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The Joy of Reading – Elementary Homeschooling – 4 Recommended Chapter Books

November 1, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

I thought we’d talk a bit today about elementary reading, for homeschooling kids or not. Last March I blogged about our then six year old triplets reading their first chapter book, Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale. Since then, they have continued to do lots and lots of reading, in the forms of shorter books, magazines, game directions, and what books their big sister has had in her gigantic collection for their age. Since March though, our library trips have consisted of other exciting and urgent items on our reading or viewing list. So just recently did we come around to getting back to the wonderful travels and tales of Nicholas, which is the series of books written by our local, gifted children’s author, Peter Arenstam.

Book One of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale.

Book Two of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Maine Tale.

The adventures and New England travels continue in Book Three, Nicholas – A New Hampshire Tale.

….and there are yet still more to the Nicholas series to request, and wait for that exciting phone message, ‘This is the library calling….the books you have requested are in, and we will hold them for you. Please pick them up at your earliest convenience. “

We also picked up another charming children’s chapter book, Poppy and Ereth, by Brian Floca, which the kids found as much entertainment and amusement in.

It’s easy to understand why! Just the cover alone entices me enough to want to curl up on the couch with some cocoa, and read it…if I had time for such a thing this time of year. Here is a description of the book, Poppy and Ereth.

Poppy, a deer mouse, and Ereth, a grumbling porcupine, have been the best of friends for as long as the animals of Dimwood Forest can remember. An unstoppable pair ever since they defeated the tyrannical owl, Mr. Ocax, Poppy and Ereth have enjoyed many happy adventures together. But when a swirl of bitter winter storms buries Dimwood Forest in snow and Poppy’s husband, Rye, dies suddenly, all Poppy wants is some privacy. “Dancing doorknobs,” Ereth mutters to no one in particular, “how can she not want to see me?” As he waddles back to his log, Ereth fears he may have lost his dear friend forever.

But Ereth has not lost Poppy, at least not yet. As the ground begins to thaw, life returns to Dimwood Forest and Poppy ventures out in search of excitement. Suddenly, swooped up by Luci the bat, Poppy is flying high over the forest and unexpectedly embarks on her greatest adventure. Meanwhile, Ereth, left to his own devices, manages to convince himself that Poppy has died and, as only the old porcupine can do, sets about to give her the best memorial service the forest has ever known.

The last episode of the Poppy stories, poppy and ereth is a rousing adventure befitting one of the great heroines of children’s literature as well as a final, heartwarming celebration of the life, love, and friendship of two most unlikely companions.

There is a follow up book to this one, titled Poppy Returns.

All 3 chapter books, were eagerly consumed, page by page, by all 3 of the little ones, even in time to be returned for their first due date! No need to renew, because they were all done. Which says something, because with the Nicholas series being books by a local author, their regular ample time is not allowed for the books to be out! Regardless, they really, really enjoyed not only reading them, but discussing the adventures of this charming mouse, the predicaments he finds himself in, and the friends he meets in his travels to reclaim his family’s journal. Lots of chatter about Nicholas and his friends, as well as Poppy and Ereth. It’s like having our own In-House Kid’s Book Club!!

I am all about kids getting lots (and lots) of exercising….running and jumping, swinging and swimming, climbing and shooting (hoops, that is),…… but you’ll never hear me complain for a moment about a kid sitting around and reading for awhile either. I am so glad our kids find SO MUCH JOY and THRILL OF ADVENTURE and wonderment, within the pages of books, the way they do.

These books are truly delightful reads, for any children, anywhere. But if you are from New England, as we are, they are all the more special. Wishing your children hours of enjoyment, lost in their vivid imaginations through these beautiful and adventurous, fun-filled tales.

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{O}’s Eye Injury Update

October 23, 2009 By Laura 5 Comments

So here’s the update and story on {O}’s eye, which turned out to be an injury: When we got home from our field trip on that Thursday, I took yet another look at her eye, which was never easy, because she was having a very hard time letting it be open at all. The light really bothered it, and she had been saying it hurt some too. But I finally caught a quick glimpse of a problem on the surface of her eye. It was not smooth and glossy as an eyeball should be! Like, something was not right with her eyeball. What I thought was a sty under her eyelid was still there as well, as tiny as it was. But I was realizing, in light of the days events, that any sty was not the problem.

(After seeing pedi and eye specialist.)

Off to the Doctors to Have Here Eye Checked

It was too late to get her to the doctors, and anyway, she buzzed right from the bathroom to her bedroom to put on her pajamas the second she could….she wanted to go to sleep a.s.a.p. Just as she had done all the way home (it was a longish ride)—it was exhausting trying to hold her good eye open, and she just wanted to rest her eyes and go to sleep. So I let her do that, but first thing the next morning, on Friday, she was off to the doctors .

I am always the one to take the kids to the doctors myself (I just prefer to, so I don’t miss a thing where the kids are concerned), but ‘walk-in clinic’ at my pediatrician’s is early in the morning, and I knew Michael could be ready much faster, so he took her. Anyway, by now I was expecting the diagnosis to be a small scratch in her eye, and come home with some ointment. I told him to keep that cell phone on.

The Diagnosis

So he took her, and I called him as soon as I thought they ‘might possibly’ be out of the appt. Michael answered his cell and said “We just walked out of the door, and we are actually now heading to a specialist!” Me > “WHAT? You are kidding me!”. He explained that the pediatrician on call that morning did a routine test to check for an eye abrasion: They put some dye in the eye, and put a special light on it, and it shows where the scratch is. What he saw, was a large circle right over the front of her eye, a bit larger than the inside size of a pea, split in half.

WOW! Man was I feeling like a terrible mother right about then.

It was confirmed at the eye specialist. There was a large circle abrasion on her eye, right over the cornea! Both the pedi and the specialist were shocked that she had injured her eye so severely, in light of how she said it happened. Which….by now I am sure you are really wondering too. So let’s go back to Wednesday night…..the night before the field trip.

The Backstory: How She Hurt Her Eye

On Wednesday night the kids were very excited about their field trip next day, and were talking back and forth in their bedroom (which is not unusual anyway.) We heard them. But next thing we know, {O} is out of the bedroom saying she has something in her eye. This happens to {J} ALL of the time, because he always manages to rub his eye with his hand, and fold over his long eye lashes into the corners of his eye. Michael was right there, so he took her in the bathroom and looked around in there….looking for anything: a fuzzy, an eyelash…something in her eye. Nothing. So he told her to go back to bed, close her eyes, and go to sleep. And that’s just what she did.

Of course…..as I told you in the field trip post, the next morning she was laughing and gabbing, but was keeping that eye closed. So I asked her about it, she told me again that it felt like something was in it. That’s when I took another look, and only found what looked like that little sty. But I asked her again then, why it started bothering her in bed the night before, and she said, “I don’t know. I was laying on my belly, propped up on my elbows, with my hands under my pillow, and the boys were talking and they made me laugh. When I laughed, I put my face down into my pillow, but I forgot to close my eyes first. (lol). As soon as I lifted up my head, it felt like there was something in my eye. “

As crazy as it sounds, to you, to me, to 2 doctors…..yes, she scratched her eye that badly, taking off a layer, with the top of her pillow! I am sure she turned her face too….but still. Who would think it? I have advised her to close her eyes first next time….but you know….too-little-too-late-never-thought-to-give-her-that-advice-on-laughing, until now.

So…..the specialist put medicine in it, bandaged it up pretty good, and we were instructed to keep her still and quiet all day, and bring her back the next morning. So on Saturday morning, I brought her back, after a sleepless night filled with guilt and fear my little girl would go blind from that sunny day at the orchards. <sigh>. By Saturday morning, the doctor said it had healed a little bit, and to spend another day doing the same (still, quiet and rest), take the patch off for Sunday, put ointment in it 3x a day, and bring her back on Monday afternoon.

Love and Care

So here she is on that first Friday, she was really just wiped out. It was just hard keeping one eye open, it was still hurting (if I asked her) and I think she was still recovering from all of the effort the day before at the orchards and out to lunch. But what did do my heart so good, was to see how her siblings reacted to her being hurt. They took such good care of her the whole weekend. They laid with her, they got her a drink or a tissue when she needed it, they checked on her and kept quiet-ish for her.

They took turns helping to feed her, so she didn’t have to try and see where this or that was on her plate.

{S} worked so hard at the table for a good part of the day, making her seasonal flags to have around her to cheer her up. (If she opened her eyes, I guess.) Above is the autumn one. But yes, there was a spring, summer and winter one around her as well. (It bugs me that seasons are not supposed to be capitalized! I was shocked when I learned that. It still looks wrong to me. Why are days of the week, and months of the year capitalized, but not seasons of the year? But I digress.) How sweet is that flag?

Oh…my sweet Girl. When she was tired of lying down, she would sit up for awhile like this.

Sometimes, the kids would read her some of her favorite stories.

On Saturday, I let her get up and walk around a little. Stretch her legs and get some air outside. As long as she walked slowly and carefully, and remained quiet-ish. She wasn’t as tired as she had been, so she was looking better to me.

Over the weekend, I had been conversing with a photographer/optometrist friend of mine online. She told me ‘I have seen this kind of eye injury bring grown men to their knees, time and time again! With an abrasion that big, I give them a prescription of strong pain medications (she named a kind….which I wouldn’t remember), and it’s not unwarranted in cases like these.‘ I was shocked. And I felt even worse.

But that’s the thing about {O}. She has always been a really tough cookie. I recalled one of many examples, at a time when she was 2 or 3 years old….she had gotten that ‘nurse’s elbow’. You know…where the elbow gets out of the socket somehow? It needed to be re-set. The doctor told her, “This is going to hurt, but it’s going to be fast.” {O} said “O.K”…..and in that moment, I saw her go to another place. Her eyes glazed over, and she like….mentally blocked out the pain. Or something. The doctor popped it, and she didn’t even as much as flinch. The doctor said “WOW! <laugh> She is one-tough-kid! I have never done that in all of these years, without the child not crying after. It really hurts!” She’s something else. To think she took on that big field trip and really made the best of her day too…..she’s something else.

Sunday we did indeed take the patch off, and kept ointment in it. By Monday, it had really healed nicely. Which really just amazed me once again, about God’s amazing design of the human body, and it’s ability to heal as it often does. Her eye is at some risk of re-injuring in the future, but usually that is the case with more of a deep abrasion. She’s looking pretty much good as new, and I thank God for it! Being a photographer, I do see a small inconsistency in the reflection on the surface of her eyes when the light hits it just so, but no one else would likely ever notice that. She did fail her recent vision test in that eye at her 7 year old check up, but she has a real eye doctor appointment coming up in early December, and I expect there will be a big improvement.

Thanks you so much, for reading this whole post, if you did. It was seriously like therapy for me to type that out! <sigh> We have been pretty crisis-free, considering we have 4 kids, so this was a BIGGIE in our family. Especially for the head-worrier (as opposed to warrior, lol) of the family….ME! But we got through it…….she’s ok……..and we thank God for His healing.

On a HUMOROUS NOTE: Several days after she had gotten her patch off, she came to my bed in the morning, asking to have ‘a little cuddle”. So I let her crawl into my bed, and we started talking. She started telling me again how it happened that she hurt her eye, and in the process of literally showing me, she hit me square in the eye with her elbow. I didn’t want her to know how much it hurt, so I acted like it didn’t. But awhile later I had a black eye. lol. A few minutes later she came walking towards me talking…“Mama, do you think maybe later on I could….<sees me>……Oh SSHHOOT!” She was so cute…I just hugged and kissed her. After what she had been through the past several days, I wasn’t about to complain about a black eye.

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Lookout Farm – Natick, MA – Homeschooling Field trip

October 20, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

We recently took a day off from school and work, to enjoy the fall season and have a field trip. The real perk for this trip, was we were first meeting up with a family member to spend the day with us. We all headed to The Lookout Farm, in Natick, MA.

We’d never been there, and boy was it a beautiful place. The main attraction of this place was that it had all kinds of orchards, to ‘pick your own’. Not only several kinds of apples, but lots of other varieties of fruit in their respective seasons, as well as pumpkins of course.

For our trip, there were several varieties of apples, peaches, and pears ready to pick. Besides the orchards, there was a huge outdoor play area, some farm animals to see, and a country store of sorts. A trolley brought you from from the orchards to the animals and play area and back again to the store. It was a really, really nice place to spend such a beautiful fall day.

The kids really enjoyed finding apples that looked great to pick. We really didn’t need as much as they would have loved to pick. They were $2.50 a pound.

And with apples that were the size of these, it was easy for the pounds to add up. I’m not sure how well you can tell, but this apple was huge in {O}’s little hand. Honestly, I had never seen apples so big. Made us wonder. :/

What really, really captivated me at this place, were the grapevines. All of the orchard rows branched off of these grapevine covered walkways, and there were LOTS and lots of them. The smell on the air was so sweet.

Before I get any further here, I have to point out that you will notice that {O}’s eyes are closed in most all of the photos, and they were most all of the day! She had gotten up shortly after going to bed the night before, saying it felt like something was in her eye. Michael checked it, and found nothing. She went back to bed, went right to sleep, and had an uneventful night. The next morning, the day of this trip, she got up, was chatting up a storm, happy as a clam, but wouldn’t open her her eye, and it was tearing. I asked her about it, and she said it still felt like there was something in her eye. I laid her down and with good light, looked again, and found what I thought was a sty under her top eyelid. No biggie. So we carried on with our field trip plans. It was a BRIGHT sunny day and it turned out, the brightness was too much for her. I could not understand it…..for a sty!?

But, it was with good reason, in the end! That story-post will be coming up in the Big Picture next. But take note how she still was all smiles all day, she picked fruit, played on the playscapes, laughed and had herself a wonderful and fun day, never complaining. Because if/when you read the upcoming post, you’ll be surprised.

On the trolley that brought us from orchard to orchard, etc. It was such a nice ride, following the wide brick paths throughout the farm, making stops at all of the attractions.

Some of the animals we saw that day….

Like many of the animals there, this donkey had a wood sign hung up with his name carved out of it. His name was JACK.

I wondered out loud, “Oh….His name is Jack. How clever. I wonder what his last name is.” A father nearby shot me the funniest look. lol. I was just wondering! ; )

We were pretty impressed with this huge hay pyramid in the play area. There was also a burlap maze.

I didn’t take photos of it all, but it was a great play ground.

{O} wore sunglasses most of the day, to help keep the brightness out of her eyes. I peeked in a few times though, and she was still keeping them mostly closed. I was puzzled and growing concerned. Hmmmmm.

There was this kiddie caterpillar ride, that went around the whole entire play area, which really was pretty big. {A} was a good sport to go with the kids. I just felt better.

The driver seemed to be a cool dude though. I talked to him for several minutes before I let him take my kids for a spin.

No driving record; no speeding tickets or accidents, and he seemed to enjoy his job.

{O} up in the tree-house, still all smiles.

Look at this thing!! I thought it was so cute.

But what I was really drawn to….

….were the stairs….and specifically, the natural railings. I am all about ‘simple, rustic, imperfect.’ Michael saw me really looking at them and said, “Here we go. Mama is going to want me to make something like this for our deck or something.'” He read my mind!

We ended up with about 10 pounds of apples, and a few days later we made 3 apple pies. We ate 1 immediately, and froze 2.

We were having such a nice day, we decided to all go get lunch together. Besides, we were hungry!!

Everyone ate well (my kids never ‘not’ eat well. They love all food!). But {O} was so happy to get in the van and close her eyes for good. She fell fast asleep too. But when we got home, I had to take a GOOD look at her eye again, for the 4th time that day, and I finally saw the real problem.

Stay Tuned.

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Another Birthday Post – Laura’s

October 4, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

My birthday kind of sneaked up on me here! And just when you thought the birthday posts were over, huh? lol. Well, I’ll try to make this quick and painless. Or, you can just close the post right now. : )

I really had great plans to spend with my family on my birthday (Saturday). My choices are always Fall themed…..my favorite time of year. This year, I was looking forward to a nice family Fall hike, finding leaves to wax, getting some pumpkins to bring home, maybe some mums, etc. But on Friday night when I checked the weather, there was a 100% chance of rain on Saturday. 100% chance! I have never seen such a high percentage, and I have to check the weather a lot, with my line of work. So I was pretty sure it would be raining like the dickens all day, and it did indeed!

I was bumming Friday night, as I tried to figure out what else we could possibly do that would be fun instead. I don’t even like going OUT in the rain. So I chose to just stay home and decorate for Halloween (or Hallowtide, as we refer to it).

As it happened, Michael the and kids really made my day special………

I did wake up a little grouchy, actually, and when I smelled what was cooking in the kitchen (our traditional birthdays breakfast), I mumbled something selfish like, “Why do you guys always make me eat pancakes on my birthday.” (Yeah…super grouchy, huh? Nice.) The truth is, I’m not even a breakfast kind of person. All I want/need is COFFEE, and a little quiet until I fully wake up. On my typical days, I usually wait until almost noon, to eat toast. Michael knows, too, that if I must, I prefer waffles over pancakes. So I got that traditional number pancakes, over waffles, sausages on the side, and another cup of coffee. By the time I was gathered around the table with those I love most in this world, I was more awake and in better spirits.

Shortly after breakfast, as I was reading some birthday e-mails and wishes on the computer, Michael and the kids called me back into the sun room. They all were standing around with a big excited smile. And there on the table, was a gift, for me!

I loved the wrapping paper, so I had to go get my camera to take photos first, which did result in a few groans. lol. Then they gave me their home made cards. I just love cards from my kids. They put so much of their own personality into them. I could tell you which was from who, without them even being signed. I never took photos, but I should have. On the front of the card {J} made for me, was a dolphin jumping out of the water. (He loves dolphins). But what was extra sweet was the dolphin’s mouth was holding a string that was hanging, with a heart on the end that had a big “M” on it, for ‘Mama” of course. {S}, who is always all about numbers, had a big 41 on it. (Thanks, Honey, lol). {O} gave me some sunshine, that was missing outside our windows. {A}’s was extra creative, and all about love. One of the things in the gift box was some new nighties!! They know….the pajamas I have, I have had forever,…. and a day. I also wear my mother’s nightie shirts I collected from my parent’s home after she passed away. So I guess they thought I looked like I needed some. lol. I love them-and was grateful. They also gifted me with the COZIEST PANTS I HAVE EVER MET! I don’t know if they are supposed to be pajamas, but I’ll never wear them to bed. I declared them my ‘Cozy Editing Pants’! Sometimes, I have to work for hours at this dang computer, and those pants are the perfect comfy attire. I cannot tell you how SOFT they are.

They know I love polka-dots, so I was thrilled with those. But they others will always make me smile, because of WHY they bought them. They always poke a little fun of me, and mimic me, because I always say in the morning, “I need coffee”. And let me tell you people….I have a real morning voice. Deep…gruff….and it’s true that sometimes the word “I” doesn’t even actually come out of my mouth. It takes awhile for my talker to warm up. lol. So these COZY PANTS cracked me right up when I read the words on them…..

Just perfect for me!

Michael and the kids ran out in the pouring rain to get pumpkins, and groceries to fulfill my request for later on in the day: tacos, and apple crisp. But what I really would have liked, was nachos from Uno’s. But…..I wasn’t going out in the pouring rain even later on in the day.

We spent the day doing the kind of things I do love to do at home…….decorating the home stead, carving pumpkins, …..just being together. I enjoyed it all very much. No doubt I’ll be taking photos to share soon as well.

By the time the tacos were ready, Michael offered to run out and get me nachos from Uno’s -WHICH I took him up on. We also had apple crisp w/ vanilla ice cream after, and {A} made nonpareils, which I’d like to just refrigerate and save for Hallowtide festivities. Although, we did pop a few already, of course. lol.

Throughout the day I got many wishes from friends around the country, and calls from loved ones, even today, as well.

I am really so blessed, and it really doesn’t take a birthday to make me know it. I give thanks for all I am blessed with every day. Nothing compares to the love of my husband and kids though, and being with them is always enough. It is their love, that always puts the sunshine in my heart, no matter how much rain is coming down outside.

If you read through that, I’m impressed and thankful! And now…no more birthday posts from here until December. : )

Feast Day of Michaelmas

September 30, 2009 By Laura 2 Comments

On Tuesday, we celebrated Michaelmas, and studied this Feast Day for school. (Homeschooling, that is.)

For anyone who may not know, Sept. 29 has been the feast day established by the Roman Church, to celebrate St. Michael the Archangel, since the the 15th century. Although, Archangels Gabriel and Raphael were added to be acknowledged on this day as well, in the 20th century.

We reviewed much of what we had already known about Archangel Michael: that he is the most powerful of angels, that he was present and had great part in some of the greatest Biblical battles, and is in fact appointed “Defender of the Catholic Faith“. It is St. Michael, who is even the angel that escorts all souls to eternity!

We continued to learn the significance of Gabriel and Raphael as well, whose roles in history cannot be dismissed.

It was especially interesting to study once again, the Ranking Order and Marching Order of Angels, which is as follows:

The First Triad

Closest to the Throne

Seraphim – Continually sing God’s praises

Cherubim – Worship God

Thrones – Oversee Justice in Heaven

The Second Triad

Guard Heaven and Earth

Dominions – Assign duties to other angels

Virtues – Work Miracles

Powers – Protect us from evil

The Third Triad

Earth Duty

Principalities – Protect nations and cities

Archangels – Deliver messages from God

Angels – Guard us personally

Feasting on fat geese has long since been a tradition of the English, Scots and Celts, as have been carrot bouquets given as gifts! Eating goose did not appeal to us, and I personally don’t like carrots either, although I do eat them to be a good example. But it would have been hard for me to eat carrots, and associate it with a celebration of any kind. Thankfully, yet another traditional food has been a breakfast bread called St. Michael’s bannock, which Daddy/Michael made and we had with dinner, instead, and it was delicious!

It is very quick and easy to make, so if you would like the recipe, you can grab it HERE.

{A} also made angel cookies, using just an ordinary sugar cookie recipe.

My mother loved angels. That was her thing. So whenever I hear of, see, read about, or think of angels for any reason, I think of my mother.

Ever since we began home schooling, we have entertained the idea of naming our ‘school’. I know many homeschoolers do. While we have never encountered a real need to do so ourselves, we have heard that it can be helpful in getting a discount in purchasing home school supplies and material sometimes, as one benefit. Besides the fact that we haven’t found a reason to, and granted, we could very well be unaware of many more benefits of doing so, I also personally felt a real weight of sorts, about such a decision. Whether we needed one or not, following through and naming our school felt really important. It seemed like something we should think about long and hard, because it would have permanence, and reflect us in some way.

For at least a year, we have considered naming our school in reference to St. Michael, the Archangel. He has always been {A}’s favorite angel, and has been the focus of many projects and conversations of hers. We all, too, have been drawn to him, being able to identify with him in so many ways. For example, in defending our faith, which we must do now and then, and defending why we live as we do, which we actually don’t feel the need to do much at all, except to say our life style too mostly revolves around our faith. (Although there are COUNTLESS other reasons/perks/blessings!!)

Obviously, also, one of the leaders of our family/household’s name is Michael, and one of our boys has his namesake as well. So we are partial to the name, and all that name represents: “Who is like God.” Of course, we are all made in His likeness, but that happens to be what the name Michael actually means.

And so….because the name still seemed fitting after all of this time, for whatever reasons we may not even know of yet, and aside from the fact that we may never use it in any way, except to finally do it, we thought it would be a good day to agree as a family, and name our school:

I know, like anything angel related, as simple as cut out cookies, this name will also remind me of my mother. Not only because she loved angels, but because of the sheer JOYFUL reaction she gave me, when I told her we decided to home school the kids. She startled me, actually. She literally cheered out loud, and had tears in her eyes. So I think one way or another, she would have been happy with our school’s name as well.

If you home school, have YOU named your school? If so, would you share the name you chose with us, and the significance behind choosing your name? Also, if you know of any real benefits in naming your school that we should know of, it would be wonderful if you shared that with us as well.

We hope you all had a wonderful Michaelmas!

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Off to the Doctors to Have Here Eye Checked

The Diagnosis

The Backstory: How She Hurt Her Eye

Love and Care

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