100 Books-A-Month Challenge, Reading My Library

July Reading List
If we read any more I'll add it later.

Read to Austyn and Zoe:
1. A Girl and Her Gator by Sean Bryan
2. Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch
3. All On A Sleepy Night by Shutta Crum
4. Always in Trouble by Corinne Demas
5. Andrew’s Loose Tooth by Robert Munsch
6. Baby Wolf by Mary Batten
7. Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
8. Biblioburro by Jeanette Winter
9. Bird, Bird, Bird! (A Chirping Chant) by April Pulley Sayre
10. Bored! Bored! Bored! By Jill Newton
11. Boo to You! By Lois Ehlert
12. Buttons by Brock Cole
13. Can You Make a Scary Face? By Jan Thomas
14. Casey Jones by Allan Drummond
15. Chicken Butt! By Erica S. Perl
16. Circus Family Dog by Andrew Clements
17. Clever Crow by Cynthia DeFelice
18. Count Your Way Through Greece by Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson
19. Cowboy Slim by Julie Danneberg and Margot Apple
20. Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett
21. Dinosaurs?! By Lila Prap
22. Dora’s Box by Ann-Jeanette Campbell
23. Do Your Ears Hang Low? By Caroline Jayne Church
24. Dream Hop by Julia Durango
25. Ella The Elegant Elephant by Carmela and Steven D’Amico
26. Eppie M. Says… by Olivier Dunrea
27. Everything I Know About Cars by Tom Lichtenheld
28. Everything I Know About Monsters by Tom Lichtenheld
29. Father’s Day Blues by Irene Smalls
30. First Graders from Mars by Shana Corey
31. Gilbert the Great by Jane Clarke and Charles Fuge
32. Good Night Sun, Hello Moon by Karen Viola
33. Gossie and Gertie Olivier Dunrea
34. How Long? By Elizabeth Dale
35. I am NOT Sleepy and I WILL NOT go to Bed by Lauren Child
36. I Love It When You Smile by Sam McBratney
37. In Arctic Waters By Laura Crawford
38. In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George
39. I See Animals Hiding by Jim Arnosky
40. Is Your Mama a Llama? By Deborah Guarino
41. Jamela’s Dress by Niki Daly
42. Jinnie Ghost by jane Ray and Berlie Doherty
43. Jody’s Beans by Malachy Doyle
44. Jubal’s Wish by Audry Wood
45. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling – 1 Story
46. Klimt and His Cat by Bérénice Capatti
47. Know-It_Alls Kittens by Christopher Nicholas
48. Know-It-Alls Whales! By Irene Trimble
49. Little Bunny Foo Foo by Paul Brett Johnson
50. Little Cloud by Eric Carle
51. Little Goose by David Mraz
52. Little Moments of Happiness by Elisabeth Brami and Philippe Bertrand
53. Little Yau by Janell Cannon
54. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
55. Mice are Amazing by Robin Robbins
56. M Is for Music by Kathleen Krull
57. Moondogs by Daniel Kirk
58. Mortimer by Robert Munsch
59. Mountains by Cathryn Sill
60. Mrs. Armitage Queen of the Road by Quentin Blake
61. Mrs. Fickle’s Pickles by Lori Ries
62. Noodle Man by April Pully Layre
63. Oceans Alive Jellyfish by Ann Herriges
64. One Duck by Hazel Hutchins
65. One Red Apple by Harriet Ziefert
66. Owney The Mail-Pouch Pooch by Mona Kerby
67. Patrick’s Dinosaurs on the Internet by Carol Carrick
68. Pia Toya A Goshute Indian Legend by Ibapah Elementary School
69. Pigs Will Be Pigs by Amy Axelrod
70. Polly Molly Woof Woof by David Lloyd
71. Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton
72. Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky
73. Ready for Anything! By Keiko Kasza
74. Rimonah of the Flashing Sword by Eric A. Kimmel
75. Seven Spunky Monkeys by Jackie French Koller
76. Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble by Judy Schachner
77. Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards
78. Something Might Happen by Helen Lester
79. Stick by Steve Breen
80. Storm Cats by Malachy Doyle and Stuart Trotter
81. Swim the Silver Sea, Joshie Otter by Nancy White Cralestrom
82. Swine Divine by Jan Carr
83. Taiko on a Windy Night by Sally Derby
84. Ten-Gallon Bart Beats the Heat by Susan Stevens Crummel
85. Ten Naughty Little Monkeys by Suzanne Williams
86. That New Animal by Emily Jenkins
87. The Blue Roses by Linda Boyden
88. The Bravest of the Brave by Shutta Crum
89. The Burgess Bird Book For Children by Thorton W. Burgess – 2 Chapters
90. The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal by Idries Shah
91. The Hero an the Minotaur by Robert Byrd
92. The Lima Bean Monster by Dan Yaccarino
93. The Milkman by Carol Foskett Cordsen
94. The Mouse Bride by Judith Dupré
95. The Quiet Book by Liwiska Underwood
96. The Runaway Rice Cake by Ying Chang Compestine
97. The Sea, The Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle by Lynne Cherry
98. The Shark God by Rafe Martin
99. The Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel
100. The Trojan Horse by Warwick Hutton
101. The Wheels on the Race Car by Alexander Zane
102. The Yeoman’s Daring Daughter and the Princes in the Tower by Elaine Clayton
103. This Rocket by Paul Collicutt
104. Thunder-Boomer! By Shutta Crum
105. Today is Monday by Eric Carle
106. Too Many Monsters by Eve Bunting
107. Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie
108. To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda
109. Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
110. What Am I? By N.N. Charles and Leo and Diane Dillon
111. What Are You So Grumpy About? By Tom Lichtenheld
112. Whose Baby Am I? By John Butler
113. Who Took The Cookies from the Cookie Jar? By Bonnie Lass and Philemon Sturges
114. Why Butterflies go by on Silent Wings by Marguerite W. Davol
115. You Wouldn’t Want to be a Slave in Ancient Greece! By Fiona MacDonald

Chapter/Ref books read to both:
Just So Stories – 1 story

I Read:
The Unprocessed Child by Valerie Fitzenreiter
Living Simply with Children by Marie Sherlock

Austyn Read:
Who’s Counting? By Nancy Tafuri

Zoe Read:
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root – Online Book
Old Mother Hubbard by Brandon Steen – Online Book
Old Timers The One That Got Away by Noa Schwartz – Online Book
Olive the other Raindeer by Vivian Walsh – Online Book
I Have To Go! By Robert Munsch – Online Book

Read to Austyn:
Atlanta’s Race by Shirley Climo
Animal Eaters of the Pond by Maud King
Gladiators by Richard Watkins – 2 Chapters

Read to Zoe:
Snow Bear by Jean Craighead George
Stormy Weather by Debi Gliori

Garden Sherlock Holmes!

This looked innocent enough a little over a week ago, but now there is something suspicious about this sunflower.

Now it is slumped right over. We had sunflowers last year as well and could see them clearly from our kitchen window while we ate, but this year they aren't in view. However, one morning last summer Austyn noticed some movement and realized that he was watching some finches. They are the same bright colour as the sunflower which would explain their colour because they were so camouflaged that we normally wouldn't have noticed that they were there.  So, this year, instead of having a good view, we now have to do a bit of detective work. The first clue is that the sunflower is tipped over from extra weight. The second clue is that there are seeds shells all over the tipped over base. The third clue is that some of the petals are pulled out to make way for a little head to reach.

 The fourth clue is that the seeds close to the side with no pedals are all gone. Hmm... finches?

Lots and lots of caterpillars!

While weeding the garden yesterday I found the same Black Swallowtail caterpillars we kept last year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swallowtail  There were many of them. They were loving the huge patch of parsley in our garden.

 Here is a great view of it holding the stem. This little guy wasn't bothered much by Austyn moving it around. Usually they spray a stinky smell but this one just wanted to rest and we were able to lay it on the table for a long time while we prepared some jars. It didn't feel the need to go anywhere. 

The first three were very large.  Then I looked closer for smaller caterpillars. After all of my research last year for the kids, I remembered what they look like when they are smaller and found one before it turns green. 

This one was darker and more of a medium size. Right after we caught it it molted right before our eyes. I tried to catch it before the skin reached the end but this was the best I could do.

These caterpillars are so easy to care for. They need fresh leaves from any plant that is in the same family as parsley, carrots, fennel etc. There are many weeds around that have a parsley like look to them and these little guys will eat any of them. We use to take it up to the races last year and pick the weeds out of the grass. Last year we kept the chrysalis in the jar and when the butterfly emerged it stuck to the bottom not allowing the wings to fully open. So, this time we have our handy-dandy home-made butterfly cage ready for us to  move the chrysalis into.

Little Fashion Designer

I purchased three wraps from a friend who purchased a bulk order from this website: 

http://www.funkyfinds.us/theshops/Anahata-~-Love-Your-Self/products-all.html#product_1828

I love them. They are so comfortable and versatile. They are tops, skirts or dresses all in one. Zoe loves them too. She wraps herself all up in different ways and walks around the house dressed with them wrapped how she likes them. Here are two variations she did yesterday. She didn't want any help. I think she did a fine job! She is known by her friends by her interesting outfits since I almost always let her dress the way she wants to. This is just an extension of that with a more creative piece of clothing.

My Favourite Insect

A funny thing happened yesterday. In the morning the kids and I had a conversation about what our favourite insects were. They chose theirs and I chose mine. I said that my favourite insect was the one that reminded me of an African bead. The kids thought they recalled it but were not sure and I told them that we've only ever seen one of them before. We were never able to identify it. 

Well, that afternoon we went to Park Day for our homeschool group and just like a miracle one showed up. I captured a picture of it resting under the slide.  It's called an Ailanthus Webworm Moth.
 

http://bugguide.net/node/view/430

Weather

Being Life Learners we use life as the guide sometimes. In our area we've had a terrible summer for storms. There have been many tornadoes and this opens up a new subject, weather. Where does rain come from? What makes a tornado? What do we do if there is a tornado warning? What do the watches and warnings mean? What happens when a tornado goes through? We've had many discussions, experiences and experiments.

We visited two locations with serious damage and passed through an area that had a micro burst just minutes after. We have learned so much. Even us parents! For example, when we saw the aftermath of a micro burst, it was like the ground was painted in leaves. There were leaves covering the entire road. The damage all seemed to be in one direction. Trees, fences, road signs were all bent over and broken in the same direction. When we visited the tornado areas things were twisted all over the place it seemed and trees were displaced in strange places. One man on the news said that his tree is gone, roots and all, and they don't know where. That was a tornado. He was lucky that big tree didn't go into his house, like many in the area did.

We've learned about how trees damaged and pulled by a storm changes the landscape so much that it's almost like you can't recognize that familiar place. Although there have been bad storms, we've been lucky in this area. I think I only saw one or two houses that looked completely unlivable after a storm. It could have been much worse and nobody has been killed.

Penmanship

What my kids can do always amazes me. I think that being the one who is here all of the time and the fact that I'm their mother may have something to do with that. They AMAZE me! Literally! Both of them! I don't think that the overwhelmed teacher on teacher night would say that about each child that he/she is teaching. And that's understandable, I guess. Being the mother of my students, I have a personal investment in them. I love them and find their lives to be so much more important than my own.  This makes me a great candidate to be their teacher, coach, facilitator, or whatever other name you would prefer to use. 

Even when things don't go quite like they should when comparing to my own school experience, I still find moments where I'm in aw of them. Austyn really never enjoyed printing letters, drawing, or even colouring. To see him with any kind of pencil, pen, or crayon was rare. The interesting thing is that with very little practice with penmanship, he does so well! He is so neat and careful and not that slow either. He amazes me! This is one of the things that proves to me that the societal belief about having to making your kids practice something makes them better at it isn't always so. I didn't make him practice it. Well, I think I may have once or twice but when I saw it wasn't working I stopped.

One thing that could be contributing to his fine motor skills could be playing with Lego. He plays with Lego just about everyday. I think it's one of his favourite things to do. So, just because he didn't practice penmanship everyday he may have gained fine motor skills from somewhere else.  

Now that I know about unschooling I've really stepped back and after leaving these papers out on his desk and not pushing him he picked them up, all on his own, and decided, on his own, to do them. I think I even recognized a little bit of enjoyment in his face while doing this! It may have helped because the sheet was full of numbers and Austyn loves math.

I'm feeling more at ease now about Austyn and his penmanship and reading. I read to him all the time. He hasn't decided to pick up books on his own much yet, but I believe that time will come. He enjoys learning games to do with reading so we are doing that. I think that in his own time he'll start to read. He may not be as into reading as he is into other interests like building things or math. I need to respect this about  him. This is who he is. And I love him just the way he is. The skills will come. I am feeling much more confident of it now.

Zoe is a different child altogether. She reads books to herself and makes up the words since she can't actually read all of the words yet. She makes her own little books and reads them to herself. The words are scribble lines across each page, but the short stories that she reads aloud to herself through her own improvisation are amazing! She prints her name on anything she can and when she has the space she prints Austyn's name and any other words she asks me to spell out for her. Unlike Austyn's early years, I did very little with Zoe. She knows all of her sounds, letters and is going to be a reader before long. She practices penmanship, reading and art. 

In this picture I had put sight words all over the board from a really cute book series we got for learning our site words. She would look at the word, wipe it off, and print out the letters from memory. After each word she had me look and was so proud of herself. She'd ask me what the words were again and again and I just kept telling her. Oh, and did I mention just how much she AMAZES me! 

These two children couldn't be more different from each other.  They have their own interests, skills, and personalities. I love them both so much and am amazed by each of them. By relaxing and observing instead of scheduling subjects, I'm able to be more of an observer and a facilitator. These kids do what they do naturally. I'm also really learning how to accept them even more for who they are. I feel that by allowing them to lead their own path in learning I have developed a loving respect for them and a trust that I could never have imagined before. We are conditioned, in our society to not trust our kids. I never really saw this before. Not really. 

I'm so proud of myself for doing what I'm doing. I was all torn up inside when I was deciding to look more into unschooling because I was afraid of what it meant for my kids. I wasn't sure that I'd have the courage. Now that I am starting to see results so soon, I know that it's right for us. This may change one day, but right now it's working. 

I have a friend to thank for discussing the possibility of unschooling to me. I'm not sure where we'd be today if I didn't have that conversation with her a little less than a year ago. Thank you!  : )

Lego Quest - Cityscape

To see all of the great Lego creations entered into this quest click on the logo above to visit the Lego Quest site.

The Lego Quest for this past week was a cityscape. Austyn had done one already and I had a picture handy. Since we've missed our deadline in the past I thought I'd enter the cityscape that we already had, with his permission. This is what he created in the past. This is our write-up about it: 

"We are suppose to be going to Toronto so that I can see sky scrapers up close. My Mom showed me a picture of Toronto on the internet so I made the CN Tower and the rest of the city I made after that. The CN Tower is my favourite because for many years it was the tallest free standing structure in the world and it's Canadian." 

To see her response click on the logo above to visit the site and read what she had to say.

I'm not sure if he felt like he missed out on making a Lego creation for this quest or if he really loves to make cityscapes (maybe a bit of both), but he made two more cities. He made Toronto. The red city shows the CN Tower clearly. This bottom city he built to show the tallest building in the world. It is in Dubai. The tallest building is called Burj Khalifa.

Unschooling videos

I love hearing other views. I believe that it is the right of every parent to choose how their kids learn. If someone chooses to send their kids to school at three years old, I may not agree, but that is their right to choose. I think the same goes the other way around. If I choose to homeschool my kids the way I do, that is my choice. So, you see, this is only one view of unschooling in the video and I see similarities to how I think about how my kids learn. 

I am not radical all of the time and wait for them to always tell me what they want to learn. Sometimes I introduce subjects and see if there is interest, or ask them if they want to do something, or just take them on myself in front of them, or I may put a bunch of interesting items for an activity out and wait for them to be interested. No matter what, if they aren't interested or ready to sit down and learn I don't force them. The most important thing, in my opinion, is for kids to keep their curiosity for learning. Once that is lost, there isn't much room for learning of any kind.

And secondly, I believe that the more they take on or choose for them selves only adds to their confidence in their own ability to learn and follow their own flow through life. I really relate to what the father says about moments where we, as parents, go off on our teaching moments ("Well ya know... bla bla bla..."). I have seen that look from Austyn when he really couldn't care what I have to say about something. Sometimes it's fine and he loves it but others he's not and that is where I need to stop and let him be.

Keep in mind that unschooling is still new to us and we are still in the process of deschooling. Here is the video. Oh and I should mention that the musical composition at the end of this video was an improvised piece by an unschooled girl named Evelyna who was about 7 years old at the time.

Another interesting video I found on youtube is one from a woman who grew up in an unschooling atmosphere. It's so interesting to hear her words about her experiences.

Book Sharing Monday - The Story About Ping

This book is a classic that we have read for years in our house. It is a great book to read when learning about ancient China. 

Ping is a young duck who comes from a large family of ducks who live on a friendly boat on the Yangtze River. One day he enters into the adventure of his life when he is late returning to his boat and decides to stay behind as it moves away.