Monday, May 4, 2009

Fables and Fairy Tales

Lindy presenting The Ladybug and the Ant.


These kind of school days warm my heart and remind me why I really love to home school. A while back in the winter the girls and I read the Gooney Bird book that had a class do a lesson on writing fables. We thought that sounded like fun and decided to do our own study on fables. This has expanded into fairy tales and legends as well. We started reading these books at the beginning of April and there is not an end in sight. The kids are really enjoying all of the stories so there seems no reason to stop. One of the best things about this is like with many other unit type studies we have been doing this is one that we can all do together as a family. Erin even listens and enjoys the stories and tries to guess what the moral of the story is, sometimes she is even right!

So today we gathered all of our books and school supplies and worked the afternoon away on the porch. Paige could not wait another minute to share the fables they wrote so we started with those. Each child took a turn reading their own story and like with the other fables we have read, we all take turns trying to guess what the moral will be. Paige went first and read about an alligator encountering two little girls who were trying to reach a perfect apple in a tree that hung over the swamp that was the alligator's home. I probably don't have to finish that one up for you! Ethan will be reading his tomorrow as he had a few typos and went to correct them before presenting. I like that he is proofreading!

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading some other read aloud books we are working on. A little Math and Spelling, throw in our United States study and it was a productive and fun afternoon!



Lindy loves Ladybugs and welcomed the challenge to try and think of an animal to use in your fable that starts with the same first letter of your name.




Kyle always wanting to have peace after conflict made all of the mice and rats in his story call a truce and the conflict.






Paige gladly went first in presenting as she was so very excited about this project.






This has become one of Ethan's favorite studies.




It was so neat to see them all support one another with their creativity. This was a great project to have a wide span of writing ability. The younger ones were able to learn from the older experienced writers and the older boys were able to offer support to the girls. Everyone really enjoyed themselves especially the mom. I absolutely treasure these school days. I can't imagine not being able to share this with them. Yes, homeschooling is a lot of work but I would not trade a day of it !



Ethan found a perfect perch to listen to the afternoon of reading.

2 comments:

Jennifer James said...

Cute idea! Love the close-up pictures of the girls! Adorable!

Laura said...

I agree with Jenny! Cute pics! Great idea! It's wonderful to watch the interaction of siblings. So heartwarming!