89

The Plan was, the PLAN was that I would read a chapter a day from James Cross Giblin's The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones, since it's a bit thick and wordy for a seven-year-old (so I thought), and that would lead into some fossil studying and so forth. But I guess I wasn't remembering how I devoured the whole dinosaur section of James Michener's Centennial when I was in first grade--anyhow E sat right down last night and plowed through 2 more chapters all by herself, so I guess I'll just have to pick up the story tomorrow at Chapter 4, and hope she can fill me in on what's going on...so much for plans!

This morning we went to E's piano lesson, then the library, and we went to Pizza Hut for lunch with one of her Book-It coupons (E: "Did I meet my reading goal, then, Mommy?" Me: "Yes, sweetie, if your reading goal was 'Read constantly', you certainly met it..."). When we got back E traced out and memorized the second verse of her poem, learning and writing definitions for "cotton to", "dote upon" and "stately". I read Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend by Terri Cohlene and (in anticipation of the arrival of the microscope which I knew was on the porch already) Greg's Microscope by Millicent E. Selsam. She and T watched Peep while I got the microscope unpacked and then we looked at many many small and tiny things. Actually, the microscope we got is really cool; it's called a duoscope, and you can use it as a regular compound microscope, or as a stereo or dissecting microscope, for looking at small solid things, like bugs or rocks, without the use of slides. After that, I let her look through a neat book of mine called Then and Now, which has photos of ancient ruins paired with acetate overlays that show what they might have looked like when new. E's verdict: "I think the new looks much better than the ruins!"

Yesterday she was asking about holograms, because there is one on one of her bookmarks. I tried without success to find a suitable book at the library or a website that wasn't too confusing, but then, oh joy! I remembered that I had bought for them years ago a copy of David Macauley's The Way Things Work--and it has a section about holograms! Yay for the Ann Arbor friends of the library book sale all those years ago--they thought I was crazy buying all those books for my 6 month old! Who's laughing now?

76

Today is Louis Braille's birthday, so we read about him in A Picture Book of Louis Braille by David A. Adler, which has a page with a tactile Braille alphabet in the back. I read Caves by Larry Dane Brimner, which was much better than the Gail Gibbons book. E did her math and an extra page of work on her addition facts. She's having some trouble with her numbers, so I made up a handwriting page to practice them at this neat site which allows you to design your own handwriting worksheets. She labeled a blank outline map of North America, and read on her own Mae Jemison: Astronaut by Garnet Nelson Jackson. She also had basketball practice today and we practiced with her note flashcards for piano.

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.

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.

7

First she had to practice her piano because she's having a sleepover at R's tonight. Then narration: The Dog in the Manger from the Hirsch book. Then I read Prehistory to Egypt by Maria Ruis, and The First Civilizations (up to Egypt) by Anne Millard. And we went here to see what our monograms would look like in cuneiform. Then The Pacific Ocean by Ylvisaker, with much bellyaching about having to remember things for me to jot down in her notebook, and a math lesson. I was thinking of doing the animal classification cards, but all she wants to do is play and she can't think of anything but the sleepover--I think she was so excited last night that she didn't sleep well. So I'll let her have a recess with Georgia and then lunch and Grandma and Grandpa's house this afternoon. Or maybe I'll read Slither Swoop Swing by Alex Ayliffe and Kites Sail High by Ruth Heller. We'll see.

post script: Georgia wasn't home so I did read the verb books and then she did a fun little activity about animal classification here.

6

Narration: The Boy Who Cried Wolf from What Your First Grader Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch.
Read The First Dog by Jan Brett and First Painter by Kathryn Lasky. We took the virtual tours of the cave at Lascaux and the Cosquer cave. Then I stripped them down to their underwear and sent them out to the cave with a lantern and some paints. When they came back, it took two tubfuls of water to wash them clean! I think they had a blast. Then a math lesson, lunch, and the library. Emma told a mother she was homeschooled and the mother still talked to me! Then at home again, we read The Everyday Life of an Ice Age Hunter by Giovanni Caselli. And we are done with the Ice Age! On to Egypt, starting Monday.

I came across a short little play in the Hirsch book, based on The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and I told Jen we should do it together with the kids. She thought it was a great idea, and I got all excited about it and planned out costumes and blocking and everything, but then she backed out. She says they're too busy and I guess they are, but I think maybe she also had an attack of stage fright. Maybe she'll come round later--I think it would be great fun and a great experience for the kids.

Also heard about a site on one of my email lists that gives away free ebooks: www.wowio.com

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.

4

Another pretty good day! Narration: "The Ant and the Grasshopper"--she did great, even quoting some lines from the book! Then Geography: we read about Europe (by David Petersen). I decided based on our conversation last night, to ease back on the math work, so we did about half of what I would have done, following the lesson plans that came with the books. She was very happy and did very well. Then I read Wild and Woolly Mammoths by Aliki and If You Lived in the Days of the Wild Mammoth Hunters by Mary Elting and Franklin Folsom, interrupted by a half hour "recess" with Georgia (they showed off their cave that Daddy made this weekend). Then I read Benny's Animals and How He Put Them in Order a really excellent introduction to Animal Classification by Millicent Selsam. Tomorrow we'll play with the cards I printed out from this site, and maybe view this video--it's geared toward 5th graders but is simple enough I think she'll get some use out of it.

T was happy as long as I stopped to listen to his comments, and in between Aesop's Fables and _Europe_ I read _Treats from a Tree_ to him. Then while E was doing math, I got out the play-doh which was a big hit (I think E did her math more quickly so she could have a little break to play with it too!)

3

Today went pretty well, I thought. First she did a narration on "The Vain Jackdaw", then I read The Atlantic Ocean by Anne Ylvisaker and wrote down in her notebook what she could remember after. Then I read the first half of the Asia book again, and gave her an outline map and a list of 13 things to label on it. She did all of them and even found the Gobi Desert on her own. She also drew in and labeled the Equator. As she worked, we talked about the importance of some of them, like that the Dead Sea was the lowest point and Mt. Everest the highest and so forth. I found I did need to be there with her to make her do it--she liked looking things up on the map and globe and would have done that for hours on her own, but she didn't like labeling things. But I think it helps make stuff stick when you have to write it down. She is very concerned with spelling, even though I tell her not to sweat it. I don't know if that is self-imposed or something she picked up in kindergarten.

After that I offered her a break and she played with T for about 20 minutes, then we did the next bit in the math book. Again with trying to get out of doing the last exercise. I told her she could do it after lunch, but the longer she puts things off, the less time she has for playing.

After lunch and math, we were all getting a bit worn. It really is like pushing water uphill sometimes to make her do work. She is interested (very!) in learning about things but hates any kind of paperwork. She doesn't (usually) outright rebel, but she has definitely mastered the "slow down strike". But we forged on, this time moving on to grammar. I reread some pertinent passages from _Merry-Go-Round_ by Ruth Heller and had her write matching Proper Nouns for common nouns I gave her and vice versa. Then she listed 3 concrete nouns, and 3 abstract nouns. At first she wanted to list air as an abstract since you can't see it, but I pointed out that you can feel it in the wind. (Later this year we'll do an experiment to prove it has weight).

Then she was really running out of steam, and she was sick these past few days, so I just read to her: In My Own Backyard by Judi Kurjian, and The Ice Age by Darlene R. Stille. Then I let her hang out for an hour until it was time for dance/tumbling classes.

T was great today--I had some things Jen gave me and some play-doh ready to deploy but didn't need them--he played very nicely all by himself. Both kids really enjoyed their dance/tumbling classes today, and Weird Homeschool Mom wasn't as weird as she seemed last week. All in all a good day.