BOOK REVIEW - KATIE MORAG and the Dancing Class

The cover is slightly different on the copy we borrowed (it was green around the edges)

Thanks to the childrens' "Scottish roots" we have become familiar with the Katie Morag books.  Young Katie Morag lives on the Isle of Struay and manages to get herself into all sorts of adventures and usually a few scrapes!  The books are written by Mairi Hedderwick.

Since Isobel is enjoying ballet, we ordered Katie Morag and the Dancing Class through inter-library loans.

The Scottish Book Trust describes the book as follows:  "The two Grandmothers have decided that Katie Morag is to take ballet classes. Katie Morag is not impressed - she has better things to do on a Saturday morning. But, Grannie Island says it will be good for her coordination and Granma Mainland longs to see Katie Morag in a pink frou-frou skirt and pink ballet pumps, instead of those dreadful wellies! There's nothing she can do ...or is there? Every Saturday, Katie Morag is late for ballet class and one day, she's so late that the tap dancing class has already started! Katie Morag would love to tap dance with the Big Boy Cousins - it looks so much more fun than ballet, but she needs special shoes and she can't possibly ask Granma Mainland for another pair. Luckily, Grannie Island finds an ingenious way to turn Katie Morag's wellies into tap boots. And when she shines as the star of the show at the Dance Performance, even Granma Mainland can't be cross!"

The illustrations are delightful (I especially like the posters on the bulletin board in the hall where the dance lessons take place)!  Both Alisdair and Isobel enjoyed the story.  I am sure we will be ordering more Katie Morag books in the future.  Other titles are:

Katie Morag Delivers the Mail

Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers

Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted

Katie Morag and the Big Boy Cousins

Katie Morag and the New Pier

Katie Morag and the Wedding

Katie Morag and the Grand Concert

Katie Morag and the Riddles

Katie Morag and the Birthdays

The Big Katie Morag Story Book

The Second Katie Morag Story Book

Katie Morag's Rainy Day Book

Katie Morag's Island Stories

Katie Morag -- she is the child in all of us!

Scottish Heritage - Hokey Cokey Bagpipes & Drums

Here's a good video for a hearty laugh on a cold December morning!  Enjoy.... 

EXPERIMENT - Michelangelo's Surprise

Based on this book

Alisdair has been busy working on some lapbook projects.  We were pleased to find a website that links various books with free lapbook templates/activities.  One we have been working on is called Michelangelo's Surprise. It is based on a true story that took place in 1494, "after an unusual snowfall" when "Piero de' Medici, the ruler of Florence at that time, summoned Michelangelo to his palazzo to make a snowman."  Instead of the usual snowman (constructed from three large snowballs), Michelangelo made lifelike sculptures.  The colourful book, written by Tony Parillo, and published by Farrar Straus Giroux, is based on this event.

We ordered the book through inter-library loans.  We then downloaded all the templates from the Homeschoolshare website.  (See link above).  There are vocabulary words taken from the book, an experiment and other activities.  Once the mini-books are completed, they are added to a lapbook which is a record of the pupil's work and also a great keepsake and can help the student recall what they have learned.

Alisdair enjoyed completing the snow experiment.  He filled a jar with packed snow and then brought it inside and put it on his desk.  We measured how much snow was in the jar (about 6 inches) and recorded the information on a graph.

Packed snow

Then he guessed how much water there would be in the jar once the snow melted.  That was recorded on the graph in another colour of crayon.  Then the boring part began.  Alisdair wanted to put the jar on top of the hot-air register to try to get it to melt faster!  He also attempted to get it to melt more quickly by putting the snow under his desk lamp!  He even tried melting the snow with the help of a hair dryer.  However, none of these "rapid methods" were very satisfactory, and he just had to wait until the snow liquified in its own time!

Resulting Water

  The final results:


Final Results

Alisdair guessed there would be about three inches of water in the bottom of the jar when the approximately six inches worth of snow melted.  In actuality, only about two and a half inches of water was created by the melting the snow.  As we were doing the experiment, Alisdair laughed and wondered aloud what a child would do if they lived in Florida (or somewhere else) where snow was not common!  But thanks to our Canadian winters, this was an easy experiment for us to try -- and something I'd never done despite being exposed to snow throughout my life. 

When our "Michelangelo's Surprise" lapbook is eventually completed, we will post more photos of the project.

LETTERS - Update "What Colour is YOUR Ink?"

Response

Alisdair was very excited when I brought in the mail today as he had a reply from Newell Rubbermaid (the makers of Sharpie pens).

In response to his letter (discussed in a previous blog entry), the company kindly sent him a free black Sharpie pen and the following letter:

"Dear Alisdair:

Thank you for contacting us about the Sharpie pen.  We are sorry to learn of your experience with our product, but glad that you took the time to let us know.

Your comments concerning our Sharpie pen barrel colours have been forwarded to our marketing departments.

Please find enclosed a black Sharpie pen.  Please enjoy it with our compliments!

Have a good day, Alisdair and thank you for your support of our product.

Sincerely,

Beverley McArdle
Consumer Affairs Representative"

... so now that Alisdair has a new Sharpie pen, he can sit down and write all his family and friends Christmas cards!  After all, he can't use the excuse that he can't find a pen!

Lloydminster Homeschool Association Christmas Extravaganza and Expose

Although I didn't manage to take any photos on Sunday afternoon, the Christmas Extravaganza and Expose, hosted by the Lloydminster Homeschool Association, was a resounding success.

The event was held at Lloydminster Gospel Fellowship (LGF) from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m.  Granny Trudy and Grandpa Dennis drove to Lloydminster in the morning and attended the service at LGF.  So they were there when we arrived.

Alisdair was the fourth item on the program.  He read the poem, "When Santa Claus Was Ill" with much expression.  (The poem is posted in a previous blog entry).  Several folk came up afterwards and said what a nice job he'd done ... (comments like that do a Mother's heart good!)  The program was varied with some violin solos, piano pieces, a ballet number to the song "Breath of Heaven," a hilarious skit "The Stable Bob Built," and a powerpoint presentation on a missions trip a teenage girl had taken. The entertainment portion concluded with the children playing percussion instruments and a couple of Christmas carols, led by Jason and Janelle Reinhart.  Unfortunately the stage wasn't big enough, so a gymnastics demonstration had to be cancelled.

A sweet little blonde boy recited the poem "Don't Miss Out":

"The man whispered, “God, speak to me”

and a meadowlark sang.
But, the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, “God, speak to me”
and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you”
and a star shone brightly.
But, the man did not notice.
The man shouted, “God, show me a miracle!”
And a life was born.
But, the man did not see.
So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me God,
and let me know you are here!”
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect!"
                                             ~ Author Unknown

Appetizers and punch were served in the Narthex (which is known as "The Gathering Place").  A time of visiting followed.  Tables had been set up at the back of the sanctuary with space for students to display items they had been working on.  One boy had a volcano and he made it erupt for the event.  Others had posters about the famous people they had been studying and some had brought reports they had written on various topics.  Alisdair had a display of his lapbooks and we had also put together a book with pictures of our Guy Fawkes Night fun to show what we had done.

All in all, it was a worthwhile afternoon celebrating learning, the family and most of all, our children.

Isobel's Kindergarten Photographs

Isobel's official portraits arrived yesterday from Lifetouch Canada. She's a cute little pixie -- and I am sure you will agree!

The pose in the photo package....

Isobel is always "full of mischief" and up to something... you can almost see the wheels turning in her little head... she keeps us laughing. She is enjoying all the interaction at Kindergarten and will be pleased to learn that after Christmas she'll be going 4 days out of 6 instead of the current 3!  The teacher says she is very creative and does her work slowly and carefully.  Just what a Mother wants to hear!

GRAPHIC NOVEL - The Speckled Band and The Blue Carbuncle

Sherlock Holmes

Alisdair's Language Arts curriculum (Further Up and Futher In) suggests having students read other books by British authors that C. S. Lewis would have been familiar with. 

Having just had "the Comic Book Guys" at the local school advocating the use of "Graphic Novels" in learning - we decided to order two Sherlock Holmes mysteries published in one volume in this format.  We both enjoyed the tales of "The Speckled Band" and "The Blue Carbuncle."

Grandpa Dennis had tried to verbally recount the tale of "The Speckled Band" but Alisdair and I only got confused by his version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work.  At least we now know to stay well away from rare Indian snakes!

In the second half of the comic book, we learned what a "carbuncle" is.  It is a Middle English word, taken from Old French and from the Latin "carbunculus" - a "small glowing ember."  The website http://www.yourdictionary.com/ gives two definitions for the word:

1. a. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex.
   b. Obsolete A red precious stone.

I am not sure why the "carbuncle" in the story is blue when they are supposed to be red, but it made for an interesting read, none-the-less.

At the back of the graphic novel, the publisher was advertising a similar format for the "Hound of the Baskervilles."  So, just for fun, we have ordered that title from Inter-Library Loans, too!  The actual novels may have been a bit heavy for Alisdair at this stage, so the Graphic Novels were a good way to introduce the material to him.  There is so much quality literature out there and not enough time to read -- so a little "comic relief" doesn't hurt now and again!