Popcorn Letters!

Both girls have been enjoying doing some activities from a book I got called Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye.



Most of them are pencil and paper activities. For example, Rebecca likes doing one called "A Race of Words," where you have a category and she and I each make our own list, and then compare the two lists when we're finished. (The scoring works so that she will almost always win.)

When the list was "Things You See at Christmastime," Rebecca wrote:

SNOW
TREY
MAGR
GESUS
AGL
HRMONICA

When I asked her about the last one, she said, "Harmonica ... you know, what the Jewish people have."

Anyway, today we did something a little different and made "Popcorn Letters." Rebecca liked this a lot.

First I had her write the letters and numbers on a piece of paper. Then I circled the ones that she wrote backwards and wrote them on a piece of construction paper. She put glue on the letter, then popcorn.


She made both letters ...



... and numbers ...

Our FIAR study of Ferdinand

As I've mentioned before, we've recently started using a homeschool "curriculum" (not the word I would use to describe it, but okay) called Five in a Row.

The concept behind FIAR is that you read the same book every day for five ... um, days in a row, doing a different activity with it each day.

This week we are "rowing" (to use the lingo) The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, which is our sixth FIAR book.



This is what it has looked like so far:


Monday (Social Studies day) -- After we read the story, we found Spain on our big world map on the playroom wall. I had printouts from HomeSchoolShare.com of a map where they colored in Spain, and a little booklet to color in the flag of Spain.
Several months ago we got a "Learn Spanish" CD with a Chik-Fil-A kids' meal, so I dug that out and we listened to a few of the lessons.

We also watched the cartoon about Bugs Bunny fighting the bull (remember that one? "What a gull-a-bull! What a nin-cow-poop!"), although that was not speficially suggested in the FIAR manual. :)


Tuesday (Language Arts day) -- Read the book again and listening to some of the Spanish lessons on the CD again. Pointed out how and why the author used techniques like repetition and asking the reader questions (ie, "and who do you think that way?")

We discussed interjections, so of course we had to watch the Schoolhouse Rock video. (Hurray, I' for the other team!")

Rachael dictated part of a story to me about a little Spanish girl going to the bullfight that Ferdinand was in. I don't know if she'll finish it. If she doesn't, that's okay. I'll write it up on lined paper and it will be her Copywork for the next couple of days. Here it is:

*************************************************************************
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Rosita. She was a very nice girl and lived
in Spain. Her mother was a belly-dancer and her father was a famous artist.

Her father was the kind of person that would never miss a day reading the newspaper. One day he was reading the newspaper when he came upon an ad for a bullfight. He looked up. "Does anybody want to go to a bullfight?" he asked.

"What's a bullfight?" asked Rosita.

"It's a place where you go and watch a fight. There's a matador and a bull. They both fight together until the end when the matador sticks a sword in the bull."

Who would want to go to a show like that? thought Rosita. But she didn't want to disappoint her father, so she said, "I'd like to go."

Then she remembered something. Her friend Raquel always wanted to go to a bullfight. "Can my friend go too?" she asked.

"Of course, if her mother says it's okay," said her father.

So mother got on the phone to call Raquel's house.

Her mother answered. "Hello," said Rosita's mother. "We were just asking if Raquel would like to go to the bullfight with Rosita."

"It's fine with me if it's fine with you," said Raquel's mother.

*******************************************************************************

Later this week I plan to watch a "Learn Spanish" video that I have on hold at the library; do an art activity involving size and distance; have the girls briefly act out some of the scenes; and discuss cork oak trees and clover.

I guess if I was really on the ball, we would be cooking some Mexican food, but I think I'll just let that go.

I'm sure there are some women out there that are having the kids build their own pinata and write to a pen-pal in Spain, but I'm not one of them.

So, as you can see, with one simple picture book from the library and a FIAR manual, you can cover a lot of ground, but it's fairly effortless and doesn't even take that much time.

Chapter Three

[Guest writer Rachael was fully sedated for an MRI this morning, but she was still able to contribute her latest installment. The vomiting has finally stopped around here, so hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.]

The Mystery Princess
by Rachael, age 7


Chapter Three: Inside the Castle

When Mother and Father's car had droven away, Anna gave one good look at the castle. Mother was right: it was royal. It was pink, with shiny blue jewels everywhere on it. And at the very top, there was a balcony. It pointed upward. And hanging from the bars, there was a jewel and the words "ROYAL BALL." This was good. Now Anna knew that she was at the right castle.

She went inside and discovered that the inside was better than the outside. There was a beautiful red carpet with jewels on it. It went across the whole room. The banister was decorated with pink hearts. And there was a clock that almost touched the roof. There was a shiny black piano, and someone one was playing it. He was in handsome clothes and playing "Here Comes the Bride."

It was supposed to be nice and royal, but every lady was anxious to have it be their turn, so it wasn't a lovely picture to the king and queen, who were sitting on high thrones.

She saw that on the red rug there was a line of really pretty women, and she considered her the nicest one of all. At the end of the line, there was a Prince, and he was in very handsome clothes.
He had black shoes, black pants, a white shirt, and a red tie. From top to bottom, Anna thought he was the handsomest person in the whole ballroom. She saw the whenever a woman came up to him, the woman would curtsy, but the Prince always shook his head, and the woman would walk sorrowfully away.

When it was Anna's turn, she remembered that she was pretending to be a princess. So when the Prince asked her name, she said, "Anna. I'm a princess."

The Prince couldn't say anything else. He was too surprised. He thought Anna was really a real princess, so he said to Anna, "You're the one! I'll find a room for you to stay in with me til the marriage." And he ran off.

Anna shouted, "But I'm not a real princess! I'm just pretending to be a princess!" She couldn't spread the news that she wasn't a real princess to another woman, because there were no other women. They had all left.

And then she soon found herself in the most beautifullest, softest, silkiest bed she had ever been in. She thought of home. She thought of her cat. Even though she didn't like Grace, she still missed her.

Our guest writer continues ...

[The blog is continuing to be run by seven year old Rachael until the rest of us all get well.]

The Mystery Princess
by Rachael, age 7


Chapter Two -- Going to the Ball

The next day, Anna woke up. She knew she was excited for something, but she didn't know what. She got up and wandered around the room, but when she got to the trash can, she saw her Decision Chart and remembered that today was the day of the ball. She had used that chart to make the decision of the ball, and that's how she had thought of the ball when she saw the chart in the trash. She had thrown it in the trash, because what' the use of a Decision Chart when she had already made the decision?

She dressed up extra pretty and thought of something. "I know! I'll pretend I'm a princess! So I'll look extra pretty!" And then she looked for her very best ring, her very best dress, and her tiara.

When mother was driving her and Grace to the ball, Anna thought of the Royal Time she would have, and the pretty dresses she would see.

"I want to go with Anna!" said Grace.

"You're too little," Mother said. "Anyway, four year olds can't marry."

"They're too small," added Anna, trying to act like she was a real, live princess.

Grace started to cry.

"Oh, stop it!" said Anna, forgetting that she was trying to act like a princess.

When she got there, she couldn't see much because the car was little and there wasn't much windows. Only the windshield and the two windows for Mom and Dad. She could have looked out the windshield, but there was too much stuff piled between Mom and Dad.

But they could see, and they thought it was a beautiful sight. "Look at that royal castle!" said Mother to Anna.

"I can't see a thing!" said Anna, who was trying to hear and talk over Grace's crying.

When she got out, Grace was done crying. "Bye, Anna!" said Mother and Father.

"Bye-bye, Anna!" said Grace, half talking and half wiping the tears still remaining on her face.

Our guest writer for today

[As we are still not completely healthy in this household, I have called on seven year old Rachael, who is not currently ill, to take over the blog until we all recover.]

The Mystery Princess
by Rachael
(a book for teenagers)


Chapter One -- News of the Ball

Anna was frustrated and was tied from the ball that she had been invited to and the ice skating she had practiced really hard on. They were both on the same date.

At this particular moment, Anna was walking up and down the hall of her house. Her hands were folded and she was thinking hard. But then she suddenly thought to herself, "Ice skating is nothing. But a ball would be really fun and fancy." She made up her mind to go to the ball instead of her ice skating class.

Later on she was cross-stitching and thinking of the great decision she had made. She had told the people in charge of the ball that she was going to the ball. The king and queen were delighted. They were always happy whenever they got new customers for the ball.

Just at that moment, Anna's little sister Grace walked in and said, "What are you doing?"

"Shush, Grace. I have a problem on my cross-stitch."

Grace said, "You're always cross-stitching! I want you to play Follow the Leader with me."

Anna said, "And you're always playing Follow the Leader. Anyway, I'm almost finished. Seventeen year olds always enjoy doing cross-stitch."

Anna was seventeen years old, but acting like she was twenty. Grace was four years old, and as Anna always says, she's always playing Follow the Leader.

"No!" Grace said. "I want you to play NOW!"

"Stop complaining!" said Anna. "Look, you made me do a mistake."

Grace came over to see.

"I don't mean that kind of see. I mean 'see' because I want you to be sorry."

"I'm never sorry for you," said Grace, as Anna shouted, "Mother! Grace is bothering me!"

Mother came in and said to Grace, "Grace, Anna's busy. You can play Follow the Leader with me."

As Grace ran over to play Follow the Leader, Anna's cat came into the room to be petted. "I have no time, Sooty. I have to do my cross-stitching."

Sooty looked up and did a sorrowfully meow and Anna gave Sooty a pat. "I know you feel bad. But you'll just have to wait."

[Stay tuned for Chapter Two - Going to the Ball]

Who Rachael is these days

Rachael (age 7) was watching Hannah Montana yesterday and saw an ad for the "Kit" American Girl movie coming out next month (with Abigail Breslin).

She decided to "be Kit." She put together an outfit that sort of looked like what Kit wears in the book, and we've been reading some of the Kit books.

You never know what's going to be "the thing" around here at a moment's notice.

This morning she brought me a piece of paper that was folded up and said

FOR MOM
FROM KIT

I opened it, and it said:

KIT KITRIG IS CUMING IN THE MOVES. CAN WE SEE IT? PLES!. IF ITS TO SKARE WE CAN LEVE. OR IF THARS SEVRL MOVES. WE CAN WOCH UNUTHR ONE. IF WE CAN FIND ONE WE LIKE

If you're wondering why in the world an American Girl movie would be scary, it helps to know that Rachael has never seen a movie in the theater (her choice).

Actually, that sounds pretty fun. I myself have been to the movies exactly four times in the seven years since Rachael was born, so that would be great if Robert could stay home with Benjamin and I could go to the movies with the girls.

I found a letter for the Tooth Fairy

I'm always finding interesting things around the house.

Yesterday I found this next to the girls' beds. Rachael (7) must have done the actual writing, although I imagine Rebecca dictated it to her:


The paper was folded up, and on the outside it said:

FOR THE TOOTH FARE
FROM REBECCA

OPIN TH CRD AND REDE

and on the inside it said:

DER TOOTH FAR

I WUNT YOU TO BRING ME SUMTHING EVIN THOW I DONT HAV A TOOTH FOR YOU BECOS I LIKE GETING STUF AND I HRDLE GE ENETHING AND THIS IS WUT I WUNT A TOY PRESINT PUT IT ON THE SQUAR NEXT TO ME

It made me feel kind of sad that they got no response. :(

My birthday gift from my daughter

Today's my birthday! :)

Rachael (AGE 7) made me a gift. It's a piece of paper folder up into quarters. On the outside it says:

HERS A BRTHDAY PRESINT EVIN THOW IT PAPR OPI THE CRD AND YL SEE HOW IM A GOD DOTR TO YOU

HAPY BRTHDAY

XOXO

I HOP YOU LIK IT

LOVE RACHAEL

On the inside she drew a little comic strip of the two of us.
Then she drew some empty squares and wrote RIT MOR COMIX HER with an arrow pointing to the empty blocks.

Then, underneath that:

OR IF YOU DONT WUNT TO RIT COMIXS DROW A PICHR DON THAR UV YOUR FAMULE
HAV FUN

Christmas Lists in May

The girls decided to write their Christmas lists to Santa early. I guess I could admire them for thinking ahead ...


This is Rachael's:

MY CRISMIS LIST

IVY WOTH THE ICSESRES (American Girl doll Ivy, with the accessories)

JLEI'S BED

A AREL COSCHOOM

KIT WOTH THE ICESRES

AND A GUMBALL MACHINE

A PRINSESS CEL PHON


Then Rebecca dictated her list to Rachael, which Rachael decorated with drawings of candy canes and presents:

MY CRISMUS LIST

A GEST LIC YOU DOL ("just like you doll" from American Girl) WITH SOME STUFF

A STICR BOOK

A BIKE FOR MY GEST LIC YOU DOL

A FLOOT FOR ME

A TRAIN SET

FOR SANTA



Then, in the side margins, they wrote "FST FAVOEIT" and "SECGUT FAVRIT" next to the items on the list.

I didn't know Rebecca wanted a flute.

I didn't know Rachael knew that "phone" started with "ph."

I do know that Santa will be spending a lot of money at that American Girl doll store.

Rachael's Journal

One of Rachael's favorite gifts when she turned six was an Ariel Journal that a good friend of mine gave her.

This morning was one of those slow, difficult mornings for me to get up, when I'm grateful to God that I don't somehow have to get Rachael on a bus down the street at 7:10 am. So Rachael wrote in her journal while she waiting for me to wake up:

************************************************************************************

MAY 5 2008

HI IM RACHAEL AND I DONT MIND IF I TELL YOU A SOREO TODAY
TODAY WE ARE GOWING TO CVS TO PRINT OWT PICHRS THEN MICLS BY SUM SCRAP BOOKING SUF THEN WR GENU SPRED OT EVFTHING AND S.B.

************************************************************************************

And she's right, that is exactly what we're planning to do today ... um, once I get showered and dressed.

Girls' Shopping Lists

Rachael and Rebecca both sat at the kitchen table yesterday and made up a list for the next time I go to Publix. I didn't ask them to do it, and I didn't tell them what we needed.

Here's a few things on Rebecca's list:

RASBARES
FROSIN YOGRT
PUFFES (what she calls cheese puffs)
APPLES
BRED



Rachael's list was a lot longer:

RASBARES
APPLE S. (meaning apple slices in a bag)
APPLE THAT ARE HLL
GOODU CHES
BUNANA
MOSURELU CHES
LIFE
ORINGIS
LOLE POPS
GRAP WINE ("I'm being helpful for Daddy," she explained)
HAF AND HAF
2% MILK
ISCREME SAND WICH
BOSTIN MRCIT MASHT BUTATOS AND MEAT LOFE
ORING SLISIS
TWIX (they had asked me what candy I liked, and that was my answer)

Well, I guess I'm off to go buy this stuff now! :)

Tell Me a Fudge

The girls and I have been reading the Fudge books by Judy Blume.

In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, it tells how little brother Fudge swallowed Peter's pet turtle, Dribble, and then their parents buy a dog for Peter, which he names "Turtle."

Then in Fudge-a-Mania, a slightly older Fudge dictates a book called Tell Me a Fudge. Chapter One is called "How Turtle Got His Name."

So Rachael decided to dictate her own version of Tell Me a Fudge. Here it is:

***********************************************************************************

Tell Me a Fudge - by Rachael, age seven

Chapter One - How Turtle Got His Name

Peter was going to check his turtle as usual when he got home from schoo. But oh no, oh no! The latch was unlocked, and there was a chair slammed of the door. Peter almost tripped over the chair. But when he got in his room and looked in Dribble's bowl, Dribble wasn't there.

He ran out of his room and into the kitchen, where Fudge was slamming pots and pans together, and where mother was stirring something.

"Where's Dribble?" Peter said.

"Where's who?" said mother, trying to get her voice over the pots and pans slamming together.

"Dribble!" said Peter.

"Oh! Dribble!" said mother. "Well, I'll have to look around the bedrooms and closets. I hope he's not wandering around somewhere that somebody can't find him. You know how much I don't like his smell."

After mother was gone, Fudge started slamming pots and pans together.

"Stop that racket! I can't hear anything!" said Peter.

Peter went over tho Fudge. "Did you take Dribble?" he asked.

Fudge didn't say anything.

"Just tell me. I won't be mad," said Peter.

"In tummy," Fudge said.

"Whose tummy?" said Peter.

"This one!" said Fudge, rubbing his tummy.

"Okay, how did it get there?" said Peter, playing along with Fudge's game.

Fudge jumped up. "I ate him, ate him, ate him!" he sang.

When mother got back to the kitchen, she said, "I've looked everywhere -- in the halls and in the bathrooms and --

"Mom! How could you let him?"

"Let who do what?"

"Let him eat him!" Peter said.

"Let who eat what?" said his mom.

"Let Fudge eat Dribble!" said Peter.

The Sweetest Card I Ever Got

For no apparent reason, Rachael brought me the sweetest card first thing yesterday morning. It has some artwork (mostly hearts), but here's what it says:



RACHAEL LOVES YOU MOM!

TRN THE PAGE TOO HER A LUV STORE AND PICHRS

[Then the next page has artwork with hearts and a big red exclamation point and says]

LOVE CUMS EVEYE DAY!

[Next page]

EVIN WEN IS NOT MUTHERS DAY YOU STIL GET LOVE EVRE DAY

[Drawing of the two of us]

To MOM
FROM RACHAEL
FLIP THE PAGE TO HER MOR

A SPRINGCL UV LOVE EREYE DAY MAKS YOU LOVE ECH DAY

Poems about angels and God

Rachael writes so much stuff I can barely keep up with it all ...



The girls had a combined birthday party Saturday (hopefully I'll blog more about that later) and Rachael got a Princess notepad. She assigned all of us an "angel" of sorts, and wrote a "poem" about us on each sheet of the notepad.



Here's the one for me, the Rose Angel:
HIY I AM THE ROS ANGEL I GROW SES IN GRDINS TOO GROW IN LITTL ROS BOSHIS AND I WAR ROSIS ON MY ERS AND HAR



[Hi I am the Rose Angel I grow seeds in gardens to grow in little rose bushes and I wear roses on my ears and hair.]



Benjamin got to be Jesus:
HIY I AM JESUS I AM CINDUV LIC GOD BUT I AM PEPL SIS I AM A BOY JEST LIK GOD I MAC MERUKLS JEST LIK GOD



[Hi I am Jesus I am kind of like God but I am people-size. I am a boy just like God. I make miracles just like God.]

Rachael was the "Water Angel," but I can't find that one right now ...

Rebecca got to be the Berry Angel:
I AM THE BARE ANGEL AND I GIV BARES TO THE BRS WEN I DOOW THIS JOB IT MAKS ME FEL HAPPY BARE ANGEL POWEM

[I am the Berry Angel and I give berries to the birds. When I do this job it makes me feel happy. - Berry Angel Poem]

The Kindergarten Test

I always find something interesting when I tidy up our playroom.

Just now I found this. (The italics are mine):

************************************************************************************
KINDUGRDIN TEST


DOW ESTR BUNES HID THE EGGS OR FIND THE EGGS
(Do Easter Bunnies hide the eggs or find the eggs?)

A. FIND THE EGGS
B. HID THE EGGS

IS HORTON A ELUFINT OR A DER
(Is Horton an elephant or a deer?)

A. A DER
B. A ELUFINT

WUT DOW FIR MEN DOW
(What do firemen do?)

A. POT OWT FIRS (put out fires)
B. BAC BRED (bake bread)
C. DOW THE LONDRE (do the laundry)

RUMEMR THE STORE DID JACK AND JILL CLIM UP THE HILL
(Remember the story - did Jack and Jill climb up the hill?)

A. YES
B. NO
C. YOU DONT NOW

The correct answers were marked. I could picture Rachael making the test and giving it to Rebecca, although I don't know that for certain.

A few things I noticed:

- Rachael's printing has word spacing now, which she didn't a few months ago
- That's a lot of writing for a six year old
- There were question marks in-between the questions. I'm not sure if they were decorations, or is she doesn't know exactly how a question mark is used
- I just thought the whole thing was pretty clever! :)

Notes found in our house

I just found two folded up notes in our playroom.

They said, on the outside:

TO=Mia
FROM=Hannah

I assume that's Rachael's American Girl doll Mia, and Hannah Montana.

When unfolded, one said:

to Mia wen it is sumr we swim in the pool and we hav lesins ther and wen it is sciool ol bring you home wrk too wrk on and ol be the techr

and the other said:

To Mia From Hannah I wunt you to war your yonuform and go to the soft ice cream and then go riding on aer biks

with some illustrations.

Translations:

1) To Mia, When it is summer we swim in the pool and we have lessons there and when it is school I'll bring you homework to work on and I'll be the teacher.

2) To Mia From Hannah, I want you to wear your uniform and go to the soft ice cream and then go riding on our bikes.


We were just reading a Berenstain Bears book yesterday about kids riding bikes and the playground and then going to get soft ice cream.

The girls were painting a little while ago and are now playing Blue's Clues Treasure Hunt on the computer. Busy busy ...

Anna and Parsy

by Rachael, age 6

[BTW, I don't have anything to do with Rachael's stories other than playing secretary. I don't tell her what to write about or anything.]

Anna and her friend Parsy loved to have a little walk every afternoon after lunch. They always came back home with lots of surprises: sometimes flowers, and sometimes birds that they caught in cages up in trees that seemed to wave as they flew down after they picked a leaf off one of the trees.

One day they came home with three flowers and a bird. They named the bird Casey because it had Parsy's and Anna's favorite letters in it. And they called the flowers "Three Little Tulips" because they were three little tulips.

They used the bird and the flowers for lots of stuff and parties and fancy ball gowns.

One day they gave the bird to someone else as a present, and the flowers on a ball gown that was their mother's that she still enjoyed it.

The next three days, Anna and Parsy were in their room, coloring pictures, when Parsy gasped. "You know what we've just done, Anna? We gave away our best treasures that we found in the forest!"

Anna said, "We can draw picures of them and so hunting some more." So that's what they did. They drew the pictures first, and then after lunch they went hunting again, and they found again three tulips and another robin, which was the same type of bird they found the last time.

They went home and enjoyed them so much. And this time they didn't give them away.

THE END

Another list for Cinderella

This morning I saw Rachael fervently dusting the furniture. Then I saw this written in purple marker:

(Again, she doesn't do the spacing, so I'll do it):

SWEP THE ASHIS IN THE FIR
SWEP THE CICHIN
GET US TDREST
CHEC THE MAL
NAPTIM
MAC THE MELS
SLEP IN THE ADIC

CORS FOR CINDURELU

Actually, she did get the mail later ... but I don't remember anyone making any meals for me today! :)

The Day I Met a Princess

by Rachael, age six

I was waiting on the porch one time, and eating cookies that my mother cooked and brought outside for me to eat on a plate.

As I picked up one of the cookies, a girl with a dress, a crown, and a beautiful wand came by and sat down on the porch next to me.

I was feeling kind of bored by then, and the princess asked me why I was bored. My answer was, "Because there's nothing to do in my house."

The Princess said, "I can fix that! Show me around in your house."

I showed her my bathroom, my kitchen, and my room, and even my mother and father's room.

The Princess picked up her wand, set a potion, and suddenly the whole house was funner.

I picked up a toy that was new and starting playing. "Thank you, Princess," I said.

"You're welcome," said the Princess. And with a sparkle of her wand and a twinkle of her eye, she was gone.

And that was how I met the Princess.

THE END

Cinderella's List

I just found this, and a pen, on the table next to Rachael's bed. I don't know when she wrote it. I can probably safely assume it's a list of tasks for Cinderella.

She doesn't always space well between words, so I'll add that so it's more readable here:

MAC THE MELS

WOSH US UP

SET THE TABL

TAC THE TRASH OWT

SORT THE LONDRE

SWEP THE ASHIS IN THE FIR