Countdown to Halloween #1

We've been reading this book all month as a read-aloud during our nightly storytime.  Even my 6 year old has become absorbed in this story.  It was a childhood favorite of mine, and I've enjoyed revisiting it as much as my kids have enjoyed discovering it.  Kit's story of life in Puritan New England is so compelling that the boys don't realize how much history they are learning. 

You can download a study guide sampler from Progeny Press if you'd like to go further in-depth with it, and there is a study guide at McGraw Hill that is intended for classroom use but can be adapted for the homeschool.

Countdown to Halloween #2

The Penny Whistle books are full of recipes, games, crafts, and decorating ideas, and the Halloween Book will inspire you to have some fun tomorrow night (we are celebrating Halloween on Saturday.)  I found my copy at a used book store, but you can usually find them at the library.

Freely Educate has a link for a free Halloween recipe ebook and a free Halloween craft ebook.

Have fun!

Countdown to Halloween #3

This is the funniest book!  If you were a child in the 1970s, you will be able to relate to Jerry's costume dilemmas.  Today we are off to buy Halloween candy (no marshmallow peanuts allowed!)  Since we don't get many trick-or-treaters where we live, I'm buying "name candy only."

You may enjoy searching for "vintage halloween costumes" on ebay to show your kids what our options were as kids.  My favorite costumes were always homemade--my top two were a gypsy with lots of scarves and necklaces and a 50s girl with a poodle skirt, crinolines and saddle-oxfords (remember those?)

Mine have all three decided to go as Star Wars characters--Jango Fett, Anakin, and Sebulba!

Today, we are going to decorate trick-or-treat bags.  This is a yearly tradition for us.  I bought canvas bags at the craft store for $1.25 (used a coupon on the 3-pack) and some fabric paint.   The kids have drawn out their designs on paper, then we will outline them on the bags with chalk before adding the paint.  These bags will be used again and again all year for outings to grandparents, waiting at the auto mechanic, carrying light sabers and other necessities to the park, etc.  The boys still have their bags from the last few years.  When they get tired of them, or move on to a new "theme," they make great reusable grocery bags, and they always bring either a smile or raised eyebrows from the checkout clerk!

What's your favorite costume and candy?

Countdown to Halloween #4

I love Denise Fleming's picture books--they are so pretty to look at, and the text is so fun and flowy.  My kids have been enjoying this book since they were little, and we look forward to pulling it out each Fall.  Denise Fleming has a fantastic website with all sorts of activities to accompany this and her other books.  She even explains her art process using paper pulp to create her pictures.  It is almost pumpkin carving day here at out house, and  our own pumpkin eyes are due to make an appearance on the front porch.

Countdown to Halloween #5

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon is the story of a non-scary fruit bat and her adventures in friendship and acceptance.  It is a beautifully illustrated story and is perfect for the season.

Here is an online storytime with  Stellaluna for you to watch, and here is a free lapbook unit study on bats.

You can make your own Stellaluna with a toilet paper roll and free printables found here.

Countdown to Halloween #6

Caldecott winner Eric Rohmann's Pumpkinhead is a slightly macabre cautionary tale of a boy with a pumpkin for a head.  It is sure to bring on some giggles.

Martha Stewart has instructions and free printable clipart for creating your own pumpkinhead boy (just be sure to attach his head securely...)

Countdown to Halloween #7

Don't miss Maurice Sendak reading Where the Wild Things Are over at Barnes and Noble's online storytime through the end of October.  You may be able to find it in their achive when next month's story is posted.   The Crafty Crow has a whole page of activities to keep your wild things busy, including an easy hat pattern that would be perfect for a Halloween costume.

We loved the movie version too, and it is out on dvd now.  Here is a Wild Things Discussion Guide that is geared towards older kids but can be used with all ages.  If you have any Lego-maniacs at your house like I do, here are some ideas for making lego wild things.

Mama Kopp makes the sweetest wooden figures, and she has Max in her shop now.  He'd make a nice stocking stuffer for a wild thing on your list!

Countdown to Halloween #8

Louie is a beloved character in our house, and in The Trip, he travels through a diorama into a magical world of wonder.  Keat's collage-style illustrations are appealing to all ages, and the vintage style artwork will take you back to your childhood, if like me, it was spent in the 60s and 70s.  You can find some cool activities and animations to watch at the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and some eductor's resources here.  You might be inspired to gather some boxes and create a diorama for Halloween after traveling through Louie's world.

Countdown to Halloween #9

Gail Gibbons' books are my favorites for supplementing our science studies.  Her website has FREE downloadable teacher's guides and teacher's resources.
We've been reading these this week:

Countdown to Halloween #10

This book is one of our Halloween favorites, but the boys like to read it all year as well.  All of the Gilbert books have been on the top of our list for storytime for several years.  Diane de Groat has a page of activities you can print out on her website including a Gilbert mask!  Both younger and older kids will enjoy Gilbert's antics and will be able to relate to his worries and dilemmas.
We love the homemade Halloween costumes the kids in the book wear.  Family Fun and Martha Stewart have some fun ideas if you are inspired to create your own costume this year.  We are heading out to the home improvement store today to gather some robot body parts for one costume.  The other two are still undecided but tossing around ideas from Star Wars and The Karate Kid, to fire-fighters.  Decisions, decisions...

Fleeting days of summer

This fat caterpillar attached itself to the siding on our house a few weeks ago.  We left it there since it had already attached, and it had formed a chryssalis by the next day.  The next day, however, it was gone, and we think a lizard got it.  We've seen some lizards around our house, though they move too fast for us to get a good enough look at them to identify them.

We found two caterpillars on the hollyhock plant a few days later, and decided to bring them in to watch them transform.  They immediately begin to form into the chrysallis stage after we brought them into the butterfly tank, and they emerged into these:

We think they are Gulf Fritillary butterflies. 

The hummers have been visiting us daily as they prepare to fly away for the winter.  They are so bold, and will swoop us if we are on the porch when they decide to visit.  

The bluebirds are checking out the bird bottle again.  We wonder if they are going to settle in for the winter.  

Target to the rescue!

Football game night means a late, late supper, and all I had time to do yesterday was to stop at Target for some cold medicine.  To avoid the grocery store, I perused the small grocery section at Target, and came up with a plan for supper after the game.  I am lucky to have a big crock pot, and I had some potoatoes in the pantry, so all I did was take a piece of tin foil, place some frozen chicken breasts on top, and cover them with bbq sauce.  Then I folded the foil around them and made a little packet which I placed in the bottom of the crock pot.  Then after scrubbing the potatoes, I put them all around the packet.  I poured a can of baked beans into a recycled aluminum pie tin and covered it with foil, then put it on top.  This can cook on low all day, or on high if you don't get it started until after lunch.  I picked up a pack of Jiffy cornbread mix, and I'll cook it in an iron skillet late this afternoon and then wrap a piece of foil over it.  

An easy and boy-friendly Target acquired lunch will be Fritos with a can of chili poured over them and cheese on top, microwaved for 30 seconds--Frito Pie!

I think if we had a SuperTarget, I'd never go to the grocery store again.  

Daily journal prompts

"Could you learn every language in the world? Could you run an all-night race? Could you recognize your family with your eyes shut? What is the best thing about you?"

A uniquely charming book of questions and possibilities to get readers laughing, thinking, talking, drawing, writing and exploring the world.

Daily writing is so important, and I am using this book as a launching point for daily journal topics with my elementary and middle schoolers.  The goal is for them to express their thoughts and write for 5 minutes, with no worries about grammar or spelling.  I found small moleskine-like notebooks at Target which are to be used only for journaling.  This is a great warm-up exercise before jumping into schoolwork for the day, and it is easily transportable for school on the go.  The first topics included:  "How would someone find you in a crowd?" "Would you recognize your family with your eyes shut?  Would you know their voices, their smell, or something else?" and "How did your mom get to school when she was a girl?"

Some other things I've used to prompt journaling are to have the boys close their eyes and smell something like cinnamon, crayons, or soap, and then write about a memory or feeling associated with it.  You can also do this with textures, like flannel, sandpaper, a cat's fur, etc.  Another great prompt is to show them a picture from an art book and have them write what it inspires them to write.

When I did daily journal writing with my remedial students in the classroom, it was very successful.  I had a topic already written on the board when they came to class, and I kept their notebooks in a file box in my classroom, so nobody "forgot" to bring one.  The kids seemed to enjoy expressing themselves without judgment or worries that they would be graded down for poor spelling, etc.  It also gave me 5 minutes to get the roll done, etc.  Several kids looked forward to this time so much, that they stopped being tardy so they wouldn't miss it.  I also learned so much about them by reading what they wrote, some wonderful, some heartbreaking.

This one makes for some interesting topics as well, but is better suited for older kids. You may want to edit some questions if you don't want to address them yet:

Synopsis



Now more than ever, parents are told how important it is to talk meaningfully to their kids. This is the book that makes it happen. A revised and expanded second edition, The Kids' Book of Questions, with 634,000 copies in print, makes it easy to ask hard questions and fun to answer them. Questions to challenge, questions to provoke. Questions to entertain and expand young minds. Questions about right or wrong, about fears and hopes, ethics, religious beliefs, about why parents act the way they do--even about ruling the world.


Updated to include questions on subjects that have arisen since the book's original publication in 1988--from the internet to issues like school violence and terrorism--the book is a sure way to prod young people into discovering who they really are and what they really believe. There are inquiries into values: "If you knew you wouldn't get caught, would you cheat on a test by copying someone else's answers?" Intriguing fantasies: "If you could email any famous person and know they'd read and answer your note, who would you write to and what would you say?" Philosophical queries: "Have you had any personal experiences that lead you to believe in God?" Provocative scenarios: "After being given a truth pill, what would you say if you were asked to describe your family?"

Great American Postcard Swap #18--Louisiana

The Louisiana Tourism site has tons of stuff--Louisiana should be called the festival state as it hosts celebrations for everything from jazz,cotton, shrimp, and gumbo to sugercane and crawfish!

Food and music go hand-in-hand in Louisiana.  You can listen to some chank-a-chank here if you aren't able to go to Mulate's in person.

Learn some Cajun history and check out this unit study.

Image via Wikipedia

And if you can find this movie, you will learn a great deal more about Cajun history:

For younger state fact learners, Thacher Hurd's Mama Don't Allow is a fun romp through the swamp with an animal band--great illustrations provide inspiration for some coloring fun.  Crank up some jazz and pull out the pastels!

Laisez les bons temps rouler!
(Let the good times roll!)