Let Them Play

 Let them play

Let them play, they are only little so long.

"But what about their workbooks", asks doubt as it whispers in my ear. "Other kids are not learning through play, you better focus on the books."

My heart yearns to be in nature, to walk the trails, explore the ponds, study the bugs, build with sticks, count the clouds.

Let them play, they are only little so long.

"But they need to study, to do math on paper." says doubt louder this time.

My heart calls to me to breathe the fresh air, bask in the sun, learn through life, be in the world. Spread a blanket in the grass and read a story, draw on the side walk, splash in the puddles, dig in the dirt, plant a garden.

Let them play, they are only little so long.

"That's not enough," says doubt even louder."You have to follow the rules, stay indoors for school."


My heart aches to study the birds, go on a scavenger hunt, visit the museums, explore the arts, to cook and bake.

Let them play, they are only little so long.

"You are going to fail them," screams doubt in my ear.

"But what if they thrive," answers my heart.

What if they not only learn, but they love to learn? What if they become the best they can be.
I can do this, I can balance books and play.

So I let them play, for they are only little so long.

Ninth Grade Reading List

 The new school year is fast approaching. I have been working away on getting everything ready.
We will start our new year of school September 14th.

We prefer to have the kids read classic novels for their required reading class. I feel that classic novels help them expand their vocabulary, open their minds to the ways of the past, and show struggles we no longer face today, among many other things.

Alexzander is entering ninth grade this year and we will be spending most of the year studying Shakespeare. After he finishes that, he will be reading some short stories as well.

He will be starting with reading the Easy Guide to Shakespeare.

We will move on to The Sonnets and  Poems.
We will be using these worksheets while reading the Sonnets.
After completing the book and doing the worksheets he will be writing some of his own sonnets.

The final, and most in-depth part of this study will be on the plays.

We ordered both the Usborne version of the plays and the complete works. We will be using both books while reading the plays.

While I plan to have him read over all the plays, we will be studying four of them in depth. He will be reading them in the story form and in the complete form. Under each of the plays I have linked other things we will be doing a long with to make the class complete.

A Mid Summer's Night Dream
We will be using this study.

Romeo and Juliet
We will be using this study. 

Hamlet
We will be using this study.

Macbeth
We will be using this study.

After completing all the work above, Alex will be picking a couple of the plays to watch.

After completing the Shakespeare part of his studies, he will end the year reading the two following books, and writing book reports on both books.

Great American Short Stories

Beowolf

Eighth Grade Required Reading

 The new school year is fast approaching. I have been working away on getting everything ready.
We will start our new year of school September 14th.

We prefer to have the kids read classic novels for their required reading class. I feel that classic novels help them expand their vocabulary, open their minds to the ways of the past, and show struggles we no longer face today, among many other things.

Destiny will be entering eighth grade and she requested to be able to read old fairy tales and mythology books. She will be writing reports after each book. Her reading list is below.

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Han Christian Andersen Tales

Mythology - Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 

Celtic Tales

Nordic Tales

Fourth Grade Required Reading

 The new school year is fast approaching. I have been working away on getting everything ready.
We will start our new year of school September 14th.

We prefer to have the kids read classic novels for their required reading class. I feel that classic novels help them expand their vocabulary, open their minds to the ways of the past, and show struggles we no longer face today, among many other things.

Amelia will be entering fourth grade this year. Below is the list of books she will be reading for her required reading, along with some worksheets and activities we will be doing with them.

Black Beauty

We will be purchasing and completing this unit study.

Charlotte's Web 

We will be using these worksheets.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We will be making candy together after reading this book.
We will also be doing this worksheet.

The Secret Garden

We will be completing this unit study.

The Wind in the Willows


We will be completing these worksheets.

Peter Pan

We will be using some of these worksheets.

The Adventures of Peter Cottontail 

We will be doing this book review page.

Fifth Grade Required Reading

The new school year is fast approaching. I have been working away on getting everything ready.
We will start our new year of school September 14th.

We prefer to have the kids read classic novels for their required reading class. I feel that classic novels help them expand their vocabulary, open their minds to the ways of the past, and show struggles we no longer face today, among many other things.

Kairi will be entering fifth grade this year. She will be reading The Little House in the Prairie series.
She will be doing activities that go along with the series.

I will be using this site for the activities we will be doing. We will also be doing different recipes from that time era. Including ( but not limited to ) the following recipes -

https://littlehouseontheprairie.com/little-house-on-the-prairie-johnny-cake-recipe/

https://www.marissawrites.com/2013/05/little-house-maple-candy.html



Other books we will be using her reading course include -

https://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Guidebook-Nonfiction/dp/0061255122/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+house+guidebook&qid=1598926190&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Lauras-Album-Remembrance-Scrapbook-Nonfiction/dp/0062459341/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=laura+album&qid=1598926213&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Ingalls-Wilder-Collection-1867-1957-1837905/dp/1566190517/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=laura+a+family+collection&qid=1598926238&sr=8-1

Backyard Edibles - Lilac

I only found out last year that one of my favorite flowers, the Lilac, is also edible. I absolutely adore the smell and the look of lilac. So when I found out that they can be eaten as well, I knew I wanted to try them.

I know some people throw them in salads raw, I personally do not like them that way. They have a bitter, slightly floral flavor. However the other recipes I am going to share, I can tell you that everyone in my family has enjoyed.

The first thing we made was lilac jelly. We go through a lot of jelly in my house, and since we do not like buying anything with high fructose, being able to make a lot of jelly here at home has been great.
The jelly has a sweet, slightly floral flavor. We all really enjoy it.



We also made Lilac butter cookies. These were fantastic with a cup of coffee! Imagine a shortbread cookie with a slight floral lemony flavor. This is a recipe we will be trying again for sure!



The last thing we made with them was lilac infused honey. It is heavenly, all the wonderful sweetness of honey, with an added floral punch. I love using it when baking or just for eating. It is wonderful to use on a bagel in the morning.



We did not try all the fun recipes I wanted to this year, but I am saving more to try and share next year! I am thoroughly enjoying learning and sharing about all the wonderful things you can eat, that many people have growing freely right in their yards!

Backyard Edibles - Dandelions ( part 3 )

We have been really enjoying all the delicious things we have been making dandelions this spring. They are such a versatile plant and so readily available to those that want to use them. We are coming to the end of the current dandelion season here in Iowa, and we never did get to try all the yummy things we wanted to make, so next year will be bring more posts about the wonderful dandelion.

Over the years we have tried -
Dandelion Jelly
Dandelion Fritters
Dandelion Bread
Dandelion Honey Butter
Dandelion Lemonade
Dandelion Syrup
Dandelion Shortbread Cookies
Fried Dandelion Greens

My kids like the baked stuff and jelly, they were not a fan of the greens. I liked everything. I still have many more things I plan on making with dandelions, but time does not always allow me to make a lot of new things.

The last thing we tried this year was dandelion shortbread cookies. They are amazing in the morning with a little but of the honey butter spread on top. I enjoy them with my morning coffee.
I love shortbread anyway, and these have a lemony, honey taste. Super delicious, and highly recommended.

To see my other posts about dandelion, please click the links below -
Part 1
Part 2