today I'm feeling under the weather, so instead of school I think we'll clean our rooms and clean house and play until it's time to go to Grandma's house for E's sewing lesson.

54

Yesterday we all took a break and after Alan and I voted, we went out for lunch and then to the art museum. Last night I got E out of bed so she could watch our first black president elect deliver his victory speech.

Today we read The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, and Autumn: an Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur. Then we wrote some of our own acrostics (Nemo and Sheila are the names of our dogs):

She is a dog;
Her friend is Nemo.
Every morning she jumps
Into E's bed for
Love
And a scratch.

Not as small as he thinks he is
Every time someone is on the floor he jumps on them.
Mushy, lovey dog
On my lap.

Doorknob rattles
And
Daddy is home!
Delight!
Young monkeys jump on his head!

I've asked E to write two more on her own before Friday. Then I read some more of If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine, and The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr. After a break we had spelling, lunch, and math, then read Look What Came from China by Miles Harvey (what came from China? A whole lot more than you think!) Also The Cloudmakers by James Rumsford and A Song of Stars by Tom Birdseye (this is an Asian legend about the stars Vega and Altair and the Milky Way between them--we looked the stars up on Stellarium, an amazing free planetarium for your computer). And finally, we started learning about electricity with Melvin Berger's Switch On, Switch Off! (My copy a little out of date, so I had to explain how CF bulbs work, but still a very good intro).

49

Read The Mouse and the Apple by Stephen Butler, I Know It's Autumn by Eileen Spinelli, and Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna. Since it's the birthday of Jonas Salk, read Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine by Katherine Krohn. Then The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars by Jean Merrill, How to Be a Samurai Warrior by Fiona Macdonald, The Way We Do It in Japan by Geneva Cobb Iijima, and The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel. After lunch, spelling and math, we made geta (Japanese clogs) from Make It Work! Japan by Andrew Haslam,



and made koi noburi (fish-shaped wind socks) from Traditional Crafts from Japan by Florence Temko.



I assigned E to read Sword of the Samurai by Eric A. Kimmel, but she already had!

48

Read to T while E practiced her scales: The Accidental Zucchini by Max Grover, The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons, Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, and It's Fall! by Linda Glaser. Then, An Illustrated History of Japan by Shigeo Nishimura, The Paper Crane by Molly Bang, and The Greatest of All by Eric A. Kimmel. After a break we read more of If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine, and Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson, which was really fun. After Spelling and lunch, we read What Magnets Can Do by Allan Fowler, What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn M. Branley, and did experiments from these books and Experiments With Magnets by Salvatore Tocci. Then E did her math.

43

Read to T: The Apple Tree by Lynley Dodd, The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold, and When Autumn Comes by Robert Maass. Hit Japan hard with Vicki Cobb's This Place is Crowded: Japan, A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno, The Bicycle Man by Allen Say, Momotaro the Peach Boy retold by Linda Shute, I am Shinto by Noriko S. Nomura, and In the Eyes of the Cat by Demi. E is to choose two favorite poems from this last and copy and illustrate them. We had spelling, watched a DVD: Countries Around the World: Japan, and E did math while listening to Joji Hirota's CD of Japanese Folk Songs. At lunch I cut everything up small and gave them chopsticks to eat with--E plans to use them for every meal!