What's Wrong With That Newbery Guy?

We are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins as a read aloud. At dinner tonight I told the boys that we will finish it tomorrow. Nick said "I hope something happy happens by the end of the book!" We were talking about how so many of our readers and read alouds are depressing. Orphaned kids, parents die, spiders die, dogs die, families lose everything to natural disasters. Charlotte's Web, Sign of the Beaver, Johnny Tremain, Across Five Aprils, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Old Yeller, Heidi, The Big Wave. All great books, but all filled with tragedy. The boys wanted to know why we read so many sad books, and I told them that people overcoming adversity makes for a good story. Then I added, "Most of the books we read are Newberry award winners." Zack's immediate response was "What's wrong with that Newbery Guy!?! Is he depressed?"

Snuggling on the couch with the kids reading great books is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling. OK, the older boys don't exactly want to snuggle on the couch anymore, but the books are still fabulous. I am now knee deep in researching curriculum for next school year. Maybe it makes me kind of nerdy, but I love it. It would be nice if we had unlimited funds so I could buy all the history, science, writing, math, and language programs I wanted. There are so many neat ones out there.

I'm leaning toward Middle Ages, Reformation, and Renaissance for Nick, with Rainbow Science, and Jacob's Algebra. Zack will study American History, Teaching Textbooks math, and I'm not sure what for science. Michael will learn about World History and stick with Math U See and informal science topics. I do know that we will be reading some great books along the way.

Winter Weather Week

Last weekend we took the new camper out to the lake for the first time. It was fabulous - good meals, s'mores around the campfire, and beautiful weather with temperatures in the 70's. It's hard to believe that was just a few days ago since we have been iced in for the last 4 days.

Monday an ice storm came rolling through North Texas, and the temperatures have been below freezing, so the ice is still here. And it has been cold - temps of 20 or lower and windchill less than 0! The metroplex is not equipped to deal with the road conditions, so most people have been stuck at home. You would think that being homeschoolers that this would not be much of a change for us, but it has been like a vacation. We have still had school every day, but since public schools were closed, all of our evening activities were cancelled. No dance lessons, no scouts, no church meetings or classes, no rushing through dinner, no driving all over town. We have had the fire place going, we've had hot chocolate every night, we've played games and put together puzzles, and we've just been able to relax and enjoy each other's company.

This morning we woke up to a few inches of soft beautiful snow, so the kids could finally go play in it and not just slide around on the ice. They were out there for several hours playing with other kids on our street. They had snow ball fights and made some kind of snow fort. I don't know how our friends and family up north can handle this weather all winter, but it is fun for a short time once or twice a year.