surprise!
Can you blame me? I was sitting at Hannah's laptop (thanks, Banana), and I decided to use her webcam. Now, realize this might not be a big deal to most computer people, but my home desktop is so old. I literally almost have to crank it to work, and the if a big file comes up it runs so loud and the fan kicks dust (yes, dust) up in the air. So really, there's no room for a fancy webcam. :)
This was my moment!
Yesterday, when I blogged about the noise I mentioned a book that I was going to use to help save my day. I wish I could tell you that after I followed my plan that my day was a perfect success...but it wasn't. By the end I still wanted to start pulling that hair out of my head...but I didn't. It was just one of those high-anxiety days. You know the days. Where almost everyone woke up on the wrong side of bed, and if they didn't by the end of the day they felt like they did. Despite that, we all went to bed tired, and still loving each other. So I give that day a pass as a grade.
However, I was thinking about the book Five in a Row (by Jane Claire Lambert), and how I had mentioned it in my blog post. Many of you know that we homeschool....and that I love it. This is our ninth year of homeschooling, and I've gone through lots of curriculum. Tons. (side note: no one ever wants to see us move due to the large number of books that we own.) Anyways, way back when we started, when I was a complete rookie, one of the books that caught my eye was this Five in a Row. I bought it, and used if with Hannah and Chloe. And they loved it.
reading The Story of Ping
I'm telling you about this book, because whether you homeschool or not, if you have young kids this book is worth the $20. Why? For days like yesterday. The book works this way --there are around 20 different books listed in the table of contents. Choose a book (like I did The Story of Ping). Turn to the section in Five in a Row. Then you read the book, and then use the pages (and I mean pages) of suggestions in the Five in a Row book on how to utilize that book. Geography, Math, Literature, Art, Science...you name it...it's there. For Ping we talked about China, about the Yangtze River, about why the boy wore a barrel on his back, why they eat ducks, and about the different ways the artist illustrated water. The author intends it to be a week long study, where you read the book daily, and choose activities. I use it much more loosely (imagine that? me?) and keep it in my emergency box. Again: Five in a Row = worth ever dollar
Why? For moments shown below:
Why? For moments shown below:
finally some calm
intrigued
it led to finding China
learning about Chinese culture
savoring a moment of stillness
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and now, I must bid you goodbye, as the peace that I had at the beginning of the post is rapidly wearing off. Off to put meat on the grill...yes, grill...start some veggies, and chop a salad. And hold an adorable 7 month old. Till tomorrow, my friends!
