Nativity Book #3 - Treasury of Christmas Tales

This is the third of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here. This morning we unwrapped a big collection of Christmas Tales.

For many years, we've enjoyed this collection of Christmas stories called Treasury of Christmas
Tales compiled by Susan Quattrocki and Susan Spellman. It includes some abbreviated classics like "A Christmas Carol" and "The Little Match Girl" as well as some other original stories. This afternoon we read "The Magic Toy Shop," "The Littlest Angel" and then sang along with "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with some fun illustrations. Just some light Christmas fun to help us start thinking about the feast we are already beginning to anticipate.

Nativity Book #2 - Elizabeth's Christmas Story

This is the second of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here. Today's book is Elizabeth's Christmas Story from the Arch Books series from Concordia Publishing House.

I love this book because it is about my patron saint, and there are not many children's books about the Righteous Elizabeth. It tells the story of the Conception of John the Baptist, the Meeting of Elizabeth and the Mother of God, the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Nativity of Christ. It is part of the Arch Books series, published by a Lutheran publishing house, Concordia. I read Arch Books with my parents as a child and loved them. Of course, they aren't Orthodox, but they are Bible stories and are (usually) pretty true to the Scripture, though sometimes with a little bit of story embellishment. They are all told in rhyming verse which is sometimes a little cutsey, but not all bad. New ones have been published every year since the 1960s. So, there is now a huge set of them and they vary in their quality (especially in the quality of illustrations: some are really cartoonish, others are nicer), but some are quite good. I think the older ones are better than the recently published ones. We have a whole set of around 200 that had been published as of 2004 (I told you we have a lot of books). My oldest son received them as a gift from his great grandmother and uncle a few years ago. I really like having them around because they are great for times when I want a quick rendition of a certain Bible story. There are LOTS of Christmas ones, so you'll see them reappearing as I post about our Christmas books. The other thing that is really nice about them is that they are very inexpensive. If you just want to buy one, it's only about $2.50 and can be purchased directly from Concordia.

Nativity Book #1 - The Annunciation

This is the first of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here. The Nativity book we opened on November 15 was The Annunciation by Sister Elayne, with beautiful illustrations by Bonnie Gillis, published by Conciliar Press. It's available from Archangel Books here. I really like this series of books about the feasts of our church. The watercolor illustrations are beautiful and combine icongraphic and folk elements. The text is lovely poetic verse which is filled with profound statements about the mystery of our faith. Sometimes the text is a little too much for little ones, but the illustrations provide good fuel for conversation about the feasts and I'm finding that my 7yo is starting to really enjoy the verses as he gets older. Of course, we started out with this story as it is the beginning of the Nativity story and also the beginning of our salvation as this is the Annunciation is the moment of the Incarnation!

Forty Books of Nativity

We're starting a new Advent tradition this year and I'm very excited about it. The fact is, we are book addicts at our house. Really, we have a problem. Books are everywhere, in every room, packed into every bookshelf and also stacked when there isn't enough shelf space. We have three full bookshelves of kids books alone. University teaching, dissertation writing, choir directing and homeschooling doesn't help the problem. Our collection just keeps growing.

But one of the things I always regret at the end of the Christmas season is that we never manage to read all of our wonderful Christmas books. Last year I posted about some of our favorite books here. This year, I found a great idea for reading our Christmas books on this blog (thanks Ashley!). In their house, they put up the Christmas tree by November 15 and they wrap up all their Christmas books and place them under the tree. Then the kids can unwrap and enjoy them throughout the Christmas season. Wonderful idea! And a great way to make sure we enjoy all of our Nativity books and prepare ourselves spiritually for the feast.

We put up our tree on St. Herman Day (December 13), but I thought we could still use this tradition. So, this past weekend, I gathered up all of our children's Christmas books. I had about 25. Then, with a little creativity (pulling in books about various saints and feasts during the fast period and also some Bible story books from which we can read the Nativity story) I managed to pull together 40 books! I wrapped them all (yes, I'm that excited and crazy) and put enough for the first two weeks in a basket by the fireplace. We'll be opening one book each day and reading it. Once it's opened, it goes in another basket to be enjoyed again through the Nativity season. The kids are so excited about this! And frankly, so am I. I'll be posting information about each book we read on a daily (or almost daily) basis here.

Happy Nativity Reading to all!

Here we go!

The Nativity Fast has begun and Mary, Joseph and the Donkey are on their way to the cave in Bethlehem. Last year I posted about our Nativity path here. We're moving along with the Fast already, and I'll post about some of our activities throughout the Fast. Check for posts of recipes and menus on my fasting blog. Good Fast to all!

No Mirrors in My Nana's House: Book/Music Review

We try to go to the library about twice a month to replenish our stash of books. These days we really like to check out a few books with accompanying CDs. These are great for my 3yo, because he likes to settle in with some books on CD and flip through while listening to the story. I can occupy him for some time with this so I can do some work with the 7yo on math or spelling or something else. Last week I was flipping through the CD books when I discovered this book: No Mirrors in My Nana's House by Ysaye M. Barnwell with illustrations by Synthia Saint James.

The illustrations looked lovely, but I really picked it up because the front cover of the book said that the CD included a song version of the book sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock, a women's a cappella group which I've loved for years. I knew if they had done a song, it would be worth checking out.


Well, it certainly did not disappoint. The story is lovely, the illustrations perfect in their bright simplicity and the music with lyrics to match the book text is just right. This is wonderful story about a girl who says there are no mirrors in her nana's house. Instead "the beauty in everything was in her [nana's] eyes." The little girl never noticed that her clothes didn't fit, that the hallway was dirty, that her skin was too dark, or anything, because there were no mirrors and instead she found beauty looking into her nana's eyes. You can find the full text/lyrics here. Wonderful!


The kids loved the music which my 3yo would tell you is "jukin'." It's good dancing music which is a must around here. We did some great dancing this morning and then put it on after dinner so Daddy could hear it and we all could get in a little more dancing.


And the text of the book was great for conversation. I had 7yo think about what it meant and then we had a good discussion about finding beauty in others instead of just looking in the mirror and thinking "me, me, me." We also talked about how this book relates to the book From I-ville to You-ville which we read last year. Certainly it's about leaving our ego behind and focusing on the other. Then this evening, we talked about it again and how we find true beauty in being loved by another (and in loving others).


So, a bunch of thumbs up for this book - and for the music by Sweet Honey in the Rock. We just might have to add it to our permanent collection around here.

Veteran's Day

7yo and I have a regular Tuesday morning date to our favorite coffee shop. Each Tuesday, we have a schoolwork marathon over coffee and muffins while 3yo plays at Mother's Day Out. This morning CNN was playing on mute in the coffee shop. There was some coverage of Veteran's Day events at Arlington Cemetery. 7yo looked up, read the captions and said,

"Mom, what is Veteran's Day? Is it when we honor animal doctors?"

Discovering Rachel Field

Since we've been loving our poetry tea time each week, I'm now always on the lookout for great poetry to share with my kids. Today during our Language Arts lesson, 7yo and I discovered this wonderful poem by Rachel Field. It was in our 2nd grade poetry anthology from K12. We both loved the poem. So, I've decided to add Rachel Field to our list of poets for tea time (after we finish up Robert Louis Stevenson and A.A. Milne). I think we'll start with Rachel Field's Prayer for a Child, though I haven't been able to read through it myself yet. Here's the beloved poem from today.

Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered - "Snow."
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned - "Frost."
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly -
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

As I read this poem the first time, I had my son close his eyes and listen. Afterwards it was beautiful how he retold the scene, complete with the colors and images of summer/fall that he had heard. He talked of the golden fields and the bright berries, and then talked about how the geese knew that they had to leave so they wouldn't stay too long.

Thank God for poets who so beautifully depict His creation!

Election Day Fun!

It's election day in America! Though the presidential campaign this year has completely exhausted and disturbed me, I'm still happy that we have the chance to vote for our leaders. We've been having fun with the election today. I took my 7yo to vote with me this morning while th 3yo was as Mother's Day Out. What a delightful experience to vote in a small town! I didn't wait in line at all and the church had homemade cookies and pastries out to offer free to all voters and kids! So different from what I remember in my childhood: waiting in long, long lines in a dingy old school with my mom. I may never live in a big city again . . .

This afternoon, my kids have been playing election. Around here we vote on paper "scantron" type ballots. They just give you a paper and you bubble in your choices with a pen and then you insert it in the machine to be read - just like taking the SAT. While I prefer computerized voting, this method has actually been nice for the kids today. We were able to go to our county election commission website and print off sample ballots for our precinct. They look just like the ballots at the voting location. So we printed them off, and the kids are "voting" and then inserting their ballots into a box they created to "read" the ballot. Wonder how the results will turn out at our house?

One thing is for sure, around here the voters have chosen some non-traditional candidates. In several of our county races the incumbent is running unopposed. So, my 7yo chose to do some write-ins. He wrote in himself for County Commissioner, his dad for County Treasurer, his best friend for Sheriff and the Libertarian Presidential candidate (Barr) for District Attorney. Interesting . . .

The 3yo voted for the Reform candidate (Baldwin) for President. . . . He also wrote in Obama District Attorney. I think we're going to be hardpressed to get majority votes in this house.

Today's Poetry

Tigers

Among the tall grass a hunting tiger creeps.
Its fur stays soft like sheets,
Although if I go out there alone
I am sure to forever be alone.
For if the tiger creeps too close.
I will be to him like toast.

-AM, age 7, 3rd November 2008

Autumn Colors

God's Promise

One day back in September, after two days of storms we got to see this in our neighborhood.

Photos don't begin to do it justice, but we had to try anyway. Let's just say this: it was a humongous double rainbow (maybe triple?) so bright you could count distinctly see each band of color. We could see the whole half-circle arc from end to end. We all commented on how Noah and his family must have been in such awe to see such a beautiful sight. Only God could make something so magnificent.

"Signs of fall" bike ride

I love that homeschooling gives us a few extra hours for things like this. (And, I love that the three-year-old can almost keep up now and I only have the carry his bike at the end of the ride!)

The Halloween dilemma

Around this time of year a big conversation always ensues at coffee hours, on email lists, everywhere. What do you do about Halloween? Well, here's our solution. For the most part we don't celebrate Halloween. I know people do it just in good fun, and celebrations of the harvest and beautiful autumn are fun, but the truth is, Halloween is pretty ghoulish in our culture. Why do we feel the need to celebrate ghosts and goblins and blood and death? It's just asking for trouble in my book. After all, the demons love it when we ask for their involvement in our lives. Now, I have a house full of guys. We like battles, and we love to read about the martyrs (trust me, my boys LOVE a gory, bloody, heroic martyr story), but there is no need to force the issue of embracing deadly images. So, around here, every year in October we always go to a pumpkin patch, and we like to roast pumpkin seeds, make pumpkin pie, pumpkin biscuits, etc. I don't want my kids to feel too weird for not "doing" Halloween. They are weird in our culture in plenty of ways, and I do ask them to keep the fast and feasts despite what the world does around them. But I also worry about passing too much judgement on others by forcefully refusing fairly innocent celebrations. (Honestly, as a child my family did not participate in Halloween, and while I understood the decision and supported it, I always felt like the strange kid who didn't have a costume or anything.) So, if we are invited to costume parties through school or other activities during Halloween week, we'll quietly dress up and participate. But we don't do trick-or-treating events, nor do we do haunted houses, etc. On Halloween night, we go to Vespers, and then go out to eat as a family. (There is always lots of space in restaurants on Halloween night.) Afterwards, we all head to Target and everyone gets to choose a big bag of candy to take home. (Really, there is no need to deprive the kids of the candy! And that's easy to take care of.)

However, my kids (and I) absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to dress up. So - we have an Orthodox tradition of dressing up which we keep in December. For more info on our tradition see my blog entry from last year on St. Barbara's Day Festivities. And find information on the food for the festivities here.

Primary Analogies - Curriculum Review

Since we began homeschooling, we've really been enjoying the Primary Analogies series from EPS Publishing. It's an optional part of the K12 Language Arts curriculum, but it is not optional in our house! My 7yo really loves it and wouldn't have school without it. Last year we used Book One in 1st grade and this year we're using Book Two for second grade. This is a really fun way for kids to learn analogical thinking. The first book focuses primarily on picture analogies in which two pictures are connected and the student has to identify their relationship and then find two more pictures which are related in the same way. Book Two uses both picture-word analogies and some word-word analogies. My 7yo really thinks this is like a fun puzzle. Book One was quite easy, but he still really enjoyed it and it helped him develop the thought process for thinking analogically. I believe that most children (and adults) naturally think in this way, but it's good to capture that kind of thinking and help them develop it. (Trust me, I really wish some of my university students had some practice in analogical thinking, because sometimes it doesn't seem to be there.) Book Two has gotten a little more challenging and sometimes it requires him to think creatively to determine the relationships, but that's just more fun for him. This is one book I never have to encourage him to use.

We spread the book out and do just a little bit at a time so that it lasts the whole year. Usually, we just do it as suggested by K12, which ends up being a page about every other week. BUT - often 7yo will beg to do another page (or two more) after he has completed the page for that day, so we often get ahead of ourselves. A page only takes him about 2-5 minutes, so the time committment is very low. But I think it's well worth it. EPS provides a teacher's manual, but I haven't ever had it, and I'm not sure it's necessary. They indicate that it does include suggestions for teaching your child to think analogically, so that might be one advantage. The student book itself doesn't include much explanation for parents/teachers. K12 includes these kind of suggestions in their online materials, to only the main book has ever been necessary for us.

This year we're also using Wordly Wise and Early Reading Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter from EPS. We haven't used the latter enough yet for me to comment much. I know that Wordly Wise comes with high praise from many sources and is a time-proven resource. So far, we're pretty happy with it. It's not really exciting, but it sorted into reasonable chunks and seems to be a good tool for adding vocabulary. After we've used it for a year, maybe I can comment more.