New School Year

Where has the time gone? It seems to be the theme around this blog. I can't believe I haven't blogged since January. It's October....what have we been up to? Whatever it was...it must have kept me off blog world for a while.

We've been keeping up with school. We even schooled some during the summer. I know...call me crazy...but what else are the kids going to do when its 105 degrees outside. I'd rather let them do school during the summer and let them play a little more in the fall and spring.

Well, get ready for some updated pictures....hopefully the picture walk will take you through what we've been doing all year!




The big girls played tennis this year. They loved it! Of course, Autumn had to have her own racket too!







Science Fair Projects: Mikayla doing the Water Cycle, Hannah doing Mummification (of a hotdog). 3/10


Art Fair 3/10 Hannah's Koala bear watercolor, Mikayla's Jar Watercolor and Charcoal

Hanging out at the Zoo with Abigail.



Making an Eco System so we can live on Mars. (Studying Mars in Apologia Astronomy)






Fieldtrip to Birmingham to the American History Village. Here we are choosing which George we want to run our country. King George or George Washington.



Our American History co-op that went to the Birmingham Fieldtrip




It's snowing....Fun in February....what better way to spend a cold day at home!!!




Mrs. Sharon showing us how to sew. We love Mrs. Sharon and have fun learning at 4-H.

Some reads from Ambleside I want the girls to read

Heidi by Joanna Spyri. Heidi wasn't written in English, and there are various translations out there; some leave things out. Look for one that has all of the chapters and includes the hymns. Beautifully illustrated, unabridged "gift edition" online here, and one with Jessie Wilcox Smith illustrations is here (although this one may not be complete).
A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (similar to Kingsley's The Heroes, which is read in Year 3)
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales
Pied Piper of Hamlin by Robert Browning
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri D'Aulaire
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (some versions say "revised" because P.L. Travers revised chapter 6 herself in 1981 to get rid of some rather nasty racist things.)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle (sensitive readers - be aware that the child loses a hand in this story)
Chanticleer and the Fox - Barbara Cooney's is one version
Along Came A Dog by Meindert De Jong
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli