Book of Days

                                                         Join author
                                                    Susan Wittig Albert
                                                   Cottage Tales Series
                       Discussing the use of fictional books in homeschooling & education
                                                Tuesday November 13
                                 www.lvbirders.homeschooljournal.net

Joshua and I are very excited and honored to have been invited to be a stop on Susan Wittig Albert’s blog tour of her newest book in her Cottage Tale Series, The Tale of Hawthorn House.

We will be hosting Susan here on this blog on Tuesday, November 13 and she will be discussing with us her thoughts on the use of fiction literature, such as her Cottage Tale Series, in homeschooling and education.

I have written before about Susan’s Cottage Tale Series. Joshua and I will always hold a special place in our hearts for the second book in the series, The Tale of Holly How. Anytime we hear or see a reference to St.Crispian’s Speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V, we will forever smile and think of Professor Galileo Newton Owl.

It was with eager anticipation that we delved into the advanced reader copy Susan so generously sent us of The Tale of Hawthorn House and Susan did not disappoint. I laughed and Joshua just shook his head at each of Jemima Puddle-duck’s escapades. It was so much fun to meet again our old animal friends, Bosworth Badger (Joshua’s personal favorite), Tabatha, Crumpet, and Rascal. We enjoyed seeing our favorite human friends once again also, Sarah, Dimity and Miles, Will and of course Beatrix herself. Jackboy has become a new favorite for us. I loved reading his dialogue! We hope to see more of him in later books Susan. When reading the chapter titled The Fox, the Duck, and the Shot in the Night, I laughed till I cried.

We are looking forward to the other stops on the tour, including fellow homeschooler, Clarice of Storybook Woods, who will be hosting Susan on November 7. Susan and her publishers are generously giving away some wonderful prizes to those who visit the various blogs on the tour. On October 29, you can find out more information on the blog tour here.

Joshua and I hope you will join us here on November 13 for our chat with Susan.

We have Dish Network and recently Joshua came across the news program, European Journal, on Link TV. We now start each Thursday morning of studies by watching this show and we are really enjoying learning the news in various parts of Europe.

We’re off in a few minutes. Off that is to try and buy the new Age of Empires game, Asian Dynasties. It had a release date, that Joshua had been eagerly anticipating of Oct.23, but it seems it is not in the stores until today. Somewhat disheartening news that Joshua and his dad found out yesterday when they went to make their purchase.

We have, I think, most if not all of the Age of Empire games and Joshua has enjoyed each one. Each one has also led him to “read up on” the various dynasties, ages, weapons, people, events etc. He likes to “re-enact” certain battles or events between two opponents. He does this on his own and we also sometimes incorporate these interests into our studies.

For today he’ll be enjoying a day off of “official studies” as he delves into the world of the Asian Dynasties.

Edited next day: High praise for the game in the words of a thirteen year old boy, “It is incredibly awesome!”

… the title of this post.

There are days or nights we may find ourselves “curled up in tears on the bathroom floor”. I found myself in just this position the other night.

With a desperate desire, I was blessed to stumble upon the words of a very wise young woman, and through them, found God’s grace.

I will be forever grateful.

No Christmas has not arrived yet. What I am referring to is my season of “crafting” during the Autumn months. As the weather turns cooler, my fingers start itching to get busy making things. These a a few of my projects this autumn…

First, a dishtowel cut, sewn and embroidered from a leg of a pair of linen capri pants no longer being worn.. and an Autumn banner for our family room mantle…

and granny squares for an Autumn afghan I am crocheting (the picture really does not do the colors of the yarn justice) …

I would love to see what everyone else is up to this fall!

My heart melted when I read this.

What beautiful words from a Papa about his little daughter.

I especially liked this line….. “She’s got magic in her heart and will teach you how to find yours if you pay attention to her lessons.”

I think all of us moms and dads could learn lessons from these words.

Autumn has always been my favorite season. Today I will revel in it as our temps are only supposed to get to 80 degrees for a high. Here in the desert, after our very hot summer,  that is downright cool :)

Last night Josh tempted us all outside to get a better look at this beautiful sunset…

Another big reason this season is a favorite of our whole family is this is the time of year that the NHL hockey begins their new season! Today is the first day of the season and we are watching the Ducks and the Kings play in London. We got to eat our breakfast watching our favorite sport.  Isn’t modern technology, ie  TV, amazing :)

Josh and I have been enjoying reading, Napoleon’s buttons How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, in our science study of chemistry. The book is an account of 17 groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. The chapter on Isoprene has led us to a rabbit trail of learning about polymers. I found this great kids’ site with information explained in enough of a basic way that even Josh and I could understand it , although I did get some looks from him concerning “Paul the Lemur” lol. We pretty much just read the site for the information and ignored the “fun stuff” as Josh reminded me “he’s a little old for that” lol. I also found this experiment which we will be trying to do soon. We did do a little hands on with Josh creating polymer chains

and then “crosslinking” them.

The Napoleon’s buttons book is a wonderful companion for our Chemistry studies as it has a tremendous amount of history in it. The science is explained in such a way that Josh and I are able to get a general understanding of what they are discussing. Using it with my history buff of a son, I love the connections that it shows between science and history.

Our study of art tends to be a very simple affair. Since I am not an art major/expert we try to do things in a practical, very basic manner. Joshua and I study a different artist each term. We learn about their life and a few of their paintings. We may read a fiction book based on the artist. For example, while studying Jan Vermeer, he read Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet and loved it so much he bought and read her next book, The Wright 3. We sometimes follow Ambleside Online’s selections and at other times we veer off on our own path. This term we are on such a path of our own.

The museum at Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip is currently showing the exhibit, In the Master’s Hands: Picasso’s Ceramics. We will be going to view this exhibit soon. The opportunities that we have to view actual works by renowned artists never fails to amaze me. A few years ago, we were blessed to view one of Monet’s Japanese Bridge paintings at an exhibit at the same museum in the Bellagio. As part of our study this term, we have been reading about Picasso’s life and his ceramics, especially trying to concentrate on pieces that are a part of the exhibit.

The other day we took a little detour when I came across this article on the upcoming auction of a Van Gogh painting. While searching to find out which painting it was discussing, I came across this article. I set a picture of the painting as a background on our computer (a practice I do with each artist we study. We have also recently had pictures of Picasso’s ceramics on the background). I shared both of the articles with Joshua and then other members of our family as they commented on the painting I had on our computer background.

At times we will try to paint in the style of the artist we are studying but this isn’t something I require. I really just want Joshua to be exposed to some of the Fine Arts. When we went to the exhibit that featured the Monet painting of the Japanese Bridge, Joshua stood there in front of that painting mesmerized. The painting had been his favorite when we had studied Monet one term and there he was actually standing in front of it. The look on his face was my goal in our study of art.

Well at least a few for today. I have been enjoying this amazing blog lately.

Jane not only has some amazing knitting, crocheting and quilting she shares, but also wonderful posts on food and books. The photos that accompany her posts are absolutely gorgeous. And where does the British come in? Well Jane is from England and to this American gal who is enamored with anything British, tremendous fun to read. I was especially appreciative of her latest post, as she mentions a segment she heard on BBC Radio 4, and links to it. For a little while this afternoon I was immersed in England and loving every minute of it.  I couldn’t help but enjoy the segment of Alan Bennett reading from his latest novella, An Uncommon Reader, that she mentions in her post. (On the right hand side of the main page for BBC Radio 4, under the listing, Listen Again, click on Monday under Choice of the Day). I wandered around the site some and as someone who has a passion for the history of WWII and that time period, I was immensely pleased to happen upon this segment, The Nightingale Sang in Fernhurst Road, part of the Woman’s Hour Drama. I listened to both Monday and Tuesday’s episodes and didn’t realize that Joshua was also listening in the other room, until I heard a few chuckles coming from him at some of the lines. He has now requested that we begin an in-depth study of WWII for our World History after we finish up with our current study of the Scramble for Africa.

Along this same line, this morning in an email from B&N, I read about the new Ken Burn/Geoffrey Ward book, The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945, which is a companion to their PBS series by the same name. Perfect for use in our new World History study. We also listened to samples from the soundtrack.

History will have to wait though this afternoon as I gave Josh the time off to play the new NHL 2K8 game his brother bought for them. After all, the new 2007-08 ice hockey season starts in just a few weeks :)