Spend the Day in Ancient Greece (Rome, Egypt): Projects and Activities that Bring the Past to Life by Linda Honan

This little trio of activity books would be perfect if I were a bit more hands-on, I think.  It would also make a nice supplement to Handle on the Arts, offering more activities per day.  There are a few that I would worry about being a little too, well, religous for my tastes.  Such as making the goddess Athena's owl or feasts, but it definately gets you in the mood of the era.    They each start out being a little story of a family from the time period, and takes the reader through a day in the life, peering into what different family members are doing throughout the day, and each has about 30 crafts to go with, about 3 out of each book are food ideas. 

So, if you are looking for a bit more hands-on crafts that will take you through most of Sonight's Core 1 Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, these might help.  I was able to get all 3 from my library.

Living with the Kombai Tribe (DVD)

This is currently my 7 year old's favorite movie.  He loved the action, the view of this culture and all the new things he learned while watching it.  It even drew the interest of my husband, who is usually too busy to watch movies, but he has watched this one all the way through.  Definately a good documentary, very realistic, and showing many cultural beliefs without looking down on them. 

You Are There: Ancient Greece (Hosted by Walter Cronkite) DVD

This is actually one of a 6 part series.  Despite its intruiging title, my children didn't care for this one at all (and they usually love documentaries, so that is saying a lot).  There were limited actors and it is in mostly black and white, with a lot of narration and not much on action).  It is mostly a dramatization type program.

Troy

   Written for a bit older child than my 7 year old, this book is one that I am saving for Core 6.  It is an archaeological journey to find the city of Troy as described by Homer, and one man's search through different sites. 

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in Ancient Egypt

It really took me a long time to decide whether or not to read Magic School bus books, because of the references to magic and the impossible, but I grudgingly started reading them.  I still think they are difficult to read-aloud, and kind of a pain, but there they are. 

Now, for those non-super-picky moms, if you like Magic School Bus, you'll like this addition.  Ms. Frizzle isn't teaching class, she's on vacation.  But, it's a similar style book, and it shares some of the same style information as the other books. 

The Egyptians: Builders of the Pyramids By Katherine Reece

This again is much of the same information in many other Egyptian books, but with fewer pictures.  This is not one of my favorite books because it doesn't have as many pictures as some of the other books, and it doesn't have very exciting text, so it really could easily be replaced with a more fun and interesting book.

Pyramid (DK Experience) by Peter Chrisp

Now, I know that many of you have seen a lot of pyramid books already, and may be wondering if there is such a thing as too many pyramid books (I know I am).  However, this book is a bit different.  Despite providing unique viewpoints for the information that is provided (a lot of ariel views and inside of 3-dimensional shots), there is a low text-to-picture ratio, so there isn't too much text on most pages, and what is there is rather unique.  There is also a running list of voabulary words on the bottom of the pages, so words you might not ordinarily think to define, such as mallet or organs, have a quick and easy definition, but also more complex words such as serdabs and plumb line, so you don't have to go look them up to figure out what they are talking about, or just skip the definition.  I really like this one. 

How to Be an Egyptian Princess by Jacqueline Morley

Similar to the other Egyptian books it presents much of the same information, in a little bit different format.  Actually, I had a little bit higher expectations for this one.  It is a National Geographic book, so the pictures are all very good although most are drawings and not photographs.  There is a quiz at the end.  If we hadn't already done countless books about Ancient Egypt with basically the same information, we would have enjoyed this one a lot more.

Voyage to the Pharos by Sarah Gauch

Young boy goes on a boy with his father and can't wait to see the Pharos lighthouse. Describes simply a bit of ship life, including a storm, and the final reaching of the lighthouse. More pictures than text, including one fun one about how big the lighthouse must have been. 

Mummies, Tombs, and Treasures by Lila Perl Yerkow

Having read several books on ancient Egypt recently, we have decided to forgo this one.  120 pages in length, and with mostly text covering its pages, with a few photographs scattered throughout, this is a bit more in-depth history study.  However, since we have already added in a plethora of books about this subject, this just seemed to be too much, despite its recommendation.  Perhaps for Core 6, where it could easily be a reader.

The Three Princes by Eric A. Kimmel

Subtitle: A Tale from the Middle East

Story of a princess who needs to decide between 3 princes which one to marry, two wealthy, and one poor.  She is in love with the poor one, but still sends them all out on a journey to find the most wonderful treasure in the world. 

One finds a crystal ball, with which he can see anyone in the world and what they are doing, one finds a flying carpet, which can take him anywhere in the world, and one finds a magic orange, that can heal anyone in the world. 

They peer into the crystal ball together, and see the princess is sick, and then take the flying carpet to see her in order to give her the orange.  When she is better, she has to decide which one helped her the most, as none of the three could have saved her without the other two.

The Golden Sandal by Rebecca Hickox

Subtitle: a Middle Eastern Cinderella Story

Keeps the essence of the Cinderella story the same, although the fairy godmother is a little red fish, and the "prince" is the brother of a wealthy bride. 

Does involve some "magical" transformations. 

Once in the Year by Elizabeth Yates

Once in the Year: A Christmas Story
The first sequel to Mountain Born.

This book starts out on Christmas Eve, a few months after Biddy dies.  Peter's mother tells of one winter, long ago, when she found a flower in a little patch of forest on Christmas Eve that was blooming, even though the rest of the woods were covered in snow.  They leave to go to town for a service, I think. 

Peter stays home with Old Benj who begins telling him a beautiful rendition of the Christmas story.  However, in his version, the animals talk to each other at midnight, and he has heard them before. 

Peter stays up until midnight, and then goes out in the barn, and hears the animals telling of the first Christmas as well. 

Look Inside an Egyptian Tomb by Brian Moses

Rating: 6.5/10

Takes you through the different parts of things found inside a tomb, but I was expecting more of an actual walk-through books, as if you were inside. 

Discusses burial chambers, thrones, amulets and other thing found inside tombs.  Lots of photography with some dramatizations as well. 

The Little Brown Jay: A Tale from India by Elizabeth Claire

Rating: 6/10

A retelling of a classic story.  A princess who has a terrible sounding voice falls in love with a blind prince, but is afraid to speak with him.  She talks it over with a little brown jay.  Jay agrees to give her his voice.  She wraps him up with blue shawl, and he wishes he were a better color.  Magically, they swap, his voice for her color, she marries the prince, he becomes a blue jay with a terrible voice. 

References to magic lotus flower. 

End of book has 5 pages of text about different things about India.  Book is very small (22 pages with pictures and large font, except last 5 pages have more text). 

Miriam and her brother Moses by Jean Marzollo/Exodus from Egypt by Mary Auld/Exodus by Brian Wildsmith

Rating: 8.5/10

Miriam: This is kind of  a fun book.  There is a little song to go with, and cute fishes on the bottom of each page making comments, but basically a young child's retelling of the Moses story.  I used it as part one in a three part story, each one starting at the beginning, and going a little further into the story.











Alternative:  The Moses Basket
by Jenny Koralek

We didn't enjoy this book as much.  I felt it took too many liberties with adapting the Moses story, and the text wasn't as engaging, but if you want an alternative for a slightly older age group or a child who doesn't want quite as "babyish" a book as the one listed above, this is a consideration.







Exodus from Egypt:

Rating: 7/10

This story we used as the second book.  It briefly touches on the story of Moses as an infant, and then goes into the plagues and the parting of the red sea.  Cartoon like in nature, it is another fun book for young children.










Alternative: Moses: the Long Road to Freedom by Ann Keay Beneduce

Again, a book older children might enjoy more than younger children, it gives an accounting of the 10 plagues of Egypt. 











Exodus:

Rating: 7/10

Takes the story one step further, and discusses the exodus, and then goes on to talk about the wandering in the desert.  


All three of these books can easily be read in one sitting, as can the first two alternatives.















Alternative: Angels Sweep the Desert Floor by Miria Chaikin

Again, another alternative to the book above, this one is much longer with more text and fewer pictures.  It describes Moses's trek through the desert and to the promised land, up until the time he dies, from the perspectives of the angles watching over him.  For time constraints, and a general not liking of the liberties taken in this book to describe what the angels did and said, we did not do this book, but it is an option. 

The Winged Cat and other tales of ancient civilizations by deborah nourse lattimore

Rating: 0/10

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!

How's that for a warning?

Includes 3 stories:

1.  The winged cat--girl who is not dead visits the underworld to save a cat, ghost of cat guides her through the underworld by helping her read the magic spells.  Much discussion of gods being worshiped and demons waiting to devour. 

2.  The demon Pazuzu and the tower of Babel--boy prays to demon god to protect him from sandstorm, and is saved. Finds dog who he names after demon god Pazuzu to thank god for saving him.  Goes with old man as slaves to paint pictures of gods and goddesses on walls.  Is presented to Nebuchadnezzar (not sure how, since it is a tower of Babel story?). Tries to trick him by pretending he is the god Marduk.  King tries to sacrifice dog Pazuzu to Marduk.  Boy tells king he is dishonoring god Pazuzu by doing so, and must not.  Dog turns into demon and sends a sandstorm to save boy. 

3.  The prince and the golden ax--princess wears charms, reminds brother that although she has the gift of spells, they must still honor the goddess Diktynna.  They go to feast games, brother win competition and declares himself more powerful than the goddess after he wins.  They anger the goddess, and have to set out on a series of quests to retrieve items to appease goddess.  Boy continues boasting each time he accomplishes one.  Princess weaves spells to help them through and boy uses strength.  Goddess gets angry and sinks city.

Tales of the Dead: Ancient Egypt, by Stewart Ross

Subtitle: A gripping novel tells a tale of murder, magic, and mayhem.
Rating: 6/10

While this book isn't as sinister as it sounds, it really gave me a sense that we wouldn't do this one. 
For those who aren't quite as sensitive as I am, however, I will provide a more accurate description, so you can decide for yourself. 

The "graphic novel" portion is a comic strip that winds itself around the central text that repeats much of the information found in other Ancient Egypt books. 

The comic portion is geared to create a lot of suspense, and is about a boy and a slave girl.  The slave girls is about 12 or 13, and is set to be married to a much older man, who was the chief embalmer.  I can only assume that it isn't a first wife position, because I am over analytical and can't imagine that such a powerful man would choose a slave girl as a wife.  Anyway, the follow him at night and catch him stealing from the pyramid and then get sealed into the pyramid and finally make their way out.  there is much discussion about the god Sobek and his temple, and asking Sobek to protect them, and then the chief embalmer catches them snooping around and tries to kill them by throwing them in the river with the hippos.  The finally meet the Pharaoh, and tell her about the stealing, and she orders a search of the temple and the embalming sites.  Nothing is found, until the end, when the boy plunges his hand inside a mummy and finds the stolen goods.  The cheif embalmer runs away, and and gets wound up eaten by a crocodile, which they relate back to Sobek, the crocodile god.  The text on each page relates to the storyline on that page in some way.  However, the whole story raises a lot of questions for me, such as why hide jewels inside a mummy, and how the children were able to push a heavy stone that it took 3 grown men to put in place. 

Old Testament Days: An Activity Guide by Nancy Sanders

Rating: 7.5/10

Again, if were a craftier mother, I would rate this book higher.  Similar again to Ancient Egyptians and their neighbors, and some of the activity books Winterpromise offers, this book has several ideas, not all of which *I* would be inclined to do.  Ranging from building a real bee basket (yeah, not happening here, I have bee-phobia), to making a trimbel, to making your own slingshot, there are lots of activities to go along with your Bible stories.  Some require materials to make clothing, others require meal preparation, this would be a useful resource to the parent who likes doing hands-on activities that require more than minimal prep time.

Who built the pyramids by Jane Chisholm and Struan Reid

Rating: 6.5/10

An Usborne book, this is less scattered than most, but it does repeat a lot of information we have gone over so far.  It is a bit easier to read than Sonlight's Usborne book, because it has questions for topics, so it bridges the gap between subjects.  Yet, at the same time, there isn't enough new information in here to justify adding it as another resource, unless you wish to actually replace this portion of the Usborne book of world history.

The Great Wonder by Annabelle Howard

Rating: 7/10

This book would be good for any child who finds studying about Ancient Egypt boring.  It starts out as 4 childeren go to a museum, and one boy in particular finds it really boring.  During the movie portion, he suddenly finds himself at the pyramid instead, and wanders around seeing the various portions, and then at the end, wakes up as the movie is ending.

Storytelling could be better, but it helps get children more involved.

Ten Kings and the Worlds they Ruled by Milton Meltzer

Rating: 6.5/10

For those interested, the Ten Kings are Hammurabi, David, Alexander the Great, Attila,Charlemagne, Mansa Musa, Atahualpa, Louis XIV, and Peter the Great. 

Basically this book gives a summary of each king and their reign.  Their is a lot of text, and while it is interesting, we just couldn't get engaged in the stories we have done up to this point.  I did a lot of summarizing and skipping over sections that weren't interesting.  For an older child, in Core 6, this could be a read-aloud, but I think we can find the same information in a more engaging format.

Gilgamesh the King by Ledmile Zeman

Rating: 2/10

Gilgamesh is a fictional myth to begin with, so I was already skeptical about this book from the start.  It isn't very well written, I don't think, although there is some semblance of a moral to it.

The plot is about King Gilgamesh, and how he didn't have any friends and mistreated people as a result.  The gods created another being name Enkidu, who lived in forest and looked like an animal, but was friends with all the animals.  Gilgamesh sent a woman named Shamhat to Enkidu to draw him out to the city so he could kill him.  Enkidu and Shamhat fall in love, and Enkido goes to fight Gilgamesh anyway.

Once there, they are evenly matched, until Gilgamesh slips and falls of the top of the wall they are fighting on, and Enkidu saves him as he is going over. Then, they become friends and live happily ever after. 

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World DVD

Rating: 9.5/10

Finding documentaries for children that aren't cartoonish in nature, yet aren't so dry as to be boring for young viewers is not always easy.

However, this DVD easily accomplishes that balance.  Going through a step by step view of each of the 7 wonders, describing how and why it was made, with computer animations, it shows dramatizations of the building of each of them.  It provides plenty of information for adults and children alike.  Running time is 140 minutes. 

Also included, is an alternate 7 Wonders of the Ancient World that the Greeks, who came up with the original list, had not seen.  From the Colosseum to the Great Wall of China and including the terra cotta army, it gives a very brief description and history of each.

Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Marian Broida

Rating: 7/10

Mothers who are more likely to do crafty activities might give this book a higher rating.

This book falls along the lines of many of the activity books used by Winterpromise in their curriculum.  Consisting of textual information followed by a craft, the book moves through four main ancient cultures: the Hittites, the Nubians, the Mesopotamians, and the Egyptians.  Activities range from building a Egyptian Model Garden to a Model Ziggurat to a Shaduf to Hittite Shoes to Lentil Stew.  Most of the crafts require some prep on the part of the parent, but tend to use mostly common household items, with an occasional unusual item thrown in.

If you are looking for some crafts to help with Core 1, this is at least as good as the Handle on the Arts program (although not scheduled out for you) and you can easily get it from your library.

Mummies: A Strange Science Book by Sylvia Funston

 Rating: 9/10

Instead of, like most mummy books, discussing mainly the mummies made in Egypt, this book shows a sample of all the different ways mummies can be made, from around the world.  From Cherchen Man in China to the Chinchorro Mummies in South America, it describes how different types of land can create mummies, including frozen mountain tops and bogs.  It also includes man-made mummies outside of Egypt.

There is also a board game included pertaining to mummies, animal mummies (both man-made and nature made), instructions for mummifying an apple that looks really fun, and a map of where the various mummies were found.

One Grain of Rice by Demi

Rating: 6/10

Sonlight carries a book similar to this in its Core K, but the Sonlight book is better written.  This one is recommended by the SOTW activity book. 

I would substitute the Sonlight book in its place:

Curse of the Pharaohs: My Adventures with Mummies by Zahi Hawass (National Geographic)

Rating: 7.5/10

Despite its name, this book is more interesting in disproving the curse of the mummies and discovering fascinating finds by the archaeologist author (who is in charge of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt). 

The photography is beautiful, but there is a large amount of text, and the author is prone to repeating himself.  This would make a better reader to go along with Core 6, than a read-aloud for Core 1, so I plan to have my children redo it then.

Zacarayah, age 4.5

 

OK, a year ago, I was all worried about my 4 year old. He was 3.5 then. His vocabulary was behind, he had no interest in reading, and he seemed limited in his verbal skills.

Of course, compared to my other two children, he seemed so far behind.

So, I made myself relax and not stress out and not push him. I knew my oldest two children were reading by age 3.5, but that he was different. I wanted to push, but I made myself relax, reminding myself over and over again not to push, that he's only 3, for goodness sake, and there is nothing wrong with him, despite my inner fears and insecurities.

So, I just let him be a little boy.

And today, I got this lovely little note, and I just had to share here.

I'm so proud of him.

Translation, for those who can't read 4 year old:

Mom,

I Love

You Very

A Lot

So Much

Zacarayah.

OK, so we have to worry on letter R formation, spelling, spacing, and especially how to spell his name.  But, for today, this little note is simply enough, and I just had to share.

I'm so glad I let him come along in his own time.

And I could have saved myself all that worry and stress, which obviously was for nothing.

Core 1 Supplement Week 9: Ancient Egyptian Jobs by John Malam

Rating 5/10 for this age group, 7.5/10 for older children, or to go along with Core 6.


There is a lot of text in this book, and it is definitely geared toward children older than the 6/7 year old age group, but the information covers many of the various and assorted jobs in Egypt and how they each impact Egyptian life overall.  With 2 page spreads for each job, jobs covered include everything from Viziers to fishermen to bakers and pyramid builders. 

Core 1 Supplement Week 9: The Everyday Life of An Egyptian Craftsman by Giobanni Caselli

Rating: 8/10

This book is great for an auditory learner who likes lots of details.  If your child is a visual learner or not so keen on details, I don't think it would work as well.

It follows a boy whose father is being promoted from Temple Draftsman to scribe, and his life, including a festival, a party, and school.  It contains many, many facts of Egyptian life, but it incorporates it into story format.  There is a larger amount of text, so it would work best with an older child.

But it does a good job of showing family life, including adoption, servants, clothing, food, and much more.

Core 1 Supplement: Week 11--Abu Ali: Three Tales of the Middle East by Dorothy O. Van Woerkom

Rating: 2/10

This book I added in as a SOTW recommended resource from Chapter 7 from the activity book.  However, after getting the book from the library, and looking it over, we decided not to use it.  They are early reader level stories.  The first story is about a man, Abu Ali, who went to town and bought 9 donkeys.  He kept losing one, and finally asked his friend where the last donkey was.  His friend told him he saw 10 donkeys, the 8 following him, the one he was riding (which he kept forgetting to count), and himself, Abu Ali, for not figuring it out.

The next two stories were also the same silly sort of story.  The second Abu Ali tries to prove he is stronger than his friends by staying outside in the cold all night, and his friends tell him he lost because he looked at a candle in a window, and that kept him warm, and he tried to trick them back by trying to cook a meal for them over a candle. 

The third story was about how he went to his friends house, tried to stuff extra food into his pockets by saying his jacket was hungry, so he wouldn't have to cook the next day. The next morning, while he was sleeping, another friend came by to pick up the jacket he had borrowed, and found the extra food and ate it.

Core 1 Supplement: Week 10--Tutankhamun by Demi

Rating: 8/10

An illustrated history of Tutankhamun, starting with Thutmose IV, his great-grandfather, and going on down to his successors, and describing how his name was changed from Tutankhaten when he was born to Tutakhamen after his father died, in an attempt to lead him away from the god his father worshiped..  This book describes a lot about the history of this king, with pictures that look like they might have been taken from some of the wall carvings on every page.  Only a paragraph or two of information are on each page, yet the history is thorough for this age group, offering glimpses into his life I've not yet seen in the other books we are using.

However, there is much discussion, as is necessary when describing the history, about the gods Amun and Aten, and their worship, but not too much detail is given.  There is one cartoon like illustration of a woman who is topless, but not a lot of detail, so there is that to be aware of, but she is not the main focus of the picture.

Core 1 Supplement: Ancient Egypt--100 Things You Should Know About Ancient Egypt by Jane Walker

Rating: 7/10

This book is full of little details about Egyptian life, and lots of illustrations on every page.  There are 5 quizzes throughout the book, pertaining mostly to what has been read.  Also included are "I don't believe it" sections, which have some unusual facts about Egypt, although not all of them are as unbelievable as they would make it sound.

This book is fun, but there are a few things that bothered me about it.  First of all, there is no order to the history, with King Narmer (Menes) being #100, who was the "first" ruler of Ancient Egypt, yet Cleopatra VII was #97, and the Great Pyramid is #25. 

Also, there were some things which I felt probably weren't important enough to make it onto a top 100 list of things to know about Ancient Egypt, while some key points were left out.

None of the crafts were of the type we could use.  They included Making a Death Mask, Making a Magic Eye Charm, and Making a Snake Game.

Overall, however, I liked this book, but wasn't overly impressed with it.

Extra Supplement Book: In the Belly of an Ox by Rebecca Bond

Rating: 8.5/10

I really liked this book.  Two men set out to become wildlife photographers using unconventional means, including hollowing out an ox.  These techniques helped them get closer to the wildlife and really photograph every bird in England in its nest in its natural habitat.  Based on the true story of Richard and Cherry Kearton.

Core 1 Week 9: I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting

Rating 7/10

*IF* I were the type to like poetry, this book would probably rate higher.  So, for those who would like to try to add a poetry element to their ancient Egypt study, this would be the book I would pick.  The book has a darker tone to it, but still appropriate for many young children.  It is written from Heb-Nefert's point of view, and describes many of the things she might have seen or done during her life.  There is a section or so on how she died, and she left her body and watched them make a mummy out of her, and described the process, and watching people come to visit her as a mummy and look at her in the museum.  I am not entirely sure how I feel about that, so definitely a pre-read, but nothing so obvious that over-picky me would say to definitely drop the book.  The whole theme of the book is that looking at a mummy now may be ugly and scary, but once she was a queen and was beautiful, and her beauty has faded, but she feels the same inside.

Core 1 Week 10 Supplement: The Best Book of Mummies by Philip Steele

Rating: 7/10

Despite its name, it really isn't the best book of mummies I have seen.  Large font, interesting text, 32 pages.  However it summarizes much of the information found in other texts.  It does add a great visual addition to CHOW or SOTW, such as covering bodies with Natron and washing the body, however, so for those children who need a little more visual effect, this is a good resource to use.  Pictures are also large, so it's not completely cluttered.

Core 1 Week 9: Footsteps in Time: The Egyptians by Ruth Thompson

Rating 8/10

Very small book.  2 page spread of info, followed by a 2 page spread of a craft activity.  For those looking for just a couple nice, fairly simple craft tie-ins, this is a good resource.

Crafts include a riverboat made out of cardboard (different sort of design than I expected), collar necklace, model house, painted chest, writing with pictures, making a mummy, and scarab amulet.

The whole book is only 24 pages long.  If I were just looking for a couple cute crafts that don't require anything that you can't make with household items (no running to the store last-minute for feathers and two orange pipe cleaners), this is a good choice.

Core 1 Ancient Egypt: Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki

Rating 6/10

Outlining in simplistic terms the burial preparation process of mummification, with line drawings and simple pictures, it is enough information for a first/second grader.  I would prefer more detail and think a lot of things were left out, and I think the drawings could be a little more professionally done, but overall a good synopsis of parts of the mummification process.  It does show pictures of the Egyption gods with hieroglyphs at the beginning, and a brief sentence describing what each god stands for. 

If your child tends to get bogged down with too much information or you have a younger tag-along, I do think this is a good addition, it is written for younger children. 

Core 1 Supplement--Kingfisher Atlas of the Ancient World

Rating: 8/10

Despite it's name, this book is not really so much an atlas as a book that gives a brief summary of the ancient civilization, plus shows maps with major towns and rivers.  There is also some photography, but most of the maps are cartoonish type accurate drawings.   Each civilization takes up at least a 2 page spread, some take up 2 2-page spreads. 

First is a map of the entier ancient world, with major civilizations pointed out, and a timeline.  Next comes an introduction to how we know about the past.  The first towns is next.  Each major topic has a timeline along the side as well.  Each also has illustrations of where major monuments or items are located on the map.  For example, stonehenge and newgrange, or Solomon's Temple. 

Mesopotamia is the first civilization covered, followed by Ancient Egypt, Ancient Europe,The Indus Valley, Minoans and Myceneans, Peoples of the Mediterranean, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Ancient Africa, Ancient India, Ancient China, North American Peoples, Central and South America, and Australia and Polynesia.

I like it, because it doesn't just include the most common civilaztions, but takes a more global approach.  Also, it is nice to have a map that is more kid-friendly than many ancient world maps.  This book would get a higher rating, except I don't feel it is completely necessary for the core.  However, if your child is into geography, or you like mapping along with your core, this is a fun resource to help find some of those ancient places.  Every page is full color and nicely done, with little blurbs of into here and there, but not Usborne-y in appearance. 

Core 1: Week 7--Warriors, Wigmen, and the Crocodile People: Journeys in Papua New Guinea by Barbara A. Margolies

Rating: 9.5/10

I really like this book.  It only has a paragraph or two per page, with real photographs.  The first half of the book discusses a family from the Huli Peoples of Papua New Guinea, and a few of their tradition, and the second half focuses on a few traditions from another tribe in another area, the people of the Sepik River. 

There is enough information to be interesting and useful, without overwhelming the reader, or making it a difficult addition to a core. 

Extra Supplemental book: Panda by Judy Allen

Rating: 8/10  Read-aloud level K-3


A short, interesting book, mostly pictures, about a boy who travels to China with his father on an expedition and meets a panda.  I particularly like the end of the book, as it discusses why pandas are becoming extinct, but isn't overwhelming with information.  Simple, yet enjoyable. 

Core 1 Week 7: Magic School Bus Shows and Tells: A Book About Archaeology

Rating 8/10


OK, normally, I don't like Magic School Bus books.  First of all, there's the scatteredness of the pictures and the difficult to read storyline with so many people talking.  Plus I'm not too fond of stories that do what it impossible.

However, all of that aside, I really think this is a good resource to tie in with Archaeologists dig for clues. It covers many of the same details, but has the children trying to guess what an artifact is used for.

Core 1 Book Review: Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Quang Nhuong Huynh

Rating: 9/10



This book we started as an addition to the Akebu to Zapotec books, for more information on Vietnam.  It is a wonderful cultural addition to the core.  It actually would receive a 10/10, except I felt that it would not be appropriate for families with more sensitive children. 

This book shows us a glimpse into the life of a young boy in Vietnam and his pet water buffalo.  It is a wonderful recounting of a life where falling asleep on a water buffalo is regular occurrence for a 6 year old child, and going to collect mangoes includes having to have a group of boys with spears watching out for crocodiles. 

There is a significant amount of death/violence in this book, but not angry violence or vengeful death.  Death is shown as more of a natural part of growing up.  However, the child's pet water buffalo dies of old age, and the father goes out to buy a new one.  Life includes watching crickets fight, and a recounting of the one and only time the boy witnessed two crickets fight to the death, but also mentions the three songs of the crickets and the beauty of life around them.  There is also the part above about the crocodiles, and how one lay in wait, and the water buffalo warned them, and they were able to throw spears and kill the crocodile.  There is an earthquake which destroys the boy's house, and they have to sleep outside.  The boy's pet water buffalo fights for rank among the herd, and the buffalo he is fighting gets his horn stuck and ripped off, and bleeds to death, the the family who owned the other water buffalo is able to forgive the other family for this loss, despite the fact they feel bad about it . The boy describes hunting and different ways he catches animals, such as lobsters.   The ending is also very sad.

Despite all that the book is beautifully written, exploring a culture that is dependant upon the water buffalo to help maintain their way of life.  It balances the sad parts with a beauty and appreciation of nature and the things around, and the perspective of a child. 

Core 1, Ancient Egypt--Kingfisher Voyages: Ancient Egypt by Simon Adams

Rating: 10/10



I really like this book.  It has beautiful photography, with some of the pictures producing almost a 3D effect, jumping out at you.  There is also high-tech cartoonography, which also has almost a 3D effect, seeming to jump of the page.  The colors are beautiful.   There is only  a small amount of information on each page, not too overwhelming, but what is there is very informative.  It is really geared toward the younger elementary student, but without "talking down."

There is an introduction, followed by 3 chapters, The Nile Delta, The Nile Valley, and Upper Egypt and Beyond, which sort of take you on a trip up the Nile. Subtitles are: Traveling up the Nile, The Annual Flood, Daily Life, Heliopolis, Gods and Godesses, Religious Festivals, The Pharaoh, The Pyramids, Memphis, Scribes and Writing, Underworld, Abydos, Miu, Thebes (1200 B.C.), Valley of the Kings, The Boy Pharoah, Deir-El-Medina, Edge of the Empire, and The Temples of Abu Simbel. Each covers a 2-page spread. 

My favorite part of this book is the Underworld section.  It describes the art of mummification in quite interestingly, as it pertained to Ramses II.  But, the best part is there is a photo of two men working creating a mummy on a table, with objects around them that were used in mummification.  There is a plastic page between the two, and you flip it over, and there, in exactly the same positions, are two men in lab coats working at uncovering the mummy, with the canopic jars and other things in the same places around the room.  There is also the Valley of the Kings 2 page spread, which opens up to show you a detailed drawing of the inside of the tomb, and the various rooms in a long continuous passage. 

I would say that if I were to only use one extra resource for ancient Egypt, this would probably be it.

Sonlight Core 1 week 5

Supplemental List Review Time!

OK, we are sometimes behind on supplements, since my library doesn't always get them out to me when I ask for them. So, some of these are from Week 4's list as well.

Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong

This book is a really nice one.  It was supposed to Supplement Akebu to Zapotec's section on the Chut peoples in Vietnam.  However, this book in and of itself is interesting, and provides a personal account of living in Vietnam in early read-aloud format.  There are 16 chapters in total, and I would advise using this book as a read-aloud instead of a reader.  If you have very sensitive children, I would refrain from using this book at all, since a beloved pet water buffalo dies in the beginning of the story, is replaced by a new one, and the new old dies in the end of the story. In addition, there is an earthquake and a tiger attack.  But, overall a very fun look for children into another culture. 

Children of Vietnam by Marybeth Lorbiecki

Consisting of mostly photographs, a two or three paragraphs per page tell the story of various children who live in Vietnam, their families, and their lives.  While I think the text could use some improvement, I like the fact that the book focuses on children that live in the region rather than continuously focus on adults, as well as the photographs on each and every page. The photos help bring the above Water Buffalo Days book to life.

Charlie's House by Clyde Robert Bulla

This book is hauntingly touching, but I am using it as a reader, having pre-read the story for my six year old.  In typical Bulla fashion, it is a book on the 2 intermediate level of reading.  Another pre-warning for sensitive children here.  Charlie is run over by horses, temporarily unable to walk.  When he recovers, he works hard until he is twelve, and then makes his father mad by causing them to lose both a horse and a cow, causing him to have what sounds very briefly to be a stroke.  His mother then asks him to leave the house before his brothers try to hurt him. He flees, and winds up with a man who tells him he will buy him passage to America, but winds up in America as an indentured servant to a fairly nice man.  Well, nice, except he "loses" Charlie to his cousin in a card game.  Charlie is then sent to be a personal servant to a spoiled young girl and embarrassed.  He then is cast out one day, sent to work in the fields, gets punished for taking a drink of water, and is almost whipped until the girl decides she wants him back.  So, he decides to run away, and almost gets caught, but finally gets to his destination and is safe.  Like I said, hauntingly touching, but still written in an innocent enough of a way that even someone as picky as I am will give it as a reader. 

Volcanoes by Stephanie Turnbell

This one was to supplement our Night Animals book in Science.  It is another Usborne Beginners book, and I'll bet most of you can figure out what it is about.  I really liked this one for some reason, the colors just sort of draw your eye to it.

I'll continue to post more as we get through them.

We have finished up Trumpet of the Swan and have watched the video, and are now reading through Stuart Little in addition to Homer Price.  We will watch the Stuart Little video (and Homer Price for that matter) when we are done with them.

Does anyone else NOT buy their children an educational toy/item

because they know the child will likely outgrow it within a day or two?

Seriously. My mom bought my 4 year old four 24 piece puzzles. Within the day, he had put each one together about 4-5 times. The second day he played with them a couple times, and the third day, he touched one puzzle. Now, I got them out to show him again, he put one together in about 3 minutes, and then told me he didn't want to do anymore. So, I have these puzzles that are a waste of money, literally.



Then, my mom brought some Kumon workbooks for 4-5-6 year olds. He had them all done within a week. And wanted more.



She got him a shapes and colors book. He read it through the first time, told her all the shapes and colors, and then got down to go play with his Buzz Lightyear toy, which is the only thing out of all she brought that he still plays with.



My 3 year old got this sorting game. Tons of pieces to sort by size, color, shape, width, and type of picture. She loved it. For a week. Maybe. Maybe less. Then, she found it completely boring. She got a dry-erase trace the letters thing that she also loved. For about 2 days. She already knows her letters and their sounds and can write many of them without tracing.



They got a matching game. They really liked that. It lasted longer than some of the other toys. Took them about 2 weeks to outgrow that one.



They got a book about telling time, which showed what time certain things happened. Took about 3 minutes for my 4 year old to figure out how to tell time by looking at the hour hand, and about 4 times through the book to have the book memorized to the point where he didn't have to look at the clock to tell you the right answer.



I keep telling my mom not to buy toys for them for this reason. But, the problem is, she comes, visits, they still love the toys, she leaves, and toys are no longer fun anymore.



I've thought about different ideas to add to workboxes or activity areas or things like that, but it seems like my options are pretty much limited to items that fall into one of the following categories: items that would make too much of a mess without constant supervision, and would make me frustrated and less happy about teaching; workbooks that are either too easy and they would have finished in a day or less, or those that are so hard they need me there for constant supervision; items that would take 3-4 times as long for me to prepare as it would for them to do; items that they would enjoy, but I would continuously have to be coming up with/purchasing/changing on a daily basis, with little reusable power to them; or items that are really expensive, and those of us with CDO would worry and fret over every little piece to make sure it isn't lost.



Seriously, I don't by my kids toys. I really don't. I can't tell you the last time I bought any of them really a toy. Maybe a couple of years ago, I got some math manipulatives. And Leapfrog letters a little before that. But, toys, nope. They simply don't hold my kids interest for very long. Games, I buy even more infrequently.



Another issue that complicates the whole game/toy issue is that our house is small. We have no special school room. No special toy room or play room. We *often* have other children over. Foster children, children from church, visitors, cousin sets (I call them cousin sets, because they never come over just one at a time. It's Ruben's family with their 6 children, or Saul's family with their 3 children, or Maria's family with her 3 children, or Michael's family with their 5 children, etc., and to complicate things, the vast majority of their cousins are 6 and under) who want to play, touch, look at, dig through, explore the little bit of area we have in our house, and since they are family, I have a hard time declaring things such as pom poms off limits. I mean, seriously. But, that also means that things get lost, broken, destroyed, misplaced, scribbled on, slobbered over, etc. much more easily. And, letting them go outside and play is only an option during the summer. Yes, I try to watch them, but if you have ever been in a family with 4 children, and then had your sister's 3 children over and playing, and their cousins come over and play and you now have an 11, 10, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, and under 1 year old all in the same house at the same time, sometimes sacrificing a few toys is worth it. And then, if your brother-in-law from 2 blocks down hears about it and wants to come over and visit and bring his 5, 2, and baby along. . . .



Anyways, suffice it to say that I see all these cute little threads about workboxes and activity trays and all these other things and I keep thinking to myself over and over again, that sounds great in theory. Really, it does. But, the amount of work that would go into upkeeping something like that is terrifying. Not to mention the amount of money that would go into it to keep it new enough on a daily basis so they wouldn't grow completely bored with it, is enough to make me consider the cost of $3,000 per year per child preschool a bargain, and let them deal with the missing toys.


So, I've been thinking what else I can do with them to keep them busy, and am trying to come up with new ideas.

Core 1 Week 4 days 5 and Core P 4/5 week 1 day 5.

We finished up week 1 of Core P 4/5 today. I'm going to have to work on some pictures. I'm not adding in a whole lot this time around for my two little ones. Well, not a whole lot, if you don't count the Abeka K4 videos with all the workbooks. Yeah, I tend to oversupplement, and I'm usually the first to admit it.

But, overall the day went well. We started working on next week's memory verse, since it is a longer one. They also are learning the Abeka Bible verses, so I'm not too worried. They both follow along pretty well. My little boy, however, keeps asking "are we done yet, so I can go play?" But he loves stories.

My oldest two finished up Core 1 week 4 days 3, 4, and 5 today. We were behind. Again. Somehow life just keeps getting in the way.

We didn't finish everything. For example, we skipped Akebu to Zapotec for the week. I don't know why, we just somehow missed it. With all my extra resources. We've been reading an Atlas-type book, called the DK Picturepedia Atlas of the World. We're reviewing one two page spread a day, so it's pretty nice. Lots of geography review. It's nice, because we'll be reading, and then within a couple days, in some other resource, we'll find another place that refers to what we are just reading.

We're also adding in the final What Lives in the . . . . series by Oona Gaarder-Juntti. I double-checked the spelling on her name. We use it as a guessing game book. They really are easy readers, but it's more fun to guess. There's one animal per two page spread. I cover the name of the animals, and all the info. They look at the picture and guess the name of the animal. Then I have them guess the class and then the location. Some of them have fairly easy locations. For example, the What Lives in Antarctica book features only animals that live in, yep, you guessed it, Antarctica.

But, each book tells the name, class, and location, and just a few details in easy reader format for about 10 animals.

A third fun book is called Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste, Smell, and Feel by Pamela Hickman. It's fun, because it has simple "experiments" children can easily do for each sense. Very simple, but fun.

Also, Libraries by Lucia Raatma is another good book. It's an easy reader type book but with lots of big words. I particularly like the How Libraries started chapter about early writing materials and clay tablets in Mesopotamia and how papyrus was made, and Hadrian's Library in Greece.

We're also done with Charlotte's Web and adding in Trumpet of the Swan. We're on about chapter 7 out of 21, but I think we start a new book next week, so I'm just going to keep reading a little bit out of each chapter.

Zac-a-Potatoes and the Miraculous Lung Surgery Reversal Story

Someone on the forums asked me about my comment in my siggy, referring to a lung surgery reversal. So, I've decided to post the story so others can share it with anyone who is interested.

March of 2009, all 4 of my children caught a really bad cold. This was back when the swine flu was still only in Mexico, and people weren't hyped up yet. :) After 2-3 weeks of orange juice and cold medicine, my skinniest child, Zacarayah (who was almost 3 and weighed in at 22 pounds, the same weight he had been at 9 months and who still wore 12 month pants, because the 2 year old pants assumed children had diapers on and fell off) started getting a really fast heartbeat, over 200 a minute, and started breathing really fast, over 60 a minute, which I knew wasn't good. Plus, the whole Tylenol/Motrin thing wasn't doing anything for his fever, which was starting to hit 106 with more frequency, and the medicine was only helping for about an hour or so at a time.

So, I brought him and my second sickest child in to the ER because one of my good doctor friends was working ER that night. He gave Zacarayah a shot of Rocephin (antibiotic) and sent them both home with antibiotics and cough medicine, and enough to cover all 4 of my children.

Well, the next day, Zacarayah didn't seem a whole lot better. In fact, if anything, he was worse. So, I brought him in again. They did X-rays and say something that looked like a pneumonia. Since his fever was 106 at the time, combined with the x-rays, and the fact that the antibiotic hadn't even helped him a little bit, plus the super-fast heart rate and respiratory rate, they decided to keep him in the hospital for a couple of days on IV antibiotics.

So, they started 2 different antibiotics around the clock. Plus Motrin and Tylenol at maximum doses schedule around the clock. Plus IV fluids.

After 3 days, there were no improvements. So, they switched antibiotics and tried again. 2 days later, there were still no improvements, and the fevers rarely went below 104, even with Tylenol and Motrin. He had pretty much quit eating, which, for a severely underweight sick child, is not really a good thing.

So, they decided to send him up to children's hospital. We went up there, and he underwent just about every test known to mankind. He arrived on Friday afternoon, and they didn't have anyone there over the weekend to put in a PICC line, (really? Come on now) until Monday afternoon. So, 3 times a day they had to try to take blood from an underweight, malnourished, super-skinny, not eating 106 fever 3 year old, which was not fun. They quickly ran out of hands veins after vein after vein blew, and then started in on his feet, and then his ankles and then his legs. I'm not sure where they would have gone next, had they not finally got his PICC line in. Poor child was so traumatized by needles, because each time they had to draw blood, it almost always took 4-5 pokes to get enough.

They changed his antibiotics around, and added some antifungals, and then switched those around, and then added more, and then added TPN (IV feedings, since he had pretty much quit eating all food), and then switched everything around again. Still getting Motrin and Tylenol around the clock, higher doses than recommended now, and still the fever rarely even dipped below 104 or 105, and was up in the 106.8 range right before it was time for the next dose.

He started out with two doctors, a pediatrician, and a pulmonologist. By Monday morning, he was up to about 7 doctors, 2 surgeons, and a whole entire boatload of interns. They paraded in throughout the day to ask questions, poke, prod, examine, discuss, and otherwise check on their little patient.

My Monday afternoon, they had tested him for everything they could think of, and then some. Swine flu, bird flu, pneumonia, RSV, Celiac disease, tuberculosis, asthma, various types of fungi and bacteria and viruses, and kidney problems and lung disease, and cancer, and heart problems, and allergies, and the list went on and on and on. Some things made sense, others just had me wondering if they were just grabbing at straws.

So, as time went on, he was getting worse and worse. They were pretty sure that it was a pleural effusion of some sort, and the surgeons, who were increasing almost daily in number, were undecided as to what to do. We even had some surgeons from other hospitals come consult. About half wanted to do surgery, open up his lung, and remove the source of infection. The other half wanted to keep waiting, giving the antibiotics a chance to work, and encapsulate the infection, before doing surgery, or hope that the antibiotics alone would work.

The biggest risk was that they felt that a wet-type lung infection they suspected they were dealing with had a VERY high potential for systemic damage if they operated. The biggest risk of all, was that the infected area would just sort of disintegrate when they tried to remove it, so instead of having the infection remain in the portion of his lung where it was, it would literally send tiny pieces all over the place, spreading the infection even faster.

So, finally, they all agreed that the antibiotics weren't doing much. They were all pretty much agreed to doing the surgery.

Just before the surgery, one of the pulmonologists rechecked the Xrays and stated that perhaps he knew what the problem was, but he was unable to say for certain without doing the surgery.

So, we went ahead with the surgery. They were going to go in and remove as little of the actual lung itself as they could, although the infection looked to be taking up to over half his lung, and might wind up having to remove the whole lung, and hope that the infection wouldn't spread further.

He went in for the surgery.


The head surgeon told us it would take hopefully about 8-12 hours to do the surgery, perhaps longer, depending on what happened. I think he was out in under 4 hours. They had removed a large portion of the lung, and had 2 chest tubes draining the rest of the infection if there was any.

They moved him up to ICU, where they told us he would be for about a week, if everything went right. Perhaps longer, there was no way to tell. Just slightly over 24 hours later, they were moving him back to the floor. It would have been under 24 hours, but they weren't prepared for him to do so well, so they didn't have a room open, and had to wait for one.




They said the chest tubes would need to be in for 1-2 weeks, at least, to make sure all the drainage was out. One was left in for 2 days after we got out of ICU, the second was taken out the next day.

They told me to expect fevers still for several days after the surgery. He came out of the surgery without a fever, and didn't get another fever again for over 8 months.

They said that he would be in the hospital for about a month after surgery, perhaps more. He was out in about a week. Mostly because they kept wanting to keep him just a little longer to make sure he was doing well.

They said he would need to keep the PICC line in for about 6 months to a year after the surgery, and be on antibiotics for that long through his line, to make sure the infection was all gone. Two weeks after we were home, the doctors said it could come out, they had done all the precautionary antibiotics he would need for now, just to watch him.

They said that it would take him from 1-2 years to regain a lot of his strength, and that he would always get winded a little easier and be a little shorter of breath, but he should be fine as he got older. Just never expect him to be able to run a marathon or do heavy sports. It took him maybe a month to get back to fairly normal, and he can outrun any of my other children, and most of the children at church as well, even though many are bigger than he is.

The only thing they were wrong about in a not-so-positive aspect, was that they told me that he would start gaining weight after he started healing. He's 4.5 years old now, and he weighs, well, 28 pounds. Almost. And, that's with the 3 pediasures a day, high calorie meals, and high calorie snacks. But, I think that's just him.

So, all that still doesn't ex pain the "lung surgery reversal." Yeah, he recovered, but where the the reversal part come in?

Well, remember that pulmonologist I mentioned? The one that said that he might know what the problem was, but wouldn't be able to tell until after the surgery? Well, it turns out that his official diagnosis was called by the lovely short name of "Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation." In layman's terms, that meant that part of his lung didn't develop properly. He was born with the problem. A small portion of the lung just sort of developed into a little ball.

If it is noticed before it causes problems, it is always recommended that it is removed. The reason for this is that this area has a high risk of causing problems. Infections, abnormal growth, causing lung difficulties, and cancer. We got the infection one. Because the infection was localized to the area of the lung where the malformation was, it looked like a pneumonia or abscess or effusion. Because it was infected it was hard to tell what it was.

Now, this area of the lung can be a large portion of the lung, a very small portion of the lung that swells with infection, or a portion attached to the lung.

Upon removal of this infected portion, his lung reinflated to its correct position, and all signs of infection disappeared from his body. Except for a couple scars on his lung, and a couple scars on his body, you would never even guess by looking at an X-ray that the surgeon fully believed he had removed over half of his lung. His current x-rays barely show any change at all from normal, apart from the scar tissue. Basically, after all that, all they did was go in and remove an extra little sac that got really, really, really, really big, and then the rest of his lung went back to doing what it was supposed to do as if nothing ever happened.

So, once again, this special little angel became my "miracle boy." He's always been my "miracle boy." I probably never should have gotten pregnant with him, the pregnancy probably could have been lost 100 different ways, and he had so many complications at birth, it's hard to believe he lived and is 100% normal. In fact, according to his pulmonologist, who loves to make jokes, he's *more* normal now than he was when he was born. :D

Further information: Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation is very rare disease. Zacarayah's pulmonologist, who specialized in these types of disease, told us that they are so rare, that in all his 30+ years being a specialist, he has seen an "increase" in the number of cases lately. In the last 10 years, he has had exactly 3 cases. In the 20 years before that, he also had 3 cases. And Zaca's was the worst he had seen out of all of them. This is a doctor who spends his life working with children who have lung diseases which baffle the other specialists.

So, we are here, and still celebrating in this miracle.

These pictures are from the day after he came home from the hospital. PICC line is still in and band-aids are still on.

Core 1 Week 4 Day 1 (and Core P 4/5 week 1 day 3)

I've decided that I don't have enough on my plate already. Why not start a blog, then right?

We're doing Core 1 so far. I'm adding in a list of supplements my friend Stephanie and I came up with for this core. We are loving it, so far. Another time I'll post a list of all the things we are using.

But, for today, I think I'll share a brief story about how our day ended today. So you all can see how even those of us who have been doing this for six years can have "one of those days as well."

So, we started out great. Got through tons of resources, and everything was smooth. Did all of week 4 day 1.

Then, at the very end of the day, it was only 10:30 pm (we start late and finish late most of the time), and the kids have been going to bed around 11 lately, so I told them they could finish up the only thing left over from Week 3. The science experiments. I had wanted to wait until tomorrow when my new magnets came in the mail, but they wanted to do it tonight, so I relented.

My youngest was sound asleep by this time, so it was just Vaneza, Xzavier, and Zacarayah. We watched the video, and then the started to do the experiments themselves, out of order. The second to the last one was the one where they tried to figure out how to pick up a piece of paper, using only a nail and a magnet, which took them all of 2 seconds to figure out, even though I didn't let them watch that part of the video.

So, they each had a round magnet and a nail.

Then, we tried to make the little boats, using the corks, pins, tacks, magnets, and tape. So I had to dig through all the boxes for the things. Got them all out. Then, the kids couldn't find the magnets that I had given them. Never mind that it was about 20 SECONDS AGO that I last saw them have them. So, we searched all over, cleaning up school supplies while we were at it, and I was straightening up everything.

After about 10 minutes, we finally found them. They were hiding back in the school supply box. Well, by that time, my 4 year old had lost his cork AND his tack. So we had to hunt for those. Then, they wanted to color the paper sails to make them look prettier. So, they did that.

THEN, they couldn't find the magnets. Again. The same ones we had just finished looking all over for.

So, we found them, again. On top of the TV. I don't know how they got over there, it's way over on the other side of the room.

So, they start putting together their boats, and I tape the magnets on for them. They use the science boxes to balance the tray of water.

Then, I remember that I hadn't gotten the pins out for the boats. So, they take the tray of water off, spilling half the water all over. Get the pints, out, they the refill the tray BEFORE they put it back on, and guess what happened? Spilled half the water. Again.

So, now we had boats, which floated. OK, so time to pick everything up and put it away. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm going though the science supplies box lists and making sure we aren't losing ONE SINGLE ITEM.

So, I notice that one of the pins is missing out of the box. I ask my 6 year old where his pin was, and he said he never got one. I KNEW I had given him one, and told him so, but he insisted he didn't get one. But, there's this little empty space where a pin went, so I was pretty sure it wasn't me losing my mind. This time, anyway.

So, we go on a pin hunt. My kids had just finished reading the book "Mickey's Magnet" (don't you just love how books come to life) where a child had spilled a box of pins all over the floor and picked them up with a magnet (and I wondered how he was so sure he had gotten them all, and no one stepped on one two days later). So, they got out their magnets again, and went sweeping over the carpet on the pin hunt.

My 6 year old was the one who found the pin he insisted I had not given him. Right by where he had been standing. :rolleyes:

So, I told him "hold on to it for a minute, while I finish sorting out these boxes." So, I finished checking all the other stuff, and then told my kids to give me the pin and their magnets. To which my 6 year old replied "I already gave you the pin."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"I asked you to hold on to it for a minute."

"Yeah, but I gave it to you."

"Where did you put it?"

"Right here." Points to the inside open cover of the science supply kit, which, no surprise, is completely pinless (another new word).

Believe me, no one was LESS shocked at this discovery than I was. Mind you, they were going to go to bed at 11:00, and now it's 11:30, and I'm still missing a pin.

So, they go on a pin hunt. Again.

Find the pin. I take the pin and quickly put it away in the correct spot, and tuck it into. Then, after all this hassle, I got really side tracked in checking my boxes and had to recheck them.

"OK, I've got everything but the magnets. Give me your magnets, guys."

I get two magnets. I look up. Yep, still three kids. Check again. Two magnets.

"I'm missing a magnet."

"I gave you mine."

"I gave you mine."

"I gave you mine."

Three answers, in a big papa bear voice, a little mama bear voice, and wee little baby bear voice.

Things are NOT just right.

"I have two magnets, and I gave you guys three of them."

So, we go on a magnet hunt. Find the magnet. Put it away.

Boxes are now WAY up high, and I don't know if we're going to do science experiments this week again. I need time to recover.

But, of course, those magnets come in the mail tomorrow, and the kids don't know about them yet, so once they get here, they're gonna want to go check them out.

Remind me, WHY DID I ORDER THE SET WITH *24* WHOLE ENTIRE PIECES AGAIN?

Sigh.