This week we've been reading quite a bit of history. Our plan for the school year is to learn about the Modern Age ; since we were learning about the ancients this year we've been zipping through Gombrich's A Little History of the World as a read aloud to get us through the Middle Ages and on to the present.
I was browsing through some of the literature suggestions in the Story of the World Activity Book, and asked the kids if they remembered reading The Secret Garden. We'd read it aloud years ago, and Thalia has apparently read it a couple of times since. Annabeth doesn't remember it at all, so we've picked it up as a read aloud.
The other day at piano lessons I was pre-reading The Drummer Boy's Battle to see if it would be something Annabeth could read. Afterwards the kids asked me what I'd been so absorbed in. I explained that it was a book about the Crimean War, which raised the question of what the heck the Crimean War was. Since I have no memory of ever studying this or hearing it mentioned AT ALL in school, I pulled out Story of the World vol. 4 and read the section in chapter 3 on the topic. We discussed some of the review questions. And Annabeth took the Drummer Boy book and started reading it to herself.
Annabeth also read an abridged version of Treasure Island as a taste of literature written in this general time period. Thalia plans to read the unabridged version at some point.
In the meantime, I had picked up a copy of A Year Down Yonder when I saw it at the library since I remembered seeing it inthe Sonlight catalog in American History 100. What a funny book! I passed it on to Thalia immediately. She read it, then borrowed the book that comes before it, A Long Way From Chicago, from a neighbor (Thalia has issues with reading books out of order).
Girl Scouts has started, dance is never-ending, piano lessons continue ... yet we still have plenty of time to try to dress the cat in a halter top "prom dress".
The cat is hoping we start math and Latin and other time-consuming subjects soon.
The way you are gradually gearing up your school year sounds a lot like what we're doing.
ReplyDeleteCat pictures are too funny btw! I'm sure the cat will be very glad when your homeschooling is at full pace!
It sounds like a terrific week. The Secret Garden is such a great book. I can't wait to read it again to my kids. Good luck as you move forward with your school year :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Secret Garden! We are going to read it together later in the year. The cat pictures cracked me up, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm (really, really) glad to hear that others hadn't heard of the Crimean War either (Phew- don't feel so silly now). I also adore the photos of the cat dressed up!
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