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Next Year's Curriculum Choices

2008-03-31T12:19:00.001-07:00

Wow, it has been a busy and fun month watching all the curriculum for next year (2008/2009) coming in. We've had at least one Box Day every week this month! I've waited until I had everything to make this post which highlights what we'll be using for the upcoming school year.

We are year-rounders so we don't have a specific date to start but will start using the new material when the old material is finished in each subject.

Here we go!

2008/2009 Curriculum for Grade 2

If you want a closer look at the pictures just click on them to see super-size.

The only subject not shown here is Math. I won't need to purchase that until 2009, but we will continue on with the next Math U See, Beta.

For science, Winter Promise's World Around Me

Our main program this year will be Winter Promise's American Story 1, which includes history, geography, art, crafts, bible, and read alouds. We will be studying US/North American history with an emphasis on Native Americans. All the books we will be using are shown below with the exception of one biography on George Washington which is still on backorder. Plus I added an extra book: Draw Write Now which covers Native Americans/Pilgrims/North America. Ds had so much fun with the DWN book we are using this year he asked if we could do another one. I also went with Sonlight's Book in Time for our timeline.

This next picture, sorry it's so dark, are the read-alouds scheduled with the program.

Since AS1 above is American History I will be tweaking here and there. Removing overtly patriotic American topics and substituting Canadian history topics. We will be using Donna Ward's Canada, My Country to learn Canadian geography plus the following history books. I also intend to use the library for more books as appropriate.

Ds will be using Sonlight Grade 2 readers for his personal reading.

Every school day morning just before lunch we read a short myth, legend or fairy tale. We will most likely read more than these but they are the three we will use for sure. They cover Canadian fairy tales, greek/roman myths and legendary heroes.

We also read poetry daily. Monday to Thursday we read two poems (one new and the other a favourite we've read so far from the current book), on Friday we just read favourites. Sometimes we end up reading more though so it is likely we will read more than the two shown below but these are the two I want to cover for sure.

Again, ds enjoyed the Ed Emberley book we used this year so much that he asked to do another one. I got a deal for buying two so picked up these. This will cover formal drawing instruction. There are also plenty of other arts/crafts in the above materials.

Art appreciation is covered informally with a new picture introduced and displayed each week on a little easel in our kitchen for viewing and discussion.

From Rod and Staff we will be using their English, Phonics and Health. For Handwriting we will continue with the next Handwriting Without Tears book.

All About Spelling

And finally for Music we will use God Made Music which covers both theory and appreciation.

It is going to be a fun year!

Read Aloud #1: The Bad Beginning

2008-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the First

Pages: 162
Finished: Jan. 4, 2008
Reason for Reading: I have read the first three books in this series and thought the 7yo was old enough to enjoy them now.
First Published: 1999
Genre: Gothic mystery
Rating: 4/5

First Sentence:

If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.

Comments: I read the first three Unfortunate Events books about 3 years ago and for some reason never got around to reading the rest of them. In this first volume the Baudelaire children become orphans and are sent to live with the evil Count Orloff who treats them miserably and plans to take their fortune from them. This series is mostly a parody of the Victorian penny dreadful type of books and is really a lot fun. The atmosphere is dark and gloomy and the humour dry and ironic. Literary allusions abound. The setting is an alternate one being clearly set in a Victorian age while also having such conveniences as cars and walkie-talkies. Some parts went over the 7yo's head but mostly he understood the humour and when he didn't I explained it to him. He was certainly along for the ride and experienced a roller coaster of emotions throughout the story. The children are very likable characters and the villains are evil and dastardly. We are both anxious to read the next book.

Read Aloud #2: Dad just finished reading Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore as a bedtime book. Ds7 enjoyed it so much when I read it to him that he requested Dad to read it to him next.

Read Alouds for 2007

2008-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

77. Gingerbread Baby by Ursula Moray Williams
76. The Good Little Christmas Tree by Ursula Moray Williams
75. Merry Christmas Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
74. Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present by John Burmingham
73. The Adventures of Buster Bear by Thornton W. Burgess
72. The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
71. Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
70. Swim, Little Wombat, Swim! by Charles Fuge
69. Stone Soup by Ann McGovern
68. Hunwick's Egg by Mem Fox
67. Tasting in Living Things by Karen Hartley
66. Wombat Stew by Marcia K. Vaughan
65. Do-it-yourself Magic by Ruth Chew
64. When Agnes Caws by Candace Fleming
63. Poppy and Rye by Avi
62. The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater
61. Frog Went a Courtin' by John Langstaff
60. The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
59. Animal Senses by Pamela Hickman
58. Secret Seven on the Trail by Enid Blyton
57. Poppy by Avi
56. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
55. The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle
54. Cactus Desert (One Small Square) by Donald M. Silver
53. Flossie & the Fox by Patricia C. McKissack
52. Bub, Snow, and the Burly Bear Scare by Carol and Bill Wallace
51. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
50. Viking Ships at Sunrise (MTH#15) by Mary Pope Osborne
49. Ereth's Birthday by Avi
48. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
47. The Day of the Dragon-King (MTH #14) by Mary Pope Osborne
46. Animals and Thier Young by Patricia Hickman
45. Secret Seven Mystery by Enid Blyton
44. Vacation Under the Volcano (MTH#13) by Mary Pope Osborne
43. Tropical Rain Forest (One Small Square) by Donald M. Silver
42. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
41. Polar Bears Past Bedtime (MTH#12) by Mary Pope Osborne
40. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
39. Lions at Lunchtime (MTH #11) by Mary Pope Osborne
38. Gost Town at Sundown (MTH #10) by Mary Pope Osborne
37. Secret Seven Adventure by Enid Blyton
36. The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George
35. Dolphins at Daybreak (MTH #9) by Mary Pope Osborne
34. The Complete Tales by Beatrix Potter
33. Midnight on the Moon (MTH#8) by Mary Pope Osborne
32. Animal Defenses by Etta Kaner
31. African Savanna (One Small Square) by Donald M. Silver
30. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
29. Sunset of the Sabertooth (MTH#7) by Mary Pope Osborne
28. The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
27. Afternoon on the Amazon (MTH #6) by Mary Pope Osborne
26. Andrew Lost #8: In the Deep by J.C. Greenburg
25. Night of the Ninjas (MTH #5) by Mary Pope Osborne
24. Pirates Past Noon (MTH #4) by Mary Pope Osborne
23. Socks by Beverly Cleary
22. Andrew Lost #7: On the Reef - J.C. Greenburg
21. Ant Cities - Arthur Dorros
20. Flash, Crash, Rumble, Roll - Franklyn M. Branley
19. Andrew Lost #6: In the Whale - J.C. Greenburg
18. Andrew Lost #5: Under the Water - J.C. Greenburg
17. James Herriot's Treasury for Children
16. Andrew Lost #4: In the Garden - J.C. Greenburg
15. The Adventures of Grandfather Frog - Thornton W. Burgess
14. Andrew Lost #3: In the Kitchen - J.C. Greenburg
13. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren
12. Andrew Lost #2: In the Bathroom - J.C. Greenburg
11. Andrew Lost #1: On the Dog - J.C. Greenburg
10. The Magic Carpet Slippers - Dick King-Smith
9. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
8. Barn Owl - Phyllis Flower (OOP)
7. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Ian Fleming
6. How to Eat Fried Worms - Thomas Rockwell
5. Pete's Home Run - Marion Renick (OOP)
4. Merry Adventures of Robin Hood - Howard Pyle (abridged)
3. The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill - Dorothy Wall (OOP)
2. The Marvelous Land of Oz - L. Frank Baum
1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum

Read Aloud #72: The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh

2007-12-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard

Pages: 211
Finished: Dec. 21, 2007
Reason for Reading: Every school day we read one new poem and then re-read a few of our favourites. We've been reading from this book for several months.
First Published: 1924
Genre: children, poetry
Rating: 5/5

Comments: This is a compilation of two books "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six". In this edition the original illustrations have been hand painted in gentle watercolours. These poems are a delight, a joy. They are very much written from a small child's point of view. The poems have rhythm and are very fun to read and easy for a child to remember after hearing repeatedly. Overall, the poems are happy, playful, funny and sometimes slightly cheeky. We have had a lot of fun reading these and I think it is time spent together that we will always remember. Highly recommended to read aloud.

Read Aloud #71: Little Pear

2007-12-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

Little Pear: The Story of a Little Chinese Boy by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
First of the Little Pear books

Pages: 138
Finished: Dec. 18, 2007
Reason for Reading: this is one of my favourite books
First Published: 1931
Genre: children fiction
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

There was once a Chinese boy called Little Pear.

Comments: The simple, heartwarming, funny misadventures of a five-year-old Chinese boy in his village in China. There are no words to convey just how much I love this book. I remember reading all the Little Pear books and many other books by Eleanor Frances Lattimore when I was a child. I have very fond memories of reading them and taking them out over and over again, especially Little Pear and Peachblossom.

I read this to my older son when he was little and it was a favourite with him so, of course, I knew I would read it aloud to the 7yo. I think I love this book even more now than I did before. The 7yo was simply enthralled with it. He has decided that Dad is going to read it to him next for his bedtime story.

Little Pear is a mischievous, often naughty, boy who is always behaving in ways which are quite shocking to a 7yo of today. What young child of today can imagine what it would be like to walk to the nearest city all by yourself and not get back till after dark?

The writing is very descriptive. There are many scenes, pages long, that describe the Chinese village, the market, Chinese homes, etc. and the language is utterly engaging. The reader can tell that Lattimore loves and respects both China and the Chinese people. (She was born and raised in Shanghai). Lattimore also illustrated the book herself and the simple line drawings enhance the playful mood of the book. I have nothing but praise for this book and highly recommend it.

When Agnes Caws Lapbook

2007-12-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

The next lapbook we did was When Agnes Caws by Candace Fleming using the unit at Homeschool Share. Ds is having a blast lapbooking and learning so much. This story was a lot of fun.

Cover

This shows the Decade Book. DS7 loved this so much. He thinks its so cool that for years 9 and 10 there was no him!

Opened up

Completely opened up

Frog Went a Courtin' Lapbook

2007-12-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

This is the lapbook my son made when we did the unit study for Frog Went A Courtin' at Homeschool Share.

While we were studying this we also got the CD Songs for Singing Children by John Langstaff from the library which has this song on it. It is a wonderful CD!

The Cover

Cover opened up

Completely opened up

The back

Read Aloud #64: Do-it-yourself Magic

2007-12-09T05:44:00.000-08:00

Do-it-yourself Magic by Ruth Chew

Pages: 127
Finished: Dec. 8, 2007
Reason for Reading: just picked it up on a whim for something fast and fun
First Published: 1987
Rating: 3/5

First Sentence:

"Wow! Rachel, look at that!" Scott Walker grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her over to the shop window of the big discount store on Church Avenue.

Comments: Rachel and Scott buy a "Build-Anything Kit" and soon discover it has magical properties. Adventure soon follows as they shrink themselves, drive a car they've made and then find themselves inside the castle they built and it's even populated with medieval people. Rachel and Scott learn about a minstrel's life and Rachel soon finds out life wasn't very fair for a girl in the middle ages. This is a cute story, a quick read and would be perfect for a child ready to read chapter books.

Read Aloud #63. Poppy and Rye

2007-12-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

Poppy and Rye by Avi
Illustrated by Brian Floca
Second in the Tales of Dimwood Forest

Pages: 182
Finished: Dec. 5, 2007
Reason for Reading: next in the series.
First Published: 1998
Genre: children, animal fantasy
Rating: 3/5

First Sentence:

"Clover! Clover, love. You need to wake up! Something awful is happening."

Comments: Poppy decides to try and find Ragweed's parents to tell them the news and Ereth accompanies her. Once they arrive they find that beavers have built a dam and flooded Ragweed's family out of their home. More than anything this is a love story. Poppy meets her husband-to-be, Ereth also feels love for the first time and we see the love of parents for children. I'm not too surprised that my 7yo did not enjoy this book very much. He enjoyed the occasional chapters focused on Poppy and Ereth but the rest of the book did not hold his interest and he requested I stop reading it three-quarters of the way through. I did finish reading the book myself and feel this is the weakest book we've read in the series so far. The beaver characters as the new enemy were more annoying than anything, certainly nothing like the evil Mr. Ocax of the first book. There were some good parts and I moderately enjoyed this volume.

Read Aloud #61. Frog Went a Courtin'

2007-11-27T06:01:00.000-08:00

Frog Went a Courtin' by John Langstaff
Illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky

Finished: Nov. 24, 2007
Reason for Reading: we "rowed" this using the homeschool share unit.
First Published: 1955
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Genre: picture book, folk song
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

Frog went a courtin' he did ride.

Comments: Simply wonderful, timeless classic picture book. The text is from the traditional folk song and if you know the tune you will find yourself singing instead of reading this book. In fact, we borrowed a CD from the library with the song and have been singing ever since. Lots of fun! Rojankovsky's illustrations are amazing. I've always been fond of his work. He uses a colour palette consisting of the primary colours (red, yellow, blue) with some green and black. These bright bold pages are alternated with a more subdued green and black palette and the effect is marvelous. A wonderful book to experience!

In other reading news, Dad has been reading The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater which they both enjoyed.

Read Aloud #60 - The Story of Doctor Dolittle

2007-11-16T16:43:00.001-08:00

The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Illustrated by Michael Hague
First of the Doctor Dolittle books

Pages: 159
Finished: Nov. 16, 2007
Reason for Reading: a favourite of my childhood, I hoped ds would enjoy it.
First Published: 1920
Genre: children animal fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

Once upon a time, many years ago -- when our grandfathers were little children -- there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle -- John Dolittle, M.D.

Comments: Doctor Dolittle is an impoverished doctor who is very friendly with animals. After he gives up his human practice and becomes an animal doctor, he receives a cry for help from the monkeys of Africa who are experiencing an epidemic sickness. I have fond memories of reading all the Doctor Dolittle books as a child. This is my first time to re-read one and I was not disappointed. Lofting was a master storyteller and this book enchants from start to finish. Each chapter is packed with action, adventure and humour. There are many endearing animal characters, each with their own distinct personality. I loved Gub-Gub the pig who was frequently reduced to tears, while my 7yo loved Polynesia the wise and rather bossy parrot. This was a fun and quick book to read aloud and the 7yo enjoyed it immensely. The second book in the series has already been placed on our up-and-coming read-alouds pile.

We also finished another book in the Animal Behaviour series for our non-fiction reading. Animal Senses by Patricia Hickman. Here's my review I wrote for LibraryThing.

This is our favourite entry in the Animal Behaviour Series. There are many hands-on demonstrations (ie experiments) using simple items found around the house. (The only thing we had to buy was a party blower from the $ store.) Interesting text, colourful pictures and hands-on fun make for a enjoyable book that 7yo really enjoyed.

Read Aloud #58. Secret Seven on the Trail

2007-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

Secret Seven on the Trail by Enid Blyton
Fourth in the Secret Seven mysteries

Pages: 88
Finished: Nov. 14, 2007
Reason for Reading: reading this series,in no particular order.
First Published: 1952
Genre: children mystery
Rating: 3/5

First Sentence:

"Mummy, have you got anything we could have to drink?" asked Janet.

Comments: The Secret Seven are on the trail of robbers. Goods are being stolen from trains and the Seven accidentally overhear as the gang of robbers plot their next heist. These books are very formulaic and now that we've read a few of them I've lost the nostalgic feeling and my interest in waning. However, the 7yo is still enjoying them very much. He gets very excited following the daring exploits of this group of children and I expect we'll be reading more in the series.

Read-Aloud #57: Poppy

2007-11-02T12:44:00.001-07:00

Poppy by Avi
Illustrated by Brian Floca
First* in the Tales of Dimwood Forest

Pages: 147
Finished: Nov. 2, 2007
Reason for Reading: we enjoyed Ereth's Birthday so much we decided to start the series from the beginning.
First Published: 1995
Genre: children, animal fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

A thin crescent moon, high in the sky, shed faint white light over Dimwood Forest.

Comments: The mice who live in Old Gray House are ruled over by the evil great horned owl, Mr. Ocax. When Ocax denies permission for the mice to move to a new area with more food Poppy, whom Ocax has blamed for his refusal, decides to take the long voyage to the new area by herself. Thus begins a peril filled journey that will forever change Poppy's life. This book is top-notch animal fantasy. Compelling characters face danger, death and the unknown in doses that bring one to the edge-of-your-seat excitement. The tension is very intense but is offset by frequent doses of laugh-out-loud humour. I love this book. My 7yo was beside himself at various points in the plot, cheering and yelling words of caution to Poppy. This book is most certainly a big hit for both old and young.

*A note about the reading order. Poppy is the first book written in this series but not the first book that is promoted by the publishers. Ragweed is labeled the first in the series but is actually a prequel and the third book published. Since I first read this series as it was being written I am now re-reading the remaining books in as published order, which I think gives a better flow to the character development. Ereth's Birthday is fourth in the series but also a stand-alone. I recommend the books be read in published order.

Read Aloud #56: Fantastic Mr. Fox

2007-11-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

Pages: 81
Finished: Nov. 1, 2007
Reason for Reading: we've been learning about foxes and read this for fun.
First Published: 1970
Genre: children, humour, animal fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First Sentence:

Down in the valley there were three farms.

Comments: Three nasty farmers decide to get rid of the fox and his family once and for all. The fox finds himself in a predicament but after some thinking he comes up with a plan that outsmarts the farmers. This is a hilariously funny book. I've read it several times now and it still makes me chuckle. In the 7yo's own words, he "loved it!" This is an especially fun book to read aloud and Quentin Blake's delicious illustrations on every page are just as much fun as the story itself. Recommended for all ages.

Dad's bedtime reading has seen the end of the Magic Tree House books. Ds said he was tired of them. So they've just finished reading The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle which was a big hit.

Non-fiction reading has seen us finish another One Small Square book, Cactus Desert. This has been our least favourite of the One Small Square books to date. Here is my review I wrote for LibraryThing:

Not as visually appealing as the others we've read in this series so far. Perhaps my son is just not as interested in the desert as the other habitats but he was rather bored with the text. He did enjoy looking at the pictures though, especially the page with animals shadows that were to be matched to the outlines. Recommended for any age from 7 and up.

I Just Ordered Math-U-See!

2007-10-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Mid-year switcheroo! I just placed an order for Math-U-See!

We are currently using RightStart (Lesson 60-something) and I love it to pieces. I think it is a fabulous curriculum, it's just not working that well for my son. He just doesn't like the abacus, he's having a really hard time learning to add and can not visualize the abacus and he actually hates using it. And he doesn't like the card games either! So, he's not having any fun and we are not getting anywhere.

Anyway, I ordered the sample dvd from Math-U-See and it arrived the other day. As I was watching it ds (7yo) came in and started watching it with me and wanted to know what it was. Why was that guy using big Legos for math? Is this going to be his new math? Can we get it? He got pretty hyped watching the dvd! So after viewing the dvd, the catalogue, the website, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between Math-U-See and RightStart. They both seem to have the same philosophy and teach things the same way, just using different manipulatives. I'm thinking the blocks are going to be a better fit with ds than the abacus and I really like all the practice that comes with MUS. RS just doesn't have much in the way of practice except through the games and when your ds hates the games there's not much left. His favourite part of RS is doing the worksheets and they are few and far between.

Wish us luck!

Read Aloud #53 - Flossie & The Fox

2007-10-23T10:11:00.002-07:00

Flossie & the Fox by Patricia C. McKissack
illustrated by Rachel Isadora

Pages: 32
Finished: Oct. 23, 2007
Reason for Reading: we are learning about foxes in our curriculum, WP AW, and added this book.
First Published: 1986
Genre: children's picture book, folk tale
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

"Flo-o-o-ossie!" The sound of Big Mama's voice floated past the cabins in Sophie's Quarters, round the smokehouse, beyond the chicken coop, all the way down to Flossie Finley."

Comments: An African-American deep South version of the traditional Red Riding Hood fairy tale. In this rendition Flossie is taking a basket of eggs to a neighbours house and is met by a Fox in the woods. Flossie refuses to believe he is a fox, since she's never seen one before, and the fox tries to prove himself to her. This is a picture book with a lot of text and what beautiful language in this wonderful tale. Told in a rural Black dialect the words are vivid. Both the text and the illustrations convey a sense of mischief that builds until the last hilarious page. The 7yo was laughing out loud and so proud of Flossie at the end of the tale. Highly Recommended.

Read Aloud #52: Bub, Snow, and the Burly Bear Scare

2007-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Bub, Snow, and the Burly Bear Scare by Carol and Bill Wallace
illustrated by John Steven Gurney

Pages: 118
Finished: Oct. 19, 2007
Reason for Reading: Picked this up at the library simply because it looked good
First Published: 2002
Genre: animal fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First Sentence:

Tiny specks of ice filled the air and bit into my hide.

Comments: I hadn't heard of this book nor had I ever read a book by the Wallaces before but the cover was cute and the Wallaces have written a lot of books so I thought it was worth trying. Bub and his mother travel to the valley for the winter and meet up with other creatures of the forest including a nearby people family and a grouchy bear. We really enjoyed this book and it won't be the last we read by the authors. This is actually a sequel to another book but read as a stand-alone nicely. This is a talking animal story but is not fantastical at all, the animals are very much regular animals and we learn a lot about the forest wildlife as the mother teaches young Bub. Many funny scenes and the characters were adorable. My favourite was a horse on the farm who wasn't originally from the valley but came from "The Valley", and talked like a Valley Girl. My son's favourite was the grumbling beaver who was still working on his lodge even though winter had already come. Recommended for 7-9 year olds.

Read Aloud #51: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

2007-10-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
illustrated by Hilary Knight

Pages: 119
Finished: Oct. 17, 2007
Reason for Reading: I read this to my older son when he was about the same age, and I was pretty sure ds7 would enjoy it too.
First Published: 1947
Genre: children, fantasy, humour
Rating: 4/5

First Sentence:

I expect I might as well begin by telling you all about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle so that whenever I mention her name, which I do very often in this book you will not interrupt and ask, "Who is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle? What does she look like? How big is she? How old is she? What color is her hair? Is her hair long? Does she wear high heels? Does she have any children? Is there a Mr. Piggle-Wiggle?"

Comments: This is a hilarious, rollicking-good-fun read aloud. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house and knows everything there is to know about children. She also has the most wonderful cures for common childhood ailments such as won't-pick-up-toy-itis and won't-take-a-bath-itis. Told in an episodic format, each chapter is it's own little story. I believe some of the chapters have been published as picture books also. My 7yo enjoyed this very much. We both laughed out loud and both have the same favourite chapter which is the story of the little girl who wouldn't wash and ended up having radishes growing out of her forehead. I've read this book several times now but haven't read any of the sequels but I think I may have to change that. I also must mention that the Hilary Knight (best known for the Eloise books) illustrations are adorable.

Dad has just finished reading the 15th Magic Tree House book, Viking Ships at Sunrise, and they have decided that it's time to move on from this series.

We haven't finished any non-fiction since the last update.

War of 1812 Re-enactment

2007-10-13T14:21:00.001-07:00

We had a fabulous day today!

195 years ago on this very date, Oct. 13 1812, the Battle of Queenston Heights was fought. Today we went to the re-enactment. People from all over Canada and the US came today to re-enact the battle on the very same day on the very same soil. Here are a few pictures I took.

Read Aloud #49 - Ereth's Birthday

2007-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ereth's Birthday by Avi
Fourth in the Tales from Dimwood Forest

Pages: 196
Finished: Oct. 5, 2007
Reason for Reading: scheduled reader for WP AW
First Published: 2000
Genre: children's animal fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

In Dimwood Forest, in the dark, smelly log where the old porcupine Erethizon Dorsatum lived, Ereth--as he preferred to call himself--woke slowly.

Comments: Ereth happens upon a mother fox caught in a trap who pleads with him to look after her kits. After she dies Ereth, much to his chagrin, accepts the task but unbeknownst to him he is being stalked by Marty the Fisher. This is top-notch animal fantasy, it doesn't get much better than this! The fourth in a series is just as incredible as the previous entries. This book can also be read independently from the series (or out of order) as it revolves around a different character than the others. The 7yo was captivated with this book, he couldn't wait each day for our reading and I was cajoled into reading 3 chapters a day instead of our usual two. We laughed, we cried, we highly recommend this book!

No other books have been finished since my last post. We did start The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman but after 7 (very short) chapters ds said he was NOT enjoying it so we decided to put it aside.

Check out the side bar to see what we are currently reading

Read Aloud #48 - The House at Pooh Corner

2007-10-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
illustrated by Ernest Shepard
Sequel to Winnie-the-Pooh

Pages: 181
Finished: Oct. 2, 2007
Reason for Reading: We enjoyed Winnie-the-Pooh so much we had to read this sequel
First Published: 1928
Genre: children's classic, fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First Sentence:

One day when Pooh Bear had nothing else to do, he thought he would do something, so he went round to Piglet's house to see what Piglet was doing.

Comments: This sequel is just as endearing and beautiful as the first story of Winnie-the-Pooh. This is the book in which we meet Tigger and all the friends we are familiar with are now together. The 7yo enjoyed this tremendously and we experienced many laugh-out-loud moments. The language in the book is simply beautiful. This is a book which demands to be read aloud. Ever since we started reading the Pooh books we've found him becoming a part of our lives. My son likes to make up little songs and now he says he just feels a little 'hummy' like Pooh. The ending is so sweet and I found myself all teary-eyed as I read it. This is a book that will stay with us forever. A must read!

Dad has finished reading the 14th Magic Tree House book The Day of the Dragon King and they are both still going strong with this series.

In non-fiction we finished Animals and Their Young (one of our WP AW books). This is the reveiw I wrote for LibraryThing

A solid entry in the Animal Behaviour series. This one is not as visually appealing as the previous book in the series we read. The colours are very subdued, browns, tans, greys. Much more text per page than is necessary causing the 7yo to zone out occassionally. But otherwise a decent enough book to cover the topic. The 7yo particularly enjoyed the pages which described what his life would be like if he were certain baby animals.

Read Aloud #46 - Secret Seven Mystery

2007-09-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've decided to keep track of our read-alouds on this blog. I'll be writing brief reviews of the books I read aloud to our 7yo and keeping tally of the books dad is reading to him.

Secret Seven Mystery by Enid Blyton
Ninth of the Secret Seven series

Pages: 87
Finished: Sept. 24, 2007
Reason for Reading: we are working our way through the series, though not in any particular order
First Published: 1957
Genre: children's mystery
Rating: 3/5

First Sentence:

Peter and Janet were having breakfast with their father and mother one lovely spring morning.

Comments: I don't really have a lot to say about this one. They are pretty much formulaic with one being pretty much like another. But the seven year old is enjoying them and cannot figure the mysteries out yet. I am asking him every now and then as we read the mysteries for his opinions and he is pretty ingenious with some of the things he comes up with. This story revolves around a girl (around the age of the secret seven) who has been accused of stealing some money from her teacher and then runs away. The secret seven, upon their father's suggestion, decide to try and find the girl. The 7yo found this more tame than the others we've read, which involved kidnappings and circuses, and didn't enjoy it as much but still wants to continue reading more. This is a good little series of books (there are 15) and I think he's spot on at the targeted age for them.

Dad has just finished reading the 13th Magic Tree House book, Vacation Under the Volcano which ds enjoyed very much. The theme was Pompeii and Ancient Rome and he found it very exciting.

In non-fiction, we've just finished up the Tropical Rain Forest book, part of the One Small Square series. We really love this set of books! Here is the review I wrote for this book on Library Thing:

Beautiful illustrations are the main focus on each page drawing the child into the book. An engaging text, combined with the illustrations, encourages one to linger over the pages. My 7yo enjoyed the book, especially the last few pages which has a guide to all the animals found throughout the book. Recommended for any age from 7 and up.

Books Available on BookMooch

2007-08-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've got some great books to give away on BookMooch. You can find my inventory here

Bernard Palmer Trena's Rodeo Rival (The Bradley Series)
Lloyd Alexander Taran Wanderer
Bruce Brooks The Moves Make the Man (Newbery Honor Book)
Betsy Byars THE SEVEN TREASURE HUNTS
Esther Chum Essential Skills Maths Nursery Book B: Revised (Singapore Math)
Beverly Cleary Socks
Roald Dahl The Twits
Alice Dalgliesh The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
John R. Erickson The Case of the Raging Rottweiler {Hank the Cowdog, No 36
John R. Erickson The Case of the Vampire Cat (Hank the Cowdog, 21)
Atwater, Richard and Florence Mr. Popper's Penguins
jean craighead george The Tarantula in My Purse And 172 Other Wild Pets
Yeap Ban Har Maths with ... Baa Baa Black Sheep Singapore Math
Yeap Ban Har Maths with ... Hickory Dickory Dock Singapore Math
Yeap Ban Har Maths with ... One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Singapore Math
Yeap Ban Har Maths with ... Two Little Dicky Birds Singapore Math
Paul Hutchins The Timber Wolf (Sugar Creek Gang)
Ladybird Puss in Boots (Favourite Tales)
Lois Lenski Strawberry Girl
Edith Nesbit Five Children and It (Puffin Classics)
Bernard Palmer Danny Orlis and the Ice Fishing Escapade
Bernard Palmer Danny Orlis and the Live-in Tragedy
Christine Pullein-Thompson Phantom Horse Goes to Ireland
Christine Pullein-Thompson Three to ride
Emily Rodda The Isle Of Illusion
Jon Scieszka The Knights of the Kitchen Table (Time Warp Trio)
Jon Scieszka The Time Warp Trio See You Later, Gladiator
George Selden The cricket in Times Square
Ladybird Series Sorcerer's Apprentice (Well Loved Tales)
Edith Lambert Sharp Nkwala
Christine Pullein- Thompson Second Mount
Gertrude Chandler Warner Surprise Island (Boxcar Children Series, No 2)

The End of a Unit

2007-08-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics of ds7's projects from the last couple of weeks. We take photos of 3 dimensional projects, then print them out and put in his notebook.

Bison Face

Monarch caterpillar

We've now finished the first 6 weeks and the first unit on the grasslands. Ds is very excited to start the next unit, the rainforest.

July Recap

2007-07-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, July seems to have just flown by. I can't believe it's just about August and that I haven't posted once this month. I must try to post more often!

Anyway, here I am with our monthly recap of schooling. July has gone wonderfully, we started Animals and Their Worlds and are loving it. We've hit a few learning road blocks but nothing overwhelming and I definitely feel that July was a productive month of learning. If you wish to read further, may I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and settle down as I have a feeling this will be long.

Language Arts - We finished Lesson 48 of First Language Lessons. We've covered all types of nouns and have now moved onto pronouns. Ds has no problem with any of the grammar lessons and memorizes the rules very quickly. He has memorized the poem "Hearts Are Like Doors" by Anonymous and is working on learning the "Monday's Child" poem and the "30 Days Hath September" poem. Math and FLL have overlapped and between the both of them he has learnt the days of the week and the months of the year and has them down with no problems. We started copywork this month and at first this was a huge problem. His first assignment was to copy "My name is ____". This looked humongously long to him and he caused quite a fuss. It took him all day, one word at a time, but he got it done and is now still causing a bit of a fuss but is getting it done in one sitting.

Ds's latest narration:

The Hen and the Golden Eggs

A man and a wife had a chicken who laid golden eggs. They cut it open because they wanted all the golden eggs at once. But they saw nothing inside the hen. They were greedy and sad. (ds, 7yo)

We continue working a page a day in Spectrum Phonics, now finished page 38. His earlier problem of actually hearing the sounds has been resolved and he is no longer having any difficulties and really enjoys working in this workbook.

Word Families are progressing nicely. He also enjoys these worksheets and is reading the words very well.

Reading - We've just finished Lesson 16 of our reading curriculum. This curriculum starts off horizontally and then switches to vertical. We've now moved into the vertical phonics and ds is doing tremendously well. He picks up the new sounds very well and is really improving his reading. He has now learnt all the sounds for long /o/, all the sounds for /ow/ as in cow and all the sounds for /er/. Plus he's added a handful of new sight words. He still sounds out each individual sound when reading but he is starting to read whole words at once without sounding out loud. His main problem is he feels unsure of himself. He will look at me for every word he reads, waiting to hear if he got it right before reading the next one and I am trying to break him of that habit. He has finished the second level box of Bob books and wasn't ready for the second level of Now I'm Reading so he is now working on the second box of level one Now I'm Reading readers.

Handwriting - We continue working in HWT and his printing is coming along nicely. And while he complains at having to print anything else in his schoolwork he never complains about having to work in this book.

Math - We have just finished Lesson 43 in RightStart Level B. Progress has slowed down. We are now doing half a lesson a day and then playing an addition card game for the remainder of the lesson. He understands concepts very well but he just can't seem to remember adding. He gets it, he can do it on the abacus but he just couldn't add anything. 4+1 and he had no clue, ask him what comes after 4 and again he has no clue. So we've been playing this addition card game that was introduced this month and slowing down the lessons while he gets the hang of adding. I'm happy to say that the month has brought some improvement. He can answer many +1's now plus he has 5+3 and 5+5 down. We are working on all the addition facts up to 5+5. We will probably continue with the half-lessons through August.

Read-Alouds - This month we have read aloud: Socks by Beverly Cleary, and the Magic Tree House books Pirates Past Noon and Night of the Ninjas. I continue to read the Beatrix Potter book at bedtime when dad is not home. We have also started reading Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling each day just before lunch and our newest read-aloud which we are 3 chapters into is The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. Dad has continued to read the Andrew Lost books and has finished up to #8. We will not be continuing with the series due to evolutionary content in the rest of the books but dad is now going to continue on with the reading of the Magic Tree House books at bedtime.

Animals and Their Worlds - We have finished Week 4. Ds has had a lot of fun with the reading, websites, crafts, activities, art and notebooking. I am very happy with it and hope to continue with WP for many years. One thing I really like is that we are always doing something different: reading, puzzles, colouring, craft, drawing, looking at websites, notebooking. It's a different combination every day.

Here he is with two of the crafts he's made recently. A bat magnet and a prairie dog pop-up. We've printed out this photo and put it in his animal notebook.

Every week he works on an animal drawing from a Draw, Write, Now book and here is one of his most recent. Ds loves to draw monsters, aliens and robots so all his animals reflect his style. Here we have one dangerous butterfly!

Also, every week ds fills out an animal sheet for his notebook. We are working on a combination of him drawing the answers and telling me the answer to write down.

Click to enlarge and you can see his answers better. I love his answer to the sentence at the bottom "Cheetahs are so fast they look like rockets or super sonic cars."

Giveaway!!

2007-06-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Life in a Shoe is hosting a giveaway of Vision Forum's exciting new adventure series, Ballantyne books!

June Recap

2007-06-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

We had a short month of school for June. We've been on holiday since the 22nd and we go back on July 3 after the Canada Day Holiday. Ds also celebrated his birthday this month and turned 7!

Language Arts - We finished Lesson 30 of First Language Lessons. We've covered all the variations of nouns that are persons, places and things. Another poem has been memorized "Work" by Anonymous and a new one "Hearts are Like Doors" has almost been memorized. Ds has learnt to write his whole name (first, middle, and last) though he hates writing anything other than just his first. Since we talked about addresses I also added daily memorizing of our complete address and he has it down pat. We moved not too long ago, so he didn't know it very well.

We stared using Spectrum Phonics Gr. 1 and have made it pg 20 and the short a sound. I'm glad we added this in as he has been having a bit of problem with the work of actually hearing the sounds in the words. He really enjoys the workbook though!

We also started doing Word Families this month. These are actually really improving his reading skills. I am picking one that compliments our Phonics program each week. The last family we did was 'The _ash Family'. Ds's latest narration:

The Little Girl Who Wanted To Be Dirty

The little girl wanted to be as dirty as a pig. Then her looked around and she wasn't in bed she was in a pig pen with two cute little pigs. She had fun at first then she went to supper and it was yucky and gooey. She got out of the pen and sneaked around to the back door and went upstairs to her bathroom and cleaned herself. She put on her jammies. The End (ds, 7yo)

Reading - We finished Lesson 12 of our reading curriculum. He has now gone through all the magic 'e' long vowel sounds, which he already knew but he has them down pat now. We've also covered the sounds 'th, ch, sh, ck' and he picked those up very quickly as well. He is starting to become more confident and fluent with reading. He isn't guessing what the words should be as much now. He has finished the first box of first level of Now I'm Reading readers and was very proud to accomplish that. We've started the second level box of Bob book readers now.

Handwriting - continuing with HWT the last letter he did was 'g'. His handwriting is coming along nicely and he actually enjoys doing his work with this program. He hated Abeka handwriting last year.

Math - We finished Lesson 33 of Right Start Level B. His level of understanding has greatly improved with this curriculum and I am so pleased with it. He is working on all the addition facts up to 10. Geometry was introduced and he loooves it so much. We've covered parallel lines, perpendicular lines, right angles, right triangles, triangles, squares, rectangles, and quadrilaterals. He is learning the months of the year and almost has them down. Reading large numbers up through the 1000's has been introduced and he understands but doesn't quite have it down yet. He also learnt to add 10s and understands well (ie. 50 + 20 = 70 ) as well as 10s and 1s (ie. 60 + 3 = 63). Commutative law was introduced but he already knew this from Abeka's 'twins'.

Read Alouds this month were: Pippi Longstocking, The Adventures of Grandfather Frog and James Herriot's Treasury for Children. We are currently reading the Complete Beatrix Potter Tales. Dad continues to read the Andrew Lost books at bedtimes when he is home. They have just finished #6 In the Whale.

And that is all the official curriculum we are currently using. When we get back to school we will be starting Animals and Their Worlds.

Box Day!!!!

2007-06-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, we are so excited today! Our WP box came at 6:50 am this morning. We had no restraint and dove into it right away. We got the complete Animals and Their Worlds program and received everything except 4 books which were on back order and should be coming shortly. Everything looks wonderful, ds was very excited. We love box days! Here are the pics, though I'm afraid they are rather dark:

Monthly Recap

2007-05-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a new series of posts I'll be making. On the last Friday of every month I will be posting a recap of where we are with our curriculum.

Language Arts - We just finished Lesson 12 of First Language Lessons. We are both enjoying this book very much and the lessons are going very well. Ds has memorized the poem "The Caterpillar" by Christina Rossetti and the definition of a noun. Here is his last narration we did yesterday.

The Lion and the Mouse

The mouse stepped on the lion's tail and the lion almost ate him. The mouse said, "I will help you when you are in trouble, lion." So the lion let him go. The hunters caught him in a net and the mouse heard him and bit the rope. The lion was free! - The End (ds, 6yo)

Reading - We just finished Lesson 9 of our phonics program which focused on cvcc words. Reading is progressing nicely but he really had to slow down with these words and make sure he got the last consonant on the end of each word. He finished the first set of Bob Books this week also. These focus on cvc words and he is reading them nicely now. He has about 12 sight words under his belt now and we've been struggling with "of" for quite some time but it appears he has finally succeeded in remembering it.

Handwriting - Progress with Handwriting Without Tears is going well. His handwriting has really improved with the move to this curriculum. He's gone through the capital letters and now working on the small letters. The last letter done was "w".

Math - We have finished Lesson 18 of Right Start Math B. We are having a blast with this curriculum! Ds is really picking up all the concepts very well. We "camp out" on a few lessons here and there when he struggles before moving on. The last concept we've just started working on is even and odd and he really enjoyed the lessons and games for this.

That is all the official curriculum we are using at the moment. I'll leave you with a painting ds worked on this week.

Mini Box Day

2007-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

First, the results of the book battle: Pippi has won! We are now on Chapter Three and will continue with it. Dad has been doing most of the reading aloud this week and I've had some health issues so we haven't got very far but are back to it today.

Today was a mini box day for us. I decided to order some books from WP Adv. K LA program to supplement what we are doing now so hopefully ds will be ready for LA1 next year (Gr. 2 for him). We are already using the Nora Gaydos readers so I added the last two boxed sets to my order which included the following:

On the Go: Level 3
Let's Play: Level 4
25 Read & Write Mini Books That Teach Word Families
The Word Family Actitivy Book - this is actually on back order so I didn't get it yet.
Spectrum Phonics Gr. 1 - and I just added this one in as I feel we need to be doing some type of phonics workbook to go along with our phonics program.

So now I am 100% all set and do not need to buy anything else until we are ready for Gr. 2!

Mole & Toad or Pippi?

2007-05-19T13:13:00.001-07:00

So as you can see from the sidebar our new read-aloud is The Wind in the Willows. Well, right from the beginning I knew this was going to be a hard one for ds. It went right over his head most of the time, there are very long descriptive paragraphs and he would get antsy. We've read quite a few classics and he is a good listener with material a little above him but I think this one is over the limit for him. Besides, while this book is certainly good I don't have it up there as one of the absolutely.must.read. books. So 3/4 of the way through the third chapter I asked him if he liked the book and he said "Welllllllll". We discussed it and decided to put it aside and start a different one. I told him it was ok, sometimes when a person starts a book they find out it is not the right book for them.

So we started Pippi Longstocking instead and have read the first chapter so far. He loved it, laughed, and was fully engrossed in it.

So, today he comes to me and says in a very serious voice, "Where is Mole and Toad? Where did you put it?" Oh, no! Now he's upset that we stopped reading it. This is the first time we've ever started a book and then decided not to continue with it and he feels strange about it. So I told him I would read whichever of the two books he wanted me to read. I've got them both up there in the sidebar for the time being and we'll see which one comes out the winner in this battle of the books (LOL)

P.S. The third book over there is the one dad is reading aloud on the nights he doesn't work late.

Ordered!

2007-05-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

Went to the local huge book sale this weekend. First we went on Thursday and I bought 2 big boxes full of books for our home library. I'm so thrilled that I found a lot of Canadian History realted books and some great books for read-alouds. Then on Sunday they had a $2 a bag sale so I came home with another 2 bags full of books (and they were big bags too!), this time I splurged and picked up some for me too.

And, big excitement today. I ordered Animals and Their Worlds today! I can't wait. It's been a looong time since I've been this excited about curriculum. I really think ds is going to like it. Right now we are just doing the basics: Math, Reading and all the other Language Arts. Reading is coming along, slowly but surely. Oldest ds was an early reader and I didn't have any problems with him, so this is something new for me to work with a struggling reader, but he's only six and I know it will come eventually. We just keep plugging along.

Alice and Animals

2007-05-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

We finished Alice in Wonderland tonight! It was such a quick read. This is my third time with the book. I read it as a child and then read the sequel. I can't remember how old my now 18yob was when I read it to him but probably around 3rd grade. He did enjoy it but I only remember him yelling "stop crying" at Alice, as she does tend to cry quite a bit in the beginning. Ds6 really enjoyed the book, though I must say the first half is much better than the second. This is one of those books that mums may think is too "girly" to read to their sons but I encourage you to give it a try. Other than the main character being a girl it has a lot of appeal to boys.

Some days ago I read Barn Owl to ds6. It is a quick read being an old oop science I-Can-Read book and such a wonderful, sweet, touching story. He just loved the story so much, it was delightful to watch the light his eyes as he listened. He truly has a heart for animals and nature.

And this brings me to another decision. One would think that with 15 years (one way or another) of homeschooling experience I would have got over the curriculum anxiety I am experiencing this year. I have made major changes to the curriculum plan for next year! Again! This time though I am 100% sure of my decision. I will not be using History Odyssey or Apologia Science, instead I am going to use Winter Promise Animals and Their Worlds. This is a science-based program, so for history I will read CHOW. Even though I would have liked to start a 4-year history rotation with him this year, I know that he will enjoy WP-AW much more than anything else and I finally feel at peace with this curriculum decision.

So, to recap, here is the curriculum I will be using for my 7yob:

**Reading/Phonics - Stairway to Reading and easy readers ( Bob books, Dr. Maggie's, Now I'm Reading books)

**Read-Alouds - Living Books from our home library plus the RA's from AW

**Language Arts - First Language Lessons 1

**Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears and copywork

Spelling - Spelling Workout A, possibly move onto B

History - Child's History of the World

Science/Geography - Winter Promise Animals and Their World

**Math - Right Start Level B

**Thinking Skills - Easy Sudoku Puzzles

**Art & Music - no curriculum, implement into real life fostering appreciation and enjoyment

Those marked ** we have already started and we'll start the rest sometime in Aug or Sept. We school year-round. The only time we didn't school year-round was the year my ds18 was in 7th grade. He asked, that year, if he could have the summer off like his friends, so we did. That September when we started back to school he said to me "Let's not ever do that again!" Needless to say, he didn't enjoy it and we went straight back to year round. It's so much nicer to have the freedom to take a day (or week) off whenever we want.

Revised Curriculum For Grade 1

2007-04-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

I posted my list of curriculum choices a couple of weeks ago in the hopes it wouldn't change but, alas, I've changed my mind again! Here are my new choices and this time I'm hoping "that is that!"

The first major change is that I've stopped using Alpha-Phonics. I wasn't too crazy with the way they don't actually teach the rules of phonics. Guess I've been spoilt with the way Abeka teaches rules. But that was easy enough to supplement by adding in Abeka's rules as the phonetic sounds came along. It is the sight words that drove me crazy in the end. Nothing against sight words, there are words that just have to be learned by sight. But Alpha-Phonics' sight words are weird!

First problem I always run into is the word "a", every curriculum I've seen teaches that this is pronounced "uh". Uh, not here! We pronounce it /a/, like short "a". I can live with this. Next thing is AP introduces sight words by boxing them when they are first encountered. We reached a lesson on the short /o/ sound and the words "dog" and "off" were boxed as irregular words. Excuse me? I can't for the life of me pronounce those words without a short /o/ sound! How on earth is the author pronouncing them? So I skip ahead in the teacher manual reading the lessons and come across this sentence, to paraphrase: "Inform the student that "been" rhymes with "sin". Huh? Reading that, it might as well have said "apples rhymes with oranges"! Both are phonetic and follow normal 2 vowel and 1 vowel rules. I realize that some, maybe all?, Americans say "bin" for "been" but again, we certainly do not. It's pretty hard to tell my son that when he sees a boxed word in AP it is a sight word and then keep telling him that this boxed word is not a sight word just sound it out. Ugggh!

So to make a long story even longer, one day I followed a link to a website and from there followed another link to another website and discovered an awesome phonics program. It is very complete, Free!, and Canadian! Hallelujah!!! It is called Stairway to Reading and we've been using it for a week now and I am thrilled to bits with it. I'm skipping the writing portions (copywork and dictation) as my son isn't ready for all that writing yet.

Next change is that I've added in the Now I'm Reading readers. I also decided not to add Considering God's Creation to our Astronomy study. I was looking through my older son's Grade 5 notebook and looking over his work and decided it would be too advanced for ds#2 just yet. I'd have to do most of the fiddly notebook work for him and that would be missing the point.

Then the last change I've made is to add Spelling Workout A. I wasn't going to do spelling this early but after reading through WTM for the umpteenth time and noting that SWB recommends not skipping this book and then looking at sample pages online and seeing that it is very simple, I've decided to go ahead with it. If it ends up being too much, we'll just put it aside for later.

Now for the revised, list of curriculum:

Reading/Phonics - Stairway to Reading and easy readers ( Bob books, Dr. Maggie's, Now I'm Reading books)
Read-Alouds - Living Books from our home library, a few to tie in with history, but mostly others that do not
Language Arts - First Language Lessons 1
Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears and copywork
Spelling - Spelling Workout A, possibly move onto B
History/Geography - History Odyssey Ancients Level 1
Science - Apologia Elementary Science Astronomy
Math - Right Start Level B
Thinking Skills - Easy Sudoku Puzzles
Art & Music - no curriculum, implement into real life fostering appreciation and enjoyment

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

2007-04-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

We had two sessions of reading today to finish off our current read-aloud. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, otherwise known as the author of the James Bond books. Ds6 thoroughly enjoyed it, breaking out in roars of laughter repeatedly. I first read this book as a read-aloud when my now ds18 did Sonlight 2, eons ago. Sadly, it is no longer used by Sonlight. It's a rollicking good adventure/comedy story and perfect for reading aloud with a narrative that speaks directly to the reader.

You don't believe me? All right then! You just read about this car I'm going to tell you about! - Ian Fleming, 1964, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Nature Walk and Phonics

2007-04-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went for a nature walk this afternoon. We do every day, weather permitting. The Niagara River is at the end of our street and we walked down to the American Falls. Not all the way down to the tourist area but close enough to get a good view. On the way down we saw turkey vultures in a tree right in front of us! Two of them were sitting in the tree and then they took off and we saw there were several other ones flying around as well. We also looked at dafodils in a garden and saw baby pine cones growing on the pinetrees. Beautiful warm day but a bit windy.

I stumbled upon an awesome Free Phonics Program the other day and we started using it this week. What Fun! Ds6 is really enjoying it, we played Bingo today and he is really starting to take off with his reading. The program is called Stairway to Reading and it is very tactile and uses games as well as a reader and a full teacher's manual and best of all it's FREE.

I also found out about some phonics readers that are new to me. They've been around for a while but I hadn't hear of them before. The Now I'm Reading phonics readers by Nora Gaydos. I took a look at them on Amazon and splurged on the two level one sets: Animal Antics and Playful Pals. They really look good, especially for boys.

Read- Alouds

2007-04-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided I'm going to start keeping a list of books we've read aloud over in the side bar over there. The list is what I can remember so far this year, mostly the last few months. My memory isn't what it used to be! But starting today I will keep a running list.

Oh Happy Day

2007-04-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Our RightStart Math arrived today!! There is nothing like receiving a gi-normous box in the mail. DH asked: "What is it? The materials to build a house?!"

You can't really tell from the picture but the box is almost as long as my kitchen counter!

Curriculum Choices

2007-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

I've been going through the angst of curriculum choices these last few months and every time I think I have it all planned out I start re-thinking and change my mind! But I finally think I have it all sorted out and below is what I have decided on. Perhaps, if it is written down here I won't change my mind again. This is for a 7yo.

Reading/Phonics - continue on with Alpha-Phonics and easy readers (Abeka Gr. 1 readers, Bob books, Dr. Maggie's, etc.)

Language Arts - First Language Lessons 1

Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears and copywork

History/Geography - History Odyssey Ancients Level 1

Science - Apologia Elementary Science Astronomy & Considering God's Creation (astronomy section only)

Math - Right Start Level B

Read-Alouds - Living Books from our home library, some to tie in with history, others not.

So that's the plan for this coming year.!

SONLIGHT BOOKS ARRANGED BY THE WELL-TRAINED MIND 4-YEAR CYCLES

2007-04-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

The following list was put together for my own use. Hopefully you can find some use for it whether you use Sonlight or "Well-Trained Mind" or both. Not all books used in Sonlight have been listed. What you will find is the History, Historical Fiction and Biography books used in Sonlight Curriculum arranged in the 4-year cycles used by "The Well-Trained Mind". Classic Literature has also been listed here in the cycle in which it was written unless it is of a historical nature then it has been placed accordingly. Please note that since Sonlight recommends SL8 for Grades 10-12 I have listed SL8 books under Rhetoric Level. All books in red have been removed from Sonlight Curriculum. - 2004

New 2007 Updates in Progress! As of this update, SLB to SL3 have been updated

For more information about Sonlight. Visit Paula's Archives!

BOOKS THAT SPAN THE 4-YEAR CYCLES

Grammar Stage (GR. 1-4)

Then and Now - Usborne SLB (Ancients to present)
Living Long Ago - Usborne SLC (Ancients to present)
Usborne World History - Usborne (Ancients to 1912) SL1
Child's History of the World - Hillyer (Ancients to WW1) SL1

Logic Stage (GR. 5-8)
Exploring Planet Earth (Ancients to the Renaissance) SL5
Ships, Sailors and the Seas (Ancients to Present) SL5
History of Medicine - Tiner (Ancients to Present) SL5
The Kingdom Strikes Back - Winter/Holzmann (Ancients to Present) SL6
A History of the US - Hakim (Medieval/Early Renaissance to Present) SL7
The Story of Music - Usborne (Ancients to Present) SL6
Everything You Need to Know About World History Homework -Zeman & Kelly (Ancients to Present)SL6
The Story of Mankind - Van Loon (Ancients to Present) SL6
The American Republic Student Text - BJU (Medeival/Early Renaissance to Present) X SL7

Rhetoric Stage (GR. 9-12)
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History - Curtis, Lang, Petersen (Ancient-Modern) X SL8
The Story of Christianity - Collins, Price X SL8
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya - Tucker (Ancients to Present) X SL8
How to Read Church History - Comby (Ancients to Present) X SL8
Never Before in History: America's Inspired Birth - Amos & Gardiner (Medieval/Early Renaissance to Present) SL10
30 Days to Understanding Church History - Anders & Lundsford (Ancients to Present) X SL8
Fire Upon the Earth - Langford (Ancients to Present) X SL8

Ancients (5000BC - 400AD)

Grammar Stage (Gr. 1-4) - Ancients
Egermeier's Bible Story Book X SLC (Bible Stories)
Archeologists Dig for Clues SL1 (modern but obviously appropriate for this stage)
The Greek News - Powell & Steele SL1
Greek Myths for Young Children - Usborne SL1
Detectives in Togas - Winterfeld SL1 (Rome)
The Usborne Time Traveler (Egypt & Rome sections) SL1
Tut's Mummy Lost & Found - Donnelly SL1 (King Tut)
The Great Wall of China - Fisher SL1
Awesome Book of Bible Facts - Silverthrone X SL2 (biblical history)
The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible - Taylor X SL2 (pre-history)
The Beginner's Bible - Henley X SL2 (bible stories)
The Aesop for Children - Milo Winter SL2 (Greece)
Pompeii: Buried Alive - Kunhardt SL2 (Rome)
The Trojan Horse - Little SL2 (Greece)
Alexander the Great - Green SL2 (Greece)

Logic Stage (GR. 5-8) - Ancients
Remembering God's Awesome Acts - Mortimer X SL5 (Genesis to Moses)
Ancient China Treasure Chest - SL5
The Cat Who Went to Heaven - Coatsworth SL5 (Buddha)
The Trojan War - Coolidge SL6
The Golden Goblet - McGraw SL6 (Egypt)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile - McGraw SL6 (Egypt)
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths SL6
Augustus Caesar's World - Foster SL6 (Rome)
The Bronze Bow - Speare SL6 (Jesus & Rome)
The Mystery of the Roman Ransom - Winterfeld SL6
Eagle of the Ninth - Sutcliff SL6 (Rome)
Hittite Warrior - Williamson SL6 (Hittites)
Archimedes and the Door of Science - Bendick SL6 (Greece)
The Ides of April - Ray SL6 (Rome)
Eyewitness Ancient China - Cotterell SL5
The Ancient Greeks in the Land of the Gods - Descamps-Lequime & Vernerey SL6
Adventures of Greek Heroes - McLean & Wiseman SL6
Young Scientist Book of Archaeology - Usborne SL6
The Children's Homer - Colum SL6 (Greece)
Cleopatra - Stanley SL6
Ancient Egypt - Nicholson & Watts SL6
Between the Forest and the Hills - Lawrence SL6 (Rome)

Rhetoric Stage (GR. 9-12) - Ancients
The Church of the East - Steward/Holzmann X SL8 (Mesopotamia?)
Till We Have Faces - C.S. Lewis SL8 (Greece Cupid and Psyche)
The Flames of Rome - Maier X SL8

Medieval/Early Renaissance (400-1600)

Grammar Stage (Gr. 1-4) - Medieval
A Grain of Rice - Pittman SLC (Ancient China)
The Apple and the Arrow - Buff SLC (Wiliam Tell)
The Usborne Time Traveler (Medieval & Viking sections) SL1
The Viking Adventure - Bulla SL2
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky - Schiller SL2 (Vikings)
Marco Polo - Graves SL3-5 (middle ages)
A Door in the Wall - De Angelli SL2 (Plague)
The Sword in the Tree - Bulla SL2 (Middle Ages - King Arthur)
The Minstrel in the Tower - Skurzinsky SL1 (Middle Ages)
Castle Diary - Platt SL2
Michaelangelo - Stanley SL2
Good Queen Bess - Stanley SL2
The Explorer's News - Johnstone SL2
Tales of Robin Hood - Allan SL2
Incas, Aztecs & Mayans - Holzmann SL3
The Secret of the Andes - Clark SL3 (Incas)
The Corn Grows Ripe - Rhoads SL3 (Mayas)
Walk the World's Rim - Baker SL3 (16th cent Cabeza de Vaca)
North American Indians - Gorsline SL3
Pedro's Journal - Conrad SL3 (Columbus)
The Story of the USA Book 1: Explorers and Settlers - Escher SL3
Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest - McGovern SL1
Fine Print: A Story About Johann Gutenberg - Burch SL2
Joan of Arc - Stanley SL2

Logic Stage (Gr. 5-8) - Medieval
The Kite Fighters - Park (1473, Korea) SL5
Shadow Spinner - Fletcher SL5 (Arabians)
Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories - Dover SL5 (Classic)
Genghis Khan - Lamb SL5 (Mongols)
The Mongols - Nicholson SL5
Call it Courage - Sperry SL5 (Pacific Islands)
A Glorious Age in Africa - Chu & Skinner SL5 (African Empires)
Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum - Bryan SL5 (African Tales)
The Rat Catcher's Son - London X SL5 (African Tales)
Tales of a Korean Grandmother - Carpenter SL5
Shakespeare Stealer - Blackwood SL6
The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day - O'Dell SL6 (William Tyndale)
Otto of the Silver Hand - Pyle SL6 (Middle Ages)
Adam of the Road - Gray SL6 (Middle Ages)
The Samurai's Tale - Haugaard SL6 (Japan)
The World of Columbus and Sons - Foster SL6
Martin Luther: Hero of Faith - Nohl X SL6
The Beduin's Gazelle - Temple SL6 (1302 Beduin tribes, Arabia)
The Great and Terrible Quest - Lovett SL6 (Knights)
Leonardo da Vinci - Hahn SL6
The Second Mrs. Giaconda - Konigsburg SL6 (Leonardo da Vinci)
Mary, Bloody Mary - Meyer SL6 (Mary Tudor)
History of US: Volume 1- Hakim SL7 (Native Americans)
Genghis Khan-Mongol Emperor - Humphrey SL5
The Middle Ages - Caselli SL6
Morning Star of the Reformation - Thomson X SL6 (William Tyndale)
The Monk Who Shook the World - Davey X SL6 (Martin Luther)
The White Stag - Seredy SL6 (Magyars, Attila the Hun)
Fine Print: A Story About Johann Gutenberg - Burch SL6

Rhetoric Stage (Gr. 9-12) - Medieval
The Canterbury Tales - McCaughren SL8
The Shining Company - Sutcliff SL8 (7th century Britain)
The Trumpeter of Krakow - Kelly SL8 (Middle Ages)
The Ramsay Scallop - Temple SL8 (14th century Europe)
Twelfth Night - Shakespeare SL8 (Classic)
A Murder for Her Majesty - Hilgartner SL8 (Elizabethan era)
Beowulf - Heaney SLBL (Anglo-Saxon)
Canterbury Quintet - Chaucer SLBL
Hamlet - Shakespeare SLBL
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Winny SLBL
A Taste of Chaucer - Malcomson SL8 (Classic)
This Was John Calvin - Van Halsema SL8

Late Renaissance/Early Modern (1600-1850)

Grammar Stage (Gr. 1-4) -Early Modern
Johnny Appleseed - Holland SLC
George Muller by Benge X SL1
Peter the Great - Stanley SL2
The Apprentice - Llorente SL2 (Renaissance)
The Landmark History of the American People - Boorstin (First Volume) SL3
American Adventures 1 - Greenberg SL3 (many topics 1770-1870)
The Story of the USA: A Young Nation Solves Its Problems - Escher SL3
The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare SL3 (Puritans)
Pocahontas and the Strangers - Bulla SL3
Squanto, Friend of Pilgrims - Bulla SL3
A Lion to Guard Us - Bulla SL3 (1609 Virginia colony)
The Thanksgiving Story - Dalgliesh SL3 (pilgrims)
Om-kas-toe - Thomasma SL3 (Blackfeet Indians early 1700s)
The Lewis and Clark Expedition - Neuberger SL3
Naya Nuki - Thomasma SL3 (Native American - Sacagawea's friend)
The Erie Canal - Stein SL3
Imprisoned in the Golden City - Jackson X SL3 (Judsons - Burma)
The Story of Eli Whitney - Latham SL3
The Sign of the Beaver - Speare SL3 (Native Americans & frontier life)
The Matchlock Gun - Edmonds SL3 (French & Indian war)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? - Fritz SL3
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia - Cousins SL3
Mr. Revere and I - Lawson SL3
And then What Happened, Paul Revere? - Fritz SL3
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George - Fritz SL3
Johnny Tremain - Forbes SL3 (American Revolution)
Toliver's Secret - Brady SL3 (American Revolution)
Phoebe the Spy - Griffin SL3 (American Revolution)
Martha Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) SL3
Meet George Washington - Heilbroner SL3
George Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) SL3
Winter at Valley Forge - Knight SL3 (1777)
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution - Levy SL3
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch - Latham SL3 (Nathaniel Bowditch)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse - Henry SL3
Calico Bush - Field SL3 (1743 frontier)
The Journeyman - Yates SL3 (frontier)
The Cabin Faced West - Fritz SL3 (frontier)
Meet Thomas Jefferson - Barrett SL3
Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman - Henry SL3
Sarah, Plain & Tall - MacLachlan SL3 (pioneer life)
The Courage of Sarah Noble - Dalgliesh SL3 (frontier)
Sarah Witcher's Story - Yates SL3 (pioneer life)
Skippack School - De Angeli SL3 (1750 German immigrant)
Tikta'Liktak - Houston SL3 (Inuit)
Swift Rivers - Meigs SL3 (early 1830s)
Simon Bolivar - De Varona SL4
Wilberforce - Holzmann SL4
Diary of an Early American Boy - Sloane SL4 (1805 pioneer life)
Johnny Appleseed - Kellogg SLK
Magellan - Brewster SL2
Chimney Sweep's Ransom - Jackson X SL2 (John Wesley)
Ben and Me - Lawson SL2 (Ben Franklin)
Bold Journey - Bohner SL3 (Lewis & Clark)
Daniel Boone - Daugherty SL3

Logic Stage (Gr. 5-8) -Early Modern
Seabird - Holling SL5 (America at sea)
William Carey: Obliged to Go - Benge X SL5
The Master Puppeteer - Paterson SL5 (Japan 18th Century)
Island of the Blue Dolphin - O'Dell SL5 (Native American California)
Master Cornhill - McGraw SL6 (plague)
In Search of Honor - Hess X SL6 (French Revolution)
I, Juan de Pareja - De Trevino SL6 (late Renaissance)
George Washington's World - Foster SL6 (1700s)
The Landing of the Pilgrims - Daugherty SL7
Down Ryton Water - Gaggin SL7 (pilgrims)
Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee - Beatty SL7 (Native Americans)
Sequoyah and the Cherokee Alphabet - Cwiklik SL7 (Native Americans)
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison - Lenski SL7 (Native Americans)
Amos Fortune, Free Man - Yates SL7
Streams to the River, River to the Sea - O'Dell SL7 (Lewis & Clark)
Guns for General Washington - Reit SL7
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold - Fritz SL7
Stout-Hearted Seven - Frazier SL7 (Oregon Trail)
Rip Van Winkle - Irving SL7 (Classic)
Gold Bug & Other Tales - Poe SL7 (Classic)
A Gathering of Days - Blos SL7 (1830)
Napolean - Carrol SL6
Science Discoveries: Isaac Newton and Gravity - Parker SL6
The Scarlet Pimpernell - Orczy SL6 (French Revolution, Classic)
Calico Captive - Speare SL7 (French & Indian War Canada)
Early Thunder - Fritz SL7 (American Revolution)
On to Oregon! - Morrow SL7 (Oregon Trail)
Trails to Poosey - Cook SL7 (frontier)

Rhetoric Stage (Gr. 9-12) - Early Modern
Robinson Crusoe - Defoe SL8 (Classic)
A Parcel of Patterns - Walsh SL8 (Plague)
Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English - Bunyan/Thomas X SL8 (Classic)
The Crucible - Miller SL10 (Puritans witch trials)
Walden and Civil Disobedience - Thoreau SL10 (1845 autobiographical)
Gullivers Travels - Swift SLBL (classic)
Paradise Lost - Milton SLBL
A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens SLBL (French Revolution)

Modern (1850-Present)

Grammar Stage (Gr. 1-4) -Modern
In Grandma's Attic - Richardson SLC X (late 1800s USA)
Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum SLC (Classic)
The House at Pooh Corner - Milne SLC (Classic)
Mary on Horseback - Wells SLC (1920s USA)
James Herriot's Treasury for Children - Herriot SLC (pre WWII England)
Twenty and Ten - Bishop SLC (WW II)
The Story About Ping - Flack SLC (Pre-Rev. China)
Capyboppy - Peet SLC (author's true-life story)
Hero Tales - Jackson X SLC (modern missionaries)
Granny Han's Breakfast - Groves X SLC (China missionary)
Five True Dog Stories SLC (modern)
Dolphin Adventure - Grover SLC (Author's true story)
Dolphin Treasure - Grover SLC (Author's true story)
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes - Birch & Birmingham SL1 (late 1800s)
Little Pear - Lattimore SL1 (early 1900's China)
The Bravest Dog Ever - Standiford SL1 (1925 true dog story)
The Year of Miss Agnes - Hill SL1 (1948, Alaska)
Missionary Stories with the Martins - Martin X SL1
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie - Roop SL2 (1856 Maine)
The Secret Valley - Bulla SL2 (California Gold Rush)
Wagon Wheels - Brenner SL2 (post Civil War Black family)
Riding the Pony Express - Bulla SL2 (1860)
The Long Way to a New Land - Sandin SL2(1868 Sweden emigrate to US)
The Long Way Westward - Sandin SL2 (1868 sequel to above)
The Big Balloon Race - Coerr SL2 (1880s)
Prairie School - Avi SL2 (1880s)
Little House on Rocky Ridge - MacBride SL2 (1894 pioneer life)
Cora Frear - Goodman SL2 (late 1800s prairies)
Clara and the Bookwagon - Levinson SL2 (1905 USA)
A Child's Garden of Verse - Stevenson SL2 (Classic)
Marie Curie's Search for Radium - Birch & Birmingham SL2 (early 1900s)
Titanic: Lost and Found - Donnelly SL2 (1912)
A Little Princess - Burnett SL2 (Victorian England & India, Classic)
The House on Walenska Street - Herman SL2 (1913 Russia)
More Stories from Grandma's Attic - Richardson X SL2 (1920s)
Strawberry Girl - Lenski SL2 (1930's America)
Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime - Benge X SL2
The Little Riders - Shemin SL2 (WWII)
Hill of Fire - Lewis SL2 (Mexico volcano post WWII)
A Question of Yams - Repp X SL2 (modern Papua New Guinea missionary)
And the Word Came with Power - Shelter X SL2 (modern Joanne Shelter)
Catching Their Talk in a Box - Hocket X SL2 (Author's true story)
More Stories from Grandma's Attic - Richardson SL3-5 X (late 1800s USA)
Betsy & Tacy Go Over the Big Hill - Lovelace SL3-5 (early 1900s USA)
Lumber Camp Library - Kinsey-Warnock SL3-5 (early 1900s USA)
B is for Betsy - Haywood SL3-5 (1910s USA)
Emily's Runaway Imagination - Cleary SL3-5 (1920s Oregon)
Misty of Chincoteague - Henry SL3-5 (1940s horse)
Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West - Henry SL3-5 (Wild Horse Annie 1950s)
The Landmark History of the American People - Boorstin (Second Volume) SL3 (SL4)
Vostaas: White Buffalo's Story of the Plains Indians - Vostaas SL3 (modern Native Americans)
Listening to Crickets - Ransom SL3 Science (Rachel Carson 1950s)
World War 1 - Kent SL4
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison: Wizard of Menlo Park - Davidson SL4
Across Five Aprils - Hunt SL4 (Civil War)
Lincoln: A Photobiography - Freedman SL4
The Monitor and Merrimac - Stein SL4 (Civil War)
Behind Rebel Lines - Reit SL4 (Civil War)
Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman - Sterling SL4
Turn Homeward, Hannalee SL4 (Civil War)
Shades of Gray - Reeder SL4 (post Civil War)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor SL4 (post Civil War Black family)
The Great Wheel - Lawson SL4 (first ferris wheel)
Moccasin Trail - McGraw SL4 (native Americans Oregon)
All Sail Set - Sperry SL4 (true story)
Caddie Woodlawn - Brink SL4 (pioneer life)
By the Great Horn Spoon - Fleischman SL4 (California Gold Rush)
The Terrible Wave - Dahlsted SL4 (1889 Johnstown PA flood)
Shoes for Everyone - Mitchell SL4 (Jan Matzeliger)
Sing Down the Moon - O'Dell SL4 (native Americans)
Little Britches - Moody SL4 (early 1900s ranching)
Hero Over Here - Kudlinski SL4 (WW I)
Cheaper By the Dozen - Gilbreth SL4 (1930s)
Old Yeller - Gipson SL4 (Texas frontier)
Helen Keller - Davidson SL4
All of a Kind Family - Taylor SL4 (1900s New York)
Thimble Summer - Enright SL4 (1900s farm family)
The Wright Brothers - Reynolds SL4
George Washington Carver - Collins SL4
Miracles on Maple Hill - Sorensen SL4 (post WW II)
In Search of the Source - Anderson & Moore X SL4 (missionary)
Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa SL4 (1950s Argentina)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson - Lord SL4 (Chinese immigrant)
Bruchko - Olson X SL4 (missionary in Columbia)
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt - DeYoung SL4
The Winged Watchman - Van Stockum SL4 (WWII Holland)
The Great Turkey Walk - Karr SL4
The Perilous Road - Steele SL4 (Civil War)
My Book About Hudson - Miller X SLP (Hudson Taylor)
Peter Pan - Barrie SLK (Classic)
The Bandit of Ashley Downs - Jackson X SL1 (George Mueller)
Thieves of Tyburn Square - Jackson X SL1 (Elizabeth Fry)
Hero Tales III - Jackson X SL1 (missionaries)
Flight of the Fugitives - Jackson X SL2 (Gladys Aylward)
To the Top - Kramer SL2 (climbing Mt. Everest)
Mother West Wind's Children - Burgess SL3 (Classic)
America's Wars: World War I - Stewart SL4
If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake - Levine SL4
Bully For You Teddy Roosvelt - Fritz SL4
The Great Depression - Stein SL4
American Adventures 2 - Greenberg SL4 (many topics)
Dog Jack - Biros SL4 (Civil War)
The Golden Spike - Stein SL4 (1869)
Mr. Blue Jeans, A Story About Levi Strauss - Weidt SL4

Logic Stage (Gr. 5-8) -Modern
Eric Liddell - Benge X SL5
God's Adventurer: Hudson Taylor - Thompson X SL5
Li Lun, Lad of Courage - Treffinger SL5 (Chinese village life)
Mission to Cathay - Polland SL5 (Ambassador to China)
The Big Wave - Buck SL5 (Japanese village life)
Commodore Perry in the Land of Shogun - Blumberg SL5
Born in the Year of Courage -Crofford SL5 (Japan 1853)
Louis Braille - Davidson SL5
Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken SL5 (Victorian era)
Around the World in Eighty Days - Verne SL5 (Victorian, Classic)
Daughter of the Mountains - Rankin SL5 (1900s Tibet)
Gandhi - Bains X SL5
Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar - Benge X SL5
Young Fu of the Upper Yang Tze - Lewis SL5 (1920s China)
House of Sixty Fathers - DeJong SL5 (WW II)
Sadako & the 1000 Paper Cranes - Coerr SL5 (Hiroshima)
Torches of Joy - Decker SL5 (missionary)
Teresa of Calcutta - Watson SL5
Escape to the Jungle - SIM X SL5 (missionary stories)
Journey to Jo'burg - Naidoo SL5 (South Africa apartheid)
The Land I Lost - Nhuong SL5 (Vietnamese life)
Homesick - Fritz SL5 (life in China)
Ali and the Golden Eagle - Grover SL5 (1970s Saudi Arabia)
Betty Greene, Wings to Serve - Benge SL6 (WWII)
Hitler - Wepman SL6
The Endless Steppe - Hautzig SL6 (Russia WW II)
Snow Treasure - McSwigan SL6 (WW II)
Number the Stars - Lowry SL6 (WW II)
Escape from Warsaw - Serraillier SL6 (WW II)
God's Smuggler - Andrew SL6 (missionary Iron Curtain)
North to Freedom - Holm SL6 (Iron Curtain)
It's A Jungle Out There - Snell X SL6 (true story Amazon rainforest)
Usborne History of the 20th Century SL6
Anna and the King - Landon SL6 (1862-1867 Siam)
The Panama Canal - Roberson SL7
Cameron Townsend - Benge SL7 X
The Home Ranch - Moody SL7
Farewell to Manzanar - Houston SL7 (WW II Japanese internment camp)
Samuel F.B. Morse - Tiner SL7
The Slopes of War - Perez SL7 (Civil War)
The Red Badge of Courage - Crane SL7 (Civil War, Classic)
Rifles for Watie - Keith SL7 (Civil War)
Dragon's Gate - Yep SL7 (Civil War Transcontinental Railroad)
The Call of the Wild - London SL7 (Alaska Klondike Gold Rush, Classic)
Bonanza Girl - Beatty SL7 (1880s)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Twain SL7 (1880s town life, Classic)
Patty Reed's Doll - Laurgaard SL7 (Donner Party)
We'll Race You, Henry Ford - Mitchell SL7
Earthquake at Dawn - Gregory SL7 (San Francisco earthquake)
Sounder - Armstrong SL7 (1900s black sharecroppers)
After the Dancing Days - Rostkowski SL7 (WW I)
Christy - Marshall SL7 (Smoky Mountains ministry)
Blue Willow - Gates SL7 (Depression)
To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee SL7 (Depression, Classic)
Moonshiner's Son - Reeder SL7 (Prohibition)
Nothing to Fear - Koller SL7 (Depression)
Peace Child - Richardson X SL7 (Missionary in Irian Jaya)
The Cross and the Switchblade - Wilkerson X SL7 (inner city gangs)
Out of the Dust - Hesse SL7 (Depression)
White Queen: The Story of Mary Slessor - McFarlan X SL5
Eric Liddell - Swift X SL5
David Livingstone: First to Cross Africa with the Gospel - Worcester X SL6
Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery SL6 (1900s Canada, Classic)
The Good Master - Seredy SL6 (1900s Hungary)
Nothing Daunted - Repp X SL6 (missionary in China)
Dragonwings - Yep SL7 (San Francisco earthquake Chinese immigrant)
Running 1000 Miles for Freedom - Craft SL7 (slavery)
A Jar of Dreams - Uchida SL7 (Depression)
Robert E. Lee - Roddy X SL7
The Panama Canal - Stein SL7
Uncle Tom's Cabin - Stowe SL7 (slavery, Classic)
Mrs. Mike - Freedman SL7 (1900s Canada)
Called to Die - Estes X SL7
Joni - Eareckson X SL7
Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Freedman SL7
Martin Luther King, Jr: A Man to Remember - Darby SL7
Two Tickets to Freedom - Freedman SL7 (slavery)

Rhetoric Stage (Gr. 9-12) -Modern
Oliver Twist - Dickens SL8 (VictoriaN, Classic)
Going Solo - Dahl SL8 (WW II)
Little Women - Alcott SL8 (Classic)
Little Men - Alcott SL8 (Classic)
Jane Eyre - Bronte SL8 (Victorian, Classic)
A Christmas Carol - Dickens SL8 (Victorian, Classic)
Treasure Island - Stevenson SL8 (Pirates, Classic)
Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde - Stevenson SL8 (Victorian, Classic)
Pride and Prejudice - Austen SL8 (Victorian, Classic)
Our Century in Pictures for Young People - Jennings & Brewster SL9
Labor’s Untold Story - Boyer & Morais (1850-1950s Unions) SL9
Parallel Journeys - Ayer (WWII) SL 9
After the War - Matas SL9 (Jews in Palestine, post WWII)
The Hiding Place - Ten Boom SL9 (WWII)
What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century - Axelrod & Philips SL9
Mammoth Book of the 20th Century, Eyewitness History - Lewis SL9
The DK Visual Timeline of the 20th Century - Adams SL9
The Great Brain - Fitzgerald SL9 (turn of the century)
Heart of Darkness - Conrad SL9 (West Africa)
Murder on the Orient Express - Christie SL9
The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald SL9 (1920s)
The Metamorphosis - Kafka SL9
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway SL9 (Spanish Civil War)
Brave New World - Huxley SL9
Kon-Tiki - Heyerdahl SL9 (1947)
Cry the Beloved Country - Paton SL9 (1950s South Africa)
The Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway SL9
Robert Frost: Selected Poems - Frost SL9
Darkness at Noon - Koestler SL9 (Communist Russia)
One Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitsym SL9 (Siberian prison camp)
The Road Home - Kherdian SL9 (Turkey)
All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque SL9 (WW I)
You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? - Fritz SL9 (women's suffrage)
Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity - Cwiklik SL9
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - Kerr SL9 (WW II)
The Snow Goose - Gallico SL9 (WW II)
Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist - Severance SL9
China's Long March: 6,000 Miles of Danger - Fritz SL9 (1930s)
My Life in Advertising & Scientific Advertising - Hopkins SL9
Fallen Angels - Myers SL9 (Viet Nam War)
On the Devil's Doorstep - McClung SL9
Run, Baby, Run - Cruz SL9
Children of the River - Crew SL9 (Cambodian refugee)
Life During the Russian Revolution - Sherrow SL9
Red Scarf Girl - Jiang SL9 (Chinese Cultural Revolution 1960s)
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men - Hummell (Civil War) SL10
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats - Meyer SL10 (1850s Native Indians)
Up from Slavery - Washington SL10
The Dry Divide - Moody SL10
Black Like Me - Griffin SL10 (1959 racism)
Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot - Elliot X SL10
The Scarlet Letter - Hawthorne SL10
The Portable Poe - Poe SL10
Best Short Stories of O. Henry SL10
Moby Dick - Melville SL10
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn - Twain SL10
My Antonia - Cather SL10 (1880s)
Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis SL10 (Depression)
The Jungle - Sinclair SL10 (1900s)
Our Town - Wilder SL10
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Smith SL10 (1900s)
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck SL10 (Depression)
The Chosen - Potok SL10 (1940s)
The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Doyle SLBL (Victorian)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass - Carroll SLBL (Classic)
Dubliners - Joyce (classic) SLBL
Emma - Austen (classic, Victorian) SLBL
Frankenstein - Shelley (classic) SLBL
The Importance of Being Earnest - Wilde (classic) SLBL
Lord of the Files - Golding SLBL (classic)
A Passage to India - Foster SLBL (end of the British Empire in India)
Peter Pan - Barrie SLBL (classic)
Pygmalian - Shaw SLBL(classic)
Wuthering Heights - Bronte SLBL (classic)
William Booth - Bennett X SL8
David Copperfield - Dickens SL8 (Victorian, Classic)
Mother Jones - Pinkerton SL9 (Labor Unions)
The Permanent Book of the 20th Century - Lewis SL9
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Le Carre SL9
I Had Seen Castles - Rylant SL9 WW II
Exodus - Uris SL9 (Israel 1800-1940)
America's Ceasar - Durand SL10

copyright 1999-2007 Nicola Manning
List may be used for your personal use. Do not copy and distribute without permission.