Tag: storybooks

A High-Five Week

Diana B.1 Comment

Laurel’s week was full of high-flying, High-five! moments.

1. On Tuesday, she had her very first piano lesson. High-five!

Prior to the lesson, which was at 3 p.m. with Miss Amanda, Laurel was very, very excited. I was certain she couldn’t possibly be that excited about anything else ever.

I was wrong.

After her piano lesson, Laurel was even more excited. I literally had to give her a long hug to restrain her from possible accidental self injury. She was that excited.

She loves Miss Amanda. She loves her new book. She loves practicing her song. And she loves music.

2. On Wednesday, after her reading lesson, I told Laurel I thought she was ready for the Bob Books. High-five!

Older sister Linnea fondly remembers these books in great detail, even though it’s been three years since she last read them — and so she had created for Laurel an intense curiosity about the books several weeks ago. Needlesstosay, great anticipation preceded this literary milestone.

3. Laurel immediately fell in love with the Bob Books. High-five!

She read two of them right away and two more later that day. She carried four of them around all day and even read them in the car!

4. Wednesday evening was Parent Night for Awana Cubbies. High-five!

Both Mom and Dad “shadowed” Laurel throughout the evening as she went from crafts to puppets to coloring to snacks to songs and to story time. Not only did she earn Lov E Lamb patch for her vest, but she also was selected as flag bearer during the Pledge of Alligence. I’m pretty sure her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. (Photo courtesy of my hubby’s cell phone.)

5. After Awana, we picked up and installed a headboard for Laurel’s bed. Don’t ask me why her bed didn’t already have a headboard. I really have no idea and only vaguely remember moving her to a big bed. Was she 2 or 3? I don’t recall. But evidently,when you are 5, receiving any furniture — even very dull furniture — in one’s bedroom is exceptionally exciting, especially when it is late at night.

6. Thursday morning was Laurel’s dance class, during which Miss Desiree had all the girls act out a very lively and imaginative fairy dance adventure. High-five!

Only a few days before Laurel had seen the new Tinkerbell movie, and she and Linnea have been fairy-crazy all week. Hooray for dance instructors who are completely in step with what little girls love to daydream about.

7. On Friday morning, Laurel launched construction on the Starlight School spaceship. High-five!

She busily glued buttons on the control panel and helped me tape together cardboard, styrofoam and aluminum foil. Later, Linnea joined the fun. Together they made a space mural as a backdrop for their intergalactic playtime inspired by the book Regards to the Man in the Moon. The mural even has glow-in-the-dark stars. Like any professional astronauts, they packed extra fuel, food, flashlights, a camera, two healthy imaginations and two Tinkerbell dolls.

When you are 5, that’s a High-five! kind of week.

Oh, LORD, the heavens declare Your glory. Thank You for encouraging and inspiring Laurel this week as she studies the stars, learns how to read, hides Your Word in her heart, praises You with dance, and learns to make joyful noises for You on the piano.

Not Back-to-School: Part 1

Diana B.6 Comments

As a homeschool family, our “back to school” is obviously a little non-traditional. Nobody regularly loads onto a big yellow bus with her backpack and lunchbox in tow, although 4-year-old Laurel did finally get to ride a big yellow bus this summer on a family field trip to a local dairy farm.

She was thrilled! And even without a big yellow bus to catch daily, we have many little thrills to enjoy when school begins!

Our daily routine and pace change once September arrives and activities like dance and art class start up again. And we do have new fall clothes to wear and new school supplies to unwrap. I seriously love buying school supplies. But — best of all — we have new books and curriculum! Some are still arriving in packages on our front doorstep. How thrilling to unwrap it all, crack open those books, and dig in!

In light of that impending excitement and this being “Curriculum Week” for Heart of the Matter’s Not Back-to-School Blog Hop, I’d like to share what books and curriculum we are planning to use this fall. (By the way, if you read this post, I am happy to announce that some of this has just been decided in the last 48 hours. Yippee!)

DOING TOGETHER:

SECOND GRADER

PRE-SCHOOLER (turning 5 this fall):

To read the curriculum plans of other homeschool families, click the button below and enjoy the Blog Hop!

http://heartofthematteronline.com/not-back-to-school-blog-hop-2

Reading about Reading

Diana B.1 Comment

Listen up, fellow children’s book lovers! Here are some handy resources for chosing books to read to your kids or to give them to read.

I may have already posted some of these links when I posted about preschool at home, so please forgive me if I repeat myself. 

  1. Choosing the Best Books for Our Children
  2. Children’s Book Mondays
  3. Reading is for Girls
  4. Girls of Character: Teaching Biblical Femininity to the Next Generation through Literature: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV
  5. Reading is for Boys: Part I and Part II
  6. Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
  7. Books Children Love: A Guide to the Best Children’s Literature
  8. Best Books for Girls: 20 Books She Has Loved
  9. List of Best Picture Books: Some Key Titles to Build a Home Library

And since I know how much you love reading about reading — or maybe you don’t — I have to add just a handful of my own favorite children’s books for the record!

Board Books

  • Jesus Loves Me by Debby Anderson
  • God Lives in My House by Melody Carlson
  • God Goes with Me by Melody Carlson
  • God Made Them All by Melody Carlson
  • I Can Count on God by Melody Carlson
  • The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle
  • Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
  • Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
  • Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton
  • Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
  • Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Picture Books

  • Brave Irene by William Steig
  • A Parable about the King by Beth Moore
  • Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
  • A Picture of God: 3 in 1 by Joanne Marxhausen
  • My First Little House Books (adapted) by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Renee Graef
  • The Little Girl and the Big Bear retold by Joanna Galdone, illustrated by Paul Galdone
  • Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
  • A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry
  • Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin
  • Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin
  • A House Is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman and Betty Fraser
  • The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado, illustrated by George Angelini
  • The Way Home: A Princess Story by Max Lucado, illustrated by Tristen Elwell

Early Readers

  • Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik
  • Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
  • Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel
  • Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel
  • Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel

Chapter Books

  •  The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
  • Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
  • Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace
  • Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by Betty MacDonald
  • The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
  • Sarah Whitcher’s Story by Elizabeth Yates

Children’s Bibles

  • Lift-the-Flap Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
  • Lift-the-Flap Bible Adventures by Allia Zobel Nolan
  • My Good Night Bible: 45 Bedtime Bible Stories for Little Ones by Susan L. Lingo
  • The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
  • NIrV Discoverer’s Bible for Young Readers

Well, perhaps that was slightly more than a handful. But really I did it for you, my dear readers!

Quick side note: If you read this post earlier this week, you already know that I am undecided on what to use and what to do with regard to the Bible and history in our homeschool this fall. And now I have another item to add to the confusion: Through the Bible with Your Child . Sigh.

But enough about that. Grab one of these books, plop down in a comfy chair — inside or out — and then snuggle up with your favorite little people. Happy reading, friends!

What to use, what to do?

Diana B.Leave a comment

“What to use, what to do?” That’s the deep question I’ve been asking myself and God lately in regard to homeschool curriculum this fall. I thought I’d have all this settled by now, but I don’t!

A fellow homeschooling friend recently asked me what I’d be using to teach religion/Bible to my 7-year-old second grader. That was a tough one to answer because I haven’t yet figured that out.

The previous two years we have used the materials and Bible lesson plans provided in My Father’s World since Bible study is a big chunk of their curriculum packages. I do not think I’ll be using MFW again until 3rd grade; we used their 2nd grade curriculum this past year so we’ve created a little gap. So now the problem seems to be too many options! And which combination of options is right?

Here’s a list of some the options I’m prayerfully weighing at this point:

  • Reading Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. It’s for ages 4-8. We’ve had this book for a while, and I think it will work fine for both my 4-year-old and my 7-year-old. But it has only 86 lessons, which will get us just part-way through the year.
  • Reading the Bible in 90 days challenge using the Kids’ Devotional Bible. We may just do the reading part and not stress out about the 90-day part. The handy reading plan for 6 to 10 year olds is pretty nifty.
  • Enrolling in Awana at a nearby church (our home church doesn’t offer it yet).
  • Reading this new family Bible called the Mighty Acts of God by Starr Meade. Here’s a fantastic review of it.

On another note, Ann Voskamp, one of my favorite bloggers, just posted this comprehensive list of 29 well-loved picture books for children. And “well-loved” might downplay it a bit. She literally just duct taped many of these back together for her home library! I’ll be studying this list further to see which books might make good birthday and Christmas gifts. 

Ann also happens to be the author of another book I just received in the mail a few days ago. It’s called A Child’s Geography, and I am so thrilled about working through it this fall. 

The “Reaching out to His World” segment is what sold me on the book.

“Knowledge without love is an empty, heartbreaking gong. It would be a very sad state if our young geographers knew much of His world…but had hearts that were indifferent to the people with whom we share our home. What are we without love? Each chapter includes a “Reaching Out” segment that takes the information of  the chapter and places it into a practical context, encouraging geographers to  do something to show His love to His  world.  We are called to be Christ’s hands and heart to a hurting world. Let’s not fail Him!”   -Ann Voskamp, author of A Child’s Geography

Ann’s words were fresh in my mind yesterday when I stumbled upon the site of an organization I had never before heard about: The White Cross, which provides support for missions work in the U.S. and overseas. They offer a downloadable 56-page book of Mission Service Project opportunities, which I’ll be checking into further to see how what service opportunities might be a good fit for our homeschool and perhaps even our church’s children’s ministry.

Spring Reading Thing Part 2

Diana B.1 Comment

If you read this post of mine from early spring, you know what books have been on my nightstand and coffee table for the last several weeks. Now that it is summer, the Spring Reading Thing is officially over, and I’m ready to report back about some of the books on my list.

Top of the Pile

Feathers from My Nest by Beth Moore is a beautiful, heartfelt work that inspires me to savor every moment with my daughters. A long-time fan of Beth’s Bible studies, I was delighted by this peek into her family life and church life, too. Beth is the ultimate storyteller, and so Feathers from My Nest is filled with fantastic stories about bringing up two lovely daughters — some will make you bawl your head off, some will make you roll on the floor, and some will make you do both. I was a little hesitant when I purchased this as an audiobook, but in retropect, I am so glad I did. Hearing Beth read the book while I drove felt like she was riding in the passenger seat of my minivan, telling tales and giving me advice mom-to-mom. It was priceless. 

A Must-Read for Women

So Long Insecurity also by Beth Moore (I do read other authors, I promise!) sheds so much light on women and why we do or say the things we do and say. The book is very worthwhile, and the powerful prayers in it can be life-changing. I started reading Bringing Up Girls while I was still reading this book, and I found several parallels, especially in regard to culture and women. I think God has a powerful message for women of today, and He’s used both Beth Moore and Dr. Dobson to pen it.   

On My Nightstand

Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp is still on my coffee table. I’m only few pages into it, but I plan to make reading it a higher priority since I hear over and over how wonderful this book is.

Also on my reading list are Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson, The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace, Becoming More Than Just a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa Ter Keurst, Grace-Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel, and My Heart’s at Home by Jill Savage.

Reading Aloud

This summer, the girls and I are reading several science books by Gail Gibbons, as well as Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates and Nora Spicer Unwin. Linnea is 200+ pages into The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and she is doing her first somewhat independent Bible devotional: Mona Hodgson’s Real Girls of the Bible. Laurel, meanwhile, is working through Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop and Susan Henson, and she is listening to me read some of The Secret Garden. We’re only on chapter two because we’ve been distracted by Sandra Boyton books lately.

Happy reading!

Our First Robin Tea Party

Diana B.3 Comments

To the First Robin

by Louisa May Alcott

Welcome, welcome little stranger,

Fear no harm and fear no danger.

We are glad to see you here,

For you sing, “Sweet spring is near!”

Now the white snow melts away,

Now the flowers blossom gay.

Come dear bird and build your nest,

For we love our robin best.

Last month spring arrived in the Frozen Tundra. It came early — about a month earlier than usual — and our family celebrated with a First Robin Tea Party on the last day of March. 

These teas are becoming an annual tradition around here, and we have a lot of fun with them. The only rule for our tea party is that everyone in the family must see a robin in our yard before we can have the party. (By the way, we stole this rule, and the whole tradition actually, from my aunt who also raised two girls in Minnesota.)

My daughters each invited one friend to join us. This way the party counted as lunch and two playdates! I would say we killed three birds with one stone, but that just seems disrespectful in a posting about the first robin.

Anyway, on our menu this year was an assortment of daisy sandwiches served with pretzel sticks, fresh strawberries, and cheese sticks. Laurel enjoyed a cucumber sandwich.

Linnea’s was cheese, and we also served a PB&J sandwich to one of our guests.

The day before the party, the girls and I made these edible nests using chow mein noodles mixed with melted chocolate chips and melted butterscotch chips. I forgot to include melted marshmallows, which really help the “twigs” stick together better. But these turned out pretty cute anyway, especially with the chocolate robin egg candies nestled in them.

During the party, we listened to some music — Carmen MacRae’s “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bobbin’ Along;” Joel Hansen’s “Songbird;” and “Carnival of the Animals: Aviary” by Saint-Saëns.

The best highlight of the party, though, was when the girls took turns making their own mud pies with earthworms. Here’s Laurel showing the ingredients for such a pie.

  • small graham cracker pie shells (ours were from Keebler)
  • finely crushed chocolate Teddy Grahams (the dirt)
  • milk chocolate pudding (the mud)
  • gummy worms
  • whipped cream (melting snow)

Stick the worm(s) in first and then assemble as desired for a delicious mud pie!

Prior to the party, my daughters and I read A Nest Full of Eggs, by Priscilla Beltz Jenkins, which would have been great to include during the tea party. And, incidently, we found the robin poem by Louisa May Alcott earlier this year when we read a book called Louisa May and Mr. Thoreau’s Flute, which was also a great book.

Happy spring!

Easter Thoughts

Diana B.Leave a comment

I’m knee-deep into a feature story I’m writing this week before Holy Week, but my brain needs a quick break from all things beef-retail-related. So I thought I’d escape by sharing some random thoughts about Easter.

I love Easter, and one tradition we added a few years ago is telling the passion story with the help of resurrection eggs from ChristianBook.com. (With a little work, you can also make your own.) Our daughters really look forward to opening each egg. I took the eggs to church last year and opened them with my Pre-K/K Sunday School class, and they also were captivated by what was inside.

A few weeks ago I purchased a new Easter book called The Sparrow’s Easter Song, which we’ve already read a few times. It’s a wonderfully written and illustrated story about a sparrow who witnesses Jesus’s death and resurrection and tells all the other animals about it.

Another favorite Easter book just for kids is The Parable of the Lily  by Liz Curtiz Higgs. It paints a beautiful picture of forgiveness and is especially fitting for little girls.

Linnea, Laurel and I are working through a book/music CD called Passion Hymns for a Kid’s Heart to help them learn some of my favorite Easter hymns. This week they’ve been learning “Up From the Grave He Arose,” which has such a lively tune. Hearing it brings me right back to the pews of the Methodist church where I grew up.

I also have a new favorite Easter hymn, one I just learned last year. It’s “Jesus Paid It All,” and I absolutely love this version of it by Kristian Stanfill. You will, too! (Side note: This hymn is not one of those included in the book Passion Hymns for a Kid’s Heart.)

Also, just for fun, check out my cute little snow bunnies in the Good Friday post I wrote two years ago: Whiter Than Snow. They’ve grown so much even since last Easter!

A Dragon Tea Party

Diana B.Leave a comment

dragontea 005

Yesterday we finally had a Dragon Tea Party, which Laurel has been requesting for several months now. We sipped cinnamon plum tea while we nibbled heart-shaped cucumber sandwiches and cheese sandwiches. We ate fiery rings of dragon’s breath (dried cinammon apples) as well as dragon teeth (shortbread cookies) and pink M&Ms leftover from Laurel’s birthday.

dragontea 001

With so much help from Laurel and Linnea, the party required very little no actual planning on my part, and it covered both lunch and storytime. We might have to do a second one with actual, living, breathing guests, but this time around, we were content to have only stuffed dragons present.

dragontea 003

dragontea 002

Once we were as stuffed as our guests, we read three dragon books:

  1. No Dragons for Tea by Jean Pendzowil
  2. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
  3. and, only because Linnea insisted, Peek-A-Boo Bard by Julie Aigner-Clark

And, after all the dragons awoke from their naps, I let the girls watch Pete’s Dragon. Just because. I loved that movie when I was little.

Oh, and by the way, if you read about our Teddy Bear Stay-Cation this summer, I should mention that we have two more additions to our list of teddy bear books. They are:

  1. Where’s My Teddy by Jez Alborough
  2. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen (Laurel’s new favorite)

Happy reading!

Teddy Bear Stay-cation: Day 5

Diana B.Leave a comment

A Teddy Bear Tea Party was the highlight of Day 5, our final day.

XteddyDay5a

We invited five little friends, and their favorite stuffed animals, to join us. Course 1 included assorted bear sandwiches, baby bear cheese bites, carrots and cucumbers. Course 2 consisted of berry and white chocolate scones, clotted cream and fresh berries. And chocolate teddy grahams and gummy bears rounded out Course 3. We also served cinnamon plum tea and lemonade. Lemonade was certainly the favorite with this crowd, but most of them tried the tea. I’ve never hosted a tea for seven kids, ranging in age from not quite 2 to 8, but I was amazed that nobody spilled anything! They were all quite polite! After the tea, we read the book Jenny’s Bear, our favorite story about teddy bears.

XteddyDay5b

Thou Silver Moon with Softer Gleam

Diana B.1 Comment
Exploring the Moon
Exploring the Moon

This week we are continuing our study of space as we focus on the moon. Today we made an enormous 4 ft. 4 in. diameter sun out of orange construction paper, a tiny yellow moon (using a hole puncher), and a very small green planet Earth (about half an inch in diameter). It was humbling to see how huge the sun is and how tiny we are!

Our words to remember this week are “I am the light of the world.” The idea is that as Christians, we are like the moon. We reflect the Son’s light to the world to help show others the Way. We’ve been singing “This Little Light of Mine” all week, and tomorrow we are doing a couple of service projects as a way to let our little lights shine in our community. We’ve also been learning the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King,” talking about waxing and waning, playing with the space men in the sensory tub, and reading books about the moon – Goodnight Moon, Happy Birthday Moon, and Little Bear Goes to the Moon (my favorite!)

By the way, our grapes from last week still aren’t officially raisins, but they are looking less and less grapey every day!