Bliss

This week's reading list

We are studying two different Sonlight cores this year, and I am trying to coordinate them so we are all at least learning about the same countries or cultures at the same time. All three boys are listening to the read-alouds from both cores, but Bubba is reading his Core 5 readers on his own. To make the books more accessible, I am incorporating lots of picture books and hands-on activities. One great resource I am using is the Ancient Far East history kit from http://www.handsandhearts.com/. The boys especially enjoyed making the Gyotaku (fish prints) and the Kokeshi dolls. The new winter Book of Days at http://blueyonderranch.com/ has some great recipes and projects as well. We are going to try making the Dragon Moon Pot-stickers tomorrow for lunch.

Three Samurai Cats is a fun picture book to read after reading A Grain of Rice (from Sonlight Core K.) The boys want me to make jasmine (sticky) rice for them, because they said these books made them crave it!

We will be reading The Story About Ping (for the umpteenth time) and then trying our hand at some origami wild ducks from Duy and Tramy Nguyen's Traditional Japanese Origami: The Art of Paper Folding which I picked up at Barnes and Noble from the bargain books section (beautiful origami papers are included with the book.)

We are halfway into The Master Puppeteer (from Sonlight Core 5.) It isn't an easy book, but I found a great resource for making the setting and story easier for the boys to grasp. Ellen McHenry has a download available at http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/id121.html with instructions and patterns for making a pop-up Bunraku Japanese puppet theater. We also checked out her suggestions for viewing Bunraku puppet shows of Japan on youtube. Giving the boys a hands-on project and visuals has helped them connect with this book.

Creative chaos

Access to a wide range of art materials is the key to a happy homeschool! At least, that's what the boys think. When left to their own devices, they come up with some wonderful creations. We pulled out the oil pastels yesterday, and the boys spent 30 minutes drawing and smudging.

While studying the Far East, we are incorporating some art projects into the history lessons. We printed out blackline maps of Japan at http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/id73.html and labeled them with permanent ink. Then the boys colored the land areas with crayons, and finally they painted over the entire thing with blue watercolor paint. The crayon areas acted as a resist to the paint, creating a really neat effect. The watercolor paints that come in the tubes produce beautiful colors, but any watercolors will work. This was a fun way to learn geography through art, and it was more fun than just labeling and coloring. Up next is Japanese Origami...

Growing ice

We thought the frost looked like grass made out of ice. It was fascinating to find patches of it along the way when we were walking. We came home and looked up frost in the Handbook of Nature Study, and discovered that many of the photographs in that book were taken by Snowflake Bentley. We also had not idea that there were so many different types of frost. Now we will be on the lookout for different patterns on the windows and on the car.

Great books

I loved both of these books, and I was happy to hear that When You Reach Me won the Newberry Medal--it is well-deserved! Even though the main character of both books is a girl, they are both excellent books for boys as well. We read The Girl Who Could Fly as a read-aloud for book time, and all of the boys were captivated by it. I have given When You Reach Me to W to read on his own.

I love thrift stores...

A big Wild Thing to keep Max company, and the complete original Boxcar Children series. A shiny row of paperweights...

A cool spinning display rack (snagged for $3.00) --perfect for holding readers and read-alouds. And a lighted globe, still in the box with the lightbulb included--a splurge at six bucks!

We never know what we'll find on our treasure hunts, but it sure is fun to add some pizzazz to the school room.