Ambleside: Week 4 Planning

Devotional: The Bible
Review 1st and 2nd commandments. Work on the 3rd commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

Fifty Famous Stories Retold: "Alexander and Bucephelas"; and "Diogenes" (Greek)
Alexander the Great and his horse, Bucephelas
Possible discussion questions: Based on our nature study, why is a horse afraid of his shadow? What do you think would happen if you were mean to a horse, just because it was afraid? How did Alexander help the horse to feel better and trust him?

Diogenes was a very wise man who taught that "no man should have more than he really needed and no man needed very much." Make a list of your favorite things. Which of them are things that you *need*. How is a need different than a want? Choose something to give away so someone else can have it.

Burgess's Bird Book: chapter II "The Old Orchard Bully - The English or House Sparrow"

Aesop's Fables: "The Kid and the Wolf" (pg. 13 in the Milo Winter version) and "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" (pg. 14 in the Milo Winter version)

James Herriot's Treasury: "Moses the Kitten"

Some topics for discussion:
Why did the farmer's wife put the kitten in the oven? How is the oven in the picture different than our oven?
When the farmer put Moses in with the pigs, what happened?
What can we learn from Moses?

A Child's Garden of Verses: a poem every day

Nature Study: horses
Latta equestrian center (pony rides - $8.00)
Craigslist ad posted

Composer Study: Beethoven's Piano Sonata 8 (Pathetique) Opus 13

Artist Study: Delacroix's "The Sultan of Morocco and His Entourage."

Ambleside: Week 3 Review

Dragonfly pond at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve.

We had a great homeschooling week this week. I woke up Monday and decided to haul everyone, against their will, outside for a walk. (Why yes, it was because they were already driving each other and, therefore, me crazy and it wasn't even 9:00 in the morning .Why do you ask?) Walk = torture = judgmental comments from old people = check. But that walk turned into climbing trees. Which was awesome. And then, while hanging from the trees we noticed some dragonflies that were resting on the bushes. Which led to up close inspection and, finally, petting their wings. And noticing all kinds of interesting things about them. Cue nature study and our topic for the week.

Skip to Friday and our weekly hike--this time to Reedy Creek Nature Preserve and Dragonfly Pond Trail. Perfect.

There is nothing like watching your three children flying down a trial in the woods. Noticing them noticing things around them. Helping them to be silent for a few minutes and realize that you couldn't hear a single other human being. Incredible.

It was a good week. For all of us. We ALL learned stuff this week. And that's my favorite.

Summary of this week's reading:
An Island Story: chapter 2 "The Coming of the Rom

ans"-- I'm not sure how much my kids grasped from this story, but we've talked a few times about the idea of a "Standard", as used in the story. I'm wondering if I can apply this to a Family Home Evening lesson about standards--who sets them, why, and how we fight to keep them.
Fifty Famous Stories Retold: "The Brave Three Hundred"
The kids loved this story. We read the story, then watched Part 1 of the documentary on the Battle of Thermopylae on YouTube. They've requested the story several times since.
Aesop's Fables:
"The Boy and the Filberts" (pg. 12 in the Milo Winter version)
"Hercules and the Wagoner" (pg. 13 in the Milo Winter version)
Blue Fairy Book: "The Glass Slipper"
Paddle to the Sea: chapter 3 and project.
Nature Study: Dragonflies and damselflies, observed at the ponds by our home; continued on a nature hike at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve--Dragonfly Lake Trail.

Artist Study: Delacroix's "Entrance of the Crusaders Into Constantinople"
Composer Study: Beethove
New this week: Explode the Code (phonics)
Fell to the wayside this week: morning devotional, daily poetry reading.