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Last week we found ourselves back in Appalachia, in the story Daniel's Duck , by Clyde Robert Bulla. This is a fun story about trying new things and believing in oneself. We enjoyed this story, and the various activities that went along with it. Vocabulary  words: traded, moccasins, coonskin cap. Tristan also  copied a page from the book containing a conversation. We learned about quotation marks. In math this week we learned about measuring and lengths. Of course, Tristan continued lessons in Saxon math. History and Geography were about Appalachia. This story is set in Tennessee, so we were able to mark the map. We still discussed the Appalachian region of our country as a whole. Anastasia pointed out as many aspects of cabin life that she could glean from our story. Science involved learning about ducks, again, as well as review of the four seasons. Three of the seasons are definitely represented in this story. Summer may not be part of the story, but the...

Last week we read The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack. This lovely story is about the value of family, and learning to take responsibility for one's actions, even if punishment is certain. The narrative unfolds in China, on the Yangtze river. We enjoyed learning about China, and ducks. I must take a break from the "school log" to share a story of God's provision. I always try to stay a week ahead with the books that I request from the library. That way, when it is time to start a new book, we already have it, but two weeks ago I forgot to request The Story About Ping, or any other books about China, ducks, rivers, etc. I felt frazzled and frustrated with myself as the week ended two weeks past. I sat down to see what the library had on shelf, and make something work. Turns out, one local library (on my way home from co-op) had all the books I needed on shelf. We stopped after co-op, and got all the books we needed for our China unit, plus some others in one fell...

Two weeks ago we read the story Storm in the Night by Mary Stoltz. This story has subtle beauty. At first read, it seems a simple story about a grandfather and grandson weathering a short, summer thunderstorm, but after reading every day, the depth of the story becomes apparent.   Vocabulary words: errand, bough, mandarin We noticed the words that dealt with color in the text: Navy, Mandarin, etc. Math, Anastasia sorted small items by color, shape and we worked on counting. Tristan is doing well in his math lessons and seems to be understanding that math is important. Science we learned about light and color. We noticed the source of light in the illustrations, and conducted some experiments with light/color. We also learned about thunder storms. In art class we colored white on black paper. Tristan made a beautiful scene inspired by the story illustrations. We also began a sketch log of our baby caterpillars and ladybug larvae that we are growing. The caterpillars are Tris...