My September Favorites
- Secrets in the Castle Library by Ann Swindell
I was on the launch team for this final installment in this wonderful Christian fiction trilogy. I love revisiting the cozy castle library, and I really enjoyed the suspenseful scenes that led to the heroine's conversion. The three books of this series are all so well-written and will stick with me. - Baby-sitters on Board!: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemier and Gale Galligan
I enjoyed seeing a Super Special brought to life visually, and it was fun to look back on childhood memories of the BSC as the series turns 40 this year.
September Read-Alouds and Audiobooks
- My Family and Other Skaters by Fiorella de Maria (with E.)
- The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle (with C.)
- Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop (audiobook in the car)
- Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome (read by Dad)
Family Reading Lists
M., age 12 (girl)
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (still in progress)
C., age 11 (girl)
- The Three Investigators and The Case of the Whispering Mummy by Robert Arthur, Jr.
E., age 8 (girl)
- Cobblestone magazines
R., age 6 (boy)
- Dr. Dolittle's Circus by Hugh Lofting
- Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton
- Surprise Island by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Miss Pickerell Goes to the Arctic by Ellen MacGregor
A., age 6 (girl)
- Lulu and the Duck in the Park by Hilary McKay
- The Maple Festival (The Adventures of Sophie Mouse Book 5) by Poppy Green
- The Missing Tooth Fairy (The Adventures of Sophie Mouse Book 15) by Poppy Green
- Forest Field Day (The Adventures of Sophie Mouse Book 23) by Poppy Green
Dad
- Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon by Maxine Gordon
Homeschool Update
7th Grade (M.)
M. is doing a civics course about law and government. We did the first 4 lessons in Juvenile Law and Responsibility in September, and she "judged" a few cases in You Be the Jury Volume 1. We also started reading the second America's History book from the Tuttle Twins series. With Dad, she's doing Foerster's Algebra, as well as Life of Fred, Khan Academy, and a course on physics and music. We're reading Pride and Prejudice together, and independently she is working through Writing with Skill, Sentence Diagramming 2, and Vocabulary from Classical Roots D. She's playing recorder, piano, and French horn. She's still memorizing "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight." For geography we are reading Circling the Globe. In September, we covered Iceland, the Baltic States, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, and watched Rick Steves travel videos. For art, we're watching The Museum a documentary series about the British museum. We started the year using So You Really Want to Learn Latin for review and have switched to Second Form Latin.
5th Grade (C.)
C. is doing the second series of middle school history books from Oxford University Press, the Medieval and Early Modern World. She did the first half of the first book (The European World) in September. With Dad, she's doing Foerster's Algebra, Khan Academy, and a course on physics and music, and she is doing Life of Fred: Kidneys with me. She's reading Maida's Little School independently, and she is also diagramming sentences from Descriptive English Grammar and working through Vocabulary from Classical Roots 9. She's playing recorder, piano, and ukulele. She's working on memorizing "Paul Revere's Ride." For geography we are reading Circling the Globe. In September, we covered Iceland, the Baltic States, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, and watched Rick Steves travel videos. For art, we're watching a documentary series about the British museum. We started the year using So You Really Want to Learn Latin for review and have switched to Second Form Latin.
3rd Grade (E.)
E. is doing 20th century history with Dad, using The Century and many supplemental resources. She's doing Khan Academy with him as well, and has completed 8th grade math. With me, she's doing reviews in Singapore 5A as well as Life of Fred: Ice Cream. Her poem is "Baby" by George MacDonald, and she is reading her next book in the Oz series independently. She is in Sentence Diagramming 2 and Vocabulary from Classical Roots 5. For art, she's also watching, The Museum. For science, she is reading Mysteries of the Periodic Table with me. We started the year using So You Really Want to Learn Latin for review and have switched to Second Form Latin.
1st Grade (R. and A.)
R. and A. are both listening to the audiobook of Story of Civilization Volume 2. They each read the ebook along with the recording, then discuss with me separately and dictate a narration for each chapter. They are also both reading The Science of a Glass of Water with me, but separately. R. uses a first grade book from Evan Moor for grammar, and A. is using Grammarland. R. practices cursive from the Palmer method. For math, R. is in 4th grade on Khan Academy and he does Xtramath and Life of Fred: Butterflies. A. is in second grade on Khan Academy and also does Xtramath. R is reading a Redwall book, and A. is reading a book about the Pony Express. For art, we are using the Come Look with Me series. We read the first book, Animals in Art, in September. We also read Joseph Haydn, the Merry Little Peasant by Opal Wheeler for music. R. plays piano and recorder, and A. plays piano. R's poem is "The Owl and the Pussycat" and A's is "On the Bridge" by Kate Greenaway.
