Wild Things (part 2)

"The WARRIOR is out of the bathroom!" Growls Nate.

I love boys. Give a man a throne, and he is truly a warrior.

Wild things: the art of nurturing boys

I've been picking my way through this book long enough that I had to return it to the library and just buy it. We will read, and then put it on the shelf for reference.

Wild Things is a book about nurturing boys. This book addresses ages & stages of boys; how to best communicate with them, what they need most from their parents and teachers in those phases. There is a section on how the minds of boys work, how they can be most successful in school and more. The end of the book is a section of "hot topics" and ideas of how to address them. It's a great book of ideas on just what is going through the minds of these little (or big) guys and how we can best nurture them into manhood.

This book is a great combination of experience, humor stories and encouragment for those in charge of raising Wild Things.

Taken from the back of the book;

BORN TO BE... WILD!

A boy's endless imagination, hunger for adventure, and passionate spirit are matched only by his deep desire to be affirmed, esteemed and loved.

Yet over the past few decades, our culture has adopted a model of parenting and educating children that doesn't affirm, celebrate, or embrace a boy's hunger, passion, or wildness but rather seeks to tame it. As a result, many parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors find themselves frustrated, confused, and wearied by boys' behavior.

The truth is, boys don't need to be tamed--they need to be understood, loved, challenged, and encouraged.

Wild Things helps parents, teachers, mentors, and others understand and explore the hearts, minds, and ways of boys and the vital role that parents and caregivers play on their journey to manhood.

For additional information, visit http://www.stephenanddavid.com/home.html.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -Albert Einstein

(photo of a little Kuhlman friend)

Quick Takes

Some fleeting thoughts...

1. I really, really long to spend more time outside while I can just now. Soon the foliage will be dry and gone and it'll be so cold to be out. I am inspired by this eclectic mama.
2. Ralph had reconstructive surgery last week. This has been more challenging for me than I even thought. I would rather have him here, unable to do anything, than gone on travel though. I'm so grateful he can work from home just now.
3. I've been working out my month-long-menu. October was my first shot and it was a success. I loved not doing a major grocery shop every week. (The kids do too.)
4. I have too many things that I want to do right now, and am not being to reasonable about it. I am overwhelmed with all there is to be done.
   
5. Joey had his first vision therapy appointment today. It went well. This was the first appointment of six months of therapy.
   
6. I am deep into a good book and am enjoying to the hilt. Simple pleasures.
   

Monday Morning

Join in on the fun over at Saundra's Blog.

The weather in my neck of the woods:

It's really cooling off, still have leaves on the trees and I'm relishing that. Fall goes so quickly here. I'm grateful for all the trees, as always.

One of my simple pleasures:
climbing in bed an hour early to read. I love it.

On my bedside table:

A Claim of her Own


On my TV:

Can you guess? Football.


On the menu for tonight:

Something using up leftover chicken from a roaster I did yesterday.


On my To Do List:

Friends to visit from out of town today, Joey's first therapy eye appt. today, looking forward to a fun meeting for CC this week and the last week of soccer. Swimming starts next week. That's just the basic stuff.


New Recipe I tried last week:

New? Um, nothing new. Lots of "fall" cooking though.

In the craft basket:
Don't you mean laundry basket?

Looking forward to:
End of soccer, Ralph being off the super-drug that keeps him so quiet. ;) The boys are making their own costumes this week, so I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Homemaking Tip for this week:

I read this in a magazine and plan to do it. Gather up all your decorating accessories and put them on a table. Then 'redecorate' your house with the same old stuff.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):

The loss of a pregnancy or child is a sometimes kept-quiet affair, I loved this conversational entry from my doula-friend.

Favorite photo from last week:

this is the suitcase my Eli packed to go to Grandma's for the weekend. Full of toys and not a stitch of clothing.

Lesson learned the past few days:

I was reminded today that God cares us about us in the little stuff....He wants us to learn to bring them to Him.

On my Prayer List:

friends that need work, a friend in need, wisdom in mothering, patience, and an identity found in Him.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Matthew 7: 7&8
Ask, and it will be given to you,
Seek and you will find,
Knock and it shall be opened to you.
Everyone who asks will recieve
everyone who seeks will find
everyone who knocks the door will be opened.

Astoria, Eating and Cycling

I promised photos of our trip to Astoria, and they are finally here. Ralph and I went to Astoria to celebrate our 9th anniversary ALL.BY.OURSELVES this month. The trip was nothing but a delight, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed at the very lovely Cannery Pier Hotel which was recommended by a sweet friend (& witty blogger) and her husband AND an old facebook friend. It was hands down my favorite hotel in the world (not that I travel so much) and I would love to go stay there again. And again. And again.

The room with a view was cozy and had a very at home feeling. Complete with fireplace & a balcony that sat about 5 feet about the river at high tide. (If you think I'm all mixed up, I'm not. Astoria sits at the mouth of the Columbia river where it flows into the ocean. It was lovely to have the window open and full view of the water, sea life, freighters and tug boats moving to and fro. I loved it. We could have stayed in the Hotel the entire weekend. But we didn't....the Hotel had loaner cruisers- so we spent a good part of the weekend on those. Dinking around downtown, riding around the shoreline checking out all the old piers and the little shops and eatieries along the way. Checking out just what an ancient fishing town is really made of and all those lovely bits of history. Checking out all the fun things....sea lions included. I've never been so close and never more respectful of these huge beasties as when I was standing with my back to them for a photo opp. I know I look calm and cool, but I was NERVOUS. Add that to beautiful (not a cloud in the usually rainy) skies and lovely weather and all you have is way mellow, lovely, do-nothing-and-loving-it days. It was wonderful. Did I say that?

For dinner we hit Fort George Brewery and Rogue Brewerywhere we played some serious poolYum, and yum and fun. Made me feel young again. We laughed as we dreamed we'd still be frequenting breweries when our kiddos are grown and dragging them to those boring places of the old days.

We rode bikes, went to the Astor Column, went to the Maritime Museum, rode bikes, took a nap, walked downtown, ate, went to a movie, slept in, rode bikes, you know I took a long hot bath in a beautiful tub, took photos, laughed and had a beautiful time.

On the way home we made a stop in Portland to go to a favorite (world's largest) bookstore, we read awhile because we're geeky like that then had lunch at a favorite yummy place that sells awesome lettuce wraps because we don't have a P.F. Changs for miles and miles.

The entire weekend was dreamy. I highly recommend quiet vacations in sleepy interesting towns where there's not too much to do or see so that you have the luxury of....rest.

Ah.

First Day of School Raves

This post was taken from the beginning of the school year.


We kicked off our first day of this week celebrating Eli's fourth birthday. It was a fun day, and I just cannot believe that this child is four years old. Man it goes fast. As the saying goes...

the days are so long, and the years go by fast

All that to say that even with the first week of school I found myself thanking God that I have the blessed opportunity to home school with the support of my family and husband...and best of all my sweet boys.

More about that, but back to our first week of school:

As I planned, our first day of school was all fun. I really wanted the boys to be excited about the transition of going to sleepy, silly summer to routine, scheduled school. So like I saw over at The Creative Homeschool, we celebrated our first day by having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. This was the boys' request, I think they're just far too sweet.

Then I had prepared school boxes with new pencils, erasers and rulers for the boys. My sweet sister gave me some sweet little rainbow lead pencils for their boxes and these were a serious favorite. I highly recommend them. I'll be adding them to my top ten list of things-I-don't-want-to-school-without.

The boys got to decorate their boxes with stickers, then we decorated their notebooks and I gave them lunchboxes, we'll use them for Classical Conversations. The boys were so, so excited about lunchboxes of their own.

For the rest of school we talked about what school days would be like. I had printed up and morning routine charts for the boys, including one job to help me get the day started. We'll work over the next couple of weeks the habit of doing those things before school, and I"ll add another chart for lunchtime in a while. We talked a lot about expectations of the day, attitudes, etc. Then we played games and read, played more. It was a fun way to start the year.

I also read, in the Classical Conversations book, I think that it's wise to start one subject at a time. Thinking on this, it made perfect sense. Trying to do everything I want to do, (in an ideal world)or even half of it in the first week just makes me crazy and the kids feel overwhelmed.

So this week we did our morning routine, and Language Arts. It was a perfect amount of work, stretching just enough for the boys and stress-free for me.

Following loosely the model I read about in my CC book, I am beginning each subject with Eli. He's four, so I set the timer about 15 minutes and I work with him alone, the other boys have been assigned work they can do well on their own. Giving Eli my first attention pays off, he is content to have had my full attention and I can give it to him! When the timer rings, he is dismissed to play while I move on to work with Nate.

Nate is 5 years old, and so far, not so excited about school. I am working with him for 15 minutes as well. We review what he's been working on and then I move on to something a little more interesting...white board, flash cards, reading practice. Then the timer rings and off he goes.

And I scoot down to work with Joey. Joey is 7 and does well working alone for 1/2 hour. It's proven a good opportunity for him to do some problem-solving on his own...and reading directions I didn't realize that all along I've been reading the directions for Joe and translating. It's good for him to read them and figure them out. A little hard work is good for this boy. So then I am able to review with him what he's been working on and we work for the next 30 minutes forward. Joe also is assigned some reading time to do during the day. Perhaps that will become part of our routine, it's building slowly.

The boys all started soccer this week too, so we've had plenty of "new."

So outside of my reading to the boys, this is all the paper-school we've done this week, and it's been absolutely successful. I'm so not overwhelmed, and feel like I'm getting a feel for what our days will look like (erasing much of my pre-school-schedule).

Next week we're going to begin CC (the boys are so excited) and we'll add Math into our days. I love taking it easy so far. I feel like my expectations are adjusted without a big dramatic crunch. I highly recommend low expectations. :)

...and back to my job, this homeschooling my sweet boys gig is the job of my dreams. I have the husband of my dreams, the boys of my dreams. I shall never again complain.

The Ants Go Marching One by One...

I'm still learning at this parenting gig.

I hope I can always say that. I fear that if I stop, it means I will not be learning anymore- never let it be said.
At any rate, I've recently come to this conclusion;

Having three little ones, it seems that doing things in threes is most efficient. Bedtime, send 'em all up to brush teeth and potty and jammie up. "Time to go...everyone get your shoes on and hop in the car."

It is quick. It is (sort of) efficient. It also can be chaos.

It's taken me awhile to get this one. Now that the boys are all big, knees and elbows fighting to get around the bathroom sink, I'm seeing that things almost always, always go better when I can teach them, work with them one on one.

For a few months I've been sending the boys to the bathroom one at a time at bedtime. It simplifies things. Bedtime is much quieter and more peaceful.

Yesterday I was helping the boys clean up their bedrooms. This is another thing that I've orchestrated as a group in the past, everyone goes up and I help each boy for a few minutes to get things put where they belong. But yesterday one of my boys was particularly distressed and needed extra direction. Things quickly turned to chaos for all of us, not fair at all for the boys who were just picking up their toys. Later on, it occurred to me that I would have done better to simplify by doing this thing too one-on-one. This would have completely given me the chance to work with my son and teach him to take responsibility for his stuff and space, etc. It could have not been chaos.

We've gotten down a great pattern of schooling one-on-one. We do our Classical Conversations as a group (which is great for practicing classroom courtesy) and then I work with the boys one-on-one in Math and Language Arts, because they're at different places- they're different people. It works so well for us.

How do you make a busy home peaceful?

Monday Delight

Just a note (because I forgot last week) head over to Sandra's blog to hook yourself up. It's fun!!

The weather in my neck of the woods:

The weekend was wonderful, enough to work in the yard to tidy up for Winter, put up my new birdfeeders & take the boys for a long hike yesterday. But I just have to say, I love, love, love the changing of the leaves!

One of my simple pleasures:
Sleeping in. For the last 7 years I've been getting up with my kiddos at 6 a.m. This year they're old enough to play or read quietly while I sleep...sometimes until 7!!


On my bedside table:

Homer's Odyssey , A Change in Altidtude, , Wild Things, and a pile of sweet birthday cards to me,....& chapstick.


On my TV:

Yesterday, football, football, football- give me grace!


On the menu for tonight:

I think it's Eggplant Lasagna Mmm. Eggplant is a noodle substitute.


On my To Do List:

Nature Hike w/ CC today. Call our FSA to get some details worked out. Surgery for Ralph tomorrow. Hmpf! Wish my big sister a Happy Birthday!! Oh...and all those procrastination projects...painting, mailing a too-late birthday gift, you know.


New Recipe I tried last week:

I did a pork roast in the crockpot and when I came home it was G-O-N-E. I ate a hamburger that night. The house smelled so good, and everyone loved it.

In the craft basket:
Craft? This is not a priority.

Looking forward to:
Seeing Ralph through this surgery and recovery. I'm nervous.

Homemaking Tip for this week:

I've finally come to the conclusion that our home is a business and a home. We are here and using the place at all hours. This has helped me resign to the twice-weekly home blessings I need to do.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):

Not to brag or anything, but....peek here

Favorite photo from last week:

you'll have to wait for the story...

Lesson learned the past few days:

Sadness, despair, anxiety should be an alarm that I'm not listening to The Voice of my Father that calms, gives peace and hope. Listening for that alarm, and praying accordingly.

On my Prayer List:

direction for our family, as always that I would know that all the God has called me to is His perfect plan for me today, for tomorrow...the surgery, for a few friends who need marriage prayer


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Psalm 62:1-2
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation. He is my fortress I will never be shaken.

What's a verb again?

We started in on our Language Arts this morning and once again my 7 year old Joe came saying "Mom, I don't understand this!!"

As I started working with him, I realized he didn't remember what Verb, Noun, Adverb,etc. meant. So I pulled out some note cards and jotted the words down. On the back we wrote the definition and then came up with three examples of each.

That was when my light bulb moment came. Mad Libs! Oh joy, Mad Libs was going do a boring job a ginormous, fabulous, fun favor! ( some adjectives there for you)

I googled Mad Libs and came across several sites that have online stories. We used the Wacky Web and yes, there is use of Verbs, Plural Nouns as well as Singular (two new words), Adjectives and even Countries...another great subject to explore. The boys all pitched in, with my preschooler offering colors and names, my Kindergartener giving up names of Countries and big numbers and 2nd grader working out those tricky words with the help of his notecards.

The boys were rolling on the floor in hysterics with their hilarious stories, they begged me to do another, and another. After four I was ready for a break so now they're off to play, using their nouns, adjectives and prepositions...

Thanks, Mad Libs. Remind me to get some for the car, too.

Thursday Fun Day

Thursday is a typical draggy day for us, meaning the boys just aren't so excited about school work. I've been working hard to make it unique, and a little more fun. The boys can wear their jammies, I try and make a yummy breakfast and we play games with school. Good fun!

Eli is winning, and he's so impressed. :)

I love homeschool. My boys do too.

Sweet Love

Here's to 9 years, my sweet man.

Here's to 9 years, my sweet man.

In Love
by Amanda

yard work
long talks
boys
hikes
details
date nights
camping
birthdays
cooking
quiet
reading
road trips
arguing
Jesus
babies
Christmas
church
noisy
dishes
flowers
pizza
trees
laundry
rest
love
best friend
sickness
fun
painting
Family
talking
love
love
love...

I am so happy that this man sought me all those years ago, so glad he fell in love with me. I do love him.

Seeds Family Worship

I am just loving what the boys (and I) are learning with Seeds Family Worship this year. A friend in town recommended this music, not just for the kids but the whole family. We all love it. Thanks Julie! I love this stuff!

Seeds is a big part of our Bible study this year. If there is one thing I'm learning through Classical Conversations, it's that kids are amazing when it comes to memory work. (More about that later.)

My hearts' desire is to give my sweet boys the gift of God's Word in their minds and hearts. I know that their understanding of scripture is simple and childlike now, but I know God will use His word in their lives now and for the rest of their lives. For as they sing, I am encouraged and inspired:

Philippians 4:6&7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I can't say enough about this fun and (not annoying) scripture music. I can't say enough about the importance of hiding God's Word in these little hearts. I have heard many mothers lament that it can be tough to motivate your teen to learn scripture, that it's so important to teach them while they're young. I hope you'll check it out yourself...and surprise, each disc comes with a free copy to share with a friend! Too fun. Check it out here:

Writing Fun (Preschool-K)

Another fun idea for working on letter & number practice.

In this house, penmanship can be a bit of drugery. We've been working on creative ways to make it funner. (Yes, I think funner should be a word). So this was a little fun we had with it last week. Ziplock, poster paint and little fingers are all that you need. I kept these writing bags too so we can use them again in the future. This makes letters a bit more fun.

Monday Muse

The weather in my neck of the woods:
has seemingly jumped from summer to winter, though I know this is fall. Winter will be much, much cooler. This morning was 20...today is maybe 50. Brrr.


One of my simple pleasures:
rearranging rooms. I really, really love the fresh change and cleaning that comes with it.


On my bedside table:
Hm, My Upmost for His Highest
"A Change in Altitude"
& "Homer's Odyssey" which I haven't picked up, yet.


On my TV:
nothing



On the menu for tonight:
chicken tacos


On my To Do List:
upload photos from trip
paint the room I'm sitting in
finish the home blessing (I'm half way through)
call insurance
make lunches for CC tomorrow
etc


New Recipe I tried last week:
In Astoria I had a wonderful bleu chicken sandwich. It was wonderful, I plan to try and duplicate it. mmmm...


In the craft basket:
Working at Nate's basket from time to time. Otherwise, does painting a room count? I think. It's on the list...


Looking forward to:
Wednesday. Hair appointment. I love getting someones' hands in my hair. :)

Homemaking Tip for this week:
I just bought these and they're amazing. Product-free window cleaner. Streak-free....wee-haw!


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
This question is always hard for me, but this one by a sweet friend over at Mama Drama came to mind right off.

Favorite photo from last week:
Boyness.
Boyhouse.
Boys.





Lesson learned the past few days:
I love, love, love my family, starting with my husband. Going away with your spouse is a gift, and one we should pursuit regularly.


On my Prayer List:
Members of my sweet family
A dear friend who needs prayer
That my boys would grasp the whole love of Christ as boys and for their wives one day, that we would have fun relationship.
& Lord, I'm still happy to wait.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
Philippians 4: 6&7

Do not be anxious about anything
but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God which
transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

A Day in the Life

I was recently asked what a day looks like for us, a homeschool day. Well, unlike the predictable-scheduled-down-to-the-minute day of public or private school, we are more happy to be more flexible. So this is an idea of what our day looks like;

7:00 Wake up
Morning Chores
Breakfast
8:30-9:00 School begins

How we "work" school;
I have found great success in using this pattern for school;
Mom and Eli (4 years) work together on Math for timed 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Nate and Joe work alone on their own Math. When the timer rings I move do work with Nate(5 years) on Math for about 15 -20 minutes. Joey continues to work on his own. Eli then finds something fun to do by himself. When Nate's time is done, he is dismissed and I work with Joey (7 years) for about 20-30 minutes on Math. I often times take a 15 minute break to answer an email or do a chore that is screaming at me, then we start in to Language Arts. Everyday we work together doing our CC memory work, and I frequently read aloud to all three boys from a Chapter book or our library books.

12:00 We break for lunch

12:30 If we've any school remaining we take care of that. If not, the boys are free to play while I take care of my chores. I plan to give them a chore list for after lunch in a month or so. We're working to make the morning chores a habit for right now.

Afternoon: While the weather is nice we're trying to get out, bike rides, park, nature walks. As the weather turns I'm sure we'll be playing more board games and things.

Evening: Our evenings are pretty full, usually soccer or swimming, basketball or T ball. More reading on quieter nights. :)

What does your day look like? Have you found any favorite tricks to your day?

Math War

We still love our Math War. Nate is an adding whiz and Joe is quicker with multiplication than ever. Think they love the one on one too. :)

Kumon at Costco!!

I have long-loved Kumons workbooks for my younger students. I was so excited to find them at Costco in a three pack for just $13. I think I paid $8 or $9 at Barnes and Noble for one, so I was thrilled. I think I might just go back.

One of the books we got was all about scissor-skills. There is fun work in there for Nate and Eli both.

Nate's finished product.

Eli got a bit frustrated with the project, so I was happy to cut the stiff paper into strips for him to snip. He had a lovely time and I know this will help him get farther with confidence and skill for next time. I highly recommend...

Notes to Myself

Geography Games to check out;

Scrambled States of America card game
10 Days in Europe
10 Days in Africa
Mad Dash
Ticket to Ride
Snapshots Across America
Take Off!

Make these cute little yarn apples (or pumpkins!)

Buy Spelling Power

Joke Book

Nate made his own joke up this morning, I thought it was pretty cute;

Q: What's a marbles favorite bug?
A: A Roly Poly

A fun little thing to do when nothing else is pressing...

1. Maybe I should be....laying in bed all snug with a book.

2. I love....... God's gracious ways of dealing with my stubborn self.

3. People would say that I ...am outnumbered.

4. I don't understand...... how to get everything done.

5. When I wake up in the morning...immediately have to answer questions of my 5 year old early-bird-brain.

6. I lost.... my sweet diamond earring Ralph gave me, years ago. I still miss it.

7. Life is full of.....opportunity.

8. My past taught me.... to cherish each person in each day.

9. I get annoyed when..... I hear too much about Star Wars.

10. At a party I...... find a friend and sit and chat.

11. I wish......we had this house with our Leesburg back yard.

12. Dogs...... are stinky, shed too much and wonderful.

13. Cats...... make a room look cozy.

14. Tomorrow.... school, playdate, soccer practice and a Darrel Evans concert.

15. I have a low tolerance for..... dirty floors.

16. If I had a million dollars..... pay off our house, get new carpet, invest, give, adopt.

17. I'm totally terrified of...... losing my loved ones.

Cutest thing on the planet today....

my husband just informed me that my two younger boys are in the yard playing "Teenager & Teenager."

I just love them to pieces.

Seriou-larious

Today is my birthday.

Yes, Thank you, happy Birthday to me.

When I woke up this morning I was delighted to hear the whispers and scrambling around of my sweet boys "making mischief of one kind and another." I had an idea of what was happening down there, and it thrilled me- not so much because it's my birthday but because I have this family that loves me....and it's mutual. At any rate, I got up and came down, ready to act surprised.

I didn't have to act.

There were streamers hanging all around, and I mean ALL around the house. The boys were working hard at making cards for me. Ralph was working out in the office. I walked through the living room, apparently going where no boy had yet gone today because I stepped into a pile of dog vomit. (Surprise)

Happy Birthday to me.

I pulled off my sock, disposed of it and hobbled over to the sink to wash my hands. Enters sweet husband with arms open wide to hug me...

"Just a minute," I say with an edge. "I just stepped in vomit.

The kind man gave me my space.

The boys are amused and fascinated, as they should be (they ARE boys) and Joey immediatley responds;

"Happy Barfday Mom."

I am blessed, with a wonderful, loving, AND witty family.

A little bit of this and that from our first weeks...

Blowing bubbles with the dog in, yes, his brand new favorite pj's.

I wanted to take a minute and share a little of what we have been doing at our place over the last few weeks. This is a little of our work from Week Three of Classical Conversaions. We're having a blast there, singing and memorizing and science and art.


And a little home are too. I am loving the easel that I picked up for just $15 at Ikea this summer. I use is everyday. Joey loves to do his math there when the paper gets boring (windows work too) and it's fun to practice sounding out words to Nate too;
MOP
replace out M= TOP
replace the O= TAP
replace the T= MAP

When Nate gets tired of sounding out words in books, this is a fun game for us. A great way to reinforce the phonics we've already learned and a great way to keep it fun. I love it that the easel is portable and of course the kids are having a great time playing with it and leaving cute messages for each other at too.
I don't have any great photos (guess I'm waiting until we've painted and organized) but this is our study. Ralph put a new doorway (and doors) in the wall that goes into the study from our schooling area. It's expanded our school area. The boys often times work in the study on the floor while other boys are working at the table. It makes for quiet space for the boys to spread out and work when they're working independently, which they're doing a lot, and I love the space for organizing too. Yeah Ralph!
Our Geography this year consists mainly of the study of Africa. Each week we learn more about a section of Africa, the kids trace the rivers, seas or countries while they learn the names of the places. This is part of Classical Conversations again.

I'll be posting too some of our tree photos soon, we checked out some trees and their leaves and bark at a local park, in no time at all we'll be there again, checking out up close and personal the effects of fall. You'll see! We'll make a seaonal/tree book.