THE GOLDEN GOBLET, our latest read.....

So, we read The Golden Goblet, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Honestly, it started out very slow, like many books do. It took some perseverance to press on to the climax of the story. One of the characters was an evil half brother who really mistreated the main character. Their relationship was not one I would pick to exemplify, for this reason I wasn't crazy about the book. You kept getting the feeling that would rather be rid of each other, no matter how. downer. The book did, however, give a good glimpse into ancient Egyptian life. That's what real books are great for, helping you really FEEL the era of time. So, it was an OK book, but there are better ones for learning about ancient Egyptian life. The Cat of Bubastes is one such book, by G.A. Henty. And if you can get your hands on a recording of Jim Weiss's story telling version, I promise you'll really enjoy it!

a good read aloud

Sometimes I wish I had all day to read aloud to the kids. But then I would probably lose my voice, huh? This is a great read aloud. All good stuff and true. It tells about a slave who had been destined to be a prince of his tribe in his native land. How much can I say without spoiling it? It turns out he ended up having a very good attitude and being a hard worker. He eventually got his freedom, not to mention buying the freedom of some other slaves he knew. And to top it off, he professed Christianity! I guess that's why this book was a library discard. hmm. Now, what shall our next read aloud be, I'll feel like a failure if we don't get through at least a dozen this year. We haven't read aloud near enough the past 3 years, I just got to get back on a roll. Any suggestions? I don't have any ONE particular theme this year. Just want to read the best.

I was considering The Golden Goblet.

ready to use writing prompts book at my fingertips

Remember the free writing prompts pages I told you I found online? I have now put them together in a book (three ring binder, one of my best ways to keep organized). They are together and ready to use. Now, when will we be starting school? who knows. hmmm. Should be around September first or so. I emptied out one of many dozen binders that was full of stuff that I really did not need anymore. I threw them away, yay! Really making progress here, throwing old stuff away, bringing the new stuff that I need to use this year. this is very good. So anyway, at least to amuse someone, here is a picture of my writing prompts collection so far. There is lots more room in this big 3 inch binder to add more, which I plan to do. Again these were taken from a website for teachers and there is a link in the right margin here to go to the site. Click on "writing prompts" in my LINKS TO EDUCATION list.

bringing yesterday's classics to today's children.....

More goodies! More FREE goodies, that is. Tons and tons of meaningful classic literature to study history with. I found this a couple of years ago and thought I lost it, only to see that I actually did save it to the favorites tonight! There's more there than I ever noticed before! It just seems to go on and on. Oh, here I am rambling on and you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a collection of classic works of literature for children posted online and available to you, FREE. I mean, a BIG collection. It's called The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project. As you can see, I'm still searching for free online resources to educate. Is anyone appreciating this? I really think I could just put all my books in a box this year, maybe I will. (actually, I wish I was, I'd really love to be moving) The above photo is "The Siege of Tyre". It's one of the chapters in Alexandar the Great by Jacob Abbott. free and online. remember those two words: free and online.