Snow, Snow Go Away

If you're like me and hide inside while the snow melts into a big muddy mess, this is a link for you to check out. The Green Hour has some great ideas for celebrating the Muddy Season.

Don't Panic

If you feel like panicking over the ruling in California, this would be a good stop for you. This blogger has put together some informative articles.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

So, this is what I found when I went into Abby's room after nap-time.




Do you think I'm rubbing off on her at all?

Book Basket

I love baskets! I love books! I love teachers' dirty looks... oh, wait. Sorry, I got a little carried away there. Really, though, I do enjoy both baskets and books. Bookshelves, not so much. I don't know about your house, but no matter how many times I put the books away in an organized and tidy fashion, they always end up in a mess. I use to organize the books according to subject, height, binding, etc. By the time our youngest came along, I had given up on the idea of an organized bookshelf. I'm happy if the books even make it to the shelf now! Without the organization, however, we seem to forget which books we have or where the books we remember we have are. Gabriel especially has trouble finding books which are at his reading level. (This is most convenient when his aunt requests her own personal read aloud.) The bookshelf is fine for simple browsing. It's not so great when a quick grab is needed for our study times. Today I decided to combine my two loves in hopes of finding a solution.

Introducing the Book Basket

Step One: Find a sturdy basket and remove any contents. (The basket I found just had a few toy necklaces in it. No problem. They already belonged somewhere else.)

Step two: Pick out (or search for in my case) frequently used books or books necessary for current subject of study.

Step three: Place them in the basket, organized by subject and facing one direction.

Step four: Using coloured cardstock, make dividers with subject heading on top. (I also included a list of books to be used in the "Readers" subject. I will expect Gabriel to check off each title after he has read it. This will give me an idea of when the readers can be switch out for more advanced ones. Abby and Sam's subjects don't need to be checked off as they require higher frequency right now.)

Voila! That was simple.

It can be Gabriel's job to keep these books organized. It won't be a big task and it will help him to combine his reading and sorting skills.

How do you keep your books neat and tidy?

Next Term, Geography

I'm getting ready for our next term. We are about to finish up My Father's World first grade. After using curriculum for two years, I have figured out that I am too much of a free spirit to buy another year's worth of someone else's ideas. Therefore, since the beginning of the year, I have been collecting books and devising a loose plan of study. I don't even know what to call this rather than a "term." I could say that my son is starting the second grade. That doesn't sound right to me, though. We've decided on a year-round education and don't plan to follow the public school's system of grades. So, what are we about to start? A new period of study? Oh well, I suppose it doesn't really matter what we call it.

During this "whatchamacallit," we'll be exploring different places around the world as well as their cultures. I'm not wanting to dig too deep into history yet. I've collected all kinds of neat geography resources. I would like to use readers, biographies and folktales to explore culture. I've picked out way too many books to use while studying Canada and the United States. I have one or two about Mexico. I've picked out some great Christian heroes to look at while exploring different continents. I am really struggling, however, to find good stories to teach us about cultures. So many books I find in my searches are more like mini-encyclopedias. We prefer real-live stories. I have thought about contacting some of our missionary friends to see if they'll write to us about their countries' cultures.

Please let me know if you have any other ideas. I need more books! (My goal is to study at least one culture from each continent.) Please make sure any suggestions are appropriate for a seven year old. As much as I enjoyed learning about Ethiopia's culture and recent history through Hospital by the River, I don't want to explain to Gabriel what a fistula is!


We'll incorporate the arts and life skills into this term of study. It will be so much fun to explore the arts of various cultures as well as the food and dress.

I cannot wait!