Why we homeschool...

Favorite Read-Alouds

These are some of our favorite chapter books that we have listened to over the years...

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Mandy by Julie Andrews

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews

The Cricket in Time Square by George Seldon

Mystery in the Night Woods by J. Peterson

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Wind In the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Little House in the Big Woods by L.Ingalls Wilder

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson

Bunnicula by Deborah & James Howe

A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

A Walk in Wolf Woods by Mary Stewart

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

The 21 Balloons by William Pene du Bois

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton

Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle

The Water Horse by Dick King Smith

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

Grayson by Lynne Cox

Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Along Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendick

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

The Miraculous Adventures of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

The Great Brain by Scott Fitzgerald

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgon Burnett

Big Susan by Elizabeth Orton Jones

The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgon Burnett

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Riding the Flume by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Gaia Girls Enter the Earth by Lee Wells

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konglisburg

Do you have a favorite read-aloud that is not on our list? If so, please share it with us!

Here is a fun thing too...

Check out Meet Me at the Corner for virtual field trips. You can see The Metropolitan Museum of Art on their latest episode!

River Flows in You #2 (polished version:)

Here is one of my favorite piano pieces that I've been working on. I might have posted it before, but now it's even better! I've been working on it with my piano teacher (-link to her website) for my recital a couple weeks ago. Enjoy!

Earth Day at the ENC

Last month we spent Earth Day at the ENC (Environmental Nature Center). The ENC is an entirely green building with a science/nature museum. Beyond the building is a butterfly garden and trails through different plant communities. It is a great place to learn with classes and programs for kids and adults.

On Earth Day we learned: about different plants and why their leaves are shaped in different ways, some plants have a waxy surface so that water droplets stick to their leaves, black sage is beautiful in the Spring with white-lavender buds, moths have hairy looking antennas which help them to smell, lady bugs are in the same family as beetles. We also got to see different microscopic plants and animals under microscopes.

The ENC is a fun place to learn about nature. You should check it out sometime!

Earthroots

We've been dropping in at Earthroots Field School lately. Earthroots has groups of homeschoolers that meet up with naturalists/environmental educators to explore some of the natural wildlife and wilderness parks in South Orange County. Here are just some of the fun things we've done and/or learned about so far:

*saw thousands of tadpoles and baby frogs (froglets)

*watched a filaree spiral

*waded through creeks

*climbed oak trees

*identified wildflowers (these are purple lupines)

*learned about the water cycle

*made chamomille & elderberry flower tea

*saw how to make fire with a bow

*made clay bowls from the clay in a creek bed

*made a dam in a creek

*held a baby chick

*ate minor's lettuce (which only grows for a short time during the Spring).

Homeschoolers can sign up or drop in for weekly adventures. Maybe we will see you there sometime!

Note - Aside from sharing an occasional edible plant (or ant:), Earthroots is extremely careful about making sure that the kids do not harm or remove any of the natural elements in the wilderness parks.

Tinkering (Home)School

By Allie

Micayla and I went to the Tinkering School with our friends where I got to take apart a flat screen TV. They had tons of things there you could take apart. It was fun.

Nate and I did some tinkering of our own at home. We took apart a CD player that didn't work anymore. We used tools like screwdrivers and scissors. It was pretty neat to see all the things that were inside!

Music Museum

We met up with our good friends in Carlsbad and took a tour of the history of music in America last month at the Museum of Making Music.

(did you know that there were orchestras in the 30's that were made up of kids 6 and under?) There were many great exhibits and we saw lots antique and unique instruments.

At the end of the tour was a fun interactive area with a variety of instruments that we could play. Some of our favorite instruments were the strumstick, the harpsichord, the see-through piano, the theremin, and the drums.

Afterwards, our friends treated us to a yummy lunch and delicious homemade cupcakes from CAKEgirl (our friend's new cake business - you can find it on Facebook).

Sophie's spaghetti and meatball creations!