I found a rare, out-of-print book in my treasure trove that’s perfect to round out our Appalachian reading experience – Down Down The Mountain by Ellis Credle. I won it a long time ago in an ebay auction and have actually forgotten about it! Down Down The Mountain is set in a part of the Appalachians and features Hank and Hetty who have never owned a pair of shoes in their … [Read more...]

We continued our exploration of life in the Appalachians through the book When I Was Young In The Mountains by Cynthia Rylant. This time, we latched on to the idea of home life "then," as depicted in the illustrations, and "now." I wanted to go to a museum to look at "old things." But hating Manila traffic and avoiding it as much as possible, I decided to stay home. I … [Read more...]

Our “school week” starts on a Monday. Saturdays and Sundays are for crafting my lesson plans based on the “Five in a Row” manuals and/or other resources, and Mondays are for starting a new book.  It takes me two to three hours to plan the week and to gather our materials, which all go to our Learning Basket. Selecting Similarly-Themed BooksCramming Not preparing for weeks in … [Read more...]