Homegrown Learners

I am assisting in a co-op class this semester - Oceans and Continents. The lead teacher is a new friend of mine who does a fabulous job homeschooling her children. She was one of my first homeschooling friends in this area, and I'm grateful to her for her friendship. She helped me get involved in this co-op, and then I found out I was her assistant. God was really working over several months - very cool.

This week at co-op we are talking about Australia. I asked her if I could share one of my FAVORITE stories of all time with the class. If you have never read this book, you should get it from the library and share it with your children. If you're studying Australia - great! If you're not, then great! It's just a good story and teaches about animals of Australia and the digeridoo, a folk instrument. It also offers a great moral.

The Singing Snake has been a part of my library since I taught elementary school. Every group of children I've ever read it to has enjoyed the story.

This is what Good Reads says about the story:

Old Man has become tired of the noisy animals that surround him day and night. So he holds a singing contest to force them to improve their voices. As a prize, Old Man will create a musical instrument in honor of the animal with the best singing voice. Snake realizes that his raspy voice will never win, but by swallowing Lark he fools everyone into thinking that he has her sweet voice. In the end though, it is clever Lark who outwits devious Snake. This retelling of an Australian folktale offers amusing explanations for the origin of the didgeridoo, why snakes hiss, and the phrase "a snake in the grass."

I hope you enjoy the book as much as we have!

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