Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Seuss

Today Noah listened to HORTON HATCHES AN EGG by Dr. Seuss ....

This is a video of her grandma reading the book for her grandchildren .... Noah liked this one better because he could see the book.

 There is one of the First Lady reading it HERE and an audio version HERE.

He answered the following questions:

What did you think of Horton?

He sat on the eggs - he is a boy of many words!

What did you think of Maisy?

She was lazy!

What did you think of what came out of the egg?

An Elephant Bird... it was funny

Why do you think it came out an Elephant Bird?

Because Horton sat on it for 51 weeks and it was an elephant because of that and a bird cuz Maisy was the Momma.

He drew a picture of Horton and the eggs, and Maisy.

Then we did some math games and some spelling games.

And then we did an art/science activity ...

We cut out shapes on construction paper, and put them against the window.   Noah's prediction.

The paper exposed to the sunlight will burn, and the paper not exposed won't.  He also predicted this would take ONE DAY. 

Banned Books Week ~ Sept 26 - Oct 3

We're coming to the end of the Banned Books Week.  I have been meaning to get this up all week.  I found it quite interesting to look at all the books that people have issues with and why.  It amazes me.

Most of the books I read (was assigned to read) in school are on the list for one reason or another.  The top five books of all time that have been "banned" or are on the "challenged" list ...

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Seriously?  Here is the list if you want to read it for yourself.   Banned and Challenged Classics   There are huge surprises on there, at least to me .... like.... Charlotte's Web and Winnie-the-Pooh

So some of the more recent lists are of course equally if not more interesting...  100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999  ...  I found a lot of surprises on here.  Several Judy Blume books, I laughed at home many Stephan King books are on the list, and the one that made me shake my head the most was Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford and A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein .... Seriously?  There are ones that I'm not surprised by, of course, Harry Potter is on there.   Apparently anything having to do with magic, ghosts, or witches is bad bad bad.  If it has to do with gay/lesbian issues, like having 2 Mommies or 2 Daddies... that's bad bad bad.  And if it has to do with learning about puberty or sex, it's equally as bad.  However, I have some issues with that.   There are some titles on there like Sex, by Madonna and Private Parts, by Howard Stern, ... I mean seriously, if your children are getting ahold of these books, YOU have a problem as a parent.  I have seen that some of these issues revolve around them being on public library shelves.  Last I knew, libraries were a public place (er.. yeah... PUBLIC libraries) where people of differences can find books of different interests to learn or research and learn more about other peoples beliefs or lifestyles.   So in my opinion if you have issues with these books, then don't let your children see them in the public library, don't buy the books for your house, etc.   But it amazes me that even books that have to do with learning about puberty, changes in a young child's body, and understanding how babies are made (sex) are banned/challenged.  I can understand that some parents don't want their children to just have this sort of thing, but a lot of parents (like me) would rather have their children educated about the changes so they don't worry about things, rather then having them scared and confused.  We as parents have this choice and if others don't like it, then don't buy the books.  Again, don't let your children find or check them out at the library.  Stay by your children in the library.  It's not that difficult.  

Fact is, as children grow older, you can't control their actions at all times, our children have minds of their own, and all we can do is let them make their mistakes, and hope that we have taught them correctly so they will grow to be good humans.  


It really bothers me that people out there try to "ban" books based on their opinions.  We, as a country, are not robots.  We have freedoms, and rights.  Freedom of speech with both spoken word and written word.  Freedoms of religion.  Freedoms of sexuality.  A lot of these books that are challenged or banned have a great educational value to them in some way.  As homeschoolers, you know, you can learn something from ANYTHING.  Everything is a learning experience.  Even if it's about learning a lesson of what not to do.

I honestly look at some of these books and just think it's sad that people are so worried about something "turning" their child from their beliefs, or un-educated about thing that they fear it.

  2008-2009 Challenged and Banned Books w/ reasons (pdf link)  ... 

Recently, I had a relative spend some time in my home ... we love Harry Potter, we read Twilight, we love scary stories and educational ones...  magic is allowed in our house in whatever form - because reading, to us, is magic.  Allowing us into another's world.   This relative got so excited we had the Harry Potter books because her parents don't allow them (mind you she's over 18 but living at home) ... so she sat down to read.  Yet, it just struck me as funny because she is a huge Twilight fan and that IS allowed.  It just posed a question in my head, why is a Witch or Warlock not allowed in the house, but Vampires are?   I just have to laugh.  I love these relatives, and of course I believe parents have the rights to do that sort of thing if they so choose.  However she is an adult now and I think that is what bothered me the most.

I also have major issues with the label of "satanism/occult" for anything that has to do with magic.  Just because it's magic, doesn't make it satanism.  It blows my mind really.  Everyone has their religious beliefs and rights of choice... however, that's awful close minded in my opinion. 

Calahan and I had a long discussion yesterday about how books are banned and why.  Why he thought it was wrong, why he thought people felt the need to do it.

We went to the library ...

We went to the library today, honestly - it was the first time I set foot in there, in YEARS. I remember why. I always seem to have a young child who is not happy in there and it's loud, and the library echos.

We got Dennis, Nathan & Kaedyn's library cards. Mine, Cal & Noah's are all basically out of service, I have to find them - and check them (to see if I have any fines - just incase.)

We got there, Dennis immediately went for the cook books, and I went for the homeschooling ones, however the kids started to whine right away "where are the kids books?"

Well at our library, the kids section is getting a remodel so they have temporarily been moved to the basement into one of the meeting rooms - and it's hard to get to. So I took Nathan out of the stroller and then took the older two down. Nathan had a blast and just walked around and around and around. He did - however, go out in the hall and beat his head against the glass case holding beanie babies.

But when I handed him a book of Backyardigans - he carried that around and around with him, going on each sitting surface and looking at it. It was adorable to watch. He loves books. I found a bunch of Blues Clues ones and then helped the older boys find things of interest. Cal got a car book (of course), a "how to fix and trouble shoot laptops" book, and 2 computer games. Noah got two movies, and some pirate books, and he (for whatever reason) grabbed a book on camping and activites to do.

Anyway - here are the homeschooling books I got. (So far I am LOVING these first two!)




I will be sharing what I find useful out of these books, of course... and I highly recommend the book in the first picture ... THE HOMESCHOOLER'S BOOK OF LISTS ... it is AWESOME!! These are (almost) all the books picked up by everyone today... LOL

Books Books Books!

So we have started to bring our our OLD collection of K/1st Grade stuff for Noah ... and started to pick up stuff for Calahan. The top shelf is The Man's school books, and then there are some of the books for Cal, Noah's workbooks for this summer, and then more stuff for Noah on the next shelf, and on the bottom is some more work books more Pre-School age and Nathan's coloring books and such. We went to Borders the other day and found a couple of GREAT books on clearance! I'm so excited I wanted to share!



We got The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology and The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt ... Here are page examples of each! They were only $10 a piece!! Big huge thick books too packed with all sorts of great info!!



Then I found some Atlas ones. Got a Children's World Atlas, a New World Atlas which actually goes over the way the world looked during different eras. And then the Children's Picture Atlas. The Children's World Atlas is a bit more gered to Cal's age, and the Picture Atlas to Noah's. The New World one is just cool! The World Atlas was about $6, the Picture Atlas was about $4 and the New World one was $10!




When I finally found the Homeschooling book section, I found this... and decided it would be my first book buy! I haven't had a chance to look at it really but when I do I'll be sure to share! This was just a little under $20.

With Mr. Man going to school too, I figured the English Grammer & Punchuation thing would be a good reference for EVERYONE... also got a Writing Tablet for Noah to work on his writing this summer.
Our family is struggling so bad right now, with The Man going to school himself, and my staying home with the babies cuz it's cheaper then daycare - plus we can't afford to have Nathan or Noah exposed to anymore germs then necessary! They both get sick so easy. Noah I want to keep of antibodics as much as possible because of his kindey failure in 2007, and Nathan just can't afford to be sick and lose weight. I wish I hadn't spent the money right now, but I knew the books would be of GREAT use and we need them if we are going to succeed. After all you can't get ALL your info from the internet!

Anyway - I ended up buying so much (or who knows, maybe they had a promotion going on) that I got a free $10 Gift Card with my purchuse!! (shakes head in shock) ... I was so stunned that I didn't ask why, or maybe.... it was more fear of "well, you can not have it then" LOL... who knows...

Anyway - I also picked up these math books at a garage sale


They might be geared for more down the road a bit, but it'll be good anyway! Can't beat $5 for them all!

And I'm not sure if Noah will go back to school next year or not. I think I might end up leaving it up to him, or possibly, I may send him next year too, and play it by ear. (If he gets a certain teacher for 2nd grade I think I will most likely send him because she was GREAT with Calahan and about the only teacher with Cal who actually put forth a lot of effort to help with his needs.) Then play it by ear for 3rd Grade. I really hesitate to pull Noah out because even though he is behind from his hearing loss and other issues, he thrives in that enviornment because he is such a social butterfly!!

In example, I brought him in late one day from a DR appt and the kids were getting ready for lunch/recess and one kid saw him, which lead to "NOAH IS HERE" to all the other kids around getting excited going "We missed you" "you weren't here" "where were you?" "you are here!" and all sorts of things. They literally all gathered around him and he was blushing. It was so cute! LOL...

Anyway - again, I am still debating on him. But we are most definitely working this summer to get him reading and writing better, and doing simple math. YAY!!!