Read Aloud Week!

This is our final read aloud week for the year, but actually we have several things we're doing.

Since I want to finish our math books before the end of the year, we're starting each day with one page of math instead of our usual 2 pages. This hasn't taken very long and then we are on to the main event: reading!

Abby, Thomas and I are reading Winnie-the-Pooh. I think it's actually the first time I've read all the stories and I'm enjoying it as much as they are. We are also reading Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter. There is so much nature study that I keep thinking I should do a unit study instead of merely reading it, but I've managed to squelch that idea, since the whole idea was simply to read the book and discuss it.

For history, Abby and I finished Bread and Butter Indian and have started Bread and Butter Journey by Anne Colver. These stories are based on pioneer journals from the author's family and are sweet reads for young girls. They are illustrated by my favorite, Garth Williams.

For Christmas I got The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff for Thomas and we started it today. It's the legend of William Tell and it's pretty exciting so far!

Thomas has been studying the science sections in Beyond FIAR's Neil Armstrong. We're nearing the end and I've spent a good bit of time on the internet, trying to figure out how to pull all the information together and do something hands-on at the same time. I decided to make the space lapbook in The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook by Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling. This handbook has instructions for lapbooks and minit books, as well as other kinds of books, such as pizza books, stick books, accordion books, etc. and projects for each school subject. We'll post some pics of it when we finish up. This week, we're working on hamburger-fold minit books about each planet and learning information about each one as we go.

Abby and I are finishing up The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco. We spent a couple of days talking about the orchestra, reading Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin and The Story of the Incredible Orchestra and playing on a neat website done by the Dallas Symphony for kids. We read about bees, of course. And today we read Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney and made maps of our neighborhood and the inside of our house. I have some beeswax sheets to make candles, but will have to wait until I get to the big city to get some wick.

Next, Abby and I will begin rowing our last FIAR book, Miss Rumphius.

We've had a busy week with lots of other things going on, but we've learned a lot, too!