A Day of Mystery Reading

Read to Me

By Jane Yolen

Read to me riddles and read to me rhymes,

Read to me stories of magical times.

Read to me tales about castles and kings.

Read to me stories of fabulous things.

Read to me pirates and read to me knights,

Read to me dragons and dragon-book fights.

Read to me spaceships and cowboys and then,

When you are finished - please read them again!

There is a preschool where both Miss B and GMan spent many days.   I was so fortunate to find this sweet little school (which wound up being where we would go to church as well) and it occupied a very special place in our lives for five years.   I like to tell the director that this preschool ruined my children for public school!  

In that time I watched my children learn to read, develop friendships, and form relationships with teachers that still love and care about them to this day.  When they walked into the building they received hugs, kisses and warmth.   

For me, being a part of the school was a HUGE part of my life.   I was always very active in their classes, and for two years served as the president of the preschool board.   When I was very ill one year the entire staff and many parents rallied around me and took care of my children, fed my family, and even dried a few of my own tears. 

Just a few weeks ago this school mourned the loss of one of its former students...it was an enormous comfort to sit at this sweet child's funeral with a strong, Godly group of women.  I hated that we were there ~ but I was thankful I was there WITH them.  

{I hope you can tell this place is TREASURED by my family. I am THANKFUL for these "roots" for my children - and thankful for this school that helped me in the early years with my children.}  

My children had the pleasure to "Mystery Read" to each of the classes... which meant they were the surprise guest in the class.   We spent some time earlier in the week choosing books we thought the little ones would like.  (Just going through their picture books took up an hour and we have been reading them all week - it's like visiting old friends.)  Miss B was also asked to play piano for opening chapel... the very same chapel she attended six years ago!  

They read to each class.  As you can see, Miss B is much more experienced!  GMan was very intent on READING the book, and I had to remind him to stop and show the class the pictures and to pull the book down from his face.   By the time the morning was over he was engaging the class and making silly faces for them.   


The teachers thanked the children profusely - most of all they were thankful for their students getting to see children who learned to READ and read well.    

Our Favorite Preschool Read-Alouds:

It's My Turn Smudge!

Harry The Dirty Dog

Hot Rod Hamster

Llama Llama Red Pajama

Not This Bear! 

(If you ever get the chance to purchase Not This Bear!, jump on it!  This is a wonderful old book - we read my copy from childhood.  It is one of our favorite books of all time!)

I treated the kids to a few books from the used bookstore across the street and also a chocolate croissant from The Fresh Market.   I stumbled across Stories of Roland Told to the Children for $.89, too!   

I had to laugh because I told the kids before going into the bookstore to remember that "mom only goes for deals"... meaning I will only buy used books that are CHEAP.    GMan saw a brand new Lego sticker book and asked the woman working in the store if "it was a deal"!    

After a full morning we came home - it was nearly 70 degrees outside, so we sat on the deck and finished Son of Charlemagne (another GREAT read!) and called it a day.

Have I mentioned how I LOVE homeschooling??  (I might also mention I'm EXHAUSTED this week, but I guess that goes with the territory!)

So Many Read-Alouds, So Little Time!

We are a family of readers.   I love that about us.   


Everyone always has a great book with them, and most often we will choose to read or play a game over watching television.   


I also love to read aloud to my children, but lately I've been thinking there aren't enough hours in the day for all the reading that should be done!!


Do you often have two or three books being read aloud at the same time?  We do.  I think that is because I spot a book (or one of the children spots a book) and we just HAVE to start it.  Now.   Because it looks SO good.


We generally read at these times:

• lunchtime - I fix lunch and we sit at the table while I read... it's gotten to be a tradition

• before bed - We try our best to have the house quiet by 8:00 or 8:30, so I (sometimes it is my husband) can sit and read for 30-45 minutes.

• cold, rainy mornings - we've had A LOT of those in Georgia recently.  We put a fire in the fireplace and might just read for an hour or two.  

If you think read-alouds are a waste of good "school" time, I would have you think again.  I can't tell you the amount of knowledge we gain from our read-alouds and how good my children's vocabulary ~and especially their writing~is getting because of the read-alouds.  It is time well spent.  


I have also heard people say their young children can't sit still long enough for read-alouds.  My youngest (now 7) has been listening to complex book for a couple of years.  He always has something to keep him busy - Legos, coloring, blocks, action figures... We have been working on developing this HABIT of ATTENTION in our children (for years now!) and it is paying off in spades.  


Here's what we are currently reading/have read/want to read:

The Phantom Tollbooth - We're almost done with this one!  It's a great book... and very literal at that.   I downloaded it on the iPad and I usually keep it with me if we are going to have be somewhere and wait.  I also like to read this one at lunch time!    The tie-ins with this book for math, social studies, and language are just wonderful and intriguing.  I think every child should have this book read to them at some point before they leave home.  It's a classic.  








Half Magic - This is the first book we've ever read by Edward Eager.  I just ordered another in this series because this one is so good!   I love how this book transports the 4 children in the story to different time periods in history.  They get transported to King Arthur's time - which is perfect, because we're there in history now!  

Knight's Castle - The 3rd in Eager's series... this just arrived in the mail yesterday and I really want to finish Half Magic so we can start this one.  This was recommended for our Medieval studies, as well!  

Son of Charlemagne - This is one we will be starting next week.  It coincides with our Story of The World History (we are learning about the Franks right now). 











Anne of Green Gables - This has been sitting on my daughter's shelf for a little over a year.  I want to read it out loud to her - a special time for the two of us.  I think this will be a little February project for  us.  

What are you currently reading aloud?

   

How much time you spend daily reading aloud?   

I'm happily linking with my friend Amy, at Hope is the Word. Her blog is an AMAZING RESOURCE of read-alouds.  I hope you take a chance to visit her and say hello.  

 

*All book images courtesy Goodreads
*First image courtesy Photobucket

We are Turning Into....

The longer we homeschool, the more we are really turning into.....   unschoolers. Most of our true learning comes in the unplanned moments, spontaneous field trips, and interest led explorations.   


I don't think we're 100% unschoolers... we still are very structed for things like grammar, writing, and math -- but we're much closer than I ever thought we would be!   


The most retention comes from those times when my children take the lead, or when it is some unplanned family educational experience.


The week between Christmas and New Year's we had the chance to stay at a beautiful home in the mountains of North Carolina.


After inquiring about educational opportunities, we discovered Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, NC.   Lo and behold, it is also a Junior Ranger site (Remember how much we loved becoming Junior Rangers? - We did it twice on our recent trip to California)!


The morning of our trip to Sandburg's home, my sister-in-law and I were researching Sandburg and talking to the children about him.  I love it that our extended family can get involved in homeschooling, too.   

We were all quite impressed with the tour of the house and we learned SO MUCH about Carl Sandburg (as well as picking up the great little book pictured above - From Daybreak to Goodnight):

* He wrote many works for children (the most well known being his Rootabaga Stories)

* He was a self proclaimed Socialist (try explaining that concept to your young children!)

* He and his wife had a long, loving marriage - she was also raised prize winning dairy goats.

* He won three Pulitzer Prizes - one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln

The Junior Ranger booklet included lots of information:

There are still many goats at the Sandburg home that are direct descendants of Mrs. Sandburg's prize winning goats.    We could pet them and learn about the different types. 

The home itself is nestled back on a very large property (ironically purchased from a confederate general -- the irony lies in the fact that Sandburg was Lincoln's biographer. It is also ironic that an old socialist like Sandburg could enjoy the fruits of his hard work and purchase a nice tract of land and live quite comfortably.).  It took a whole boxcar to bring all of Sandburg's books to North Carolina when they moved.  We got to see most of those original books.

His home is nestled so beautifully by a lake - our guide told us that Sandburg would many times "go outside and sit in the sun with his shirt off and 'dirty paper'".  My kids thought the expression "dirty paper" was a neat way to say write.  In the summertime local college students still come and act out his Rootabaga stories on the lawn of the house.  I think we might have to make a return trip this summer!

  

Probably the most important thing I learned was that Sandburg's writings for children (and adults) are so lyrical that they just beg to be read aloud.

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on. 

I was reciting this poem on the way home one later afternoon in NC, as the weather was getting VERY foggy... we got to my sister-in-law's house and I snapped this photo.  How cool is that?  It was just one of those very memorable moments when all of our learning comes together.  

This week we are also reading along Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories for children.   They are different than anything else we have read.   I found them as a free download and we have been enjoying a few each day.   With titles like The Potato Face Blind Man Who Lost the Diamond Rabbit on His Gold Accordion and How Henry Hagglyhoagly Played the Guitar with His Mittens On, you can imagine they are pretty silly and off the beaten path.   There is something about them, though, that keeps my children asking for more.  

The children have started a poetry notebook and I made this handy poetic devices reference minibook (thanks, Jimmie!) to go through with them as we read.  (Sandburg is packed with allitteration, personification, and simile!)  They have copied "Fog" and completed a biography notebooking page about Carl Sandburg.   I'm hoping we can add other poets to this notebook this semester.  


I hadn't planned on any of this, and had I been sticking tight to a curriculum/schedule I doubt this learning would have happened.


Once we got home, my husband found a National Geographic movie about the Appalachian Trail (part of which runs through NC), and today GMan chose a book about Appalachia from the library.   North Carolina is also our state to study this week.  This little junket to North Carolina just keeps going and going..... I LOVE IT!

The best thing about homeschooling is being able to learn alongside my children.  Learning as a family has brought us so close together.   It is truly a gift.

Linking up with Amy, at Hope is The Word.