Literatureless

I haven't read anything since we moved!

It was such a big part of our day, now it seems, we don't have time!

We listened to an audiobook (Trumpet of the Swan) and I reserved "Red Badge of Courage" from the library, but I just haven't been able to get into the routine.

I'm really relieved as the Lord spoke to me about not trying to do "the previous routine". We left that behind when we moved and I can move forward with establishing something new (with a lot of the old still intact).

Thanksgiving Read Alouds

Finally, I got my act together and brought home Thanksgiving books BEFORE Thanksgiving! I think the last week of each month is a good time to reserve books for the next month's holiday! All these must be returned tomorrow because each one has a hold on them...someone new will enjoy them before next Thursday!

"The Thanksgiving Story" by Alice Dalgliesh*
"Thanksgiving Day" by Gail Gibbons (for under 6 years-ish)
"The Turkeys' Side of It" by Janice Lee Smith
"Thanksgiving Is-" by Gail Gibbons*
"Oh, What a Thankgiving" by Steven Kroll

*these were my favorites

History Read Aloud

Started "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare today as part of our chronological history reading.

Literature For Lunch-All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Well isn't this delightful!?!? A family of five girls growing up in New York City in 1910ish. What's kind of fun is my Mother's aunt was born in 1913. Tales of scarlet fever, Jewish holidays, city neighborhoods, hard lessons, sisterly love...all woven into mini-chapters that are easy to start and stop (audiobook). There seem to be more books, I'm guessing the kids will want those, too! Really enjoying "All-of-a-Kind Family" by Sydney Taylor.

Literature For Lunch-James and the Giant Peach

This is simply FANTASTIC on audiobook! Narrated by Jeremy Irons (Scar from "The Lion King", among others). The kids were delighted and I loved revisiting this story from my own childhood.

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-Little Britches by Ralph Moody

LOVING this so far! "Little Britches" by Ralph Moody!

Literature For Lunch-The Bridge to Never Land by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearon

We decided to read this one since Jim Dale doesn't narrate the audiobook. Fantastic, devoured it! "The Bridge to Never Land" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

More Roading Audiobooks - Peter and the Sword of Mercy

More, more, MORE! We can't get enough of Peter!

Road Tripping AudioBook - Peter and the Secret of Rundoon

We've become ADDICTED! We finished reading Peter and the Starcatchers (Book 1) along with Peter and the Shadow Thieves (Book 2) and rushed to the library for the CD set of Peter and the Secret of Rundoon (Book 3). We've been doing a lot of driving and this came in quite handy. LOVE the series!

Road Trip Audiobook - From the Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler

Wonderful audiobook! "From the Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg! The entire family enjoyed it, especially my 12 year old son, who is now reading the book.

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-Peter And The Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

AH! How we enjoyed "Peter and the Starcatchers"! We're on to book two, "Peter and the Shadow Thieves" by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson which does not disappoint!

The Puppy Place Series

Sarah is loving these sweet books about fostering doggies. The Puppy Place by Ellen Miles.

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-Peter And The Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

We really enjoyed "The Doll People" and now we're on to "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson...excellent so far! Thanks to the G family for the referral!

UPDATE 08/16/2012: Just finished, FANTASTIC. We're getting the next book in the series, we enjoyed it so much!

Reading Math is FUN!

I was curious about the elementary Life of Fred books...what a delight! The kids are begging for more! We did five chapters over breakfast and they can't wait for more at lunch. Dan ran and got out the fractions book...interesting.

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-The Doll People by Ann M Martin

Just started this delightful story recommended by the G family. Thanks! The Doll People by Ann M. Martin with illustrations by Brian Selznick (awesome)!

Read Aloud-The Smallest Snowflake by Bernadette Watts

The Smallest Snowflake by Bernadette Watts. Cute.

Read Aloud-The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

One of my favorites now. The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. We read it at bedtime, short.

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-The Childrens Homer-The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum

We're going to give this a try...The Children's Homer-The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum. Here's the Amazon description: Travel back to a mythical time when Achilles, aided by the gods, waged war against the Trojans. And join Odysseus on his journey through murky waters, facing obstacles like the terrifying Scylla and whirring Charybdis, the beautiful enchantress Circe, and the land of the raging Cyclôpes. Using narrative threads from The Iliad and The Odyssey, Padraic Colum weaves a stunning adventure with all the drama and power that Homer intended.

UPDATE: Well, we had trouble getting through this and skipped through about 50 or more pages to skip to the end. Enjoyed, but ready for something new, just moved really, really slowly for a read aloud for us.

Auditory Sarah-Visual Daniel

Here's Daniel, I think he's reading Harry Potter #7 The Deathly Hallows and Sarah is on the computer playing piano by ear. LOVE IT!

Literature For Lunch-New Lunch Read Aloud-Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick

This is capturing Daniel as the beginning chapters are a sort of narrative about Archimedes, the young boy. Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick is our afternoon read aloud for now.

UPDATE: this is a great science book! we've discussed levers and got talking about oil & water when I realized we could do a quick experiment in the kitchen with oil and water!