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► thecoldirons.com
► family school - 2006

• Current family school page
• Family School photos (password = family)
• Various assignments page

Read-alouds:
(Some books may be on the read-aloud list and one of the girls' lists. That means that kiddo read the book aloud or independently, usually before mom and dad read it to everyone.)

• to follow

~A~'s additional reading

• to follow

~C~'s additional reading

• to follow

Language Arts:
to follow

Math:
to follow

History/Geography:
to follow
 

Science:
to follow
 

Other:
to follow

Read-alouds:
(Some books may be on the read-aloud list and one of the girls' lists. That means that kiddo read the book aloud or independently, usually before mom and dad read it to everyone.)

• to follow

~A~'s additional reading

• to follow

~C~'s additional reading

• to follow

Language Arts:
to follow

Math:
to follow

History/Geography:
to follow
 

Science:
to follow
 

Other:
to follow

Read-alouds:
(Some books may be on the read-aloud list and one of the girls' lists. That means that kiddo read the book aloud or independently, usually before mom and dad read it to everyone.)

• The Audubon Book of True Nature Stories, Terres (continuing)
• Caddie Woodlawn, Brink (continuing)
• Mistakes That Worked, Jones (finished)
• Little Town on the Prairie, Wilder (finished)
• If You Were a Writer, Nixon
• And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon, Stevens
• Stellaluna, Cannon
• They Were Strong and Good, Lawson
• The Drinking Gourd, Monjo
• If You Are a Hunter of Fossils, Baylor
• The Thingamajig Book of Manners, Keller
• Officer Buckle and Gloria, Rathman
• A House for Birdie, Murphy

~A~'s additional reading

• Misty of Chincoteague, Henry
• If You Were a Writer, Nixon
• Mighty Maddie, Murphy
• Runaway Radish, Haas
• The Salt Marsh, Schonborg
• Morris is a Cowboy, Wiseman
• Old Cricket, Wheeler
• Olivia, Falconer
• And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon, Stevens
• Stellaluna, Cannon
• Knights of the Square Table, Watts
• Ma Lien and the Magic Brush, Kimishima
• The Life of Alexander the Great, Saunders
• Branislav the Dragon, Masey
• The Thingamajig Book of Manners, Keller
• May I Bring a Friend?, de Regniers
• Busy Buzzing Bumblebees, Schwartz
• The Cowboy and the Black-eyed Pea, Johnston
• Sometimes It's Turkey, Sometimes It's Feathers, Bailan
• Officer Buckle and Gloria, Rathman
• Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, Crimi

~C~'s additional reading

• Bob Book: Up, Pup, Maslen
• Bob Book: Lolly-Pops, Maslen
• The Silly Tail Book, Brown
• Flap Your Wings, Eastman
• Fresh Fall Leaves, Franco
• May I Bring a Friend?, de Regniers (1/2)
• Several poems

Language Arts:
In addition to the usual letter-writing and copywork, we focused this month on short story structure. The culminating assignment for this overview was for each girl to write a 4 paragraph story based on a collage of random images they chose from magazines.

• Click here to see their short stories.
• Click here to see several story projects (password = family).

We reviewed onomatopoeia as part of our experimentation with figures of speech and jazzed up writing. ~A~ also started a new program called Write With the Best, which uses excerpts from classics as the basis for a writing and grammar program. It looks likes it will work wonderfully at our house! With the first section, we used a section from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to look at strong descriptive writing of objects, and to cover nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. ~C~ hangs on through the overview of everything, then ~A~ does the detail assignments on her own.

~C~ surprised her mom a bit this month by choosing a number of word games for her game time ... she's usually more inclined to choose math games. However, our youngest reader/speller opted for several rounds of LetterFlip and Scrabble for Juniors. And her reading is moving along wonderfully!

Math:
We continued our study of measurement, this month focusing on weight. Key concepts we worked on included balance, the difference between size and weight, and common US/metric measures. And yes, we did lots of facts drills and game-playing, too. :-)

History/Geography:
What a varied month! We continue to review ancient history using Gombrich's A Little History of the World, but also spent some time looking at the Civil War timeframe, reading a few books and seeing a wonderful play called Midnight Cry. We also attended a program at the Caddoan Indian Mounds and learned a bit about some folks who lived in this part of the state at one time.

As always, the girls consulted the globe regularly. A few places of interest from our readings this month were: Scotland, Holland, the Caribbean, and a few US east coast states.
 

Science:
Kip and the girls spent some time outdoors, learning how to scout deer and other wildlife. They were rewarded with some deer sightings, and even ~C~ is learning to be more quiet and observant on nature walks.

We also visited the Texas A&M University Chemistry Open House, which was a fun and informative time. Since Kip will be teaching some basic chemistry this year, the timing was great!
 

Other:
We continued listening to The Chronicles of Narnia dramatizations, finishing Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Only two more books to go!

Kip also finished reading aloud Little Town on the Prairie, which we've started and stopped a few times. You can tell the girls enjoy the Little House books because we can always pick up wherever we left off, and everyone remembers what was happening!

The girls and Dianna continue jogging, racing and playing outside several times each week. The girls are definitely getting better at accurate throwing and catching, and their confidence is growing. One of their favorite "work-out" activities is something we call "Follow the Leader Concentration," in which one of us runs a pattern of our own making and the other two have to then follow course. Picture, if you will, ~C~ galloping across the yard, then pumping arms in the air while skipping a circle-8 among some trees, then running full bore with hands on head to complete the pattern ... then picture ~A~ and mom doing the same, trying to remember exactly what to begin where along the way. Then, someone else gets to try to top that pattern with something even more interesting. It's great fun!

Both girls memorized "October," a John Updike poem. Using these short monthly poems, we also practice presentation and audience skills. ~C~ this month took us to a new level of presentation skills by introducing gestures ... completely appropriate and entertaining gestures, too!

We attended a fire safety program sponsored by the Palestine Fire Department, and were able to visit and play with some other homeschoolers at a local park day this month. Woo-hoo!

~A~ sewed a few more squares on her long-term quilt project; ~C~ completed a small sewing project, too. And ~A~ has been oh-so-carefully cutting out very detailed paper dolls and costumes from a very nifty colonial period book. She's displayed a lot of patience and attention to detail on this project.

Finally, a proud mom and dad note, pertinent under the topics of economics and math: Both girls had some gift cards to spend, and had come up with a list of items to shop for. While shopping, they did the math to figure their remaining balances. So far, so good, right? Now the proud moment part ... both girls decided to share purchases of several items so they could maximize their spending power. They were each going to buy a pair of skates, but decided to get an adjustable pair they could share, for example, figuring that they wouldn't mind taking turns on the skates so they could buy something else to share as well. <big, big smiles!!!>

Read-alouds:

• The Story of Doctor Doolittle, Lofting (second half)
• The Audubon Book of True Nature Stories, Terres (continuing)
• Caddie Woodlawn, Brink (1/4)
• Mistakes That Worked, ... (1/4)
• The Trumpet of the Swan, White (audio)
• The Story of Ruby Bridges, Coles
• Beautiful Blackbird, Bryan
• Daisy Comes Home, Brett
• The King's Wish, Elkin
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table, Neuschwander
• Manners Can Be Fun, Leaf
• The Big Sneeze, Brown
• The Sign of the Seahorse, Base
• Gulliver's Adventures in Lilliput, Swift/Beneduce
• Frog Went A-Courtin', Langstaff

~A~'s additional reading

• Two and Two are Four, Haywood
• Leonardo's Horse, Fritz
• Third-Grade Detectives: The Puzzle of the Pretty Pink Handkerchief, Stanley
• Ben and Me, Lawson
• Antonio's Apprenticeship, Morrison
• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, Dalgliesh
• Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon, Donnelly
• Days of the Knights, Maynard
• Adventures in the Middle Ages, Bailey
• Sea Squares, Hulme
• Gulliver's Adventures in Lilliput, Swift/Beneduce
• Beautiful Blackbird, Bryan
• Daisy Comes Home, Brett
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table, Neuschwander
• It Could Have Been Worse, Benjamin
• But No Elephants, Smath
• How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, Yolen, Teague
• Big Max, Platt

~C~'s additional reading

• Bob Book: Sox the Fox, Maslen
• Bob Book: 0 to 10, Maslen
• Bob Book: The Sad Cat, Maslen
• Bob Book: Floppy Mop, Maslen
• The Monkey and the Bee, Jacobs

Language Arts:
Last month, we learned about similes. This month, the girls compiled their similes into booklets, complete with illustrations. We also moved on to metaphors as figures of speech.

Otherwise, language arts was fairly straightforward business-as-usual: writing letters; dictation and copywork (~A~) or tracing/writing (~C~); spelling from ~C~'s phonics program; and various spelling and vocabulary games. Both girls began playing a modified form of Boggle, which is a terrific way of sharpening their spelling skills, along with some word-building strategy. That ~A~ would enjoy Boggle was no surprise; that ~C~ would come up with more than 15 words in a few minutes completely surpassed her mom's expectations!

~A~ continued her focus on correct uses of capitalization using Editor in Chief, and we managed to sneak in a game of Rummy Roots, which is always fun (and a great resource for learning about Greek and Latin word roots).
 

Math:
We finished off our measurement of length section with radius, diameter, and circumference. What a delight to start by reading Sir Cumference and the First Round Table, then use Addie's new round garden to do some real-life measuring! For all measurement topics, we're using both metric and US measures.

As always, the girls worked with regular math facts using drills, games, and practice worksheets. ~A~ now plays the grown-up version of Knock-Out, beating mom as often as not. She's been doing "paper math" with multiple digits (hundreds and thousands) and carrying/borrowing, but we still practice doing those tasks mentally so she doesn't get lazy about it. ~C~ loves to work with math facts through 10+10 in any way, shape or form ... playing Quarter Mile Math, using an abacus or her head, on worksheets, in card games, etc.
 

History/Geography:
We continue to review ancient history using Gombrich's A Little History of the World. We read quick reviews of ancient China, India, and Greece this month, with the biggest focus on Alexander the Great's expeditions.

One assignment was for the girls to create and enact short dramatic retellings of key events, which they did with gusto. Mom and dad were treated to a play featuring Alexander's cutting of the Gordian Knot, Darius' retreat and subsequent assassination, Alexander's injury and rescue fighting bravely solo atop a tower, and his death in Babylon. You should've heard the dramatic "snap" of the ladder and "twang" of the bow!

As always, we mapped out journeys and found locations on the globe as we went, and ~A~ completed a short research project on modern China using an atlas, among other reference tools. We also played some games (The Scrambled States of America, Mad Dash) to help reinforce USA geography.
 

Science:
Science this month was catch-as-catch-can ... which thankfully is pretty easy to do at our house! Thanks to the chickens and ducks, we've had some very interesting conversations about mating and sex this month. And between gardening, dinosaur videos, and various games, the girls have had reviews and practical experiences related to plants, animals, and the human body. Life often provides its own curriculum, doesn't it?
 

Other:
Riding in the van so much this month gave us all a chance to listen to more of The Chronicles of Narnia dramatizations. We've so far "experienced" The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; and the first half of Prince Caspian.

The girls and Dianna continue to work on their physical endurance, primarily by jogging and racing several times each week, as well as jump rope and other activities. We've also begun tossing a ball around, working on accuracy in throwing and catching. Pretty soon, we're going to grab Kip for regular games of kickball and dodgeball!

On the "good manners are the start of good citizenship" front, we read from The Goops and How Not to Be Them and Manners Can Be Fun. We also talked about the difference between "clean" and "neat," and when each is important. We also continued talking and reading about racism as a follow-up to reading The Story of Doctor Doolittle.

The whole family had a couple of "field trips" ... a visit to the Quilt Show in Grapeland and a ride on the Texas State Railroad.

Both girls memorized "September," a John Updike poem; played a bit at the piano, composing short songs with A chords; practiced some basic Spanish vocabulary with Rosetta Stone; and practiced typing their names using the correct fingers on the keyboard.

Oh, and let's not forget the "school of everyday life" ... including ~A~'s first dentist visit, which she handled like a champ! The dentist praised her not only for keeping nice teeth, but for handling her first check-up so well. That's our girl!

Read-alouds:

• Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Lovelace
• Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Henry (audio)
• The Story of Doctor Doolittle, Lofting (1/2)
• The Audubon Book of True Nature Stories, Terres (1/2)
• Pigs on a Blanket - Fun with Math and Time, Axelrod
• Pigs Will Be Pigs - Fun with Math and Money, Axelrod
• Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes, Murphy
• Ride a Purple Pelican, Prelutsky
• How to Behave and Why, Leaf

~A~'s additional reading

• Meet George Washington, Heilbroner
• Magic Tree House: Stage Fright on a Starry Night, Osborne
• Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President, Redmond
• The Twelve Labors of Hercules, Cerasini
• The Story of Pocahontas, Jenner
• Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic, Osborne
• Days of the Knights, Maynard
• The Courage of Sarah Noble, Dalgliesh
• A Day in the Life of a Baby Dinosaur, Randall
• Third-Grade Detectives: The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope, Stanley
• Dolphin Treasure, Grover
• Alexander the Great, Langley
• Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?, Fritz
• Who in the World was the Unready King? The Story of Ethelred, Clark
• Horse Heroes, Petty
• Sarah, Plain and Tall, MacLaclan
• Christopher Columbus, Krensky
• Henry & Mudge and the Great Grandpas, Rylant
• Henry & Mudge Under the Yellow Moon, Rylant

~C~'s additional reading

• Bob Book: Fun in the Sun, Maslen
• Bob Book: Up, Pup, Maslen
• Bob Book: Pip and Pog, Maslen
• Bob Book: The Big Hat, Maslen
• Bob Book: OK, Kids, Maslen
• Bob Book: Rub-a-Dub, Maslen
• Bob Book: The Red Hen, Maslen

 
Language Arts:
Both girls wrote several letters and notes, and we continued with using ~C~'s phonics program as a basis for spelling bees. We also played a new game (What's Gnu?) for spelling ... great fun!

We started reading It Figures!, a book with great information on various figures of speech. After reading about similes, both girls created some terrific (and funny!) examples that we'll probably compile and illustrate in a book.

~A~ began work in Editor in Chief, focusing on editing skills and capitalization. She also took dictation for the first time, and decided that it's a little harder than our usual copywork. We'll keep doing some of both.

~C~ continues to practicing tracing and writing numerals and letters. She's doing a super job with AlphaPhonics, both in terms of reading and spelling.
 

Math:
In addition to regular facts (+/-) drills and practice, we continued our study of  measurement by looking at length. So far, we've addressed length, width, depth, and perimeter. We also used the opportunity to compare millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers, inches, feet, yards, and miles.

~A~ is getting faster and faster using Quarter Mile Math and other practice aids! We're still focused on using mental math (vs. vertical written columns) to add multi-digit numbers, with and without carrying/borrowing.

 ~C~ has moved on from memorizing the +1 and +2 basic facts to the +3 and +9 realm. She can do more difficult addition, but we're focusing on memorization of basics. She's still a Make 10 game-playing wild-woman, even though she memorized the =10 facts a while back.
 

History/Geography:
We continue to review ancient history using Gombrich's A Little History of the World. This month, we read about the Greeks and Persians, then moved on to India and China. Both girls remembered quite a bit from our earlier studies, and they could find and identify related locations on the globe.

~A~ pulled out the Famous Greeks history course from the Teaching Company and listened again to a variety of lectures. I think she enjoys Rufus Fears (the instructor) about as much as her mom does!

~A~ also snuck in a couple of games of Mad Dash! with mom; it may rate among her favorite games, this trekking across the USA.
 

Science:
This was a varied month of science, with a trip to the Hudnall Planetarium, more information about dinosaurs, and some review of plants. Both girls and dad began gathering leaves and fruits/nuts from the various trees around our new home, as well as studying their bark. The goal is to identify the trees and organize/compile the leaves into a sort of "Coldiron tree guidebook." ~A~ has taken a special interest in this project ... pick an oak, any oak, and she can likely tell you about its leaves.

Animal-wise, we tended a sick goose and followed a trio of skunks across the property. Both girls continue to care for the chickens, ducks and goose, and to play with Thumper, the new rabbit ... it's a joy to see their interest and concern!
 

Other:
The girls took swimming lessons at the YMCA; both did well and stayed committed and enthusiastic throughout. We have begun working to improve our physical strength and endurance with sprints, runs, etc. The girls and their mom are making progress!

~A~ practiced presentation skills by summarizing a book she read (lively, specific, and just enough detail ... well done!). She also began practicing typing and writing her name in cursive. ~A~ tackled a research project, too, using an atlas to identify and locate the three largest rivers in the world.

Both girls took a peek at Rosetta Stone's Spanish course, which we'll pursue semi-regularly. And we began a semi-regular art class, too, focusing this month on lines in drawing.

Finally, as part of our "manners and respect" readings to eventually lead into more formal citizenship studies, we read a lovely little book by the author of The Story of Ferdinand; Munro Leaf also wrote How to Behave and Why, in which he talks about practical reasons why being Honest, Fair, Strong, and Wise is so very important. Our reading from The Story of Doctor Doolittle also gave us the chance to discuss racism, including how and why it sometimes shows up in life and literature.
 

Read-alouds:

• A Sea Full of Sharks, Maestro
• Magic Tree House Research Guide: American Revolution, Osborne, Boyce
• George Washington's Teeth, Chandra, Comora
• The Island of the Blue Dolphins, O'Dell (audio)
• Mr. Revere and I, Lawson (audio)
• American Tall Tales, Osborne (audio)
• Ribsy, Cleary (audio)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (audio)
• More True Lies, Shannon (1/2)
• Happily Ever After, Quindlan
• Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, dePaola
• Fish Head, Fritz
• The Super Red Racer, Ramsey

Language Arts:
 

Math:
 

History/Geography:
 

Science:
 

Other:
 

A's additional readings

• Theras and His Town, Snedeker
• Cupid and Psyche, Craft
• Magic Tree House: Good Morning, Gorillas, Osborne
• Magic Tree House: Vacation Under the Volcano, Osborne
• Magic Tree House: Ghost Town at Sundown, Osborne
• Magic Tree House Research Guide: Knights and Castles, Osborne
• The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, Cole
• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, Fritz
• The Boston Coffee Party, Rappaport
• Sleeping Ugly, Yolen
• Detective Dinosaur, Skofield
• Gorilla Gang, George
• Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy, Aylesworth
• Henry and Mudge and Puddle Trouble

Read-alouds:

• Greek Gods and Heroes, Low
• The Children's Homer, Colum
• A Seed is a Promise, Merrill
• Plants in Winter, Cole
• Chirping Crickets, Berger
• Switch On, Switch Off, Berger
• Something Good, Murphy
• Together, Lyon
• The Three Little Pigs, Galdone
• The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash, Noble
• My Great Aunt Arizona, Houston
• The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Kerley
• Magic School Bus: In the Time of the Dinosaurs, Cole
• Dinosaurs are Different, Aliki

Language Arts:
Everyday reviews: verbal spelling, word games, plot and main idea identification, copywork and letters, booklist updates, etc.

Math:
We continued measurement, this month moving on to temperature. We also did some work with math stories, ensuring that the girls recognized when and how to use addition and subtraction in everyday life.

History/Geography:
We continued our quick review of ancient history with recaps from Gombrich's A Little History of the World, and read new information on the ancient Israelites.

Between read-alouds by mom and dad (Greek Gods and Heroes, The Children's Homer) and ~A~ reading aloud from Theras and His Town, we rather inadvertently jumped ahead in our history review to include some of the stories from ancient Greece. Ah well ... we enjoyed Greek history enough to hit it again numerous times, and we'll get there through Gombrich pretty soon!

We also enjoyed a presentation about African slave history at the Crockett library, and a video on the Wright brothers and early aviation.

Science:
Kip and the girls had a quick review of plants. The girls also got firsthand experience caring for newborn chickens, ducks, and geese. They also began a study of dinosaurs.

As an off-shoot of math's current focus on measurement, we also learned about boiling and freezing points, Celsius vs. Fahrenheit, states of matter, etc. We watched a great video on energy and heat, and read a bit about electricity, too. Being able to run wide and deep down "rabbit trails" is one aspect of homeschooling that we really enjoy!

Other:
We continued practicing presentation skills, dictionary reference skills, and                  aiming/tossing skills. We also added some logic and strategy games, and both girls got very interested in the Draw-Write-Now series, which has already made a big difference in their "artful eyes!"

A's additional work

Reading:

• Theras and His Town, Snedeker (1/2)
• Plants, Ganeri
• The Drinking Gourd, Monjo
• Lewis and Clark - A Prairie Dog for the President, Redmond
• George Washington's Breakfast, Fritz
• If You Were an Animal Doctor, Levine
• The Young Carthaginian, Henty/Weiss (audio)
• The Cat of Bubastes, Henty/Weiss (audio)
• Treasure Map, Murphy
• What Happened to the Dinosaurs?, Branley
• Hamster Champs, Murphy
• A Giraffe and a Half, Silverstein
• Dinosaur Dream, Nolan

In addition to the joint study of temperature measurement, ~A~ focused on subtraction (basic facts, timed drills, mental math with borrowing). She also worked very hard on her drawing, using some new Draw-Write-Now books. Mom didn't have to suggest or push this activity ... the girl worked hard and often on her own!

Reading:

• Bob Books: Muff and Ruff, Maslen
• Bob Books: 10 Cut-Ups, Maslen
• Bob Books: Peg and Ted, Maslen

~C~ started AlphaPhonics officially this month, and is reading well and with a lot of enthusiasm. She also wrote a story a la I Did It, I'm Sorry completely on her own, with phonetic spelling as best she could (see it here). ~C~ is also doing lots of abacus work, tracing and writing, cutting/sorting/pasting, sequencing, and playing math games.

Read-alouds:

• Complete Works of Beatrix Potter, Potter
• The Elephant's Child, Kipling
• Little Town on the Prairie, Wilder (1/3)
• Game Time!, Murphy
• The Heroic Symphony, Celenza
• What Do You Say, Dear?, Joslin
• I Did It, I'm Sorry

Language Arts:
Both girls have been updating their summer reading booklists and writing letters for handwriting practice, as well as doing copywork from readings (A) or tracing words (C). We've been playing various word games and doing verbal spelling bees.

Both girls can define and identify the setting, characters, and plot of various readings (well, almost ... C still gets a bit confused about "plot"). We continue to work on identifying the main point of a reading and being able to summarize well.

Math:
We tackled measurement as a concept this month, talking about time, temperature, weight, length, volume/capacity. Both girls decided we would plunge into time measurement since we've been working on reading clocks, so we read and played and modeled and otherwise delved into time (from seconds to centuries, and everything in between). Of course, we did facts drills and bunches of "regular" math games, too.

History/Geography:
We began a light review of ancient history by reading from Gombrich's A Little History of the World. The goal is to trot briskly through times and places we've covered already, double-checking our timeline and memories, and making sure our geographic knowledge of those places remains strong. We've so far read about prehistoric times, Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Of their own accord, both girls quizzed each other on the states of our grand country using our trusty foam/magnet map, and both listened again and again to the audio stories about Galileo, Kepler, Brahe, and Archimedes. Gotta love Jim Weiss recordings!

Science:
In view of our new surroundings (34 wooded acres in the country), we focused a lot on animal care, the food chain, plants (review), snakes, and termites. Termites? Termites. The girls hunted for them, identified them as insects based on close examination of their bodies, learned about their habitats and habits, as well as food sources and lifecycle.

They also found and identified deer and boar tracks; helped care for a duckling and gosling; and watched various videos (Trials of Life, The Private Life of Plants).

Other:
We continued our "underlying citizenship" work on manners and attitudes through readings and discussions; began to lock in the concepts of right/left; created some painting and oil pastel artwork; and learned about and listened to Beethoven's "Heroic Symphony." Both girls also presented summaries of readings and stories, working specifically on posture, focus, and summarization skills.

For physical activity and prowess, we played several tossing games to build aim and control (e.g., Math Toss, ball toss).

A's additional work

Reading:

• Betsy and Billy, Haywood
• Tale of Timmy Tiptoes, Potter
• Fables, Lobel (selected)
• The Adventures of Jason Jackrabbit, Dee
• Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats, Earle
• That's Exactly the Way it Wasn't, Stevenson
• The Story of Pocahontas
• The Boy Who Loved to Draw, West
• Saint George and the Dragon, Hodges
• Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares, Murphy
• Prehistory to Egypt, Rius
• Plants Bite Back!
• Chang's Paper Pony, Coerr
• Hooray for the Golly Sisters, Byars
• Clara and the Bookwagon, Levinson
• Chanticleer and the Fox, Cooney
• Just a Minute!, Slater
• Andrew's Loose Tooth, Munsch
• Let's Talk About Tattling, Berry
• Let's Talk About Being Selfish, Berry
• Tut's Mummy Lost and Found, Donelly
• Horse Heroes, Petty
• Meet the Orchestra, Hayes

A handled much of our read-aloud time herself this month, reading Betsy and Billy for us. There's a reason we've begun to call her "The Well-Read Farmer Girl!"

Reading:

• Bob Books: Sam, Maslen
• Bob Books: Mat, Maslen
• Bob Books: Dot, Maslen
• Bob Books: Mac, Maslen
• Bob Books: Dot and Mit, Maslen
• Bob Books: Dot and the Dog, Maslen
• Bob Books: Jig and Mag, Maslen
• Rhymes With Cat
• Andy, That's My Name, dePaola

Look at her go ... she's a reading wild-woman! C surprised us with writing all by herself one evening: "The cat and the mows." She sounded out what she wanted to write and did so ... it was legible and everything! C also started using two colors mixed together in her coloring this month. It really added depth to her art, and she was quite pleased with the results. She also dictated a letter, remembering to start with a date and greeting, and end with a closing and signature. Oh, and matching artwork, of course.

Read-alouds:

• Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse, Burgess
• B is for Betsy, Haywood
• Album of Horses, Henry
• Petunia, Duvoisin
• The Very Quiet Cricket, Carle

Beyond this admittedly short reading list, April is a big mental blur and my notes a mess! We played games, of course, as always ... math games, word games, etc. But mostly, we packed and sorted and boxed and moved.

A's additional work

Reading:

• Amelia Bedelia and the Baby, Parish
• Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower, Parish
• Nate the Great on the Owl Express, Sharmat
• Nate the Great and the Musical Note, Sharmat
• Nate the Great and the Big Sniff, Sharmat
• Nate the Great Goes Undercover, Sharmat
• Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise, Sharmat
• Nate the Great and the Pillowcase, Sharmat
• Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweeden, Sharmat
• Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang, Sharmat
• The Tomb of the Emperor, Mullin
• Captain Whiz-Bang, Stanley
• Grandfather's Dream, Keller

Read-alouds:

• The Cricket in Times Square, Selden (audio)
• Rascal, North (audio)
• More Milly-Molly-Mandy, Brisley
• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?, Carlstrom
• Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear, Carlstrom
• All Nature Sings, Jonge
• Owly, Thaler
• Look What Came From India, Harvey
• Lily's Garden of India, Smith
• Monsoon, Krishnaswami
• One Grain of Rice, Demi
• Sacred River, Lewin
• Readings from Story of the World, Complete Book of Wonders, etc.

Language Arts:
We reviewed parts of speech and capitalization rules. Verbal spelling bees and games like Deal-a-Word kept spelling going while we traveled.

Math:
We played lots of math games (e.g., Make 10 and Make 20, Muggins, verbal drills) to keep our "math minds" sharp while traveling. We also did some place value work for C's sake, and practiced addition with carrying for A (mental math).

History/Geography:
We continued learning about ancient India, including geography, legends, history, religions, and cultural contributions. A's independent reading also included some ancient Greek legends, as well as Egyptian and Central American non-fiction.

Science:
Science was a bit free-for-all this month, including mostly animal kingdom readings and videos.

A's additional work

Reading:

• Penelope's Web, Bennett
• A Father's Return, Bennett
• More Milly-Molly-Mandy, Brisley (some chapters)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor, Sobol
• Little Bear's Friend, Sendak
• Cactus Coyote and Other Stories of Animal Escapades
• Gator Pie, Matthews
• Hannuman
• Magic Tree House: Tigers at Twilight, Osborne
• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Scieszka
• The Golly Sisters Go West, Truesdell
• Paul Revere's Ride, Corey
• Buddy, the First Seeing Eye Dog, Moore

A continued her art classes at the Glassell School, and did some reference work with the dictionary and encyclopedia. She also did some cooking with special attention to proving her knowledge of fractions and weight/volume measurement; other math focus included addition and subtraction fact drills, estimating, and simple multiplication. Our big girl has mastered telling time to the quarter-hour at a glance, estimating time to the quarter hour quickly, and telling any time with a little more thought.

Our youngest continues to enjoy playing word games and figuring out words in terms of reading them and spelling them (or trying to!). She's also a Make 10 game fanatic-- if mom plays another round of Make 10 Pyramid, Make 10 Go Fish, Make 10 Concentration or any other such variation, she may just go bananas. (Not really. She'll just keep being thankful that C has memorized all her 10's facts already!)

On the motor skills front, C keeps getting lots of practice with cutting and pasting, as well as tracing and writing letters and shapes. We're exploring the concepts of "right" and "left," but have a way to go toward automatic recognition.
 

Read-alouds:

• Strega Nona, DePaola
• Strega Nona: Her Story, DePaola
• Big Anthony: His Story, DePaola
• Strega Nona Meets Her Match, DePaola
• The Boxcar Children, Warner (1/2)
• Subtraction Action, Leedy
• A Baby Sister for Frances, Hoban
• Could Be Worse, Stevenson
• Something Good, Munsch
• Click Clack Moo ... Cows That Type, Cronin
• Swan Lake, Geras
• All Nature Sings, DeJonge (1/2)
• As: A Surfeit of Similies, Juster
• Another Celebrated Dancing Bear, Scheffrin-Falk (FIAR)
• My Father's Dragon, Gannett (audio)
• Elmer and the Dragon, Gannett (audio)
• The Dragons of Blueland, Gannett (audio)
• Ginger Pye, Estes (audio)
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, Trivizas
• The Brave Little Parrot, Martin
• The Tiger and the Brahmin (audio, video)
• Rikki Tikki Tavi, Kipling (audio)
• Seven Blind Mice, Young
• The Golden Swan, Mayer
• Savitri, A Tale of Ancient India, Shepard
• Nine Animals and the Well, Rumford
• Once a Mouse, Brown
• Rama and the Demon King, Souhami
• Buddha Stories, Demi
• A Pocketful of Goobers, Mitchell

Language Arts:

• Verbal spelling bees

Math:

• Drill/review/games (Make 10 Go Fish, Subtraction War, Make 20)
• Abacus and mental math
• Pattern-finding in stories

History/Geography:

• George Washington Carver play at Interactive Theatre
• Ancient India: overview, stories, religion, geography, rivers, temple visit

Science:

• Insects: defined, inspected, researched (assassin bug, fruit flies, wasps)
• Readings from All Nature Sings

Other:

• PE: Bike rides
• Music: Strega Nona by Opera to Go
• Other: Hindu temple tour, Boxcar Children play at A.D. Players

Reading:

• Snakes are Hunters, Lauber
• The Golly Sisters Go West, Byars
• Strega Nona, DePaola
• Ralph S. Mouse, Cleary (1/2)
• Mammalabilia, Florian
• The Tooth Book, LeSieg
• Andrew's Loose Tooth, Munsch
• Click Clack Moo... Cows that Type, Cronin
• Ribbon Rescue, Munsch
• The Tub People, Conrad
• Nate the Great
• What is the World Made of?, Zoehfeld
• Verdi, Cannon
• Wagon Wheels, Brenner
• The Long Way Westward, Sandin
• Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express, Coerr
• In the Heart of the Village, Bash
• Rama and the Demon King, Souhami
• The Gifts of Wali Dad, Shepard
• Wali Dad
• I Was Once a Monkey; Stories Buddha Told, Lee (1/2)

Language Arts:

• Adding suffixes

Math:

• Two-digit addition with carrying, subtraction with borrowing (mental)

History/Geography:

• India: ancient history overview, stories, religion

Science:

• Solids, liquids, gasses
• Solar system (LeapPad)

Other:

• Art: Glassell drawing classes (glazing, color)

• Keyboarding practice with Quarter Mile Math
• Gymnastics
• Abacus: addition (1s and 10s), subtraction
• Consonants vs. vowels
• Writing/letters: Thank you note tracing
• Animal Habitat games
• Reading with mom (selected words from "big books")
• Reading "Andy, That's My Name"
• AlphaPhonics
• Time: hours
   

Read-alouds:

• Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne
• The Family Under the Bridge, Carlson
• The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, Burgess
• Boxcar Children, Warner
• Freddy Goes to Florida, Brooks (audio)
• The Big Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook, Brisley
• The Magic Schoolbus Under the Ocean Floor, Cole
• The Magic Schoolbus Inside the Earth, Cole
• In the Snow, Lee
• A Silly Story, Mayer
• The Saggy Babby Elephant, Jackson
• A Picture Book of George Washington Carver, Adler
• A Weed is a Flower, Aliki

Language Arts:

• Copywork, various writing
• Characters, setting, main point, re-tellings/variations
• Spelling bees

Math:

• Drill/review/games: addition, subtraction, money, time, sequencing/skip-counting
• Abacus and balance
• Graphs
• Spatial: Tangrams

History/Geography:

• Ancient China: review/summary in lapbooks (see individual)
• India: read summaries
• USA: LeapPad history, George Washington Carver

Science:

• Animal classification

Other:

• Memorize: December and January, by John Updike
• PE: hikes/walks, bowling, cycling
• Music: identifying instrument sounds, moods
• Prioritizing lists, choices

Reading:

• Mouse Soup, Lobel
• George, the Drummer Boy, Benchley
• The Saggy Baggy Elephant, Jackson
• The Rumor, Thornhill
• Ralph S. Mouse, Cleary
• Spacey Riddles
• Sixty Fingers, Sixty Toes, Dilley
• Mary Anning, Fossil Hunter, Walker
• How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head, Peet
• Chester, the Worldly Pig, Peet
• Cock-A-Doodle Dudley, Peet
• George Washington Carver, Bowdish

Language Arts:

• Word games: Boggle, Spin-and-Spell
• Vocabulary: definitions, parts of speech review, Rummy Roots
• Spelling via online library searches
• Alphabetizing

Math:

• Logic links
• New games: 100 or Bust, Subtraction War, Knock-Out (adult version)

History/Geography:

• Ancient China lapbook: geography, religion, Great Wall, definitions, timeline of dynasties, Qin Shi Huang Di, "good books," inventions, food

Science:

• Trees: Jones Park program
• Reading on oceanography, earth science

Other:

• Art: Glassell drawing classes
• Reference: Dictionary

• Math: abacus work, "Gopher It", sequencing, shapes, +1, +0, =10 pairing, patterns
• Ancient China lapbook: geography, inventions, food
• Keyboard practice
• Vowels vs. consonants
• Reading: several Bob Books, AlphaPhonics
• Tracing shapes, letters, numbers
• Science at Tadpoles: wind, winter animals, animal movement, trees
• Gymnastics

Read-alouds:

• Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Kalman
• Sammy, the Classroom Guinea Pig, Berenzy
• The Grandma's Attic Storybook, Richardson (finished!)
• Farmer Boy, Wilder (finished!)
• Homer Price, McCloskey
• Thimbleberry Stories, Rylant
• Koko's Kitten, Patterson
• The Family Under the Bridge, Carlson (started)
• Hank the Cowdog, The Homeless Pooch, Erickson (audio)
• Hank the Cowdog, short stories, Erickson (audio)
• Mary Poppins, Travers (1/2, audio)
• The House at Pooh Corner, Milne (audio)
• Paddle-to-the-Sea, Holling (audio)
• The Young Carthaginian, Henty (audio), finished!!!

Language Arts:

• Games: Letter Flip, Word Bingo, Chip-O, Boggle Jr.

History/Geography:

• Buns Across America (US landmarks, state maps)
• Ancient China: readings, Great Wall review

Other:

• Logic/thinking: Blink, Logic Links, Quoridor
• Citizenship: volunteering at Jones Park, Grandma's Attic discussions (responsibility, focus, trust, etc.)
• Keyboarding: 10-key drills
• Music: The Nutcracker ballet "field trip" and readings
• Art: various artsy gifts (mug drawings, bookmarkers, etc.)
• Pioneer Christmas at Jones Park: crafts, snow, music

Reading:

• Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Kalman
• A Bargain for Frances
• Goodness Gracious Me!, Fox
• A Dog's Book of Bugs, Griffen
• Daniel's Duck, Bulla
• Inspector Hopper's Mystery Year
• Twas the Night Before Christmas

Language Arts:

• Writing lots of gift labels
• Explode the Code: -y words

Math:

• Drill/review/games: addition, subtraction, money, sets
• Fractions: doubling, equalities
• Weights and measures: comparisons, weight vs. volume

History/Geography:

-

Science:

• Jones Park Nature Rangers: Animals in winter

Other:

• Music: mood/emotion, Tchaikovsky

• Bob books
• Rhymes With Cat
• Chip-O game cards
• Rhyming words, letter sounds, lowercase letters
• Math games: Knock-Out, War, grouping/set games
• Same/different, big/small
• Jones Park Tadpoles: birds, Akoksia Indians, insects
• Memory: Recited three verses of November poem
• Gymnastics