Winding down and gearing up... (part 1)

Our school year is winding down. This year we completed Heart of Dakota's Bigger Hearts for His Glory with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders! It was great to have all three of them using the same guide. I know I've said before how much I love Heart of Dakota... but I do. My plan at this point, having used 3 guides in 4 years is to keep going with it.

As we finish up our year, we're continuing with math (Singapore Primary Mathematics) and grammar (Rod & Staff's Building Christian English series) through the summer. We are also big fans of xtramath.org for getting those math facts memorized.

This year we added in more Drawn into the Heart of Reading or DiTHOR for short. We actually call it THOR because it just flows off the tongue better. lol The kids did a great job with the realistic fiction genre ending project. They each created a triorama... similar to a diorama, but this one had you creating four triangles to glue together similar to a pyramid.

Here are some photos of that project:

As you can see, they were very proud of the work they did. The reading selections in HOD are awesome, but what's really great about DiTHOR is that it will work with any book... so you don't have to buy the book packs that HOD recommends, you can use any book for the studied genre, and still have a great time learning!

Next time, I'll chat more about what we're doing to gear up for this fall!

*Ü* Blessings,

Another Book Review: So Shines the Night

I received So Shines the Night by Tracy Higley, published by Thomas Nelson in ebook format for my nook a week or two ago... no it didn’t take me this long to read it! I’ve just been busy with spring – yes, it’s finally here! This book was provided to me free as part of the BookSneeze program in exchange for my honest review here.

I enjoyed this book but readers should be aware of the dark theme that runs through it. The story takes place during the time of the early church in Ephesus, the main characters are not Christians, but are befriended by them. Daria is an educated widow making her own way in the world teaching wealthy young women. When she disagrees with the father of her latest student, she finds herself on the island of Rhodes homeless and without an income. She seeks a position with the local school only to find it hides a secret – at night, the school is used to study the dark arts. When she discovers a young girl being mistreated, she attempts to rescue her. On their flight through the city, they run into Lucas, a wealthy merchant who also hides a secret. Finding herself surrounded by enemies, Daria must decide if she can trust Lucas…

Daria and Lucas escape her would-be captors, and return to his home on Ephesus. Here she discovers he is not all she thought him to be. She must then unravel the mystery of who Lucas is… this is where the story really begins.

This story is suspenseful and intriguing! Definitely one that was hard to put down as the action seemed almost non-stop. However, the mutilation, drug use and other bits of sorcery in the story must be noted. I initially assumed the book would be more along the lines of Tracy Higley’s previous book Isle of Shadows… but this one definitely has darker undertones.

 

*Ü* Blessings,

Book Review: Waiting for Morning

Today I’m reviewing Waiting for Morning ~ The Brides Of  Last Chance Ranch Series Book 2, published by Thomas Nelson. This book was provided to me free in e-book format as part of the BookSneeze program in exchange for my honest review here.

Even though Waiting for Morning is book two in the series, it was written in such a way that I didn’t even realize this until I was many chapters in. You certainly don’t have to have read book one to enjoy this one! Waiting for Morning was such a fun book to read! I really empathized with Molly’s plight. Her guilt over her brother Donny’s long ago accident and resulting disability has caused her to feel responsible for him for all time! What a heavy burden to bear. When fire destroys their home and nearly claims Donny’s life, she jumps at the chance to become an “heiress” to a cattle ranch and finally give Donny a “real” home.

Molly struggles with balancing her ranching duties and caring for her brother, but you can’t help but admire her determination to provide for him. The love interest in the book makes for some comical moments. I laughed and cried while thoroughly enjoying the story!

Curl up in a cushy chair with a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy!

*Ü* Blessings,

An Amish Christmas - Book Review

An Amish Christmas by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, KellyLong, and Barbara Cameron was provided to me free in e-book format as part of the BookSneeze program of the Thomas Nelson Publishing Company in exchange for my honest review here.

An Amish Christmas is a collection of four short stories similar to An Amish Kitchen I previously reviewed. Like An Amish Kitchen, An Amish Christmas has characters that are familiar because they are repeated in each of the novellas. The character’s lives overlap, but each story definitely focuses on the two main love interests.

These are great because they are quick and can be completed in one evening. My favorite was “Christmas Cradles” – Christmas Eve keeps midwife, Anna and her driver, Asa hopping! This one is none stop action! “A Miracle for Miriam” was very touching because I can totally understand how something said to an impressionable young girl can be carried with her into adulthood and affect her life long term.  “A Choice to Forgive” was also touching, but in a different way. A girl in love, a mysterious abandonment, deception, secrets and an old flame that returns… a moving combination! My least favorite was “One Child” – It was hard to relate to these people. Though I could understand Sarah and her husband’s grief, I was annoyed at the other couple’s totally self-absorption. I looked for a redeeming moment at the end and was disappointed.

All in all, this is a great book to curl up in front of the fire with on these cold Northern nights!

 


*Ü* Blessings,

Book Review: Secretly Smitten

Secretly Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck,Denise Hunter, and Diann Hunt was provided to me free in e-book format as part of the BookSneeze program of the Thomas Nelson Publishing Company in exchange for my honest review here.

Secretly Smitten is a set of four short stories all centered around a family in Smitten, Vermont. The stories work together to tell a bigger story, but each one is a tale of its own. A set of dog tags are found in Grandma’s attic, which sets her three granddaughters on the trail to solve the mystery of how they got there. During the search, each girl (and their mother) in turn meets a man and falls in love. The stories are sweet and mostly believable. It annoyed me slightly that the “happy ending” of each book is wrapped up quickly, without the expected “one year later…” I thought perhaps at the end of the book itself, one epilogue to wrap up all the stories… nope. So the marriage of each lady is left to the reader’s imagination. It’s only a little confusing when the new short story begins and mentions the main character of the previous book, and the reader can’t tell (at least this reader couldn’t) if the marriage had already taken place.

Perhaps that won’t bother any other reader… and really in the grand scheme of things, it’s only a little “weird” and doesn’t make for a bad read. All in all, the stories were entertaining and fun!

 

*Ü* Blessings,

Every Perfect Gift - Book Review

I am loving my Nook Tablet! The best part is being able to get a book I want to read instantly! Love it!

In exchange for my honest review, published here, I was provided with an e-book copy Every Perfect Gift

by Dorothy Love through the BookSneeze program of Thomas Nelson Publishing.

This book is part of the Hickory Ridge series. I am not familiar with the series, so my review is based solely on this book alone. Hickory Ridge is a small town with a growing population due to a resort being built there. It takes place shortly after the Civil War. The two main characters are hiding something from their past. The author alludes to this “secret” several times during the story, and eventually does reveal them. Honestly, though I was able to connect with the female lead character (Sophie) I could not understand why her secret was such a stumbling block for her, then again, I wasn’t born in that time period. On the other hand, the male lead (Ethan) was running from his past as well… however, he just refused to go home or even to talk about his home – this was in sharp contrast to Sophie who ran back to her past – to prove something maybe?

Those were my only hang-ups with the book. It was a gentle love story that developed at a reasonable pace. Sophie is a fun girl not afraid to speak her mind and get into the middle of things. Ethan seemed a bit stubborn and unreasonable at times. The various towns folk seemed to be fond of Sophie. I found this a bit at odds given her past – which wasn’t a secret to them.

All in all I did enjoy the book!

*Ü* Blessings,

Wonderful Story! A Must Read! - Books Review: Isle of Shadows

I'm back with another book review!

In exchange for my honest review published here, I was provided with an ebook copy of Isle of Shadow by Tracy L. Higley through the BookSneeze program of Thomas Nelson Publishing.

I was very excited to get to read this book! I had previously read a similar series called Acts of Faith by T. Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, and had really enjoyed those books. This one is set in Rhodes rather than Rome and the time period is a few hundred years earlier, but the stories are similar in that a slave learns the true meaning of freedom and redemption.

I have never read anything by Tracy Higley, but I am already a fan! The story was very well written, captured my attention right away and kept me coming back for more! The book is action packed with a few twists and turns, and keeps you wondering right to the end how Tessa will find her freedom! I mistakenly thought this was a romance, but there is very little romance in the story – however, I found I didn’t miss it. The compassion the characters have for Tessa’s plight is very touching, and moved me to tears at one point. Overall I give this one five stars! I loved it!

 


*Ü* Blessings,

Book Review: Silent Night (A Rock Harbor Christmas Novella) by Colleen Coble

I was provided with an ebook copy of Silent Night by ColleenCoble by Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of their BookSneeze program for my honest review published here. 

I did not realize the book was #6 in the Rock Harbor Series… I think this is a book that definitely needs to be read as part of that series. Not having read the previous five books, I felt as if I was jumping into the middle of a story. My copy was less than 100 pages, and as such is a very fast read! The book moves quickly and introduces a number of characters quite rapidly! I had a hard time keeping up with all their names! I would have appreciated another 100 pages so the story could develop more slowly. The story line was a bit jumbled and seemed to introduce unnecessary subplots and characters (did I really need a detailed description of the waitress that isn’t mentioned anywhere else in the book?) Perhaps if I had read the previous books, it would all make sense. The author ties everything up nicely at the end, so it is possible to read and understand just this book – however, I felt the story was rushed and would likely have enjoyed it more if I was already familiar with the characters.

 


*Ü* Blessings,

Book Review: Lovelier Than Daylight by Rosslyn Elliott

I was so happy on Christmas Day to open my Nook Tablet! The first book I downloaded was Lovelier Than Daylight by RosslynElliott as part of the BookSneeze program by Thomas Nelson Publishing. Though the book was more than three hundred pages, the story didn't feel long at all! The characters were believable and interesting. With my German heritage, I enjoyed the few German words thrown in as well! The story takes place during the Temperance Movement of the late 1800's. I don't have much knowledge about this time in history, but real history was woven into the story quite well. I love learning a bit of history this way. Susanna Hanby is a staunch prohibitionist preparing to begin college while staying with an aunt and uncle. She learns that her sister has disappeared and her six nieces and nephews given over to the county because of their father’s abuse of alcohol. Of course Susanna wants to rescue the children from the orphanages they were placed in, but is unable to because she is not married and unable to support them. She is determined to locate her sister and reunite the family. Johann Griere is the son of a brewer making a delivery to a saloon keeper in Susanna’s town. The two meet and are immediately at odds and yet strangely drawn to one another. The story develops around the town’s peoples attempts to rid themselves of the saloon and Susanna’s search for her sister. It moves quickly but not too quickly. The book includes intrigue, danger and romance… all things I love in a book!

*Ü* Blessings,

Kid's Piano Recital Today!

For my far-away family, I wanted to share my kiddos at their recital today....

This is Bea playing "The Danube Waltz" and then "We Three Kings"



Then, Little Man played the theme song from "Star Wars" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"



(the sound fades after the first song... oh, well!)

Bea also played "Minuet 3" on the violin... though it is hard to hear the violin over the piano that her teacher was accompanying her with



Daddy and I are so proud of our kiddos!

Darling G also played for us even though she's only been studying piano since September. Unfortunately, I don't think I have video of her performance... I'll have to video her at home and post it another time!


*Ü*
Christmas Blessings,

Pleasantly Surprised by "An Amish Kitchen" (Book Review)

I recently read An Amish Kitchen, three stories in one book by authors Beth Wiseman, Kelly Long and Amy Clipston. I am not familiar with any of these authors but have read many other Amish fiction, and quite honestly wasn’t sure if there stories would hold my interest. I was pleasantly surprised with each one! “A Taste of Faith” by Kelly Long enchanted me from the start with the mischievous antics of the children next door to Fern and her gradual, yet realistic attraction to Abram. The romance in “A Spoonful of Love” was slower and longer to bloom, but the story was just as engaging. I had my doubts about the last story, “A Recipe for Hope”, but I think it turned out to be my favorite of the three. It brought tears to my eyes several times!

All of the stories are a short, fast read; they kept me interested in the characters and their circumstances. I would recommend this books to fans of Amish fiction, as well as to fans of romance. There are many Amish words and phrases scattered liberally through the stories, and the list of definitions at the beginning of the book is helpful… but sometimes I found the Amish term distracting. If you’ve read a lot of Amish fiction, many of the words will be familiar to you, but some won’t and it was these that I had to keep turning to the front for.

Lastly, I am excited to use the recipes at the end of the book – especially the soft pretzel recipe from “A Spoonful of Love”! – These are my honest opinions, I am not paid by Thomas Nelson (the publisher of this book) but have been provided with the book at no charge (through BookSneeze.com) expressly for my review.


*Ü* Blessings,

Book Review - Fresh Start by Doug Fields

I signed up with Book Sneeze and agreed to receive a book in the mail in exchange for an honest review of the book. The first book I requested and received was Fresh Start by Doug Fields, published in 2009 by Thomas Nelson.

Here are my honest thoughts...

I was very excited about reading the book Fresh Start by Doug Fields. The title captivated me and the cover design whetted my desire to read the book and take the steps necessary to make this fresh start in my walk with the Lord. In his book, Doug sounds like a sportscaster, and personally I had a hard time connecting to what he was trying to say. Perhaps his intended audience was the male population, I don’t know. What I do know is that the book, while full of great information, useful tips and examples from scripture, it did not move me. I found it hard to stay focused while I was reading. I had high hopes for the fresh start I desire, but this book just didn’t help me find it.

*Ü* Blessings,

Teacher Resource Books for Sale...

I'm listing a bunch of my Scholastic Teacher Resource books on eBay. These are wonderful for teachers, homeschooling moms, etc.! We don't need them anymore, and I love for them to go someplace where they'll get lots of use.

We're pinching pennies this year, and the funds will be used for Christmas and an upcoming birthday for the munchkins. Please take a look and pass the information on to anyone you know who might be interested. Thank you!

*Ü* Blessings,

Mid-Summer's Fun

Well, we've been busy enjoying one of Maine's best summers ever! It has been glorious! While we've had some rain, the majority of it has been at the end of the day and overnight... that means lots and lots of sunny days!

We got the kids one of those inexpensive soft sided pools... the kind with the inflatable ring that "floats" above the water line thus "holding up" the pool sides. It has been a blessing on some of our hot-hot days!

Here's a picture so you can see what I mean:


We've had a busy summer too... ds7 played Little League for the first time this year. He loved it!


And our little ballerina took two classes of ballet all year, so she had two recital numbers to perform this year. She really loves to dance, so next year we're looking at different schools for the coming school year.



A local gym offered a class called YEOP (Youth Environmental Obstacle Play) that we took advantage of. There was lots of running, jumping, balancing, climbing, tumbling, etc. The kids loved it, so we have been going all summer.


Our Keeper's club ended with a Pinning Ceremony. The club members received pins for weaving, plastic canvas, decoupage, croquet and music. We had two boys with us this year, and we let them follow along and earn pins as well. Since our members aren't able to commit to the club in the fall, my own girlies and I continued through the summer with two more skills - wild flowers and flower pressing.


Our family had the chance to visit the Nina and Pinta - replicas of the original boats Christopher Columbus sailed on in 1492. It was amazing to see just how small these boats really were!



We did our annual strawberry picking, and made some jam for the year. We visited a living history museum in Newfield, Maine called Willowbrook Village. We played with sparklers on The Fourth, we attended my family's annual reunion, and we visited the local amusement park - FUNTown USA. And just last weekend, we visited my sil in Connecticut. The kids played on a Slip N Slide for the first time, and we visited a park that had a pool and a splashing fountain! Both were great fun!


I'll end with just two more photos of our summer of fun... Daddy created a slide for our little pool:


Hope your summer is just as much fun as ours!
*Ü* Blessings,

The school year is winding down...

Yes, it is. We've complete Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory by Heart of Dakota, and we really enjoyed it! I think our favorite part was the book American Pioneers and Patriots. We just loved the short stories about the pioneer children and the "How they ..." pages that told how they made butter or soap or log cabins... or even how they lived on a sailing ship!

We had a change in math programs part way through the year due to my ds7 being diagnosed with a color deficiency. We opted to stop using Math U See (which I had been using successfully with all my children except this one.) SO we switched over to the (recommended by HOD) Singapore Math US Edition. Because it is a totally different way to teach math, I thought we would do best if we started at the beginning... so we went back to the beginning of first grade with both my ds7 and dd8. Alot of it was review for dd, but I'm okay with that. We are now about 1/3 of the way through the second book, and we'll work on it all summer so that we can start book 2A in the fall. This will put dd a bit behind, but I think that will be okay if she can work at her own pace, she may even catch up at some point.

Besides math, over the summer months ds will continue to read through the Emergent Reader set in Beyond. I added in the alternate books, so it is taking quite a bit longer to get through the books than it normally would. This is okay, because ds is progressing nicely and enjoying his reading time. He is even choosing to read on his own to himself some days! I had a Little Bear Treasury book that he completed independently! I'm so proud of him! My dd is also continuing reading over the summer, but she'll be reading some of the storytime books that we haven't yet read. The list is full of so many good books!

I've already started preparing for next year. We'll be starting Bigger Hearts for His Glory, and I'm super excited about that! I've already got every book we'll need, except three from the Extension Pack... which I'm not even sure we'll need, but want to have, just in case dd needs a little extra challenge. I've been organizing and preparing notebooks, binders and the like! While out with the family today, I happened across a 20 pack of page protectors for $1.50! I bought four packs, enough for history notebooking for both children. After I was home, one of our older children told me what a steal I had gotten, that generally these page protectors are closer to $4 a package! Woo-hoo! Now I realize I'll need at least 12 of these packages - I'll have to go back for eight more! Here's the real question... do I really NEED them? Can the children do a notebooking page on a piece of copy paper and then three hole punch it to fit in a binder? Or will that be sloppy? We've done lapbooking, but never notebooking... so this is a new journey for me!

I decided on separate composition notebooks for the vocabulary work we'll be doing in Bigger. And then dd will need another notebook for her Dictation work... or I can have her do that on loose leaf paper, and then put it in a Language Arts binder for her. She won't be doing spelling like ds. He gets 340 note cards and a special box to hold them all... I got a box that will hold them all for $1.25 at the same store as the page protectors. I've never seen a box that will hold that many, so I'm glad I found it! He'll be learning cursive this year with Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting book D. I'm hoping that jumping book C will be okay. His penmanship is very good, so I think he's ready. My dd has already learned cursive, so she will be doing copywork of the poetry selections in Bigger. For her I have the poems printed in the Getty-Dubay cursive font (I used the StartWrite program to do this) and put in page protectors for her. She'll then copy a portion of the poem onto loose leaf paper which will go into the page protector as well, and we'll have a nice poetry copywork binder at the end of the year.

I'm thinking two binders for each kiddo. One binder to hold all the Language Arts stuff (dictation/spelling, copywork, grammar - maybe even a pocket for the vocab book) and another to hold the History and Science notebooking pages.

Now to figure out how to make this work with the oh-so-organized-Workboxes!

*Ü* Blessings,

I'm SO neglectful!

Gosh, I can't believe how bad I am about keeping up on this! I think it must be because I feel like every post must come with photos, and that takes longer... so my new goal is to update each week (Saturday morning may be good) and if I have pics great, if not - that's okay too!

Are you ready? This is a long one! I'm going to back up and go quickly over everything I've neglected...

The kiddos started swim lessons at our local YMCA at the end of September. We've kept right up with it all through the winter... we've had a couple cancellations due to excessive snow - in case you hadn't heard, we've been lambasted this year! lol

Here's one of my fave pics of each of the kiddos in the pool:


At the end of October, Daddy got to doing some woodwork with the kiddos, using power drills and hammers (thankfully no sore thumbs!) and this is what they created:


Doesn't that look like fun? They LOVE it! It's packed away in the shed right now, but I know when Spring does arrive here in the cold North East, they will pull that out and the fun will start all over again! Oh the joys of childhood!

Just last week, I was driving B to violin practice...just the two of us...and she was looking at the clouds... "Mom, is that a Cirro-Cumulus cloud?" I was amazed that she had actually retained the information we had gone over back in November on cloud formations! You know I love our curriculum Heart of Dakota - Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory...well, I can't remember what unit it was, but here is a photo of her doing the "Science Exploration" that week:


Yes...that is shaving cream she is using to create different cloud formations - they both had a blast! Another bit of homeschool news...we participated in our homeschool group's Fall Workshop, which was themed "The First Thanksgiving". The kids absolutely enjoyed themselves! I scrapped a couple pages about this...





After that we moved on into the holidays! My friend and I had our 3rd annual pie baking day again this year... it is always so much fun to have her and her family over and to spend time baking together! After that of course there was Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day with all our family - except my oldest son was not there, but home sick; I brought him a plate later in the day. Then B had her 8th birthday! I cannot believe she is already eight! Time flies... here are the pages I scrapped about that special day:





Then Christmas came... that's an entire story all by itself! Let's just say it was the most wonderful season of all! And then the snow came...

Here are the kids on the slope behind our house:

More woodworking with Daddy, more snow, more sledding... oh and Mommy went to FL to visit her Grandpa who was celebrating his 100th birthday! And Daddy taught the kids to ice skate while Mommy enjoyed the sunshine and warmth! lol

Here's some layouts I did about those things:







OMGoodness, this is really getting LOOOOOONG, eh? Really, we're in January now, so I'm almost done! The day after I got back from FL, the homeschool group held their annual Spelling Bee...I'm so proud of all the hard work my kiddos did to prepare! Of course, I scrapped those photos too!





You know what...this is plenty long enough. I'll stop for now, and catch you all up on the last month of our lives next week!

*Ü* Blessings,

Week 4 and a Freebie

We're part way through week 4, and doing well. We've set aside Singapore Math this week, and are doing some CalcuLadder worksheets to help little man learn his math facts. My dd is ahead in that area, but I'm drilling her anyway...it will just solidify her knowledge.

Back at the beginning of the week, I realized October was right around the corner! I can't believe how fast this year has gone! Well, I thought, why not make new cards for our pocket chart wall calendar - what a fun idea! I had already done new ones for September (now they look so boring, so I'll have to do new ones again for next year) and new ones for December. I love how my December ones came out - I used one of my digital scrapbooking kits. You'll have to come back at the end of November to see that one! lol

I chose to use Simply Autumn by LawTeeDa Designs. I did have to add in a pumpkin and some leaves from another kit however... but everything else is Simply Autumn...here's a preview of the kit:


I picked mine up at ScrapMatters, my favorite digital scrapping place!

This is a sampling of the cards...you don't want to print this preview as it is not print quality...please download the set of all 31 cards and print those instead...


I saved them to my calendar cards folder in my documents, then I double clicked the image. Up pops the Picture and Fax Viewer window! I then use the button for printing at the bottom and choose full page fax...there you go! I hope you like them - feel free to download them here and tell your friends! Please leave a comment here on my blog if you download...this way I know if someone appreciates them - and I'll share each month. Otherwise, I won't bother! lol

Fall *Ü* Blessings,

Week 3 of School Unit 18 of Beyond

Well, our third week of school has started off nicely. We're adding in a bit more each day and finding our rhythm. I *think* we'll keep a slow pace with Beyond this year, and begin Bigger next fall. Previously I had thought we'd finish Beyond about January and then start Bigger...but I've heard tell that Bigger is a big jump, and I'm thinking it may be too big of a jump for my 6yo son. Of course, nothing's for certain yet, we'll see how it goes. I'd like to keep them in the same manual throughout our HOD years... right now Beyond is working great! He's decided to do the copywork, and is enjoying it; he's holding his own with the Singapore math...though we're playing catch up; and the grammar is perfectly paced for him.

Unit 18 finds us in the colonies, toward the end of King Philip's war. Yesterday's science was so much fun...we learned about how dogs follow scent - and how it gets lost in water. We set up our own trail ending in water, here's a couple photos of the fun:

...sniffing out the scent...

...harder to detect in water...

I had almond and orange extract for scents...I would have added in another if I had had more cotton balls...so you teachers who are only at the beginning of Beyond...get cotton balls now! lol

Today we read about a family making candles, and how they made a special candle called a "sparkling candle" with gun powder...then we did a little art project. (Can I just say how much I love the little art projects in HOD...not too much and not too little either!) Here are some photos of the finished product:



I think if I was on the ball here...I would make REAL candles with my little ones...but unfortunately I don't have the supplies to do it.

I hope you are having fun with HOD (or whatever curriculum you are using) this homeschooling year! I'd love to hear about it!

*Ü* Blessings,

A New Year and Beyond

Kind of a catchy title, huh? Actually we are using Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory again this year. We are starting in unit 16, right where we left off. This is only day 2, but so far we have had little complaining, and lots of fun!

Yesterday we read about the colonists, and what happened after Massasoit died and his son Philip became king: King Philip's War. We learned he was upset because he felt the Englishmen had cheated him and his peers out of the land. We did a simple paper weaving project to remind us that the colonists traded blanket (and knives, beads, etc.) with the native Americans for land.

Today we read how they native Americans would hide in the forests and wait to attack a farmhouse or family. Then we re-enacted the capturing of colonists with this fun game...

The dining room table and chairs became our "forest" where the Indians hid and the kitchen floor the "field" where the colonists lived. One child playing the Indian would sneak up and grab a colonist (an array of stuffed animals), then the other children (colonists) would try to catch the Indian and thus rescue the captured colonist. Here are a few photos of the fun...

Doesn't his smile say it all?

You have to move fast to keep the captive!

This year we've switched out our math program, too. While I'm a bit melancholy about leaving a program that I have used FOREVER, I felt it was the best thing for my son who has been diagnosed with a color deficiency... years ago they called it color blindness, but today they have a different name. He can see color, but has a harder time differentiating the shades of colors. I thought he was having a hard time learning the colors of the blocks in our previous program...now I am pretty sure this was why, and hence the change in program. So far, so good...I'll keep you posted!

*Ü* Blessings,