a book and connect-the-dots

Zoe, Ashley, and I are really enjoying a pack of Kumon workbooks that we got at Costco. The connect-the-dots are fun because the kids really can't tell what the picture will become until they've almost reached the number, 100.

Like featuring photos here on the family blog, the videos made by Zoe have proven to be a huge motivation. Everything we've been posting and sharing is extremely exciting for the girls. They are so proud of what they can do, and then they get to talk to family from out of town who have seen their "work." Speaking of which, Zoe is very anxious for me to stop writing and publish this so she can admire it. :-) Love, Kelly

Zoe and Ashley playing school

Zoe and Ashley are absolutely thrilled about this new concept of creating videos of Zoe playing school. Zoe sees herself as "the teacher" and the audience viewing the video are her students. In this video she is reading her class a story from Time4Learning. Then, through watching her own video she feels proud and it reinforces what she can do. Ashley sits beside her listening, watching and encouraging Zoe.

the trumpet of the swan by e. b. white

We recently finished, The Trumpet of the Swan Audio, by E. B. White. I was able to get it from the library, but it was only available on tape. This link is for the disk set.

I really got a kick out of E. B. White's accent, as well as the sound of the trumpet, in the audio version. The story is great also, with themes like courage, honor and love. Louis is a swan who is born without a voice, and Sam is a young boy who becomes a part of his life. To overcome this challenge, Louis, his father, and Sam have some funny, and some serious experiences. E. B. White blends fantasy and reality as Louis the swan learns to read and write, therefore able to communicate with humans like talking. It's altogether enjoyable to hear, especially told by the author himself. Time spent in the car is so much fun! :-)

Little House in the Big Woods

Click for the link: Little House in the Big Woods

Oh my gosh I could eat this book up, you guys! We actually finished it a week ago, so I'm a little late in posting about it. We also read it in just one week, because it was so good, we couldn't put it down. But before I get to all of our favorite chapters, I have to preface by saying that I could have done without the first few, which are entirely about hunting. And you could totally skip those parts; it wouldn't effect the story of the book. However, Zoe wanted to hear them, so we listened, and I really don't know how the Wilder family could have survived the winter in Wisconsin (at that time) otherwise.

As with all the great books we've read, there were times when Zoe and I looked at each other, like, "Ahhh! That's a bad word." (the word stupid was used in older books and classics) Or we would go, "Ahhh! We don't do that!" (they also used to spank, and we don't) But we know that these old books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, are stories about American history, and while we may not live our lives as they did, there is a lot we can learn from them, and beauty to be found.

There are so many moments of joy and love, in the lives of this family, in Little House in the Big Woods. Simple pleasures, like the cozy log cabin, alone in the big woods, snug in the snowy winter, and a wood fire burning, are charming visual images. There was cooking with Ma, homemade dolls, clothing and blankets, falling asleep listening to Pa's fiddle and songs, Christmas time, and our favorite, the "sugar snow," when the maple trees were ready for collecting maple syrup, and the dance at Laura's grandparent's house that follows.

This book would be worth reading, if only for the chapter about the dance at Laura's grandparent's house, not that we didn't find many other lovely chapters. Still, this one is so delicious. The horse drawn sleigh with bells, the view through the woods in the early morning, the way the sun rose through the trees on the way... it's so beautiful. We savored every moment of it. Then we read it to Andy that evening, and we read it again the next day :-) And then, we moved on, though I'm sure we'll be going back to it again soon! But first I think we'll finish Little House on the Prairie, which we have already begun.

our homeschool couch ;-)

I've been noticing that while most of our friends homeschool in the morning, we've been on an afternoon kick for quite some time now. Zoe and Ashley find so much creative and imaginative play to do in the morning, not to mention arts and crafts, that we've been saving our "work" for after lunch, when they start loosing steam. Zoe likes reading and writing in our journal, so this is a fun and relaxing time. In fact, sometimes she does it by herself. (Sometimes she asks me how to spell words, and sometimes she writes it herself and it's too funny; I'll have to post one of those.)

We all sit on the couch, even Cherry, the dog, and Anna, the babydoll. Ashley has been really starting to pay attention too. She looks at a book of her own, or listens to us, copying what we do. Above she is pretending to read while we read, and below she is pretending to write while we write. (These are my new reading glasses by the way, though I'm wishing I could have bought the cheap-os at the grocery store, rather than these, from the optometrist. I can't stand spending money.)

Here we are again, not actually reading, just using the book as a reference for our narration. Zoe cracks me up with the details she remembers, like exact lines from the book, and names of places, such as Pepin, which I had forgotten. She could also tell me that the candy from Pepin was "heart-shaped" and that the impressions in the snow were called, "pictures." What can I say? I'm Zoe and Ashley's biggest fan :-) 

Zoe adores showing her journal to visitors. Like a photographer documenting through pictures, this book is Zoe's proof of experiences, and things she's learned. And yes, your eyes don't deceive you, Zoe had to wear this clothing ensemble two days in a row, because it was just that fabulous, hahaha!

Does this one really need any words? No.

The Hello Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window was the 2006 Caldecott Award winner. Dear friends of ours gave it to us for Zoe and Ashley's birthdays that year. I didn't actually know it was a Caldecott winner until last summer when I bought it as a present for our neighbor's daughter, and saw the gold sticker. It is such an awesome book. It was instantly a favorite in our house. We've read it so many times that we quote the book :-) "You can be happy and sad at the same time you know. It just happens that way sometimes." And of course, as pictured above, "When I get tired I come in and take my nap and nothing happens until I get up." hahaha!

As the story and writing are wonderful, equally lovely are the pictures. I just want to jump right in! I would love to know Nanna and Poppy, visit their house in town, and look through their kitchen window to, "see if it's going to rain or be nice."

A side note, on the subject of reading - the book I read when I began homeschooling and have used to teach Zoe to read is: Teach a Child to Read With Children's Books (thanks to Amanda for recommending it!) Simply put, the technique is to just read to your children, from the time they are born. Read, read, and then read some more. At some point we started using our finger as we read, so Zoe could follow the words with her eyes as we spoke (she was probably 3 when we began using our finger as we read). I found I read slower this way, pausing on the first and last words of a sentence so she really sees them. As she picks up more and more "sight words" she enjoys saying them for me when I come to them in the text. There is no pressure, and no pain in learning to read naturally like this. Reading is as it should be, a pleasure.

A Scandinavian Christmas

Our move to Colorado last fall put us at quite a distance from our East Coast family. Celebrating holidays on our own has compelled us to start our own traditions. I am half Danish, so we have been investigating the Christmas customs of Scandinavia. Andrew isn't at all Scandinavian, but he is just as interested. He says this is because, "There isn't any place more Christmassy than Scandinavia!"

One enchanting Danish tradition is the story of the Jul nisser or Christmas spirits. They are small like elves, bearded with a red cap like Santa, but unlike these better known American characters a nisse is full of mischief. If you do not leave them their customary bowl of Christmas Eve rice pudding they can be trouble! Nisser (pronounced "niss-uh") are also found in Norway. In Finland these are known as the tonttuja, and in Sweden they are the tomtar.

When Andy's parents were here, his mom brought these supplies for she and the girls to make their own nisser. She is amazing with craft projects, and when she heard about our Scandinavian Christmas, which we began last year, she jumped right in. After seeing nisser just like these in a Pottery Barn catalog for 20 dollars a piece, she collected supplies to make our own.

Then she and Zoe sat at the kitchen island and glued the felt to plastic cups. They used small close pins to hold the felt while it dried. Next they glued on the wool for a beard, which came from Andy's aunt's farm in Virginia. After the wool, they attached the hats, and finally the nose and black felt feet. Aren't they cute?! This morning we made one more and set them up on our shelf, beside the sticks we collected.

We have also purchased a few books which are already becoming our family tradition to read in December. They are written by Astrid Lindgren, who you may know from the book, Pippy Longstocking. These books are from 1961 and 1963, and they are so full of charm. One book prominently features the nisse, and is titled, The Tomten . The other book is more of a peak into Christmas in Scandinavia, through the eyes of the children in Noisy Village. It is called Christmas in Noisy Village . Both books contain delightful illustrations.

Note:

If you fall in love with these books as we have, you may also consider The Children of Noisy Village , and Happy Times in Noisy Village . They are wonderful children's novels, suited for any time of year. The writing style reminds me of Eloise, if you are familiar with those books, which I grew up reading with my mom. The girls just love to curl up on the couch while we read these to them in the evening after dinner.