Across the Page

Remember the writing contest my daughter entered? It was a red-letter red plate day around here this week when we learned that she won first prize for third grade! She submitted a story about a hamster election. This was the local branch of a national kids writing contest, and the winning stories will be forwarded [...]

My daughter entered a writing contest a few weeks ago. She’s in third grade. We haven’t heard anything yet about how she did, but with her permission I’m publishing her story here.

The requirements included a minimum of 100 words and at least five original illustrations. She re-did page 2 with a different illustration, but [...]

A friend mentioned that she had switched to Teaching Textbooks this year in her home school. Yesterday I finally got around to visiting the TT website, and I liked what I saw. I liked the idea of a self-teaching curriculum that allows the student to proceed at her own pace. Of course it makes things [...]

1.) Yesterday was Presentation Day at co-op. In the morning we gathered together for the last time this year at our homeschool  co-op site, and each class presented on what they’d learned. I reflected on what a great thing this has been for us this year. We’ve made some new friends and thoroughly enjoyed the [...]

Yesterday, I got out our Easter countdown basket and spread out the contents. Since Older Daughter was in kindergarten four years ago, I’ve put an item or two in an Easter basket every night of this week, and the following morning we read the corresponding Bible story and talk about its significance. Every year we [...]

I couldn’t pass up Read Aloud Thursday this week — not when we’re reading a tale our gracious host is reading! The difference is that this one gives us the story without the Dickensian trademark of (often delightful) long-windedness. An abridgement for children, Malvina Vogel’s Great Illustrated Classics version of A Tale of Two Cities [...]

Just one book to mention for Read Aloud Thursday this week: Sam the Minuteman, by Nathaniel Benchley, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.
I picked it up from the library last week in connection with history, but the cover didn’t appeal to Older Daughter. When she finally read it, she changed her tune and wanted me to read [...]

I’ve been thinking about our eclectic reading, and remembering this paragraph from The Well-Trained Mind where Jessie Wise shares the library habits she worked to develop in her children:
…I was known at the local public library as ‘the lady with the laundry basket’ because I took my children in every week and filled a laundry [...]

Time to take a look at the texts we’re using this year. In this post I discussed some of the global issues of our home school, but here I want to think about the specific texts and tricks.
Kindergarten:
I have very modest goals for my kindergartner. She turned 6 in December, so she has a fair [...]

I haven’t done a Homeschool State of the Union post this year. Maybe it’s because I’m having a harder time judging how things are going than I did when Older Daughter was in first or second grade. This year I have a kindergartner and a third grader, and I’m going to do a post about [...]