Some School Stuff 3rd Grade

So, the update is long over-due!  What will we be using around here for our new school year 2013/14?  This post will be about Charlie, because he's the easiest!

Math this year for Charlie will come from Teaching Textbooks.  He had been begging me to let him  do TT like his brothers, and I feel he is finally ready to jump in with level 5. 

 I anticipate that he might get in over his head with some of the concepts he'll encounter further on in the book, and if that is the case, we'll take a break and pick up again with the Life of Fred Elementary series of math books, as well as Horizons Math 3.  

For Science we are using Real Science Odyssey Earth and Space Science level one from Pandia Press.  Fun, easy, completely secular.  We started some units from this in late summer and are looking forward to a study of the planets, sun and moon as we pick up again this fall. 

Language arts will be fairly relaxed again this year.  

We'll pick up reading where we left off with Grammarland, read through a cute series of grammar picture books, and Maybe use Writing With Ease 2 for copywork and narration.  Spelling practice will come from Spelling Power.  I have been very happy with this no-nonsense spelling curriculum over the years for my natural spellers! And as with every year, I'll try to have him do a couple journal entries here and there from Doing the Days.  The older boys and I always enjoy looking back at the questions they mused upon from this book back in the day.  Lastly, there will be the learning of cursive with a Zaner-Bloser workbook.   We'll decide on readers for language arts as we go along, but I do have a few read-alouds lined up to get to, including:

• Ribsy (Beverly Cleary)
• Emil and the Detectives (Erich Castner)
• Knights Castle (Edward Eager)
• Swallows and Amazons (Arthur Ransome)
• Pinocchio: a Classic Illustrated Edition (Carlo Collodi)

History.  While older brothers are working on Modern America and the World this year, with all its difficult topics, Charlie and I will be keeping it simple with many chapter books and lovely picture books that focus on famous Americans and American pioneer and frontier life.  

• Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
• The Boy Who Drew Birds: John James Audubon
• They're Off! The Story Of the Pony Express
• Little House in the Big Woods
• Farmer Boy
• The Book of Indians (Holling) ( Note to self: I need to pre-read this first)
• The Book of Cowboys (Holling)
• Odd Boy Out: Albert Einstein
• John Muir and Stickeen
• To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers
• Henry Ford: We'll Race You Henry 

I thought a fun study of World Geography and Cultures would be good for Charlie this year, so I put together my own schedule for some continent hopping.  I will be using the Sassafrass Science Zoology 1 reader as an organizing spine.  Other materials will include:

• How People Live (DK)
• Maps and Globes
• Miss Rumphius
• Africa is Not a Country
• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
• One Small Square: Savannah
• Beat the Story Drum
• The Butter Man
• Kids Book of Canada
• The Great Kapok Tree
• A Walk in the Rainforest
• Great Wall of China
• Long is a Dragon
• My Season with the Penguins
• Mr. Popper's Penguins
• Plus other books if time permits, along with various Globe Trekker and You Tube videos

World Religions is on the docket this year too. Probably later in the year as I haven't quite firmed up the resources yet.  Some ideas are:

• The Golden Children's Bible (DK).   This has lots of side-bar photographs with cultural and geographical explanations of topics in the text.
• The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper.   This lovely picture book shows that "The Golden Rule" can be found at the heart of many religions.

• Demi has some very good books about several religious figures including Muhammad, Jesus, Rumi, and Buddha.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything, but this sure seems like enough!  I'll try to list what the older boys are working on soon, too.

New School Year-Our First Week In Review

We added in more school subjects this week, and officially declared Monkey Island Academy open for the 2013-2014 school year. 

We started our week out with the obligatory and traditional school cones, filled with cocoas, treats, music and art supplies. 

We also took advantage of a beautiful sunny afternoon to go on a short hike and do some apple tasting at one of our local orchards.

This week Ben began his history studies with History Odyssey Modern Times level 2.  He's reading Around the World in 80 Days and doing map work and research into places traveled.  He likes the story thus far.

No formal science at home for Ben this year.  We are concentrating on math instead.  He is however perpetually involved in an electronics project and so I can't exactly say he isn't doing any scientific or technical thinking on a daily basis!  Currently he is programing an amateur radio antenna tuner interface with his Arduino microcontroller. 

Ben is also taking another class at the local high school this year, Principles of Engineering, and thus far is enjoying it.

No formal science for Will this year, either.  He'll just be reading through Joy Hakim's The Story of Science: Newton at the Center.  He began that this week and gives it a thumbs up.

In the language arts department: Will and Charlie are both using Spelling Power again this year, and this week we just did the placement tests.  I hope to start Writing With Skill with William in the coming weeks as well.  Charlie is learning cursive with Zaner Bloser, and has started Writing with Ease for copy work and narration. 

In science, Charlie is continuing with Real Science Odyssey: Earth and Space.  This week he read about planet Earth (You may have heard of it) from an Usborne Encyclopedia and created a tabletop biosphere to represent the perfect conditions for life we have here on Earth.  He planted a small plant in his biosphere as well as adding some grass seeds which we will monitor for growth over the coming days.

We also managed to get a little water color art done to brighten up our walls.  In future weeks I will be getting Will started with Artistic pursuits, and I will be choosing projects for Charlie from Deep Space Sparkle.

But the biggest hit thus far in our home school day is listening to the unabridged audio of Lord of the Rings, and holding discussions afterward with the help of Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings.  The latter part of this week as been quite dreary and rainy, and it has been wonderful to just hang out and listen to this great story while snuggled in on the couch!

That's all for the first official week.  I'll be adding in more subjects as the weeks progress.

2012 Reading

I have joined the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Reading Challenge for this year so most of the books on this list will be a result of meeting that goal.  I'll also include favorites I've read with the kids.


Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919  (Stephen Puleo)
Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahri)
The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde)    
The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a sense of wonder through the seasons (Amanda Blake Soule & Stephen Soule)

2011 Reading Titles

This list only includes books I read for my own enjoyment, and a couple of favorite history read-alouds with the kids.  There were also many versions of King Arthur, Beowulf, Gawain and the Green Knight, and Norse myths that I previewed for the kids that I didn't include here.  I did list the ones that the kids and I ultimately enjoyed together.  I'm still adding on as I recall stray titles...

Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend-Bart D. Ehrman
Misquoting Jesus:The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why-Bart D. Ehrman
Jesus Interrupted:Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible-Bart D. Ehrman
Omnivores Dilemma (audiobook)-Michael Pollan
Food Rules: An Eater's Manual-Michael Pollan
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day-Jeff Herzberg
Lamentations of the Father-Ian Frazier
God's Problem:Why the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question-Why We Suffer-Bart D. Ehrman
What Your Fifth Grader Needs To Know-E.D. Hirsch Jr.
What to do when You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety-Dawn Huebner
Earth (the book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race-Jon Stewart
A Short History of Nearly Everything-Bill Bryson
Shakespeare:The World As Stage (audio book)-Bill Bryson
Beowulf the Warrior-Translated by Ian Serralier
The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table-RosemarySutcliff
The Mother Tongue;English and How it Got That Way-Bill Bryson
Shakespeare: His Work and His World-Michael Rosen
The Omega Plan-Artemis Simopolous
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things-Prof.Randy O. Frost PhD, Prof. Gail Steketee PhD
In The Garden of Beasts: love, terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin-Erik Larson (Didn't get a chance to finish this fantastic book.  Must revisit)
Crimes Against Logic-Jamie Whyte
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (audiobook)-Benedict Flynn, read by Sean Bean
The Everything Celtic Wisdom Book-Jennifer Emick
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold-C.S. Lewis
The Book of New family Traditions-Meg Cox
Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations can tell us about Contentment-Phil Zuckerman (This was a fantastic book! Eye-opening!)
How We Believe: Science, skepticism and the Search for God-Michael Shermer
Parenting Beyond Belief-Dale McGowan
Raising Freethinkers-Dale McGowan
The problem of Pain-C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters-C.S. Lewis
Mystery of the Roman Ransome-Henry Winterfield
Eagle of the 9th-Rosemary Sutcliff
Like Water for Chocolate-Laura Esquivel
How to Read Literature Like a Professor-Thomas C. Foster
Freeing Your Child From Anxiety-Tamar Chansky
The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade-Susan Wise Bauer (I didn't finish this.  Plan to go back to it soon)
The Voyage of St. Brendan-John O'Meara
The Notebook-Nicholas Sparks
Children of Odin-Padraic Colum

What William is Reading in 2009

An ongoing book list of William's independent reading in 2009. Favorites are starred.

1. The Spiderwick Chroinicles: The Field Guide (Holly Black)
2. Snow (Uri Shulevitz)
*3. The Time Warp Trio- Hey Kid Wanna Buy a Bridge? (John Scieszka-It rhymes with Fresca)
*4-13. Various Henry and Mudge titles. (Cynthia Rylant)
*14. The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country (Lane Smith)
15. Time For Kids Biographies- Henry Ford (Dina El Nabli)
16. Time Warp Trio-See You Later Galdiator (John Scieszka)
17. Owls in the Family (Farley Mowat)
18. A Picture Book of Helen Keller (David A. Adler)
*19. The Saturdays (Elizabeth Enright)
20. The Random House Book of Nursery Stories (Helen Craig)

What Benjamin Has Read in 2009

This will be an ongoing list with a link in the sidebar.

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)
2. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Roald Dahl)
3. The Giver (Lois Lowry)
4. Rascal (Sterling North)
5. Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)
6.Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
7. Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C. S. Lewis)
8. Captains Courageous (Rudyard Kipling)
9. Hoping for Rain-The Dustbowl Adventures of Patty and Earl Buckler (Kate Connell)
10. Albert Einstein (DK Biography) (Frieda Wishinski)
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (F Scott Fitzgerald)

What Michelle Is Reading In 2009

An ongoing list to be linked in my sidebar.

1. Fire in the Blood (Irene Nemirovsky)
2. Thumpin It (Jacques Berlinerblau) )
3. The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality (Andre Comte-Sponville)
4. One Year to an Organized Life (Regina Leeds)
5. Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout)
6. The Secret Life of Bees ( Sue Monk Kidd)
7. The Giver
8. Swallows and Amazons (Arthur Ransome)
9. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)
10. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle A Year of Food Life (Barbara Kingsolver)
11.A Charlotte Mason Companion( Karen Andreola)
12. For The Children's sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School(Susan Schaeffer Macaulay)
13.A Charlotte Mason Education( Catherine Levinson)
14.More Charlotte Mason Education( Catherine Levinson)
15.How Children Learn( John Holt)
16.How Children Fail( John Holt)
17. Boy in the Striped Pajamas ( John Boyne)

Charlie's Books 2009

An ongoing list of the books that have been read to Charlie this year. Favorites are starred.

*1. Puff The Magic Dragon (Peter Yarrow)
*2. Ollie's Ski Trip (Elsa Beskow)
3. Skippy Jon Jones and the Big Bones (Judy Schachner)
4. Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers (Cynthia Rylant)
*5. Superhero ABC (Bob Mcleod) "Upside-down Man wears his Uniform Under his Underwear"
*6. The Book That Jack Wrote (Jon Scieszka)
7. Horton Hears a Who (Seuss)
8. Go, Dog. Go! (P. D. Eastman)
9. Guess How Much I love You (Sam Mcbratney)
*10. Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak)
*11. The Happy Hocky Family (Lane Smith) "Grandma do you hear the magic monkey? He is calling us from outside" HILARIOUS!!
*12. Little Whistle (Cynthia Rylant)
13. Pretzel (Margret Rey)
14. Billy's Picture (Margaret and H. A. Rey)
15. Titch (Pat Hutchins)
16. Madeline (Ludwig Bemelmans)
17. Dinosaurumpus (Tony Mitton)
18. Dinosnores (Kelly DiPucchio)
19. Dinosaur! (Peter Sis)
20. Dinosailors (Deb Lund)
21. Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! (Sandra Boynton)
22. Eyewitness Dinosaur (Eyewitness Video)
23. Usborne Discovery Internet linked Dinosaurs (Rachel Firth)
24. Danny and the Dinosaur (Syd Hoff)
25. Happy Birthday Danny and the Dinosaur (Syd Hoff)
*26. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Bill Martin Jr.)
27. Petunia (Roger Duvoisin)
28. Owen (Kevin Henkes)
*29. Whose Mouse Are You? (Robert Kraus) We enjoy the cat shaking especially.
*30. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (Laura Numeroff)
*31. Dino ABC (Benjamin)
*32. The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country (Lane Smith) The country smells pages are right on the mark!
33. Little Bear (Elsa Holmelund Minarik)
34. Bear Shadow (Frank Asch)
*35. The Large and Growly Bear (Gertrude Crampton)
*36. Tawny Scrawny Lion (Kathryn Jackson)
37. The Shy Little Kitten (Cathleen Schurr)
38. Scaredy Squirrel (Melanie Watt)
*39. Tops and Bottoms (adapted by Janet Stevens)
40. Three Sillie Billies (Margie Palantini)
41. Lets Go Home (Cynthia Rylant)
42. Usborne Farmyard Tales Alphabet Book (Stephen Cartwright)
43. Animal ABC (Richard Roe)
*44. The Alphabet Room (Sara Pinto)
45. Fluffy Goes to School (Kate Mc Mullan)
46. Fluffy meets the Tooth Fairy (Kate Mc Mullan)
*47. The Random House Book of Nursery Stories (Helen Craig)
48. Bob and His # 1 Van (Jessica Spanyol)
49. 10 Little Rubber Ducks (Eric Carle)
*50. I'm Not Cute (Jonathan Allen)
*51. Pssst (Adam Rex)
*52. Terrific (John Agee)
53. Agents A to Z (Andy Rash)