My computer is down

     Sorry I won't be able to blog much this week my computer is down but I will save all my photos and back post some of our activities.
     This week will be doing a unit study on dinosaurs. I printed cards from ABC teach and Montessori Print Shop. I also printed out an alligator life cycle worksheet that I laminated so both kids could use it as an activity from ABC teach.
      In our learning book basket is Fossils, a golden guide; DK pocket Dinosaurs,DK readers Dinosaur's Day by Ruth Thompson, Digging up Dinosaurs by Aliki, The Magic School Bus in the time of the dinosaurs by Joanna Cole, To Get A Dinosaur by Tim Johnson, The Question and Answer Book discovering Fossils, Dinosaur Explorer by Douglas Dixon, The Natural History Museum book of Dinosaurs by Tim Gardom and Dinosaur Dream by Dennis Nolan. I wish I owned the book Paul Strickland commented on for use with this unit. I am waiting for it on paperbackbookswap.com.


We are reading  the FIAR  book What will You Wear Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom.

Leaf collection

Last fall we started a leaf collection and added on to it this spring--- so where did it go now that Cam needs to make one for Pathfinder Scouts? Of course we have 60 mile per hour wind gusts all this week so all our Michigan leaves are in Lake Huron by now. But a couple of my coworkers were kind enough to bring her leaves from their yard. So we  have all 35 she needed to identify. She  has started a new scrapbook to keep them in. I hope we don't loose this one. I do love these projects and think the kids learn alot. Now she just needs to to find 35 seeds. We did find this cool osage orange ball at the golf course near our house. I stopped the car and thought it was a black walnut for her to pick up but that thing was huge. Still loooking for that black walnut and leaves from a black walnut tree. Maybe a walk around this halloween eve will find a few leaves left on the trees or seeds.

FIAR-What Will You Wear Jesse Bear?

I found this book on sale in hard cover this weekend! I remember reading it over and over again to my daughter Jessica who we call "Jessi". She loved how she and the bear had the same name. It doesn't seem like that was over 20 years ago. Who would've thought after 20 years I would still be reading the same book to my 6 and 8 year old children. I can't wait to read it to the kids.At least T.C. still has a decent book store downtown I hope book stores never go the way of other small businesses. Our  town no longer has one and there is only two used ones in the biggest town near us. Now I just need to start looking for the go-togethers for this book. Oh and get ink for the printer.

What's on our school shelves this week?

I like the style of posts about "what's on our shelves?" So, here is "What's on our school shelves this week?" I am setting up for the week late this time. Aaron and I spent the day up in T. C. for his birthday. I usually set up on Friday night or Saturday Morning because this is when I get organized and am home from work and so I am able to get the most done.

The kids alll love the apple sort-small, medium, and large--so that will stay a little longer. I found the basket for $0.50 at a garage sale this summer. The apples are from Walmart in the flower arrangement aisle.

I am also leaving the sand tray for tracing letters but have put a couple of shells and polished stones in with it.  In the style of a zen meditation garden for this week (for Pitty-pat).

Pumpkin pompom sort. The pumpkins were gifts filled with candy last week.

Clothes pin color match. The clothes pins are from Dollar tree. We already owned them. I saw this online here in a larger form and thought it would be good scaled down to teach little man his primary colors.

Little-man also has his orange and yellow leaf sort cups. The cups are from his stacking cup set.

We bought this book in T.C. this weekend. I am starting a rock collection for the kids and we also found an educational placemat to go along with this on our trip this weekend at the educational toy store.(everyone)

Rythym instruments (Little-man)

Tonight I made a big batch of no cook pumpkin play dough so I am setting up a basket with this(everyone).They played for an hour this morning with the play dough.

I found a mortar for grinding some popcorn.(Pitty-pat and Tippy-toe)

I made a basket of opening things for little-man.

The measuring square dowels and ruler are also new.(Tippy-toe is really into measuring)
.
And an opposites learning game I found at the dollar store.(Pitty-pat)

We are reading our FIAR book and reading aloud Little house in the Big Woods.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” -- Henry David Thoreau

Practical life-penny polishing WARNING!!!!!

I have seen several penny polishing ideas on blogs showing people using vinegar to have kids polish pennies. Vinegar and copper makes chemically  a DEADLY POISON! My mother would put three or four pennies in a  jar with vinegar to make this. It was her home remedy for ring worm. It is absorable through the skin. This means using that seemingly harmless vinegar everyone is going green and cleaning with to clean pennies could POISON YOUR CHILD even if they never put anything in their mouth!!!!!! Please use caution do not do this. My mom always said it was a deadly poison. No I don't recomend putting it on ring worm either thank you.

Practical Life-Corn grinding

We found a pestle and mortar for grinding spices for $9.95 plus tax in a small shop this weekend. I can't wait to set up a corn grinding activity for the kids this week as we ease into Thanksgiving time and incorporate a few  American Indian activities. It is a solid white ceramic model which is just the right size for my 6 and 8 year old. I saw a miniature one in an antique shop across the street from where I bought this one for $18.00. It was smaller than a tea cup. It would've worked for spices but not the corn. I am also really looking for the nut cracker that is screw like not like a vise.  As soon as I order one from a Montessori catalog I know I will find a store with one.

what to do with those extra square dowels

I had those square dowels left over from our weather vane project and while cruising around the web I found this page from the packer family that cut the square dowels into 1, 2, 3, 4...8,.and 9 inch lengths for measuring. Tippy-toe is obsessed with the tape measure now so this is a perfect use for those extra pieces of dowel i have been saving. I love finding ways to use what I already have laying around.
I also liked her idea of spooning marbles on to an egg crate foam piece.

Pumpkin Prayer

I must confess the whole halloween thing is an issue for me. While I love carving pumpkins, and drying the seeds to eat. The trick or treating is not as fun. My kids love to dress up and meet the neighbors but I don't want to leave God out of our lives.

I found this little prayer I want to share with you today.

Dear God,

As I carve my pumpkin, help me say this prayer:
Open my mind so I can learn about You; (Cut the top of the pumpkin)
Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do; (Clean out the inside)
Open my eyes so Your Love I will see; (Cut eyes shaped like hearts)
I'm sorry for turning up my nose to all You've given me; (Cut a nose in the shape of the cross)
Open my ears so Your Word I will hear; (Cut ears shaped like the Bible)
Open my mouth so I can tell others You're near; (Cut mouth in the shape of a fish)
Let Your Light shine in all I say and do! Amen. (Place a candle and light)

It is from Homeschool Nature Study

Fun with Sight Words

I saw this neat post and followed the link back to The Everyday Homeschool blog where I saw this neat game for sight words. It is a fun way to learn to spell and recognize sight words.
 I have also made 3 ring books for each level of sight words. I bought the 3 ring scrapbooks at the Dollar Tree and put one sight word in black ink on each page. This limits the distractions for my kids. There are no bright colors, pictures or doodads on the page so they can focus on what each word is and the spelling. Pitty-pat can recognize all of them this way but stumbles over them when reading in a book with other print like her Little House book.
Tippy-toe also is working with the phonics object box I made. He loves to get a drawer out and work with it. This is a very montessori thing.  Montesssori works well for kids with RAD.

continent boxes-just starting to gather ideas from all over

I found these white boxes on clearance sale at Walmart for $5.00 in the office supply section. I plan to leave them white but color code the labels when I can type them neatly.(Out of printer ink again and toner for the laser printer too)

Europe - red
South America - pink
Asia - Yellow
Antarctica - white
Australia (Australasia) - brown
North America - orange
Africa - green

Countries we'd studied so far: China (The Story About Ping,Mulan), America(Little House in the Big Woods),Spain,Guatemala,France(Madeline)

*Continent Cards from jojoebi 

*Animals
animals by continent cards I found here from sporschool
 animal list from montessori candy's blog that I have added more animals on to.I think we have alot of these already. I found our Desert Toob from Safari Ltd that I got on sale at Michael's. In it is an Explorer, Horned Lizard, Saguaro Cactus, Road Runner, Scorpion, Rattle Snake, Coyote, Big Horn Ram, Bobcat, Armadillo, Mountain Lion and Prairie Dog. Some of them have gone missing and I think the teenager's who played with them last are in trouble. The teens like the homeschool activities as much as the little-ones do.They seem to want to test all the activities out for the littles.
Animals of Africa:
Aardvark
African Adult Elephant
Camel
African Wild Dog
Giraffe
White Rhino
Cheetah
Warthog
Lowland Gorilla Male

Animals of Asia:
Brown Bear
Panda
Leopard
Praying Mantis
Hare
Orangutan
Siberian Tiger
Elephant
Red Panda
Arabian Camel

Arabian Wildcat and Turkish Van Kedi
Arabian Horse
Bengal Tiger/White Tiger
Asian Elephant
Leopard/Snow Leopard
Indian Rhinoceros
Caracal
Peacock
Cobra

Animals of Antarctica:
Chin Strap Penguin
Emperor Penguin
Giant Squid
Humboldt Penguin
Humpback Whale
Rockhopper Penguin
Sperm Whale
Walrus
Polar Bear
Octopus
Harp Seal
Dolphin
Sailfish

Animals of Australia:
Platypus
Cockatoo
Kangaroo
Koala
Blue Whale
Octopus
Crocodile
Humpback Whale
White Shark
Sperm Whale

Animals of Europe:
Owl
Hedgehog
Brown Bear
Wild Boar
German Shepherd
Border Collie
Dalmatian
Frog
Harp Seal
Ladybug
Hermit Crab

Animals of North America:
Squirrel
Beaver
Anteater
Deer
Bald Eagle
Wolf
Bison
Moose

Animals of South America:
Llama
Donkey
Armadillo
Alpaca
Iguana
Flamingo
Great Horned Owl
Honey Bee
Toucan
Macaw
Hermit Crab


*food lists
AFRICA
here is a list of commom african foods and spices I found that I thought would be good to include.
Common Ingredients for Traditional African Food
(where available)
Vegetables
Yams, Okra, Watermelon, Cassava, Groundnuts, Black-eyed Peas, Cabbage, Maize - corn,Sweet Potatoes Meats
Chicken,Pork,Beef and Fish of local varieties
Spices
Garlic
Melegueta pepper - West African (substitute use cardamon), cloves, black peppercorns, cardamom,nutmeg, turmeric, pilau mix , curry powder, Lemons,Rice

ASIA
middle eastern spices
cumin,nutmeg,cardamom,tumeric, sumac, caraway,aniseed,allspice,cinnamon
Indian Spices
Asofoetida,daal,coriander,curry,cumin,star anise,saffron,tamarind,tumeric

Other things to include:
* textiles such as a piece of silk for China, wool tartan plaid for Scotland, cotton and buckskin for North America, alpaca wool  for South America
* paperdolls showing tradional dress
*maps
*money
*flags
*stamps and postcards(I have been asking friends and co-workers going on vacation to send the kids postcards from flat stanley. Its my very own version of the flat stanley project! They love seeing where he is now.. but... "How does he know us?"... Pitty-pat asks every time a card comes to our house. I love it because it is the first time she showed stranger recognition and means she is growing out of her RAD (reactive attachment disorder) I love my two little RADishes. So far we have received postcards from South Dakota, Paris, St. Lucia, Arizona, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota--looking forward to many more soon who knows maybe someday I can afford a vacation and mail a card myself.

antartica
I found this great lifecyle of the penguin from Honey to print. It is a link I found at another website while searching for montessori continent box ideas.
North America
I got a wildflowers poster at the Michigan visitors center this summer. In fact I have and extra copy for the first person to comment on this blog page.

o is for owl

I got his idea from "no time for flash cards's" blog but my computer locks up because of all the bells and whistles found there... so I am not including a link.(and I have high speed internet too lol)
But here are our owl crafts we made..

Tippy-toe's owl

Pitty-pat's

Cam's

I think this is Em's (who was visiting us) and made one too.

pumpkin flour recipe

I plan to try this with an extra pumpkin. Pumpkin bread with pumpkin flour yummy!
Pumpkin Flour Recipe from pumpkin's nook.com

"Description: Pumpkin flour is a great substitute for use in just about any recipe that uses flour. Pumpkin Flour is rich in minerals and vitamins, many of which are believed to have several medicinal benefits (see below).
Pumpkin Flour most likely originated in Mexico, the origin of pumpkins. It is popular there today.
Potential and real medical benefits include:
Aids gastrointestinal ailments
Cancer avoidance and treatment
Kidney ailments
Diabetes- both helps in deterring the onset of Diabetes, as well as treatment.
Heart ailments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredients:
There's just one ingredient..........one or more pumpkins.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation Directions:
Select one or more fresh, ripe pumpkins. Sugar pie variety makes a good, slightly sweet flour.
Cut open the pumpkin, remove and discard seeds and strings.
Remove the skin from the pumpkin. Use a sharp knife for hard skins. A potato peeler may work on soft shelled varieties.
Slice pumpkin into thin slices and set out to dry. A food dehydrator is helpful.
Allow pumpkin to completely dry.
Place slices into a food processor and grind into a flour-like texture.
Place pumpkin flour into an airtight container, and store in a cool, dry place.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using Pumpkin Flour:
Pumpkin Flour can be used in any recipe that calls for flour. Most recipes suggest substituting pumpkin flour for up to 1/4 of the amount of regular flour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"

apple pizza

At the 4 c's I found this wonderful recipe to make with the little kids today.

Apple Pizza


Apple Topping:

2 tablespoons butter
2 large cooking apples
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel and slice the apples. Melt butter in skillet, add apples, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Simmer 15 minutes, then cool.


Cheese Topping:

4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix in a bowl and set aside.

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup soft butter

Mix in a bowl and set aside.

Crust:

2 3/4 to 3 cups flour
1 package dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Blend 1 1/2 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixer bowl. Heat water, milk, and butter until very warm; add to flour mixture and beat three minutes. By hand, stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Cover and let rise 15 minutes. Pat dough onto a large oiled pizza pan, forming a rim around the edge. Spread on cheese topping, then apple topping over cheese; sprinkle with streusel topping. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Serves 16.

Harvest Sort-Montessori tray

This was left over from our scale weights and measures activity so I recycled the corn and beans into a sorting activity. Tippy-toe had fun but he is old enough to not put things in his mouth like this. I wouldn't try this with my 2 year old.

Happy 8th Birthday Pitty-pat

Today is Pitty-pat's 8th birthday! I have a confetti cake all ready to frost for her. When Cam and Daddy get home today Tippy-toe and I plan to go shopping. She wants some junk off the tv but I hope to get something she will like better longer. I just don't know what yet. I gave my best ideas away already.

Montessori Trays

Today I set up an apple sort game with small, medium, and large plastic apples to sort. Pitty-pat flew through it. So I put her to work helping Tippy-toe with the sand tray alphabet station I made for him. he was really frustrated he can't make his letters very well and needs practice. I thought this might be a great way to encourage him to practice. One of my co-worker's wives is a Montessori teacher and she suggested a few things I need to work on with him. I found the perfect tray last Saturday for $0.25 at a garage sale. The very white sand was $3.00 from Walmart in the vase and flower area. I saw a post this week about using salt but I know he will touch his eyes and salt will burn. The post this week was to tell me I really need to get on it and set up this activity. I will post pictures as soon as I can load them on the computer.

Great Place to find books

I just joined the paperback book swap. I got two free swaps for posting 10 unwanted books--duplicates and old babysitter's club books nobody will read. On the way is a book I need for my FIAR lessons. Not a bad trade. If you sign up give them my info as a referal and I will earn more books please. My nickname is mittenmom. Click on either link to sign up.

Random Acts of Reading

Because of all the great Montessori ideas we have enjoyed from mymontessorijourney's blog I have prepared two random acts of reading packs and plan to have the kids leave them at the park today. you can learn about this neat project at Random Acts of Reading. her goal was 2,010 books in 2010 so here is my little contribution of  2 not alot but easy enough. I was working up Goodnight Moon for my FIAR and remembered reading about it on this blog so I just made 3 copies of everything and now we can share 2. I really feel books are important. Our local book store closed and now we only have the public libray which is not nearly as nice (people really aren't friendly who work there). I always want to keep the books way too long--which makes the clerks grouchy! You'd think they would look at the fines that pay their salary as a good thing.

Fabric letters and numbers

I found this great idea for fabric letters from counting coconuts (who I follow for great ideas )saw at ohsohappytogether . I plan to make these instead of sandpaper montessori letters. He hates anything rough and loves his fleece. Even at 2 weeeks of age he could tell the difference between the feel of  two fleece blankets. I think all three small ones at my house will love these.

Weather Station

I saw this great idea for making a weather station. We are making the weather vane I found at Franklin's forecast . We cut our tail and head out of  a square icecream pail lid that was going to be thrown out (repurposed) I bought the square dowel 12 inches long at michael's. It came in a pack of 8 and I plan on using the rest of them for a math activity as they are in graduating thicknessess. The nail and the metal washer was found in my junk drawer. Now I just need my post and broom handle. I plan on putting a full weather station in my rock garden. I will make a rain guage next. I will paint a snow gauge on the post. Here in Michigan we measure the snow more than the rain. I think we will be able to see it from the kitchen window.

The Rain
The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
and on the ships at sea.
--Robert Louis Stevenson

my favorites for children book list

Corduroy Little-man's favorite at age 2

The Giving Tree read this in french in high school still love it!

Go, dog Go! Read this every night for a year to Tippy-toe when he first came to live with me at age 4

The Mitten  I read it last year to the kids

I Love you Like Crazy Cakes Great book about adoption love

Littleman's other age 2 favorite

Love you Forever This book we own 5 copies-- because my dad would hide them because he cried everytime he read it to my daughter Aim-Everytime he hid one she bought a new one-- this went on for years! She's nineteen and still loves it.

Little House Series Every girl should read this series.

Anything illustrated by Eloise Wilkin-I am unable to resist even if I already have a copy.

The House That Had Enough  my mom thought reading this to my son would make him clean his room.

A Winkle in time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and I forget the third bood by Madeline L'Engle

The Trumpet of the Swan

Before Five In A Row Book list--my check sheet

We have a boardbook copy.

I have ordered this from paperbackswap.com so it was free(If you use them let them know I referred you as mittenmom so I get a free swap Thanks.)

We have a boardbook copy.

We have a paperback copy.

The Snowy Day

This was one of my oldest daughter Jessi's favorites because they had the same name. I just bought a new hardcover copy for $9.99 plus tax.

Corduroy -  *we have A Pocket for Corduroy also

The Big Green Pocketbook
Angus Lost

Katy No-Pocket
I Am an Artist

Play With Me

The Little Rabbit

Ask Mr. Bear

If Jesus Came to My House

ABC Bunny

OOP books:

Yellow Ball

My Blue Boat

Quiet Way Home

Red Carpet

Jenny's Surprise Summer

FIAR Book lists-- all volumes for my check sheet

I will keep this list updated as I add these books to our homeschool library.

FIVE IN A ROW BOOK LIST


Volume 1:
*The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese (can be found online in color and printed free)
Lentil by Robert McCloskey
*Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (found a hardcover copy for $2.95 found a 4 book-volume for $1.00)
A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
*Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin (found at used book store hardcover $2.95)--oop
Another Celebrated Dancing Bear by Gladys Scheffrin-Falk--oop
Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley
Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews
The Clown of God by Tomie DePaola
Storm in the Night by Mary Stoltz
*Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton(kids already had a copy)
Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha
*Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (with illustrations by Susan Jeffers)(borrowed from our public library read in  2009 to the kids)



Volume 2:
The Giraffe That Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton--oop
Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan
Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf
*Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (found paperback $0.95)
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
They Were Strong and Good by Alice and Robert Lawson
Babar, To Duet or Not to Duet based on characters by DeBrunhoff--oop
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Down, Down the Mountain by Ellis Credle--oop
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
*The Tale of Peter Rabbit written and ill. by Beatrix Potter(found at dollar daze $1.00)
Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
All Those Secrets of the World by Jane Yolen--oop
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Little Red LIghthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
*Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson(already had a torn copy)
*When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (found paperback $0.95)
Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines--oop


Volume 3:
The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
Andy and the Circus by Ellis Credle--oop
The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock--oop
Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ill. by Ted Rand
Henry the Castaway by Mark Taylor--oop
The Finest Horse in Town by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Truman's Aunt Farm by Jama Kim Rattigan
The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl
Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty
Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla
Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders--oop
*The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer(garage sale $0.25)
Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon
Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston
Little Nino's Pizzeria by Karen Barbour



Volume 4:
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
The Raft by Jim LaMarche
Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
*Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin(used book store$2.95 second copy garage sale $0.25)
The Gullywasher by Joyce Rossi
Arabella by Wendy Orr--oop
Higgins Bend Song and Dance by Jacqueline Briggs Martin---oop
Cowboy Charlie by Jeanette Winter--oop
Grass Sandals by Dawnine Spivak
Albert by Donna Jo Napoli
The Hickory Chair by Lisa Rose Fraustino
Hanna's Cold Winter by Trish Marx--oop
The Hatmaker's Sign Retold by Candace Fleming--oop
The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold
Angelo by David Macaulay

*means we own it
oop means out of print

magnet mania

I gave Tippy-toe a set of magnets and let him explore with them today. I think he learned a lot. I have a book that goes with the magnets,  but I wanted to see what a 6 year old boy could discover on his own. He loved it. Definitely worth the $0.50 at the garage sale yesterday in town. I did explain the names for each of the magnets to him. Science discovered is science learned at that age. Next time l will get out the montessori cards and add them to the activity.

New York Library's List of 100 picture books everyone should know

1.ABUELA by Arthur Dorros,


2.ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst

3.ANANSI AND THE MOSS-COVERED ROCK by Eric A. Kimmel

4.ANDY AND THE LION by James Daugherty

5.BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer

6.THE BOSSY GALLITO: A TRADITIONAL CUBAN FOLK TALE retold by Lucia M.Gonzalez; illustrated by Lulu Delacre

*7.BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES by Russell Hoban; illustrated by Lillian Hoban

*8.BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin, Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle

9.BRUNO MUNARI’S ABC by Bruno Munari

10.BUZ by Richard Egielski

11.CAPS FOR SALE; A TALE OF A PEDDLER, SOME MONKEYS AND THEIR MONKEY BUSINESS by Esphyr Slobodkina

12.THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Crockett Johnson

13.A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER by Vera B. Williams

14.CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert

15.CLICK, CLACK, MOO : COWS THAT TYPE / by Doreen Cronin

16.COME ALONG, DAISY! by Jane Simmons

*17.CORDUROY by Don Freeman

18.CURIOUS GEORGE by H. A. Rey

19.DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul Stickland and Henrietta

20.DON’T LET THAT PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! by Mo Willems

21.DUCK ON A BIKE by David Shannon

22.FIRE TRUCK by Peter Sís

23.FREIGHT TRAIN by Donald Crews

24.FROGGY GETS DRESSED by Jonathan London

25.THE GARDENER by Sarah Stewart

26.GEORGE AND MARTHA by James Marshall27.GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER! by Ed Emberley

28.GOIN’ SOMEPLACE SPECIAL by Patricia McKissack

29.GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann

*30.GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret W. Brown; illustrated by Clement Hurd

31.GOSSIE by Dunrea Olivier

32.GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY by Allen Say

*33.HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson

34.HARRY THE DIRTY DOG by Gene Zion ; illustrated by Margaret Graham

35.HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG by D. B. (Donald B.) Johnson

36.HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr.Seuss,

37.HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? by Jane Yolen

38.I KISSED THE BABY! by Mary Murphy

39.IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura J. Numeroff

40.IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE: A YIDDISH FOLKTALE retold and illustrated by Margot Zemach

41.JOHN HENRY by Julius Lester; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

42.JULIUS by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey

43.KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes

44.LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE by Kevin Henkes

45.THE LINE-UP BOOK by Russo Marisabina

46.THE LITTLE RED HEN: AN OLD STORY by Margot Zemach

47.LON PO PO: A RED RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA by Ed Young

48.LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE by Bernard Waber

49.MABELA THE CLEVER by Margaret Read MacDonald

*50.MACHINES AT WORK by Byron Barton

*51.MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans

52.MAISY GOES SWIMMING by Lucy Cousins

53.MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey

54.MAMA CAT HAS THREE KITTENS by Denise Fleming

55.THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gerstein

56.MARTHA SPEAKS by Susan Meddaugh

57.MIKE MULLIGAN AND HIS STEAM SHOVEL by Virginia L. Burton

58.MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gág

59.MISS NELSON IS MISSING! by Harry Allard and James Marshall

60.MR. GUMPY’S OUTING by John Birmingham

*61.MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE retold and illustrated by John Steptoe

62.MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! by Candace Fleming

63.MY FRIEND RABBIT by Eric Rohmann

64.THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood

*65.NO, DAVID! by David Shannon

66.OFF TO SCHOOL, BABY DUCK! by Amy Hest

67.OLD BLACK FLY by Jim Aylesworth

68.OLIVIA by Ian Falconer

69.OWEN by Kevin Henkes

70.PAPA, PLEASE GET THE MOON FOR ME by Eric Carle

71.PIERRE: A CAUTIONARY TALE by Maurice Sendak

*72.THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg

73.PUSS IN BOOTS by Charles Perrault

74.THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF MOTHER GOOSE: A TREASURY OF 386 TIMELESS NURSERY RHYMES by Arnold Lobel

75.ROUND TRIP by Ann Jonas

76.RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Paul O. Zelinsky

*77.THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats

78.SPOTS, FEATHERS AND CURLY TAILS by Nancy Tafuri

79.THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf

80.THE STRAY DOG Marc, Simont

81.STREGA NONA by Tomie De Paola

82.SWIMMY by Leo Lionni

83.SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig

*84.THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter

85.TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold

86.TEN, NINE, EIGHT by Molly Bang

87.THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY by Simms Taback

88.THE THREE BEARS by Paul Galdone

89.TRASHY TOWN by Andrea Griffing Zimmerman

90.THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS BY A. WOLF by John Scieszka

91.TUESDAY by David Wiesner

92.UPTOWN by Collier Bryan

*93.THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle

94.THE WHEELS ON THE BUS adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

*95.WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak

*96.WHERE’S SPOT? by Eric Hill

97.WHISTLE FOR WILLIE by Ezra Jack Keats

98.THE WOLF’S CHICKEN STEW by Keiko Kasza

99.YOKO by Rosemary Wells

100.ZOMO THE RABBIT: A TRICKSTER TALE FROM WEST AFRICA retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott
*means we have read this book with Pity-pat and Tippy-toe
 highlighted in red means it is a BFIAR or FIAR book

The Great Call

The Great Commandment


And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7


Getting to church has been so hard since mom died. For so many reasons and here it is Sunday and we didn't "GO" to church again. I have been worrying about this alot lately and feel I must try harder to get there. I am setting a bad example for the kids. Although my older children don't attend church now that they are grown and we NEVER missed church when they were little. I miss the fellowship I get from church but the big question is WHERE to go. Growing up I have been close to all four churches near my home and attended all when the doors were open.Forest Hill was our primary outside of town where I taught Sunday School for 12 years. East Superior is close and in town and I went to camp with the former and current minister but always went skating with them on skate night and it is the closest to our new house. Coe was my mothers church when she was little and has a youth program and lots of my family attent there. But the tiny little Salt River is the church of my heart and I have PLEDGED to" keep the doors open no matter what  as long as one of the McNeill's breath air on this planet". This I will do for my Lord and my Dad. But they do not have a sunday night program or other kids. How can I teach my kids the importance of keeping Salt River open if we don't go there? I would just like to start taking the kids to Forest Hill's youth group on sunday nights. I think that is a reasonable thing to do especially since Aaron will be out hunting anyway.

Madeline Fiar study

We have started our Study of Madeline by Ludwig Bemelans
I chose this book this week because Flat Stanley sent us a post card from Paris. (Thank You Dick and Sue D. from work for helping  Flat Stanley to send us card while you were on vacation in Paris.) the post card arrived yesterday to much excitement. It has a picture of the Eiffel Tower on it. I am doing my own modified version of the  Flat Stanley Project.where anyone I know goes on vacation and I as them to send us a postcard from Stanley. The kids love getting mail and looking up on the map where Flat Stanley is now! So far our Stanley has sent us cards from as far west as South Dakota and as far south as Arizonia, and from other countries like France.  Rumor has it he is in St. Lucia right now and we should be getting a card soon in the mail. what a fun way to study geography.

Our  Bible verse this week:
 Philippians 4:8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.:


 I have a couple of coloring pages of monuments to color. And a couple of Madeline book pages to color.We discussed a little bit regarding Bemelmans' use of color in the illustrations like  how there were a few pictures in full color, but most were done simply in black, white, and yellow.

We already know Je t'aime is I Love you in french so we will study a couple more french words this week

I plan to continue our study of the human body with a discussion of appendicitis. Easy peasy when your mom is an Operating Room Nurse.

I also plan to rent the 1998 movie version for the end of week movie night.

Life Lessons

No School today the kids had to work independently. I took little man to see his birth-grandpa and birth family at the hospital. Grandpa S. was given just two weeks to live after being diagnosed with liver cancer on Sunday. He had only seen little-man one time long ago and they wanted me to bring him up to see him but he was too sick for visitors really. We took a three generations picture for little-mans life book. ( A life book is more complete than a baby book for adopted kids.) Life is short and precious--treat everyone with respect and dignity.

poem of the day

Harvest Song


Come to the field and orchard,

Come with your cart and baskets,

Come with your bags and barrels,

For harvest time is here!

Gather the golden pumpkins,

Climb for the rosy apples,

Dig for the brown potatoes,

For harvest time is here!

The Story about Ping - day 4

Today we made these wooden dolls with hats that look like the man in ping's story. This lead us to make some cute little peg dolls. That led me to a website Twig and Toadstool with the cute toad stool stools for the garden. I will make these as soon as I find the wooden salad bowls at the thrift store!!!! we camp out alot in the summer so these should appear on our next camp trip to keep the kids out of the adults seats! They will look good in our play house too. I am so excited. Aaron I need help cutting a few stumps for the base do we have any already down in the woods? I am sure he can find a few while he is hunting deer this week. I just need 5 or 6 dear.

Sensory basket-fall theme

Inspired by a post at counting coconuts blog I decided to put together a fall sensory basket for the kids.So far from around the house I have added:
a felt letter A
a wooden red heart
2 red pipe cleaner circles
1 pipe cleaner apple (I made)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 pine cones
a is for apple card
1 magnifying glass
15 fuzzy red pompoms
4 large acorns
4 red-orange maple leaves form our tree
6 beechnut hulls from our beech tree

little boys poem

AMen

The Story About Ping-day 3

Today we watche a video about people fishing with comerants on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7l6Pe0CKsg&feature=fvw  it was interesting and great for the little short attention spans. Then we discussed it and watched another one showing how comarants really expand their throats to swallow very large fish.Pitty-pat also noticed how the boats were made of bamboo poles in the first video.