Books are here! The countdown starts.....

Ok, so I don't know about where you live, but school starts here in my neck of the world in less than 2 weeks.
I got the last 2 books in the mail today to begin our schooling adventure for an entire year this time!
As most of you know, I pulled my girl out of school in February of her 3rd grade year. Our thoughts were, if it was a total fail, well she could probably go into 4th grade this year unharmed.
Well, there is no turning back now and what a positive thing. What a solid decision.
It is just one of those things that I feel really good about. It is RIGHT. I feel at peace and calm about my three year old not having to do the public school thing at all.


Though I am adding, and substituting out in a few spots-
we are sticking with the ambleside online curriculum and the books are AMAZING this year. I wish this was how I learned!
(Though I guess I will be learning from them after all. right ?? ;-) )

I wanted to tell you about my three favorites so far:

Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling

I found a great study guide here which includes:
Students will know the location and basic geography surrounding the Mississippi River.

- Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the contributions of the

Mississippi River, both past and current, to our nation.

- Students will be able to articulate basic facts about the river itself and some of the

various life forms that exist in and through it.

- Students will understand the life cycle and basic characteristics of the Snapping

Turtle.

- Students will be able to draw correlations between the characteristics of the Snapping

Turtle’s life and the virtue of thriftiness, or learning how to live with basic provisions

I am using this guide to go along with Minn. I plan on using the 3 week guide but break it down to 1 day a week to follow ambleside's schedule.

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster

I flipped through this book today and in addition to some great black and white ink drawings throughout, this book presents a slice of life during George Washington's lifetime. Chapters cover major periods of his life, from a boy, a soldier, a farmer, a regular citizen and then our first president.

The writing style is engaging, and the narrative, which contains unattributed dialogue, and reads more like fiction than a history text.

and

Poor Richard by James Daugherty

This book is full of some excellent illustrations too. It is the biography of Ben Franklin written in a way that captures the actual person Ben Franklin was; full of energy and optimism. It really is a great glimpse of how life was during his time.


Ok, there, so like I said, the books are here. The stuff is looking organized. A plan is in place AND the count down for home school has begun. Call me weird but, I'm starting to get excited!