Z's favorite books

Z's first favorite books, when she was a toddler were the Maisy books by Lucy Cousins and then the Madeline books by Bemelmens. The first book she memorized was Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

She has also always loved poetry. Some of her favorites are A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and especially A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six.

The first poem she memorized, when she was two or three, was Halfway Down The Stairs.

For bedtimes stories over the last 3 years we have read her Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner, Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, D' Aulaire's Greek Myths, Hans Christian Andersen Tales, Sadako and the Paper Cranes, Pippi Longstockings, The Secret Garden, The Little Pricesss, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Princess and the Goblin and my favorite Peter Pan. Currently I am reading her Heidi and Pere is reading her the Hobbit.

On her own Z has reread many of the books on the former list as well as The Complete Beatrix Potter, Milly-Molly-Mandy and the My Naughty Little Sister books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Arabian Nights, Betsy-Tacy, Raggedy Anne, My Father's Dragon, Mr. Poppers Penguins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, the first three books in the Harry Potter series, American Girl books, dozens of fairy tales and folktales, several Value Tales biographies, and hundreds of beautiful picture books.

I know we have read many other books, perhaps some I should remember, but some are just not our favorites.

I have tried to link the the actual version's we have read. I choose to read unabridged and classically illustrated books. Some of our copies are out of print, so if I couldn't find it on Amazon I linked another one that looked pretty good.

Shakespeare Video

Click to see some of Z in Midsummer Night's Dream.

If you have a fast connection speed click here.


The first part of the clip is Z as the fairy Moth talking about the King and Queen of the Fairy World reuniting. The second part is Z as Snug the tailor who plays an actor within the play - here is he warning the ladies of the "audience" that his performance of a lion might frighten them.

new skill

Z just learned how to use an index. She was searching for a particular kind of sea slug in her invertebrates book and went to the back and, after I told her it was in alphabetical order, she found the S's and went to those pages in the book. And there it is.

I asked her what she wanted to do this morning and it was "Research sea slugs." LOL Now she is copying the designs of spider webs into a book on spiders that is is making today.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Today was Z's performance of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream was today.

She was awesome! The whole performance was very good. Better than I expected. I had been sitting in rehearsals the past 5 months and I was worried they would not be able to pull it together. But they really did.

And now I am going to brag. Ready?

Z was so good!

I got a lot of compliments on her performance, especially her pronunciation and voice projection. There was a lot of "She is so small but she has a big voice!" and lots of "awwww's" for her little cuteness. One mom came over to me and said that had the most consistent delivery and that she thinks Z has an "instinct" for acting. That was really nice.

Z actually had three performances today. Pere came to the second one and Grandmere came to the 3rd performance.

Now it is all over and Z is sad. She says she wants to keep practicing.

Days like these I revisit them whole professional acting thing. I know she wants it and I feel she could do it but there so many other things that I want her to do right now and I think professional acting is one of those things that can take over your life. So for now she can keep doing local theatre and having a blast at it

I have some video of the show that I will try to post soon.

Heidi

I wasn't sure what I was going to write about today.

Homeschooling went well. Z is still greatly enjoying her math book. She worked on paragraphs in an old early 1960's Language Arts book I found at the used bookstore. We read a couple chapters in Holling C.Holling's Pagoo and then Z colored two pictures of hermit crabs and other tidepool creatures in a Dover Seashore coloring book. Then she read some American Girl before meeting a sweet little girl friend and her younger brother for a 2 1/2 hour play date at the park.

After the park we had a good Japanese lesson. We got home in time for Z to work in her music theory book and practice piano wheile I made dinner. Then we watched the best, so far, episode of Blue Planet - The Deep. Wow. I mean, wow! There are some funky things down there in the deep ocean.

But the best moment of our homeschooling day, because homeschooling never really stops, was during Z's bedtime story. Tonight I finished the last of the first chapter and the entire second chapter of Heidi. The first chapter was pretty slow, mainly setting up how "mean" Alm Uncle is. But the second chapter had Z squealing with delight, drumming her little feet against the bed, overcome with happiness and excitment.

She said " Oh! Oh! Oh! I love it! I can't... I can't even say how much I love it!" This was because Z was starting to get an inkling that maybe Alm Uncle wasn't so bad and because Heidi set the table all by herself. Z is totally identifying with Heidi.

The second best part of the day was when Z was saying her prayers and thanked G-d that we weren't living during the Great Depression. She also thanked G-d for the Big Bang and for creating all the creatures in the sea, especially the ones that taste good, so we can eat them. LOL

Cool Puzzle

After we watched an episode of the Blue Planet, an underwater documentary narrated by David Attenborough, last night we started on the new puzzle we got from the science museum.

It is only 600 pieces so it is hard for Pere and I not to just put it together really quickly. But the point is for us to do together as a family with Z.

She had a bad experience with her first 500+ piece puzzle, the last one we did, because she got frustrated early on. The jump from 100+ to 500+ is pretty big. But this one she is having fun with and since it is a world map (with tons of information on it) it doubles as a geography supplement as well as visual spatial development. She likes it enough that she got up early, while I was still asleep, and went into the dining room to start working on it.

This company puts out a bunch of these illustrated maps. I want to get the solar system one next.

Ups and DOWNS

So sometimes gifted kids do things that are not very smart.

Today I found out that Z drew, with a marker, on some cloth Japanese doll magnets I bought in Florida. I was SO angry. She said she didn't know why she did it (isn't that their excuse for everything? At least it is in my house.) She said she thought they were dry erase dolls...

I was so angry. Why? Well first, those dolls were my special thing that I brought back from Orlando (Pere got a Japanese numeral watch and Z a mask.) Second, this is at least the third time Z has written on something that she was really not supposed to. A couple months ago I found that she had written her name in pen on her wooden dining chair and when she was almost 3 she wrote her name several times in pen on our ottoman. (what is with her and writing her name on stuff??)

So for punishment I made her miss lunch with Pere and me and eat it in the bathroom (that was the only place in the house where she could eat alone and I wouldn't have to worry about a mess. I would have just sent her to her room but she was having piano lessons right after lunch time and I didn't want her to go on an empty stomach.

After awhile I said she could come out and she was so sorry that I forgave her and almost felt bad for punishing her (almost.)

Then after piano practice we went shopping and, when my back was turned putting the grocery bags in the trunk, she stood up in her grocery cart seat and almost fell out head first! I don't know how many times I have told her never to stand up in the cart. I was upset again. I was just really worried about her and annoyed that she would try that.

See, I don't know what having a "normal" kid is like. I only know Z and she is usually so responsible. She behaves like an adult in so many ways that I am always shocked when does thoughtless stuff like that.

It is hard to know what kind of expectations to have and what standards to set.

I told her recently that I don't expect her to be perfect. I said that we all make mistakes, even grown-ups, we all make mistakes. But even so, she does not have a "Get-out-of-punishment-free card." When she (or I) make a mistake we still have to deal with the consequences. Usually her punishment is a lecture from me. Sometimes she is yelled at and sometimes sent to her room. But the last two rarely happen because she usually behaves in an acceptable way

Oh well. We have our ups and downs.

Other wildlife in our complex

This is the squirrel that lives in the tree outside Z's bedroom window. I named him Nutkin. Apparently there are also ducks in our pool. I haven't seen them there before. They don't have names yet. There are some koi in the pond but the water was too murky to take a good picture. Including our opossum we have a pretty good variety. No deer or bats like in Camarillo but for the "city" this is pretty good.

Our arthropod collection

After lunch we went on a nature walk about our apartment complex. We found the earwig under some leaves and then only worms. Then, by the pool, I turned over a huge rock and we hit the jackpot, there were dozens more earwings, millipedes, and pill bugs. We got a big and little milliepede, one pill bug and a teeny tiny itsy bitsy red spider.

We checked out the arthropods for a long time in our bug catcher, which has a built in magnifying glass. We were able to look underneath them and see millipedes legs really well.

Then we decided to catch the spider that lives in the hallway and see if we could see it eat the other bugs. I have pretty bad arachnophobia and it was freaking me out but the spider really helped me - he jumped right into my net and then scoooted himself right into the insect jar. We brought him into the house and watched him for awhile. I was feeling very uneasy. We got out our field guide and tried to find the kind of spider it was, but we couldn't find it. Finally I had to put the jar out on the patio because I couldn't realx with the spider in the house. (I know there are probably spiders all over the house, but I can't see them:))

Z's arthropod notes

Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Z's school schedule

Here at Gray's Academy we homeschool Monday thru Thursday and every other Friday. We do the majority of our homeschooling in the mornings, starting right after breakfast at 8:15 a.m..

First we do math, We just finished up Singapore 1B, instead of buying 2A we are trying Scholastics 100 Math Activities for 2nd grade. Most of this book is review for Z, but she kind of needs it. I have to give this book a big thumbs up! Z really likes it. I can tell it is more fun than Singapore was. I know that Singapore taught things in a deep manner and I am not sure how the Scholastic books will compare in that way. I’ll be able to better compare them when we get to the 3rd grade book and Z is learning new things.

After math we work on our Japanese homework. Once a week Z and I take a private lesson with a Japanese tutor. During the week we practice the homework she gives us. We are studying conversation and the Hiragana writing system. Z has also studied Hebrew, Spanish and some French. Some time I will write a post about why we chose to focus on Japanese now.

After math and Japanese I look and see if I have anything else planned that needs to be done at the table - usually some kind of writing or other workbook work.

After we are done with the “seat work” it is time for Z to do her morning piano practice. Z is supposed to practice 40 minutes a day - we try to split it up 20 minutes in the morning and 20 in the evening. I usually have her practice old stuff in the morning and then work on new things in the evening when Pere is home to help out.

At this point (usually about 10:00) we move over to our comfortable couch with a big pile of books. For the next two hours we read science, history, biography, and fiction books.

Currently we are studying arthropods - we've watched Walking with Monsters - Before there were Dinosaurs.

Then we read the sections on arthropods from various library books. Z takes notes from the different books we read which counts as handwriting.

We are also reading the naturalist/fiction book about a hermit crab in a tide pool, Pagoo, by Holling C. Holling. I think we will check out the pet hermit crabs at Petco when we are done (although I don't plan on buying her one.) Last weekend we bought two live lobsters and Z got to check them out before we put them in the pot.

Z's told me that her favorite arthropod is the butterfly and we will get up-close and personal with some at the Butterfly Pavilion soon.

We also use the computer - to print out pictures of arthropods to color, FAQ pages on websites and short movies on Brainpop.

This is an example of how we do informal unit studies on various subjects - we include lots of books, some t.v. and computer time, integrate some art and other subjects, as well as a field trip if possible.

We are also studying ancient history this year, at this point in time we are reading from the old testament for history - basically a history of the Jews. We have already done ancient Greece and Rome. After the Jews we will head over to Asia for India and China.

Some days we work on geography on it's own, using a Children's Atlas. But usually geography is integrated with other studies. For example we would follow the migration of the Monarch Butterflies on the map when studying arthropods.

At some point, usually before lunch, Z spends some time reading sliently. Usually I let her pick her own book for this. But all books are screened by me before they ever come into the house. Z usually reads for 20 - 30 minutes or one chapter. Then she narrates what she has read to me.

I admit we eat lunch in front of the television almost everyday. But we are still eating as a family. On the days we are home at that time Pere walks home from work to have lunch with us. Usually we watch Iron Chef or Iron Chef America. We all love this show. Sometimes we watch educational DVD's instead.

After lunch we usually leave the house for lessons (piano, Japanese, Shakespeare, gymnastics), for play dates, or to the library or shopping. In the late afternoon I insist that Z have some "alone" time, mainly because I _need_ some alone time. :) Usually she plays dress up in her room or reads or colors, something where she doesn't have to interact with me.

Z's days are very full but she likes it that way. She is a very high energy and high stimulation kid. I work hard to find the right resources and present her lessons in an enjoyable way. So far I have succeeded. I have learned to be flexible and to pay attention to her cues.

Z at birthday party

Here are some pictures of Z at her friend's 5th birthday party.

Think Different

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can
change the world, are the ones who do.

North America's only marsupial

Early this evening I saw an opossum walking through our back deck. I informed Pere and Z and quickly went outside to follow it. I saw it disappear under an old cupboard we have out there. It is a pretty nasty cupboard - it some art supplies, some picnic stuff, a butterfly net and bug catcher and recently I put stored some moss that I got at Petco in there. It is "nasty" because we hardly go in it and thus it has lots of spider webs on it and dead leaves around it.

Pere thought maybe it got into the cupboard so I slowed opened the bottom drawer and I saw it's hairy back and bare tail crawling into Z's beach pail! It looks like he made himself a nest in there with the moss and the plastic bag the moss was in.

I wanted Z to be able to see the opossum better so I found a box and picked up the pail and put it into the box. I got these picures while it was in the pail in the box.

We went back in, the opossum looked like it wanted to sleep, and I read Z the story about Why the Opossum's Tail is Bare. Cute story. We also did some more factual research

Did you know that:
The adults have 50 teeth.
They use their prehensile tail as a fifth hand to help them move around with and they have a thumb (without a nail) on their feet.
They are nocturnal.

Apparently Opossums are nomads so hopefully this guy will move away in a couple days. I can't image what a heart attack I would have had if I had opened up the cupboard unwittingly and found it starting back it me!

American Girl Place

Here are Kit and Z at the grand opening of The American Girl Place in Los Angeles.

Z's grandmere Meme bought her a Kit doll this year. Meme and Papa have also supplies Z with a homemade, and just-the-right size for an American Girl, bed with lots of homemade bedding, a "closet" for her clothes and shoes and a homemade nightgown and three dresses (made out of some vintage materials). She also has all the Kit books. Z has a lot of great American Girl stuff!

Today I told her I would buy her some accessories at the store. After looking at the books, and all the clothes and accessories of the other American Girl dolls Z was trying to decide between Kit's hat and necklace and an American Girl activity book. She ended up choosing the activity book but I am thinking that next time we go back I will buy her those accessories. :)

Other than shopping the AGP has a doll hair styling salon, a cafe with chairs for the dolls and a theatre with live musicals based on the AG books. Also each AG doll has a "nook" with a historically accurate vingette and mini "story" about a summer event. Inside each nook they have the multiples of the doll dressed in all her outfits and using all her accessories. That was great! Z's Pere liked Kit's little waffle-iron. :)

I think I like Samantha best, or Addy . And Molly's kind of cute too. *hee hee*

American Girl also has a "modern" doll series called "Just Like You" but Z looks most like Kit anyway.

Also the newest American Girl Jess is homeschooled!

Not really a homeschooling post

So I was inspired by an episode of Iron Chef (japan) to make a fisn en croute. They ended up BIG! And they tasted quite good. :)

Augustus the boy warrior

During her piano practice I made Z this "Roman" toga and headband. She really wanted to dress up and act out being Roman, and since I think Halloween should come more than once a year... well it was an easy no-sew project. :)

"Augustus" traveled around the Empire fighting with Egyptians, Gauls and Greeks who were bullying Romans. Then he to went to Egypt to stop them from bullying the Jews. :) (Remember Passover just ended.)

I got a little geography in by having her find Italy, France, Greece and Egypt on our world map. I told her it would be unlikely that a Roman boy could fight anyone from California. :)

Now it is almost time for Shabbat and I told her we could watch t.v. first so I am off watch Sailormoon. I can't type during it because we watch it subtitled. (When we originally started watching Sailormoon with subtitles only, last summer, it really helped Z's reading speed. At first I translated for her. Then I only translated the long sentences and soon after she could keep up on her own.)

I told Z that after lunch I would play games and watch tv with her. During lunch we all watched a show about engineering in ancient Rome. So she asked to build "Rome town" out of LEGO's. I helped with a Temple and a Nero inspired Sculpture of the Grotesque.

"old friends"

This morning after we finished math and writing we drove back to our old neighborhood to visit with some old friends. Mr. V and Linda have kids my age and grandchildren almost Z's age. Linda worked for me when I owned the bookstore and Mr. V was loyal customer and good friend who brought us coffee every Wednesday. When I sold the store we decided that it didn't have to be the end of our friendship and started meeting for coffee at a local doughnut shop. When I moved, a few months later, I told them Z and I could only come every other week.

These coffee mornings are important to all four of us. Mr. V has someone with whom to share the stories of his long and interesting life (he was in the military and served overseas) , Linda gets to share stories of her children, the youngest is still in high school, I get to ask their advice about parenting and other issues and Z gets two more people to dote on her. I also think it is good for Z to experience this multi-generational friendship.

the "socialization" question

I think the biggest concern for most people who are unfamiliar with homeschooling is that homeschooled children are missing out on "proper" childhood socialization.

I guess it depends on what you consider proper, for some it is spending 5 days a week with 20 - 30 children of the same age and usually the same socio-economic background for 12 years. In fact that has been the "norm" for a long time.

Let me say this is a pro-homeschooling blog. I do not homeshool because I have to, but because I believe in the philosophy behind homeschooling and I believe it is preferrable to traditional schooling in many ways. (But I like to keep an open mind, many of Z's friends are doing quite well in more traditional schools and maybe someday we will find a school situation for Z that is better than homeschooling.)

I know finding friends can be hard for gifted kids whether in a traditional school or homeschool. When your 4 1/2 year old is reading Harry Potter, and has memorized most of the lyrics to the musical Les Miserable, well, it can be hard to find peers.

But so far we have been lucky with Z. Not only does she have lots of socializing oppotunities but she has many friends - some her own age that are also gifted as well as older kids who share some of her interests. We even know some other PG (profoundly gifted) kids her age, which I think is possible because of we live in a major urban area.

I am very happy with the variety of friends Z has. Both boys and girls, some rich and some not, some Jewish, but other's Christian, Hindi, Pagan, and atheist. Some come from single family homes, some have two moms or two dads, some have blended families, some are only children like Z and other's have large families (by today's standards), about half are homeschooled and the rest in private or public school. Her "close friends" span the ages of four to eight years old and there are about 15 of them.

In our area there are now three homeschooling groups, two meet on Wednesday at different parks and one every Thursday. Z has made good friends at each of these parks but also plays with kids much older (like the pre-teens in her Shakespeare class) and younger (like the younger siblings of her friends). I think one of the benfits of homeschooling is that the child can socialize with children of all different ages and abilities.

We also belong to a local group for gifted young children and we meet with them about once a week for educational field trips or just to play at the park.

There are also many homeschooling classes like Shakespeare, science, ice-skating, art, Spanish, sign-language, girl scouts, history club, chess, etc. Z is only doing Shakespeare for now.

Z can learn with other children her age in a variety of weekly classes like ballet or tennis or, like she is doing now, gymnastics. In the fall she takes a musical theatre class with some older kids, most of whom go to "regular school."

Z also gets to learn from a variety of teachers, not just me. She has a few young actors who teach Shakespeare, a Japanese housewife who tutors her in Japanese, a Russian piano teacher, and a Russian gymnastics instructor.

Z also has some older friends - like the lady who sits out by the tennis courts and reads, she recently gave Z an 8 x 10 picture she took in Austria of a toy shop. For over a year now Z and I have had coffee with every other week with an old employee of mine and a former customer, both of whom are grandparents.

A typical week for us includes 3 classes, two large play group gatherings, and one or two one-on-one playdates. Rather than being deficent, homeschooling affords almost overwhelming opportunities to socialize, and I mean real socialization, with people of a variety of ages and backgrounds.

I think the socialization aspects of homeschoolings is one of it's main benefits.

5 times a day

I think Z's piano teacher was right on target asking Z to practice her songs five times a day. This morning she worked on Showboat and by the fifth time (she chose to play it six) she was playing it almost at the proper speed and had almost no mistakes. By next Tuesday she should be able to do that song and Clock Work really well.

I also had her do her lines for Midsummer Night's Dream five times this morning (the performance is next Thursday) and that really helped too. She has known her lines and then forgot them and then relearned them a couple times since she first was assigned them in November. She still needs to be more confident with her cues though.

One cool thing is that Z does not have stage fright. Sometimes I think it is because she is kind of oblivious to the implications and because she is used to people giving her positive feedback. But it could be that it will never effect her much. We will see. I still get so nervous being on stage and I feel sick to my stomach. But I still love doing musical theatre.

The kids in the production play in the park for a couple hours after rehearsals and today Z played with her "best girl friend" and another older girl, who is ten, and very shy.I really like the dynamics of this group for Z. because the group is so small usually the kids (from age 5 to 13) all play with each other, so no one thinks it is too weird for Z to be playing with 7, 8 or even 10 year olds.

After rehearsals today we met her old bestfriend from preschool for a gymnastics class. I think we are going to try to have weekly classes with them, because since we have moved it has been harder to get together with them. I am convinced this little girl is gifted too although she isn't advanced academically at this point.

Z is spending a lot of time practicing piano these days, at least 40 minutes a day, and maybe an hour. Her teacher did tell me before that Z could be like one of those little prodigy kids if I would only have her practice more. At that point I didn't want to. I still don't really care, I am only having Z practice so much because she wants to and is commited to it herself.

I asked her awhile back why she wants to take piano lessons and she said "Because I want to have that as a talent." So I said "Well then it is up to you to commit yourself to doing what the teacher asks you." I also told her that I think she is talented in piano and I will always help her with her practice. But if it ever gets to the point that she really doesn't want to practice and I am having to nag her to do it... well I don't know what I will do then. I am not totally opposed to forcing her to do somethings just because I want her to them. But so far I have been able to find ways to keep her interested and happy or at least give her a sense of purpose (like doing the laundry.)

I don't want to burn her out on piano but at this point that is not a problem, the more she plays the better she gets and the better she gets the more she likes it.

Poor baby's hands

So it is getting hot here. This afternoon the monkey bars that Z was swinging on at the playground were so hot some skin on her hand stuck to it and ripped it off when she let go. :( It looks awful. I can't imagine it was that hot but I can't think of how else she could have lost that skin.

This morning we did Home Etc - which was cleaning out my closet. Tomorrow we will do Z's. We have to go through Z's clothes often because she grows so fast. That "class" took most of the morning. Then Z read silently for awhile.

Before lunch we had time to try out a new board game that we bought at the Science museum this weekend Cogno It was pretty cool but hard.

After lunch we went to our homeschooler's park day and Z played with some little friends and hurt her hands. (poor baby) I think the injury really stressed her out because she had a hard time at Japanese. She says she had a good time but she seemed emotionally on edge. She even fell asleep in the car on the way home and she almost never does that anymore.

I thought about letting her skip piano practice but she has a really hard song to practice this week. She is practicing right now and having a really hard time. B (my husband) is trying to help her since I am cooking (and typing) but I can tell he is getting frustrated because she is all over the place. Maybe if I show him her hands he will have more sympathy. Or maybe I should just let her stop.

She was playing a song from Showboat before and after the 4th time she stops and says "I know I only have to play this song one more time but I want to play it two more times because I like it and I want to play it really loud." Then after she plays it the 5th time she turns to me and says "You know, sometimes I wish I had time to just do what I want without people telling me what to do all the time."

!!! Wha???

I was like "okaaaaaay"

She seemed like she was about to cry. I said "You just said you wanted to play the songs again! Who is telling you what to do?" Trust me I wanted to validate her feelings and I did get to that.

But first I had to say "Today while I cleaned out my closet, you did help some, but you also ice-skated in the kitchen floor and dressed up like daddy and read books in your room and then chose a game that I played with you and went to the park. So while I understand the feeling the reality is that you didn't get told what to do all day today."

Then I told her that most people feel like she is feeling sometimes, even grown-ups at their jobs.

Well I better get back to my matzah ball soup.

So here is what wikipedia has to say about that whole Esau and Jacob thing.

For science today Z made this model of our universe.

Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink

The Blue Planet dvd introduced Z to the albatross which reminded me of the famous Coleridge poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner. So I remembered this morning to read all seven parts of the poem to Z (with a quick "cliff notes" version first so she would have some idea of what was going on. It is very long but Z has always loved poetry and she likes Coleridge too.

This morning she was reading some poetry to herself, a Flower Fairy book.

We both really like her new math book, this morning it had her running around counting the doors and windows in the house and seeing if she could jump longer on her left foot or right, to teach greater, less than and equal.

We read the stories of Jacob and Esau and Jacob and Rachel. I couldn't really explain why it was okay or Jacob to steal Esau's birth right... or why Labon tricked Jacob into marrying Leah... I may study up on it tonight and see what she is supposed to be learning from that.

Z motivated herself to double her piano homework and she has lessons this afternoon.

We have Japanese lessons tomorrow - the first time since we got back from Florida. But I feel good about it. Yesterday we practiced our hiragana and today our conversation.

What we are reading

We have almost finished The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald. This book is on my list of classic children's books that I want Z to read. I have to say that much of the vocabulary was beyond her (example "The information... might have been of considerable import at the present moment, but for that other design already referred to, which naturally takes precedence. His Majesty, unwilling to proceed to extremities and well aware that such measures sooner or later result in violent reactions, has excogitated a more fundamental and comprehensive measure, of which I need say no more." It amazes me to think that children in 1872 could read this. Good for them! This book was supposed to be a favorite of J.R. R. Tolkien as well an an inspiration. I can see why. It is a lovely story, very clever, with noble child protagonists. You can read it for yourself for free.

We are also taking turns reading from the Andrew Lang Blue Fairy book Blue Fairy Book. I love these old versions of fairy tales - they are much more violent and horrifying. *evl grin*

Since it is Passover week are have been reading from the many Jewish books I have collected. Yesterday I had Z narrate the story of Passover to me and I think she has a pretty good idea of the chronology of the events.

For history this year we are studying the myths of ancient cultures (as well as other culture aspects of the times) and now we are studying the time of the ancient Hebrews so I am reading a Jewish Children's Bible to her. She asks a lot of questions about what is really "true" and what is just a story. She has already studied things like evolution and the Big Bang which conflict with the stories in the Torah. We stick with the facts as we know them but say that the stories in the Torah are important because they put forth questions and answers that speak to our spiritual side.

For silent reading Z is still reading through the Kit - American Girl books. (btw this Saturday the American Girl Place opens up in the Grove.)

What we are watching

This week we are watching the BBC program Blue Planet narrated by David Attenborough. This DVD series is a good follow up program to reinforce a familiarity with the creatures of the deep that Z began with the IMAX movie, Deep Sea , that we saw at the California ScienCenter this weekend.

So far (we are into the second episode) this series is not as good as The Life of Mammals series, also narrated by Attenborough.

I am expecting Before the Dinosaurs to arrive from Netflix today and we will link these all together with a study on arthropods - lobsters, crabs, scorpions, spiders and other insects. So it would make sense to allow get a short program on insects to watch. Or maybe as Magic School Bus book.

Welcome to Gray's Academy

Read all about homeschooling my gifted daughter Z.