Master Librarians Jack and Annie

We are still training our listening skills. In addition to the High Five magazine audio on-line, I borrowed a number of Mary Pope Osborne's "Magic Tree House" CDs from the library. So far, it has been a success and Jack and Annie have become our household names.

Truthfully, it all started about a year ago when we received the story "Ghost Town At Sundown" CD with one of the kids' meals in some drive-through. We tried it then, but it proved to be a waste of time. So, we just had the CD laying around for a long time. And then, like it often happens, the children got very restless in the car one day, and out of the blue we popped in the CD. Wow! We had a pleasant ride after that and the children have not stopped asking for more Jack and Annie.

Although the siblings' adventures are very interesting and the abundance of magic does not bother me a whole lot (fairy tales of our age), not all of them are 'healthy'. I truly believe, there is a better way to introduce the ancient Egypt and pyramids than drag some ghostly mummy and a whole lot of her afterlife rubbish into it. Well, out goes that creepy story. As to the rest -or at least as much as we have been able to listen to - it is rather praiseworthy.

So, let the adventures continue!

The Expo

Hats off to anyone involved in organizing the expo. We loved it. Children had a blast looking at the lizards and snakes and had a good time at the nursery while I and Charles visited pretty much every table. We came away laden with information sheets. One thing that floored me was that I had no idea there was SO much out there for homeschoolers - resources, curricula, groups, organizations, etc. etc. We are sticking with Sonlight for the time being and we'll see how it works for our family, but it is good to know, there are other options available as well. The Expo was a wonderful experience and I hope, they will have one next year as well.

Expo In Town

This Friday, we are going to the local homeschooling expo. I have never been to one, but I am very excited. I do not know, what to expect. I guess, just breathing in air thick with teaching and education will make me dizzy of joy. Kid in the candy store.

A Letter To the King

The 4th of July is not far away and I have started to teach both children, but especially Andrew, about the history behind this date.
Would you believe it or not, but I started my lesson out with Disney's Pocahontas. Both children know the movie well and it seemed like a logical starting point for how the people from England came and settled the country and how they later disliked the king and how they wrote a letter to him telling him to leave them alone because they are Americans and they want to have their own country - America.
In the same spirit, we made the 'colonial' lanterns. Both children had fun banging with the hammer. They remember the power outage we had not long ago and how we lit our battery powered lanterns. So, it was not too hard for them to imagine a life long time ago without electricity. Andrew even wanted to read his books by the lantern light before bed. That will not happen, though.

High Five

For a few years now I and Andrew have enjoyed the High Five magazine. It has the BEST recipes ever and every issue is packed with good stories, crafts, games, etc.
Many a times I have found Andrew sitting on his bed with his nose in the magazines. It has even happened that I have found him asleep on top of a pile of High Fives. Now that he is learning to read, the pages have become a tool to practice his skill. Just today, I noticed the High Five audio option in the magazine. I checked it out and we all - Andrew, Saara, and I - listened to the stories being read out loud to us. I must admit, it was more fun than me reading because all the sound effects in the background. Also, it was a nice change to listen to someone else beside Mommy read.

Learning Continues

So far, our summer has been pleasantly busy. We have had most wonderful time at the events the library has been organizing, plus a baseball game that is always fun even though the little ones did not have the patience to stay till the game was over. From my point of view, they have had a nice amount of new experiences and learned new things. Schooling continues. Learning does not disappear, but it transforms (it sort of sounds like the law of the conservation of energy, doesn't it?)

A Happy Ending

Received the long awaited e-mail from the local homschooling association. I am very pleased. Needless to say our memebership dues will be in the mail soon and I am already a pending member of the local homeschoolers network group. Things are moving along.