Monday, October 12, 2009

Reading Aloud Presently...

The History of the Church- this is very interesting
The Life of St. George
The Simmarillion - one of my favorite books!!
The Sword and the Circle - finished! The children all loved this and want to continue with the next one in the series The Light in the Forest (These have the flowery language my daughter loves combined with enough chivalry, action, and head hewing to keep everyone interested!)
Lycurgus (Plutarch)
Around the World in 80 days- still!
Macbeth
Seabird- we really like this one
The Children's Homer- to Caleb
Jane Eyre- with Hannah when we can eek out the time
Treasure Island- Papa with all the children
The Horse and His Boy- Papa to the little boys
Greek Myths- they all love this (again)
Story of the World Ancients- to Caleb and Aaron
Idylls of the King

We could read all morning (and often do), but I think we need to rotate these a little more since our evenings are so full this year....


Next up on the Read Aloud list...
Great Expectations (the littles and I began this but put it aside to begin with Ar. and Hannah too)
Onion John

Monday, June 15, 2009

Morning Time...

Here is one routine from Cindy- I would like to organize my Morning Time so it doesn't become 'WHOLE DAY time' , which is lovely , but not everyday....

Monday, March 16, 2009

Let's See...

Some rambling comments on the day....

Breakfast (at a stunning 9am- who created that time change anyway (this is my yearly complaint- see archives for details!).....oatmeal with raisins and heaps of salt, yes, salt! (Bad idea to shake it right out of the box!), supplemented with toast and yummy jam and a glass of OJ

Dressed and chores....Ar. garbages and toilets, H. vacuuming, C. table and folding, Aa. sinks etc, me- made bread and frittered away time on the computer

Math for Ar. and C. and Aa- I taught Aaron how to use the '9 sucks' rule. I was pretty impressed with his progress with it.... did a dictation from the poem 'Cats' with Hannah.... (somehow forgot prayers in here- for reason see the end of the former point!)

Caleb here went and started beautifully playing with Aaron. Who could disturb this? So that was his job for quite some time.... Hannah played some piano, then I got her to read Our Island Story on the computer (she had read Pride and Prejudice and Macrina in bed). An informal narration followed....Ar. still on the Algebra

Snack (Lunch??)- fried dougnuts and lots of sugar and tea with honey (can you say possible STRUNG out kids later in the day??)...we read some poems about spring and then I sent the kids outside to find some signs of spring to draw for their nature journals and I tidied up...

Nature journalling by the older three went very well and Aaron did some drawing as well....I read aloud from Comstock's book a wee bit about trees and growth then a couple chapters of the Princess and the Goblin and one more poem....

Hannah moved onto Algebra and was delighted with the prospect of drawing a diagram to explain some complicated thing involving sandpipers outdistancing an airplane and wind resistance etc. (how creativity and math meet in this child!)....Caleb went up to 'read' (this should read play with Aaron).... then he came down to Read- he got through a bunch of Black Ships Before Troy with and informal narration, and then some Hobbit....

Aaron did some sight cards and aced most of them the read out of Mouse Tales to me- fantastic job...Ar read The Young Carthaginian, the Bible, and Secrets of the Universe (which he claims today he Loves and is so glad I required him to read it- who would have known with the cheasy 70s cover?)...

At this point Violin and Irish music were put on the back burner for the Wii game that arrived in the mail today- all children are now glued down there in the basement playing and I can hear them loud and clear up here!

Me, I am off to the yarn store to grab a new round needle for the beautiful sweater I am beginning for H.'s birthday (can't link or I will spoil the surprise.)

Dinner tonight: Black beans, salsa, basmati, corn and a salad (fresh bread as well)

This seems probably dull as anything, but it is good for me to look back to at times.

Have a great day,
Kristie

Friday, February 6, 2009

Read Alouds From Last Fall Until Christmas 08'

The Return of the King
The Borrowed House- to Hannah
The Endless Steppe- with Hannah
Over Sea, Under Stone (LOVED this)- listened to in the car on the way to the coast
A Little Princess (audio)
Winnie the Pooh- to the little boys
I, Juan de Pareja- a definite winner
I-Ville to You-Ville- another winner
Harry Potter 3 (not quite finished)
Taren Wanderer
East of the Sun and West of the Moon- D'Aulaire (the kids loved this)
The Wheel on the School (technically only half way so far...)

And heaps of fabulous picture books, as well as the entire Asterix series many times over I am sure.

Books, books, books

Around here they are my main way of decorating, purposefully or otherwise.

On people's stacks these days

Aaron
I am reading him Charlotte's Web- just him and me, together with some tea. I would not trade it for the world.
Asterix- more than I will list here

Caleb
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Hobbit
Random Books on Chemistry

Hannah
Pride and Prejudice
Macrina the Elder (by gentle, ahem, persuasion)
The Dark is Rising (audio)

Ariel
The Prince and the Pauper
The Lightening Thief- the whole series (except the last one)
A Ginormous stack that just left his room on the way back to the library (too numerous to list)

Me
A World Lost- Wendell Berry (by far, my favourite author...and this one is a gem. A whole host of stories from the Port William Membership)
The Incarnate God- working through the major feasts of the Liturgical year
The Brother's Karamazov

I will be transparent with my own list and admit that I read the first two Twilight books and the third (and probably fourth) would be touching down on my bedside table, if not for the fact that the line up at the library is ridiculous, and I refuse to pay hardcover prices for a book I will read in a few hours and definitely never again- entertaining, yes. Enduring, no. Don't even think I can move on to number three for a bit now- not after Wendell Berry.