Lionden Landing

Charlotte Mason introduced me to the idea of living books.  Froggy enjoys the ones in her curriculum. So with the recommendations of several friends, I have been reading some living books myself.  The first is Never Fall Down .   It is a novel based on the life of Arn, a Cambodian refuge who is 11 when the Khmer Rouge came into power. Like many living books, this is a fictionalize account based on a real story.  In the novel, Arn tells all the horrible things he endured to survive until by luck he was adopted along with two other boys and brought to America. The book is listed as young adult but is sufficiently graphic that I would say it is not for a sensitive youth. Music is the magic ticket in Arn's life that garnered him the attention he needed to escape. The book ends in 1984 with a speech Arn gave at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York, during which, for the first time, he found release in tears. Since then, Arn has spoken out ...

Here is the modified recipe we used to make our field of Sunflowers.  It is modified from How Mama Brought the Spring Our version is dairy-free Ingredients - Wrappers 4 eggs beaten 1 1/2 c coconut milk 1 cup flour 2 TBS sugar butter for frying Ingredients for Filling 2 eggs beaten 1 TBS applesauce 1 pkg silken tofu - drained well 1/4 c sugar hefty pinch of cinnamon Preparing the Wrapper - Pour, Swirl, Sizzle, Flip Combine eggs and milk, stir in flour and sugar.  beat until smooth Melt butter in non-stick frying pan Pour in about 3 TBS of batter (I use medium scoop - the same as I use to fill my muffin tins) Swirl to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until small air bubbles form on the top of the wrapper and the bottom is golden.  Do not turn over. Sizzle Flip the wrapper brown side up onto a tablecloth or paper towels.  Repeat until all the batter is used up Preparing the filling and blintzes Combine all filling ingredients and mix well Wi...

We have finished the planning stages of our Purim planning and moved into the preparation stage.  We finalized the costumes.  Froggy decided that we all have to be biblical characters even though we are not all from the Purim story.  Froggy will be Queen Esther.  Acorn will be Vashti.  Froggy chose both costumes from her dressup bucket complete with crowns and jewelry.  Daddy will be Haman with a newly purchased costume. And I get to Miriam with her timbrel.  Mine is the only costume to be made.  We have our Mishlach Manot lists finished both those to be hand delivered and those to mail.  The hand-delivered ones will contain hamantashen, truffles (store-bought), chocolate-dipped dried apricots, and spiced nuts.  Froggy is working on decorating the coffee cans we are recycling into our containers.  And of course while we complete all these preparations, we are reading all our favorite Purim stories.  We added a couple of new...

I just got our renewal notice in the mail for PJ Library . Sometimes deciding whether or not to renew a subscription is a difficult choice.  Not with PJ Library.  Anyone who is a long time reader of this blog has heard me sing the praises of the various books as they have arrived.  Each book individually is (generally) a treasure.  Have a wonderful surprise come in the mail for your child each month without you planning anything is a treasure.  Building a library of Jewish stories is priceless. I remember reading All of A Kind Family in third grade.  While it is a quality book and should be loved for that reason alone, what made it so special and wonderful for me was that it was about Jewish children.  I at already eight years of age and living in a significantly Jewish neighborhood had never before encountered Jewish literature. I am thrilled beyond thrilled that Froggy at only five and not even living in a Jewish neighborhood has already a signi...

I have not posted lately about our map work.  We have still been plugging along.  Location makes a huge difference though.  We repainted our dining room and the map is no longer in the room.  It is now with the other circle time posters.  Froggy has not looked at it or mentioned at all since the move except during map time. This week we started a new American Girl book, Meet Kirsten .  In the book she and her family travel from Sweden to Minnesota.  Froggy knew on her own that journey is during "Frontier times" but it made a special connection when I told her that Kirsten is a little girl at the same time that Laura and Mary's (Ingalls) Ma was a little girl.  (Remember we are still working our way through Little House on the Prairie - we move through it at a snails pace) Since our regular weekly map this term is only the United States, we had to go to our big map on the wall to find Sweden and trace their journey across the Atlantic Ocean....

Evening Under The Stars is fast approaching. We volunteered to make two Shadow Children which will be auctioned off at the event. Each Shadow Child represents one of the almost 400 CASA kids served by PWC this year. We started with the blank form. Froggy decided that these children were going to be modeled after the first two CASA kids she ever met. To her that meant a boy with red hair and a girl with long black hair. . We rummaged through my scrap box and found some clothing for them. Froggy cut out the backing to stiffen up the fabric. Then we dressed them both. Their shoes are made of construction paper. We traced the feet and then cut the shoes out. Froggy wanted the little girl to wear Mary Janes like she does but then for some reason wanted to give her laces like the boy as well. I nixed that idea since these are to be auctioned off. Giving them their hair was easy and fun. We used yarn and gave the boy curls and the girl long dark locks. Their faces were very...

I have to say I love where I live. Being so close to the Nation's Capitol and all these free wonderful museums makes homeschooling on a budget super easy. Froggy fell in love with Art recently after hating from birth. Isn't this auspicious timing? So I am having a vacation from planning, preparing and doing while both Froggy and I are having a great time learning Art History, Art Technique, Geography and History. This week was week two of our tour of Italy. I cannot say enough good things about this program. Every little detail is thought of in advance to make the experience as meaningful and fun as possible. We had the same docent for our visit as last week . This week we visited Florence although we learned/saw very about the city. The focus was on the artist and the techniques he used. We read A Boy Named Giotto and learned not only of his amazing life stories but the interesting techniques he used to create his masterpieces. The story was much longer than one w...

We took a trip today as Froggy would say "in our imaginations" to Venice. We participated in the Stories in Art program at the National Gallery of Art. It was an incredible experience. The journey started in one gallery where the docent read Gaspard on Vacation to an entranced audience of approximately 20 children. In the story Gaspard goes on vacation to VeniceThey visit museum, after museum, after museum. Bored, Gaspard spots a red kayak in the canal and takes off in it heading down the waterways. But Gaspard is far from being an experienced kayaker and crashes into a gondola, which causes its occupants to land headfirst in the canal. Frightened, he runs and hides in a church. But the police arrive, reunite Gaspard with his family and they all head off to a restaurant to have "the best spaghetti in the world." After the story, the children began their "vacation in Venice." The docent led them to a different gallery where they viewed The Entrance t...

It is still a new strange feeling to be much less in control of the reading that is going on with Froggy. We go to the library and she has her own definite opinions. Luckily for me she has been interested again in Little House on the Prairie and we are once again able to follow Laura as she they settle into their new home. Froggy received King Solomon and the Bee in the mail this week thanks to PJ Library . We picked it up on the way out of the house and she read part of it to me in the car. It sparked an interest in an old favorite, And Shira Imagined, also from PJ Library which Froggy has read to me multiple times this week. To me it was a wonderful statement on her culture rather than ability that she was able to read "kibbutz" with no problem by struggled with construction. Rereading And Shira Imagined was fun for a variety of reason first because Froggy read it to us rather than us to her. Now that she is reading it, she is also focusing more on the book and goin...

Every homeschooling family I know what ever the flavor or philosophy loves the library and we are no exception. I had not realized quite how much until I was forced to do without. We are currently on an extended visit with my mother. We did the same thing last summer and therefore were somewhat prepared. This summer is different. My mom's library is closed while they move to their new expanded, magnificent facility. Great for the town, great for the library, not so great for us. We have been here 4 weeks already and may be here two more. Six weeks with no new books is beyond comprehension for Froggy. We made a trip to a local used bookstore and picked her up some books to tide her through till we get home. As for myself, I am so used to pulling up the library page and requesting a book I find interesting while surfing so it is ready for us on our next trip. I cannot do that right now since it will be so long before we can pick them up. I am keeping a running list of books ...

Two different public library systems put out "100 Books Your Child Should Hear before Kindergarten" lists here and here . While there are many books on both lists, there are also some differences. There is no documentation I was able to find regarding how the lists were composed for either library. Still we are always looking for recommendations for good books and chances are these are good books. That being the case I went through and compiled both lists into one, removing duplications. I ended up with 164 books which means that while there were some duplications, there were lots of differences as well. Many of the ones that were duplications were also the obvious ones that we have already read. I think I like the list from Tacoma Public Library better simply because more of the books we have not read looked interesting. As well there were fewer on that list that we had read and not liked. There are a few on the combined list that we read so long ago when Froggy was ...

I love to read but frequently find myself in a rut. Well this year I am breaking out. I pledge to read nine book in nine categories in 2009. The challenge is simple and was inspired by Ruth . Pick any nine categories of books. Choose your books in each category. Start reading. Change the list as it works for you. Keep track of the books you read in each category. When I first decided to do this, I did not think it all the way through. It did not sound so hard. In making the lists, I realize what a true challenge it will be. 81 books that is an enormous amount of reading to cram into my busy life. But if I succeed, I will be a much more literate person able to converse on interesting topics. Here is my tentative category list. I will add books to it as I think of them. I have also added links to my reviews of completed books for those I have written. Educational Theory The Well Trained Mind Oak Meadows How Children Learn* The Laughing Classroom Raising The Spirited Child ...

You probably remember these from your childhood, a record (yes I am showing my oh so advanced age) that would ding when you needed to turn the page. I had a few Disney stories that I would listen to over and over again. By the time I found these I was reading on my own even at the level these books were and still loved having the record read to me. These days everything is digital and so there is a much larger selection than my parents could find for me. Our local library has a large collection of read-along books for children, with stories geared to all different age levels and attention spans. These books are perfect for long car trips. Froggy does not like ride in the car. She does a better job of it now that she is older but it is still not an enjoyable activity for her. Planning long car trips for a family is a major ordeal. We have two scheduled in the next six weeks. My solution - hit the library and stock up on these special books. I start early. Read them at home wit...

Please help send congratulations to Kris and her two little girls who will receive Animal Boogie as well as Heidi and her boisterous family who will receive Llama Llama. I tried to use the random number generator to choose the winner. After 3 tries where it picked a winner I could not contact, I gave up and picked based on who had valid contact information. I hope you have enjoyed all the book giveaways as much as I have. I did not win anything despite many many entries. I did find many new fun blogs to enjoy though. That alone has made it worthwhile to me. I hope all the people who have won here enjoy their books. Whether you won or not I hope you come back to visit often.

Congratulations to Tracy of Frugal Fairie . She is now the proud owner of Super Natural Cooking. Her spicy vegetable soup was truly inspiring. She has lots of fun recipes and frugal ideas on her site so go check her out and tell her congratulations while you are at it.

Here is a midweek pick-me-up to continue the joy of Book Giveaway Week. This one if for the little ones. Do you have a little one in your family? Then share with them the joy of books. I will pick two winners. Tell me which book you want and bit about the child with whom you read. Earn extra chances to win by posting about this giveaway in your blog - leave the link to your post in a comment. Earn a third chance to win by subscribing to this blog. Winners will be announced Monday morning. Animal Boogie will let you shake, shimmy and boggie-woogie-oogie with the creatures of the Indian jungle! Enjoy a tale that is bright and fun, wacky and exotic! The vibrant, fun illustrations in this book are packed full of jungle animals to find and count. The rhyme bounces alo ng introducing a colorful collection of intriguing animals through lively word play and repetition. A musical score is included in the book. In this sequel to Llama Llama Red Pajama, llama llama gradually learns to b...

I love to cook. I love to experiment. So now I turn to you all inspire me. I want to see what you feed your family. And you can win Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson. This lovely cookbook can help everyone get more real food into the family. Heres how to enter. 1. Post a recipe on your blog 2. Leave the link below in Mr. Linky 3. Place link to this contest somewhere on your blog. You must do all three to be a valid entry. And check back often. There will be lots more books to win all week.

Please all help me congratulate PS . She is now the proud owner of Cooking with Herb . Thank you to all who entered. Keep an eye her for lots more giveaways. Monday starts book week giveaway.

It's hard to believe that time is going by so quickly, but here it is already - the big Fall 2008 Bloggy Giveaway kicks off today, and you're invited. Click on the link (going live at 8am CST) to participate in literally hundreds of great bloggy giveaways. . For my own giveaway this time I'm giving away something that combines my three favorite things in life; children, books and cooking. Cooking with Herb is a companion book to Herb, The Vegetarian . Bright, funny watercolor, crayon, and pen-and-ink illustrations set the tone for a happy time in the kitchen. Grand-Ma-Ma Flora, Squat, Haggis, Gorse and Meathook, help Herb the Dragon prepare such vegetarian specialties as Spaghetti Sandwiches (a frittata of pasta, eggs and cheese), Veggie Sailboats and Radical Dragon-Salsa. To enter the drawing leave me a comment telling me your favorite book, recipe or childhood moment and be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win. While you are here, relax and look around...

Today's edition of Friday's Finds is a bonus round. In the past few years, there has been a big push to get children reading "chapter books" independently earlier and earlier. The books the child is capable of reading a junk with no meaningful plot, lousy language and flat characters. There is no reason for this. Finally sense is returning and parents are slowly moving away from this trend. That does not mean that children cannot or should not be exposed to longer stories or books during preschool and early elementary. Parents can and should read these books with the children. So what books I hear you ask? Well... First there is All-of-A-Kind Family . This is one of the very few books I remember reading and enjoying over and over again when I was in early elementary. We are reading it with Froggy now. The chapters are short enough and captivating enough that we can make it through a chapter in one or two sittings. Yet the language is rich and the story spa...